Life Updates from Tema

It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to write… sorry for the big time lapse!  What I’d really like to do with the time I’ve got is to give you all a better picture of what I’m doing over here and what life is like at the base/here in Ghana in general.

GHANA :  Although Ghana is a third world nation, it’s doing relatively well in comparison to its fellow African countries.  It’s politically stable, and the economy is doing better than most in the continent, although you can still see poverty everywhere.  There will be a beautiful house right across the street from a dilapidated shack, and landrovers driving down dirt roads past women frying plantains and kids selling pouches of water or candy or whatever else.  There is a definite gap between the rich and the poor.  Tema, the city where our base is located, is a port city at the southern end of the country on the Atlantic (I look at the ocean and I’m looking SOUTH.  It’s strange).

Ghana has a great deal of the modern mixed in with the traditional.  If any of you think that all the people here run around scantily clad from mud hut to mud hut, you’ve got a very different picture from what Ghana is actually like!  Everyone wears normal clothing, and they really deck themselves out in beautiful, more traditional dresses for church every week and for special occasions.  Everyone also belongs to a tribe… don’t let that word make your imagination run too wild… it’s basically just their heritage and oftentimes determines which dialect(s) they speak.  They might be Ashanti, Fante, Ewe, Ga, etc.  Ashanti’s speak Twi, and each of the other’s languages are the same name as the tribe.  But everyone speaks Twi overall, as it’s the common tongue.

MORE ON LANGUAGE:  Everyone (or almost everyone) in the country speaks English (everyone that I’VE met speaks it, thankfully).  It’s the official language of the country, however, the most widely spoken language is actually Twi (pronounced sort of like “ch-ree”).  I’ve been learning some bits and pieces of it… enough to make people turn and stare at the random obruni (white person) speaking their language!  I get a lot of smiles and laughs for it, so it’s worth the effort of learning it.

You might also find it interesting that I’ve been learning some FRENCH while I’ve been here!  Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Cote Divoire are all bordering countries with Ghana, and they’re all francophone (they all speak French).  So some of my classmates have been helping me to learn (one of them barely spoke any English when he came and now speaks a lot more.. we’ve helped each other quite a bit!).

THE DTS CLASS:  As for my DTS class, all but 5 of us are West Africans!  I only recently realized that most people think that my class is full of people from the States and Europe and etc., but there are only three other Americans and one Canadian, and then we have 46 or 47 other students who are from Ghana , Nigeria , Benin , Togo , or Sierra Leone .  And I absolutely love them!  It’s very true that Ghana is one of the friendliest countries in Africa .  The society is very relationship oriented, as opposed to our Western culture where time and efficiency often takes priority.  They are community minded, which means that what’s mine is yours AND what’s yours is mine!  It can be hard to get used to at first, but it’s a huge blessing once you’ve had the time to adjust.  After all, that’s what the Early Church was like (see Acts chapter 2:42-47 and 4:32-37).

Before my DTS started, a friend of mine gave me some wonderful advice: ask the Lord to guide you to the people you are meant to get closer with.  It’s great to be friendly with everyone and to get to know everyone, but as far as deeper friendships go, it’s wise to seek God’s guidance.  There is a small group of such people that have really come to mean a lot to me… my fellow obruni’s—Shelby, Amber, Tom, and Claire—are all wonderful and they can be such a breath of fresh air when I’m in African-culture-overload!  My closest African friends include Linda (a sweet, initially soft-spoken 20 year old Ghanaian girl who is just hilarious…such a rascal once you get to know her!), Kalu (or “Udochukwu, his first name meaning “God’s peace”…my 22 year old Nigerian friend who has been in Ghana for the past 2 years at a Bible School in Accra… the Lord has really taught me a lot through our friendship), Yannick (my crazy French-speaking friend from Togo), Joké & Josephine (30 and 34 years old I believe, my current roommates who are a complete blast!), and Julius, Imran, Beauty, & Kizzi (four more wonderful Nigerians who never fail to make me smile).  I could go on and on about every person in the class, but that would take another hour so I’ll have to hold off…

This might be surprising, given the title Youth With A Mission, but most of the people in my class are over 25 years old.  The age range in our class is 18-53!  So I’m in the lower end of the scale and am a young one by comparison, but it’s great having so much wisdom and life experience crammed into one classroom, haha!

SCHEDULE:  Together we all get up between 4:00AM and 5:00AM, depending on our work duties which shuffle from week to week, and have breakfast at 6:45 and quiet hour from 7:15 to 8:15.  Then we have either worship or small groups or whatever else, followed by two lectures, lunch, and a third lecture.  Then we’re normally ORDERED to go take a nap before our afternoon work duties.  After that we have dinner, a bit of free time, then library or whatever else in the classroom.  Finally, we all have a nightly prayer walk for one hour.  The girls are split into two groups, one praying from 9-10 and one from 10-11, while the poor guys have to alternate hour-long shifts each week running from 11-12 to 4-5AM.

PERSONAL NOTES:  The topics we’ve covered in class have been amazing and I’ve learned so much throughout each one… they include everything from Prayer and Fear of God to The Holy Spirit to Clean Conscience to Worry to Guy/Girl Relationships to Knowing God and so so much more.  I’ve seen a steady change in my character… I’m trusting God to continue the work He’s started in me and to give me the Faith, Wisdom, Humility, and Love I need in order to crucify myself with Christ every day so that it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  I’ve also gotten a lot of vision into my future… I’m in an extended period of training and God is beginning to put together the puzzle pieces of my future ministry… my culminating life’s purpose.

Okay, I’m already running late so I’d better get out of here!

Thanks again for all the prayers and love… I’m praying for everybody back home and I hope you’re all doing well and finding joy in the Lord every day.

Prayer Requests…

Hello, everyone!

I have a very specific request that I’d love for you to pray for: after my DTS, I will have two months left before I fly out of Ghana for the States (DTS ends December 12, and my flight out is February 16). The original plan was for me to work with Millstone International, an orphanage in the capital city of Accra, during those last two months. However, the orphanage was dispersed around April or May this spring and has yet to be reestablished.

BUT we all know that when God changes your plans, it’s for a reason… There is a specific ministry that I feel the Lord is preparing me for and I believe that I am in the midst of my training for it. I’m feeling led to a particular “next step” in this training, but I want to be sure about it before I jump ahead of the Lord. I’d very much appreciate your prayers for DIRECTION and DISCERNMENT, that God would clearly communicate to me whether or not this is the road I should take, and if it isn’t, then I will need to know the right road by December.

Also, I would love continued prayers that I will decrease and the Lord will increase in me, that I will be “crucified with Christ” every day and that it would be HIM living through me, and that Jesus would give me more and more faith. Remember, faith is a gift of the Spirit too! “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Thank you all for your prayers and support… my love is with you!  There are no distances in the Spirit.

Love,

Jessie

The Assurance of Things Hoped For, The Conviction of Things Not Seen.

My Dear Sweet Wonderful Friends,

Today was such an incredible experience for me. Yesterday I fasted all day only drinking water and was just in this place where I was like, “Okay God, I will do ANYTHING to get closer to you… to see your face… to go to another level. I’m laying it down, I HAVE to have more, and I don’t have a clue how to get there because only YOU can draw me closer and take me deeper.”

God totally honored that today in a corporate prayer session we had with my DTS… Pastor Paul was talking about, well, a lot of things, but specifically he was talking about speaking truth into our lives and into the world, praying in the will of the Lord and KNOWING that our good and faithful Father will back up our statements… that he will “put his signature” on our requests and declarations. He said to speak out and prophesy, believing in faith that God will bring our requests to pass.

I’ve been hesitant about that in the past because I’ve been so concerned about praying GOD’s will, not mine, but I’m coming to see more and more that as we come to know God, we KNOW his will. His will is to bring people to the knowledge of him… to bring glory to his name… to bear our iniquities and heal our diseases as he said would come to pass when Jesus died for us on the cross (Psalm 103:2-3). He wants to break down strongholds of sin in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones… to bring His kingdom here on earth.

Jesus said that if we asked in his beautiful, holy name, that anything we ask will be given to us. If you PRAY IN THE SPIRIT, asking the Holy Spirit to fill and to guide you and stepping forward in FAITH, believing that HE WILL DO IT, then great and mighty things will result. WE ARE POWERFUL, not in our own strength, but in the strength of our Father who wants to bless us and involve us in His works and in whose name we have authority!

Today, God BROKE MY HEART. I’ve never felt so broken. He broke my heart for the people I love who don’t know Him. He moved me to such depths of love for my family, both biological and also my church family and my friends (because you’re all family to me). He absolutely brought me to tears, so much was my burden for those without a voice… for the orphans, the unborn, the oppressed and persecuted. LET HIM BREAK YOUR HEARTS, always knowing that he will carry the burden of it so that you aren’t weighed down.

We are called to INTERCESSION!!!!! We have to be interceeding for our brothers and sisters throughout the world!!! You don’t know these people here in Ghana, and I don’t know the people in India or Bangladesh or Colombia or wherever, but THEY ARE OUT THERE whether you know them or not and those who are in Christ make up the collective body of Christ and we HAVE to be in intercession for each other and for this world.

PRAY FOR REVIVAL IN AMERICA. And in Africa, or wherever else the Lord guides you to pray for. Ask the Lord to give you prayer missions… to put the places and people and things on your heart that He WANTS you to be praying for. He’s faithful, He’ll do it. He tells us not to be anxious, but “through prayer and supplication make your requests known to God.”

Remember, “Faith is the assurance of things HOPED FOR, the conviction of things NOT SEEN.” Faith is a gift of the Spirit, and we should always be asking for MORE of it… more of the Holy Spirit stirring in our hearts, more faith to carry out God’s works here on this earth, to bring His kingdom of light into this world of darkness.

You all bring so much light into my life and I love you more than words can convey… which is why I’m praying in the Spirit for you all! He “intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

Love and blessings to you all,
Jessie

Worship Is A Lifestyle

That’s the theme of Youth With A Mission’s School of Worship, and it has been a living lesson throughout the past week that they’ve been at the base.  The S.o.W. team got back on Monday night from their outreach, and just had their graduation ceremony last night.

Worship here in Ghana has a very different feeling to it than the worship you would experience in the States… First of all, it’s very loud!  There tend to be multiple people with microphones and everyone sings with everything they’ve got, both up at the front and from the congregation.  People often pray (and often in tongues) throughout the worship time, and there isn’t much organization to it.

Now, to someone coming from a typical church in America, the effect would seem very chaotic and noisy and out of control.  HOWEVER, when God gives you the grace to step outside of your own “life lens,” the beauty comes forth.  Ghanaian worship isn’t always orderly, but it is heartfelt.  It is honest, authentic, and genuine.   And it seems that the lack of organization leaves room for the work of the Holy Spirit to guide and direct the process.

When I went to a church service on Tuesday night (the School of Worship team led worship at the end of the service), I have to admit that I was just not prepared for the noise level or the “chaos,” as my mind labeled it at the time, even though I’d already been to another traditional Ghanaian church.  I was wrestling with some things with the Lord, and I felt like the loudness of it all was just distracting to my own prayers.  I felt foreign, depressed, and lost in the crowd.  I’m being very honest with you… I just wasn’t in the mood.

So I sat at the base of a pillar beside my seat and tried to keep my mind on seeking the Lord quietly, asking him to block out the noise and to keep me focus, but it was NOT working, at all.  Finally, a girl named Stella offered me a flag (lots of people had them and were waving them around), so taking it, I realized I would have to stand up rather than just wave it half-heartedly from the ground.

Before I knew what was happening, one of the guys from the team pulled me out into the midst of all the dancing at the front of the room, and I started going along with some of the moves people were doing and waving the flag and getting completely into it… I kid you not, in five minutes I went from sitting alone and frustrated by the pillar to jumping and dancing and singing at the front of the church with tons of other people, having a blast and truly worshipping the Lord.

What did the Lord teach me from this?

He taught me that worship has nothing to do with being in the mood to worship.  In fact, it should have nothing to do with me at all.  Worship is about giving glory and thanks and praise to the living God who gives us life and breath and joy every day by His mercy and love.  It’s about forgetting yourself and looking up and out to Jesus who sacrificed himself for us that “we might have life, and have it abundantly.”  God always deserves worship, whether you feel “in the mood” to worship or not.

But most importantly, worship isn’t something you set aside time to do… it is supposed to be LIFE.  It should be with every breath we take.  Romans 12:1 says “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.“  The way we live, whether we’re interacting with people or whether we’re completely alone, should reflect God’s glory within us and give glory to Him, because our ability to live in righteousness is a GIFT from Him.

In John 4:23-24, Jesus is talking to the Samaritan woman at the well and says to her, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.“

It’s important not only to listen to this verse, but to really hear it and think about it.  To worship in spirit requires us to seek the Holy Spirit that Jesus says was sent to be our “Helper.”  He said that it was actually better for us that he returned to heaven so that we might have that Helper with us at all times, and thereby these words might be come to pass: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.“  The Holy Spirit is what allows us to live rightly before God.  It is what gives us the ability to interpret the Scriptures not in our fallen human wisdom, but with the eternal wisdom that comes from the Father.  We have so many misconceptions about God because we read the Bible without seeking the Lord’s interpretation… His truth.

Worship is not about a sensory experience or about getting a high off of God.  It’s not about making ourselves feel better, though you will ALWAYS be blessed when you worship the Lord…  worship is something that we should live out every moment of every day of our lives by living according to God’s commandments, his words, his truth.  Seek the Holy Spirit, ask him to guide you and to reveal just how worthy the Lord is of your praise.

Worship is a lifestyle.

Thanks for bearing with me, I know that this was long… “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way.  The Lord be with you all.”

“Wherever you are, be all there! Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.” — Jim Elliot

I absolutely love that quote by missionary and martyr Jim Elliot (who ministered to the Waodani natives in Ecuador) and have been praying for a similar mindset for this journey!

PRAISE GOD, I’m in Ghana safe (as is my baggage, thank you Lord!).  I got to the YWAM base around 10 or so this morning and had time to meet a few people, settle into my new room and come over to the internet cafe with Rachel, who is also an American and will be a staff member for my DTS.  I’m feeling so blessed not only for the safe travel and warm reception, but also for having an overall feeling of peace.

Ghana is a very interesting, alive place.  It sounds strange, but I love the smells!  They remind me of when I was in Kenya (even though that’s on another part of the continent) and made it seem slightly more familiar.  I already love the laid-back attitude of the people here… it’s a very people-oriented society rather than being more time-oriented.

There have been some hard points, for example saying goodbye to friends and family and thinking about just how long I’ll be here, but I’m praying that Jesus will continue to help me to live one day at a time, and not to worry about tomorrow, “for tomorrow has enough worries of its own!”  That’s why I’m so THANKFUL for this peace!  If you’re praying for me, let that be a continual part of it, that I rest in the peace of God’s presence every day!

God taught me something yesterday that I would like to share with you all:

There is very little difference between saying “I’m leaving today” and saying “I’m going today.”  However, that little difference can have an extreme impact on your heart.  When I have the minset of “leaving,” it places the emphasis on the place being left behind.  When I say, “I’m going,” it focuses on the destination. When the Lord showed me this while I was sitting in the airport, it forced me to change my perspective from one of being sad to leave to one of being excited to arrive!

Blessings to you all, and I’ll give another update when I can,

Love, Jess

Countdown: One Week To Go

¹ There is a time for everything,
       and a season for every activity under heaven:

 ² a time to be born and a time to die,
       a time to plant and a time to uproot,

 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
       a time to tear down and a time to build,

 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
       a time to mourn and a time to dance,

 ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
       a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

 ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
       a time to keep and a time to throw away,

 ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
       a time to be silent and a time to speak,

 ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
       a time for war and a time for peace.

… and, apparently, a time to wait patiently before going to Ghana and a TIME TO GO TO GHANA!!  It’s been about two months since I was originally supposed to leave for Africa, and that time to spend with friends and family (without the stress of classes) has been the most incredible blessing.  God definitely knew better than I did just how much I could (or couldn’t) have handled.

However, the waiting period is over and this week I’m finishing preparations for the trip.  I have my passport, visa, tickets, applications for DTS, and just about everything I’ll need to pack.  I’m driving over to get my typhoid and malaria meds in an hour or so (I was just going to bring MMS, but I’m going to act on the advice of others and bite the bullet).  Now all I really need is for everyone to be in prayer for me throughout the time I’m away.

I’m very serious.. I know that there will be a lot of spiritual warfare where I’m going, as well as some physical concerns, and I’m asking God to raise up prayer warriors to lift me up while I’m in Ghana.

The final and most important thing being prepared is my heart: God has worked it over in miraculous ways these past few months, from a time when leaving for 7-9 months excited me to when it terrified me to when it depressed me to the point I’m at now, which I can only describe as peace, and that has only been achieved by resting in the Lord’s strength.  Leaving everyone at CFO and in Lynchburg was hard, and I’ll miss you all dearly, but Jesus walks with me and I know He is more than sufficient.  As the apostale Paul wrote,

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me (II Corinthians 12:9).”

I love you all and you will be in my thoughts and prayers.  The next time I write, it will be from Ghana!

Blessings,

Jessie

“We Make Plans, and God Laughs”

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Romans 8:28

That amazing quote accurately sums up what has been a whirlwind month!  I am officially an alumnus of Liberty University, as of yesterday, and my newfound freedom now allows me to catch up with other neglected aspects of my life, this blog included.

Things with the orphanage are still very up-in-the-air at the moment, so I have decided that my trip will be put off until mid-July, when I will either go to Ghana a week before my DTS to stay with Millstone (if Millstone is pulled back together by that point) or I will go straight into my DTS (July-December) with the intent of going to the orphanage for 8 weeks after it ends.

Although I would have loved to spend the 10 weeks before the DTS with those children, I know they’re in God’s hands and that His plans are better than mine.  However, this entire episode, with all its confusion and difficulty for the people involved, has been a great lesson in faith and trusting the Lord.  It also allowed me to have a part, albeit a long-distance part, in the lives of those kids who I already love so much!

My tentative “plans” for this summer include remaining in Lynchburg, VA until the 3rd week of June, then returning to Winchester for a week and going to CFO with my family.  I’ve come to grips with the fact that I may NEVER miss a CFO (if that’s the case, I’m making no complaints)!  

I’ll have two or three weeks after camp to get everything together for Ghana, and I’m thinking to be there from mid July through mid February (but I hold all these plans in my hands loosely because God will tweak whatever He wants to tweak).

Thank you all for walking through this with me!  So many people have been so encouraging in conversations and prayer throughout the ordeal with Millstone and throughout my own mental and emotional struggles with everything.  I’m very blessed and I try never to lose sight of that!

αγάπη,

Jessie

Come Walk Among Us

The heart of man plans his way,
   but the LORD establishes his steps.    Proverbs 16:9

Akwaabe!  

Welcome to my new blog, which I will be updating throughout my time in Ghana as I have the opportunity.  With four-and-a-half weeks left until I’m supposed to leave, I’m feeling both extremely busy and extremely nostalgic, wishing that I could accomplish everything and still be able to spend time with everyone.  There are a lot of hurdles left to jump (e.g. last few weeks of my final college semester and my internship, getting visas, raising support, and the fact that the orphanage is still scattered at the moment), but I’m praying that God will tie up all the loose ends before then… even if it is the day-of before everything is in order!

The nostalgia comes whenever I stop to take a breath and think about all the people I love and will miss while I’m gone.  I really do love Lynchburg and all the people here… and I wish I could spend more time with everyone.  But I know that one way or another, we’ll see each other again.

I want to explain the title of my blog, as well as the purpose of this new direction my life has taken.  I’m sure most of you have heard of St. Patrick.  What you may not know is that he was actually a slave to the people he went to minister to.  He was captured and taken from his home in Scotland to Ireland when he was only a teenager.  In his book Confessions, he wrote, “I was sixteen and knew not the true God but in a strange land the Lord opened my unbelieving eyes, and I was converted”.  

After years of living as a farm slave, the Lord spoke to him clearly, saying that there was a ship waiting that would take him away from Ireland.  He followed the Lord’s direction and, sure enough, there was a ship waiting.

After returning home and receiving an education, he had a dream one night that he saw a messenger named Victoricus coming across the sea from Ireland bearing letters labeled “The Voice Of The Irish”.  He thought he could hear voices saying,  “Holy-Boy, we beg you, come walk among us again”.  And he did return to them.  This former slave went back to the land of his servitude and was used by God to convert much of Ireland to Christianity.

My attitude towards missions has changed with time and personal experience.  Though I have some things in mind that I would like to accomplish while in Ghana, the thing that has truly “called me” there is a strong desire to “walk among them.”  That is, just to be with them, share in their lives and them in mine for a beautiful season of life.  I’m going because I want to learn from them, hopefully having some things to teach as well, and because I already have a heart for the country and its children.  There is no concrete plan laid out at this point; after all, we know that when we make our plans, God laughs.

Thank you all for your continued prayers as I prepare to go!  Please be praying that God will restore Millstone International (the orphanage) within the next few weeks so that this entire trip won’t be delayed!  I love you all and I’m so thankful to have you in my life.

Grace & Peace, 

Jessie