Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

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

Thursday, June 4, 2015

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

Monday, May 18, 2015

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

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

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

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

fundraising: A stressful but exciting time

    A couple of months ago, I started the process of raising support for my mission to Tumu, Ghana.  To be honest, the process of writing letters and sharing my vision can be so exciting at times, yet very stressful at others.  Seeing how generous people are and watching how God provides little by little is amazing!  At the same time it is hard to not worry about all the details involved with planning: the finances, more immunizations, coordinating travel plans, and on and on. Trusting God with everything is not always easy! It's hard, but I know that it is worth everything to be led by such an awesome God.

    I have to continue to give up control of my life every day and surrender completely to God and to remind myself that God is in control not me.  He is my provider and this journey to Africa would not be possible without Him!

    To date my financial support is coming along sure and steady. Thank you to all who have responded and given so generously!  I still need about $13,000 in support and am trusting that God will provide.

    My prayer focus this month:
          1.  Trust God to provide for all my needs, both big and small.
          2.  No problems receiving immunizations
          3.  Direction in planning for my departure
 

Also I just received my prayer cards and will be sending them out soon.  Be sure to look for yours in the mail!



Blessings,
Josie