8 Months and Lots of Changes

Hello Friends!

It has been far too long since I have posted an update about my journey here in Tumu.  So much has happened these past several months, and I can’t believe that I only have a handful of weeks left in Ghana.  I will be using my remaining time finishing up the lessons I had planned for these ministries, clubs and classes I have been leading.  It’s truly unbelievable how fast time goes by!

Ministries

I had a long and much needed break over Christmas because the children were on holiday from school.  My team and I took a holiday ourselves and traveled around Ghana a bit.  We had such a fun time, but I was ready to get back into the swing of things.   I am now back into my normal daily routine of working with my Children’s Bible Clubs, classes at The Vision Academy, and my Sunday School class.  It was so encouraging to come back after having been gone for over a month and to ask the children questions about what they had learned over the past 8 months and to see how much they remembered and how eager they were to learn more about God’s Word.  I was so encouraged and it was just what I needed!  I can see that these children are developing a desire and a hunger to know God and it is very exciting for me to see the excitement these children now have for God’s Word.  I am so very thankful to God for allowing me the privilege to witness this.   At times, it can be discouraging to not see any fruit from your labor, even though we know we will not always have that joy, but it’s so nice when you do!   Please be praying for me as I only have a handful of weeks left with these children before I have to begin saying goodbye to them.  Also be praying that some of the people from the surrounding churches who have shown interest in children's ministry would join Jo and Penny in making sure these ministries continue after I leave.  

CHANGE

My time in Ghana has been full of incredible adventure.  When I look back at who I was 9 months ago, it’s incredible to me to see how much I’ve changed.  God has been working on my heart and I have never been in such a close oneness with my savior.  When I was leaving home to begin this journey everyone kept telling me how much this time was going to impact me and I knew it would, but I had no idea it would be this much!  I have learned so much since being here and this post would be chapters long if I were to tell all that has happened.

Over these months here in Ghana, God has been continually not only testing me and challenging me, but He has been revealing many things to me, as well.  Through this experience I have learned so much and have developed a relationship deeper with God than I ever thought possible.  I feel like God has used this time to mature me both mentally and spiritually as it has forced me way outside of my comfort zone.  I have found that this is where God sometimes does His best work.  I have truly realized how much I need God every minute of each day and I now know how vital it is to having a consistent relationship with God and to seek his face every day.   I have been learning about the importance of prayer and that the whole point of prayer is to have a perfect and complete oneness with God.  While in Ghana I have found that my identity is in Christ and Christ alone and not in anyone else.  I have had the privilege of learning about love, and how to truly love others as myself and to become bold and not so timid in my faith.  All in all, I have learned to trust completely in God and have found that there is such a great peace that comes when you rest in Him.  

            This journey has been challenging and difficult at times, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  I am so thankful that God brought me here to this place called Ghana.   I am here because of your support and I cannot begin to ever thank you enough.  Please continue to keep me and my ministries in your prayers.

Love,

-Josie

Life In Ghana: July&August

           Hello friends, I have not posted anything in about two months! Life has been crazy, So let me bring you all up to date. 

July was a busy time with the children’s Bible clubs and teaching the children at the Vision Academy. Our Sunday school class led a children’s service one Sunday at Tumu Church where they performed a skit, recited memory verses and Penny talked to the congregation about how important children’s ministry is. A lot of work that went into trying to get all of the children ready for the service and they did such a great job!  We then traveled down to the south of Ghana for a week long SIM Spiritual Life Conference in Kumasi where we could relax, fellowship with all of the other SIM missionaries in Ghana, and be challenged spiritually by the great teachings from Rev. JFK Mensa.  It was nice to have a week off and spend time in God’s Word.  We returned to Tumu refreshed and ready to go and continued our CBCs (Children Bible Clubs) I finished out the month teaching at the Vision Academy before the children went on holiday for the month of August.

August came and went in what seemed to be the blink of an eye!   August started out pretty slow because the children were on holiday from school so I just had CBCs going on, but because the kids were out of school most children either went back to their villages or had to go to farm so only a few children were coming to CBC.  Penny and I began to plan for the Vacation Bible School that took place in two different villages outside of Tumu. The planning took lots of time and effort and I am so thankful for Penny and everyone else who helped me! The VBS took place about two weeks ago, we had about 45 children at the first village and about 200 children at the second village!  It was chaotic and exhausting, but so awesome. It was a success! I am now getting back into my normal routine of things here in Tumu. My focus this month is on building stronger relationships with these children and really getting to know them, so be praying for these connections and relationships.

Life has been quite busy and well.. It still is!  Pray that as life is busy I would continue to keep my eyes on God and keep him at the center of all that I do.

            The past four months have been filled with a lot of laughter, joy and excitement. But there has also been some difficulties and changes in my life that have been hard to swallow. God has tested me and challenged me in many different ways. I’m not going to lie - it has been hard but my relationship with God has become so much stronger and my love for Him has grown so much. God has proven himself faithful time and time again and he continues to strengthen me and remind me why I am here and that no matter what is happening at home or around me I am here and this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.  Whenever I get overwhelmed I just remember this quote from Oswald Chambers “Look up and receive the quiet contentment of the Lord Jesus.”  I asked God to stretch me and he definitely answered my prayer.. So be careful what you pray for haha!  As I am being stretched I am learning what it means to truly depend on God and my relationship with Him is being strengthened, and deepened.  It is so sweet to walk so closely with God, I find such peace and joy in that.  Pray that I would continue to hear Gods’ voice and that I would continue to rely on him and place all my trust in him.

Love,

Josie

Month Number Two!

My KG1&2 class

My second month here is coming to an end and I can’t believe it, time is flying!  This month has been a busy one starting all of my ministries here in Tumu. The past few weeks I have started 3 different children’s Bible clubs, each club has about 30-50 kids that attend, Penny and I teach them Bible stories, play games and spend time getting to know these wonderful children! Penny and I have also started teaching KG1, KG2, and Primary 1 a class on Christian Education, which means that I get to tell these precious children many Bible stories and tell them that Jesus truly does love them and for some of them it could be their first time ever hearing that.  If you combine all three classes that’s 85 kids and if you combine all three Bible clubs that’s approximately 120 kids, SO on a weekly bases we get to share the love of Christ and the true word of God with about 200 children.  God is good!  Please keep all of these precious children in your prayers because as we are trying to bring these children to Christ, Satan is trying everything to keep them from hearing the truth.

Children club in the village

I will also be teaching a Sunday school class to the sweet children at the church I attend in Tumu.  I am so excited to help these children go a little deeper in their faith! Pray that God would give me guidance and wisdom as I begin to prepare lessons for this class.

My journey in Ghana has had a very slow start, but is now starting to take off and get very busy and I am so thankful for that!  But to be honest since my ministries started and I began to share the word of God with these children, I have really been struggling spiritually and have had a lack of motivation.  I know that this is just an attack from the enemy to try and discourage me and keep me from sharing the word of God, but his plan is not working.  My faith and trust in God is stronger than ever and nothing will keep me from Him. Please be praying that God would continue to strengthen me, and that His joy would fill my spirit. 

Tumu Market

I want to thank all of you for your continued support and encouragement, it means so much to me!!!

Love,

            Josie

Patience is Key to a Life in Africa

 I have been in Ghana for one month now and have quickly realized that life moves very slow here, and I just have to accept that there is no real concept of time here.  If you tell someone to meet you at 3:30 they probably won’t show up until 6:00 and sometimes even later than that haha you just have to go with the flow.  Since I arrived in Ghana 31 days ago I have had orientation is Accra, then took the 15 hour drive from the south to the upper west region of Ghana, Tumu.  Since in Tumu I have had more orientation with my supervisor Penny, Learning about the culture and discussing what our ministries are going to look like. I have also have been working with my language helpers Miriam and Rita trying to learn some of the local language which is really fun,  it’s amazing the way the locals light up when you greet them in their own language.  It has also been great to get to know Miriam and Rita and make two really awesome friends.  Miriam’s story has really challenged me in my walk with Christ because she is so committed to serving the Lord and her story encourages me to go deeper in my walk with God and trust him so much more.  Miriam is 19 and she is the only Christian in her family and has experienced many trails because of it, but continues to place all her trust in God and prays for her family constantly and has so much faith that one day they will all serve Christ. Miriam is so incredibly strong.

After lots of prayer and planning I will be starting my ministries next week! So here is what I will be doing:  One thing I really want to do is reach the unchurched children so to do that I will be starting 4 different Kids Clubs, 3 in Tumu and 1 in a village outside of town. I will be sharing the Gospel with these kids through story telling since this is an oral community and many cannot read or write. We will be playing games and having fun building relationships while teaching these kids who Jesus is so that they can begin to build a relationship with Him.  In Tumu the schools are required to have a class on religious studies, so I will be going to teach Christian Education to the primary 1 and primary 2 students at the Vision Academy.  I will also be working with a sweet boy and teaching him how to read, He is 9 years old and is so hungry for more of God and has such a desire to know God and read His word, he wants so badly to be able to read and I can’t wait to help him reach his goal!

God is so good and continues to strengthen me and guide me, I cannot thank Him enough!

Prayer request:

1. Pray for the kids clubs that God would be speaking through me and that the kids would be receptive

2. Pray that I would continue to be led by God each day

3.Pray for rain as it is greatly needed in the upcoming months for farming and it is getting a bit hot here without it haha

P.S.  I will be posting as much as I can but the internet here tends to not like me very much and doesn’t always want to work.

Blessings,

Josie

I finally made it to Tumu!!!

Hello friends!

It has been two weeks since I arrived in Ghana, and after orientation and LOTS of traveling I have finally made it to Tumu.  Praise God for safe travels, He has been so faithful and continues to provide all of my needs!  I am so excited to start this new life in Tumu.  I will spend this week getting settled into my new home, learning the local language Sisaali, learning about this culture, and getting to know the amazing people of Tumu.
God has definitely taken me way out of my comfort zone and it has been pretty challenging at times, but it is so worth it to see God at work, and I can't wait to see what else he has in store.  I am overwhelmed with His grace and peace, He strengthens me each day and I could not do this without him.

View from my room

Another view from my room

The road to Tumu!

Prayer request;
1. I would quickly pick up on some of the language.
2. Continue trusting in God.
3. That God would lead us as we start the planning for the children ministries.
4. That our windows would get fixed soon so no more bugs! Haha


Blessings,
Josie

Preparing for my Departure!!!

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to share with you that I will be leaving for Tumu Ghana on May 3rd!!!  In just five short days I will say goodbye to my family and friends and step onto that plane to start the next chapter of this journey that I have been on for the past two years.  It is so crazy to think that in just one week from today I will be sitting in a remote village in Ghana.   I want to express my appreciation for all of your continued support and prayers for me.  It means so much to me to have such a big support system with whom I know I can always count on and for that I say, THANK YOU!  God is so faithful and I will forever praise him and serve Him with my life!

Prayer request for this week:
1. Safe travels
2. Luggage would arrive in Ghana when I do!!!
3. I would not have a bad reaction to my anti malaria medicine (Lariam)
4. To not be afraid and to trust God and keep my eyes on Him

"The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else. “Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord”
-Oswald Chambers

The One Constant of Missionary Life

I have come to realize that to be on the mission field requires lots of adjustments that you have to make and the biggest thing you have to get used to is... Change!  The one constant of missionary life is change.  You have to learn how to live with change and realize that change can be a good thing if you accept it.  I never know what God will ask me to do next or where he will take me and you may ask "Why in the world would you want to live a life like that?"  Well my answer to you is that there is no better way to live than to live in the center of God's will.  It is the most incredible place to be and I promise it will be one of the most exciting, fun, adventurous, random, humbling, yet very hard experiences you will ever have.

    When I started following God and really allowing him to truly lead my every step I never thought it would bring me to where
 I am now- peparing to move to a small village in Ghana at 19 years old. This journey has been unbelievable so far and it has only just begun.  I am so humbled at the fact that I have the privilege of going to Tumu to share God's love to the lost and broken and to encourage those who are already in the faith, teaching them more about God's goodness and His love towards them.  God is good and I will give him all the praise!

My Prayer Focus:
1. That God would continue to prepare me for the journey ahead.
2. Financial needs would be met.
3. My relationship with God would continue to grow and be strengthened.

My financial support has been pouring in and I am so close to reaching my goal! To date I need $3,552.00 by April and with Christ I know this goal is very possible. Please continue to pray for me and that my needs would be met.  Thank you all for having such generous hearts and for supporting me as I follow Christ!

Blessings,
   -Josie