This is a bit of an excerpt from a journal entry while I was in Moldova... I am hoping that it will help catch you up to where I currently find myself:

I currently find myself staring out at the beautiful countryside of Russian Moldova... The simplicity of the life here has afforded a bit more time to process what God did in Berlin. I don't know how to explain it other than to compare it to those nature clips in which they show you flowers blooming in like triple time... or a sky filled with so many fireworks you cannot take them all in... or a whirlwind of colors that sweep you up and swirl you about... God grew us so so so quickly. We were there for only two weeks, but in that time we grew the most. We experienced Heaven on Earth... We praised in ways we've never known, we wrote songs we did not know were in us, we danced with steps we never knew, we played our instruments in ways we never knew we could... it was so crazy, we hardly could believe it ourselves, but we just let it flow, loving every second we felt our Father wash over us... But as it was said there, it is not the place that carries the anointing, but the people. And we do carry it with us...

We still carry it. We have carried it through Moldova where we had an amazing contact. We were blessed with the chance to lay the foundation to a patio for the trio of beautiful elderly women who reside at the home. We also were able to help lay the foundation to a chicken coop which was lovingly dubbed the chicken church. But it was a beautiful time to be able to rest and have life abundant spoken into our lives...

Then came the Ukraine...For me it was one of my favorite months. We were working with a church to help them jump start their youth group. Our first five days were spent camping by a river. The days were spent doing devotions in the morning, followed by borsch for breakfast, then the morning hours spent at the river until till lunch. After lunch was just hang out/rest or more time at the river. And of course one of our favorite moments was tea and cookies. Then dinner, and then usually we just hung out around the camp fire and shared stories, played games, sang songs.... I loved it. It was awesome getting to hear their hearts and to know more about who they are. Two of the youth got saved which was AWESOME!  The next week we helped plan a youth service so we were busy with practicing skits, songs, etc. It was a lot of fun and it was so cool to watch as the youth took joy and pride in what they were doing. These youth whose ages ranged from the ages of 15-19 were so passionate and desired so deeply for their friends to get it... to get that God loves them.

I think for me I realized once more the precious gift we have within. That gift that God gave us so freely through the sacrifice of His son, knowing it was the only way we could be with Him for eternity. And it is a gift we have a chance to share with the world... These youth understand this and ache to have that brought to their families, their friends and their community. They desire to build up a body that thrives in the heart of Christ and seeks after Him fully. It truly blows me away...  Aside from Berlin, where so many wonderful things happened, this ministry is one I plan on coming back to. To come alongside them to spur them on... to pour out what has been poured into me.

But first all of this must take place at home... but that thought is for another blog :)

I gasped for air like the first breath after being released from a strangle hold. The once dark sky was bright with pure light. Still breathing deeply I looked around me. The last thing I remembered was my hands holding a bottle of bitter lies in my hand instead of my shield and sword of truth. I had been yelling words as equally as bitter as the lies I was consuming. My hands were empty. I glanced around the ground around me to see if my weapons were nearby. As I did, a pair of hands reached out to me. Looking up I found myself gazing into beautifully fierce green eyes. He held my gaze as I took hold of His hands. He helped me to stand on shaking legs that felt so strange and foreign to me. "Beloved, tell Me the Truth."

I broke and purged before Him. Every bitter lie I drank was suddenly lying before me on the ground. He held pure Love to my lips and I closed my eyes as I drank deeply. Suddenly I was in a strong embrace. All around me voices were lifting me up in love and in prayers. Hands were tenderly pressed against my back, my head, my arms, holding my hands. I realized that I was in the midst of my tribe, holding tightly to one of our leaders. And it was in that moment I realized that God had won that battle... the victory was ours to celebrate.

I don't know how I can explain what this really means other than to say, "Honestly, you just had to be there." But I can say this. I realized this past week that it is far better to choose in... to choose to fight for the ones you love, and a very important part of that is to love yourself.  For me, much of my Race experience has been trying to learn how to do just that... love myself.  Prior to the Race I battled with self-esteem, self-image, etc. I wrestled with rejection and fell into the trap of living life on the defense.  Much of this was based out of the war that had been waged on my family and on me even from a very early age. While this war had some major battles, most of the weapons used against us were subtle... things that are used against most families, like lack of communication, misunderstandings, sarcasm, reasoning away or self justification, etc. And when those little things added up it took its toll. Please hear my heart on this. No one was at fault in my family for this...

This past debrief all that I experienced was a sudden revelation of how much my coping mechanisms (solitude, justification of harsh words or actions, drinking, eating, sarcasm, etc.) affected those who love me. By pushing away I gave them the finger... by harsh words or actions I slammed the door... by drinking and eating I slapped them in the face... by sarcasm I lashed out in anger... the thought overwhelmed me. However in that moment I felt I had a Peter moment... being on the water and seeing the waves... but then Jesus speaks and  the focus is brought to where it needs to be... on Him. In that moment of realizing the pain I was causing others I realized the love that was shared... I realized the overwhelming magnitude of that love and felt the strong arms of peace wrap around me. I realized that there is no reason for self preservation or defense. If you fight beside a brother or a sister there is no need to worry about what they will do to you... it is remembering what they will do for you... they will fight for you, love you, serve you, correct you, speak life over you, encourage you, intercede for you... But we all have to make that choice. And it starts with choosing to love yourself... speaking life over yourself... knowing that the person you see in the mirror is favored above all of creation by the One God... the King of Kings and Lord of Lords... Can  you look in the mirror and see beauty? Or do you criticize the person you see? Do you speak with confidence, or do you trip over yourself apologizing for things you don't really need to? Do you take time for yourself or do you get too caught up in putting other before you so much so you have forgotten how to let yourself be loved? I'm sure you can reason away any of these questions like I have in the past... but I would challenge you to sober up and answer these truthfully. Go through the chapter on love in the Bible and ask, "Do I do this with myself?"...

                                               

I flew home on June 10^th to join in the celebration of my eldest brother's wedding. It was strange to leave my Race family especially after having just come off a difficult month... not to mention the culture shock of transitioning from West Africa to Bucharest, Romania. But with my squad's prayers and blessing I flew home for 5 days. I had to laugh at myself as I wandered through airports following large student groups forgetting that I was traveling alone. The closer my flight took me to the States I realized I could understand more and more of the conversations around me which was strange to me... nine months in countries where English is not the first language will throw you off like that... And the closer I got to the States the more and more I saw of that which I had grown up with... The magazines with familiar musicians and movie stars... The Sky Mall magazine filled with handy decorative items to purchase...  Even when my middle brother picked me up from the airport I found myself staring at highways and billboards... things that should have been familiar to me, yet to be honest it seemed so strange to me.

That night I ate my mom's amazing chicken fajitas, a taste I had been craving for several months. I enjoyed to laughter and conversation with my family as we shared stories and caught up as much as we could that first night. But as I lay in bed my mind wandered to my senior quote from high school:

"Our journey will lead us back to where we began, but we return as changed people with new eyes to see what once we were blind to."
                                                                                -Erwin Mcmanus

I realized the magnitude of this quote and just how true it is for me as a World Racer... I fell asleep musing over this.

I woke in the morning to a knock on the door from my mom. It took me a bit to figure out where I was and why my mom was waking me up and not a teammate... why I was on a bed and not in a bunk... After a delicious cup of freshly brewed coffee I was off to help with the pre-wedding stuff and then to help get the house ready for the rehearsal dinner.  The next day was a blur of family and friends, a beautiful wedding ceremony, reception with a wide array of food to choose from, dancing, toasting...  Sleep finally... then a day with my mentor, her husband, and their two daughters, one of whom had arrived only a month before. Then the day with my parents and middle brother, running about picking up snacks and things that my World Race family had asked for. Then a morning with my parents, and then off to the airport.

Looking back I realized how much my eyes had changed. I saw more of the things that God has shown me throughout the course of the Race. Walking in the grocery store was hard for me... so much... so so much! And for what? I realized how overwhelmed I had been with more than one option for meals, with so many leftovers, with cars and organized highways... With stores that have everything your heart could desire. People talking about regular things... jobs, work, family, new babies, movies, music...  And not that those things are wrong... please don't hear me say that... But my heart hurt as my mind turned to the men, women, and children I have met along the way... those who have nothing... those who don't know how they will eat that day... those who have been abandoned by family, or ripped away from their family because of sickness or war... It was not pity for them that I felt though... only love... a love born from doing life with them... a love from the Father's heart. It is a love that He has been turning towards home as we draw nearer to the end of our journey here.  But after being away from my Race family I also realize how deep my love for them has  grown. We have lived so closely together for 9 months now... we have been broken together, we have soared together... We have been sick and cared for one another... We have fought... we have cried... we have laughed... we have danced...We have seen the Lord perform miracles and see how He has grown each person in our family. And I realize now that with my new eyes I see a need for the church to be healed... I see the essential nature of community... not just hang out community, but one comprised of men and women who are willing to enter into covenant... to do life with one another... to love one another no matter what... and to pursue the Kingdom with all that they are. However, I understand that this will not necessarily happen over night when we return to our beloved families and friends back in the States. But I believe it is coming swiftly. That as we return home with our new eyes we will bring this things back to share... to spread the Light of Truth and Love in a way our communities...our cities... our states... our nation has never seen. We are a generation that is going to new heights... heights made possible by the generations that have gone before us...

I have no doubt that this will not be easy for any of us on L squad, but I know that for all of us as well as for all of you... this will be merely the beginning.

I would ask a favor of all of you... please begin praying not only for us as we finish out this last leg of the race, but be praying for your families, our friends, the communities we have come from and are returning to... please pray for eyes to see the changes that God has brought us into... Pray for ears to hear the things He has put on our hearts so fervently... and pray for hearts to understand that which may to most seem like mere insanity... but in the words of Paul, "If it seems we are in our right minds it is for your sake, but if it seems we are not, it is for the sake of Christ."

And like my sister, Haley Smith said back at training camp, "We're all here, because we're not all there."

Thank you for all you have done in supporting us while we have answered God's call for this season, I look forward to, with great anticipation, seeing how God blesses you all the more for continuing that support when we return home in early September.

Of an epic nature...

I love musicals. I grew up going with my dad to help him out with mics and such at the theatre company that he would run sound for in his spare time. It was a fantastical world for me to enter into. The musicals told stories in a way that spoke to my heart... with music. Sweeping scores that not only told a story or carried a conversation, but it conveyed the emotion that normal conversations often lack. Plus there is always the grand finale. That huge number in which the entire cast sings... all those voices lifted up in one accord, the music more intense so as to leave the audience with a lasting impression. It always gives me goose bumps to hear those musical numbers. But today as we sat in the church I realized that those musical numbers draw me in for a different reason... Those numbers are of an epic nature. They are meant to push you to think, act, do that which they have sung about. Think of the epic movies you have watched... those movies that have to great last lines that give you goose bumps and made you wish that life could be that epic... Or the books with the last page that leaves you musing over it for days... Or even those songs that are meant to inspire... it all points back to an epic nature... one that I would risk saying is in all of us. I can safely say it is in me. It is why all those musical scores moved me to be as restless as the sea. They beckoned me to move into my true nature... For if I am created in the image of my Heavenly Father, who is an epic Father, would I not also be an epic being?

I was studying a section of Colossians the other day and there is a verse that talks about how we are being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator. It is as though when we are born again and we put off the old and take on the new we have to relearn our true nature. It is like we were cracked on the head and suffered from amnesia. We forgot our true nature. We forgot the gifting we were born with knit into the fiber of our being. We weighed ourselves down with false imitations of those giftings and along the way forgot that we are in this world, but not of it.... In it, but not of it! Our identity is not here in the things of the flesh... it is not how we look or the degrees we earn or the money we have or the mission trips we go on or even the people we know. Our identity is in Him. We have to remember that.... We have to allow Him to renew our knowledge and understanding. To reformat it to its original design... it takes time and for me it has only just begun, but it took having this green house that is the World Race to figure that out...

For me I have remembered that when I was created I was created with the epic nature of my Father. My heart moves and swells like the ever moving sea... the sea that carries people to other worlds and places unseen... the sea that run to depths unknown, and surges and teems with magnificent life... it  runs all through me... it is the markings of my alien race... I am of an epic nature... How about you? I bet if you stopped to think about it you would catch the clues... you would remember your true nature. Perhaps remembering you were created with your Father's epic nature too...

If you asked me to describe in a word, our experience here in Nigeria I would tell you that it would be impossible. If you asked me to describe it in 10,000 words, I might be able to convey the general idea...

It has been quite the experience thus far. Our contacts have blessed us tremendously by paying for everything. They make sure we have small comforts from home like Coke, or Skippy Peanut Butter. We are living in a flat across from theirs. The guys all get to share one room and the four girls are split between two rooms.  We are not allowed outside for our own safety and even when we do go out to evangelize we have to have security with us. It is quite entertaining to us... We spend our free time battling the heat, mice and roaches, playing card games, watching movies if we have power, or just laying in a bed talking. To be honest, the lack of internet and power has been good since the team I am now a part of is completely new. We have been able to spend our time truly getting to know one another, especially since we can't go anywhere. At times I think to myself, "I wonder if this is how Anne Frank felt while living in the Annex".  If so then I gather that they all knew each other very very well. On the plus side we do get to go to the church which is not far from here.

At church we are able to help with evangelism and on Fridays passing out food to the widows and orphans. The rest of the time we are at church we are there to participate. It has been quite the experience. One day a woman told my teammate, "Oh, you are learning to shake your butt unto the Lord!". It's true; we have been learning how to break it down during worship which is the first hour of the services.  Also the door to door evangelism is newer to most of us. The other day my team leader, Melina, and I were able to pray for a woman whose name was Mercy. She was very prego and said, "I need help". We placed our hands on her and upon her belly and began to pray. It was so crazy, because the baby very soon began to kick and move about. As it did, I heard the names "Prosper" and "Justice". I began to pray those names out loud over the baby ... I honestly don't know how to describe it but something shifted... it was amazing... Mercy left with a Light in her eyes that had not been there before... It was something I had seen once before in the eyes of patients in V//iet/nam... Hope. At the next "God's Wives" service we saw her there. She was still prego, but looked happier and more refreshed than the day we first met her.

It is crazy to think that in a matter of days we will leave Africa and head to Eastern Europe. It seems like we have not been here that long. My heart skips a beat at the thought that in Three months, the race will be over...  Wow... I really truly wish I could convey to you everything that has been going on... these words and blogs seem to do it little justice. The only thing I can suggest is to go on the Race yourself... It's funny... my friend Gretchen, who went on the January 2008 Race and then led June 09, had told me before I left that as many stories as she could tell I would not really understand until I went. She also said that blogging would be hard, not because of lack of time or internet, but because of lack of knowing how to write it all down... She was right. But I pray that through these blogs and such, you are able to catch a glimpse of the wonderful world we live in, and the Beautifully Awesome God we serve....

The world turned upside down...

It is an interesting notion to be sure. We say it a lot when things suddenly and drastically change. Sometimes it is with good connotations and other times it is said with a begrudging tone. As a Christian I know that I have said, "God is turning my world upside down" and usually have a tired, or somewhat frustrated tone... that tone that says, "I really wish You could refine me without having to rearrange and cause the upheaval of my life like that". That was usually my stance on worlds being turned upside down. It was never really a good thing in my eyes at the time. Sure, I could look back and say, "Wow that really was good." But I could never enjoy it in the moment.  Then I read three books by Ted Dekker... Black, Red, and White. It was a very small part of the first book but it has greatly affected the most recent turning upside down of my world... There is a point in which the main character is getting used to this parallel world. His guide leads him outside to find that the God character has turned the whole world upside down. The main character is frightened at first. But then the guide laughs, explains to him, "Elyon is playing!". I remember reading that part because as Ted Dekker goes on to describe the scene with beautiful detail, I found myself giggling like a child at the thought of God turning that world upside down and just how much fun it was.

Our squad recently went through a very drastic change as we experienced a "fruit-basket turnover". Every team changed, and along with it some of the team leadership changed. At first, my reaction was very much typical of me. "Not again, God. No more topsy-turvy world changes," I thought. But then as the moments passed, God brought that memory of reading about world turnovers. Before the day was done, I was overwhelmed by peace. We are about a week into that turnover, and I have seen God show up in such a beautiful way within my new team. I see God smiling and loving that we are seeing the beauty brought by the new perspective. Like in the book, this change is not meant to frighten, God is merely playing... No, not a bad, cruel "I am going to screw with your emotions," but a "This will be so good! I promise, you'll love this! Come play with Me! Trust me!" And the further I go the more I realize that this adventure that has been the World Race has been just that... me going outside the door and out to play with my Dad. The world turnovers are much like when you are a child and someone would pick you up and hold you upside down... it is not meant to be frightening... usually children get the best giggles when you do that. But yeah... I guess what I am trying to say is, this new perspective is pretty cool... I recommend that the next time you're world is turn upside down don't look at it as a horrid thing... be that child again who sees the fun and rather than drudging through the rain, go puddle jumping! Rather than being afraid of walking in the sky which is now seemingly the ground, go bouncing about on the clouds! Then you will have taken what the enemy would have twisted into a rough season will remain what the Lord intended... good. Sure if you play in the rain you will get wet and perhaps muddy, but you will have had a grand time splashing about in the puddles and dancing about in the rain... Just allow yourself to muse over that... J

Over these past 7 months we have been refined and reshaped in ways we never fathomed. Sure we all had our ideas, and had heard the stories, but still many of us find ourselves awestruck at the changes. For me personally it has been a wake up call... a call to leave the old behind for good and take up my inheritance as a daughter of God. To declare the truth that was spoken over me long before I was born...

In the movie "Fame", in the finale, the words are as follows:

"Countless hours of learning more,

Countless hours of knowing less,

Can't look behind you, you have to look ahead

So many doubts running through your mind

All the excuses, don't have the time.

All the rejection you have to leave behind,

Leave it all behind...

Hold your dreams

Don't ever let it go

Be yourself and let the world take notice

You'll find strength when people bring you down

They will see if you would only ...only believe"

The words struck me as I look back on these past seven months... I have spent countless hours on the Race learning more and more about God, who He is, who I am in Him, how the church is called to live, what being a Christ follower looks like, about the Holy Spirit, etc. and the more I learn, the more I realize how little I know. The next few lines are what resonated deeply in me as I mused over the months...

"Can't look behind you, you have to look ahead...

So many doubts running through your mind

All the excuses...Don't have the time.

All the rejection you have to leave behind...

Leave it all behind."

I, well all of us, must look ahead... Fix our eyes on the prize to which we have been called to. And We don't have time for the malarkey the enemy throws at us. We don't have time for the excuses, we don't have time to move forward carrying rejection or the fear of it. We've got to leave it all behind... a reckless abandon of all that malarkey... Leave it all behind.

So here I declare that I am not bound to my past.

I am not a captive of fear nor a slave to men.

I am free from rejection, from man's judgment, from the malarkey of the enemy.

I am worthy of being pursued by the Lord and by a man after God's heart.

I am created in His image meaning there is nothing that must be altered about my image. It is perfect just like He made me...

I have wisdom and a gift to share with others.

"The Lord is my shepherd... I have all that I need."

I am not a slave to finances for my Father has infinite resources.

I am free to dance and praise His name continually.

I dream God sized dreams for I am called to live in a God sized reality.

Within me is the power and authority given by the Father to heal the sick, raise the dead and to set the captives free.

I have the Spirit of the Lord within me, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, a Spirit of power, of love, and of sound mind.

I am a beautifully fierce Daughter of God and I am not the same woman I was when I left seven months ago...

I have been called to bring forth the gifts that were knit into the fiber of my being and invest them for the Lord. I have been called to declare the Truth using all my gifting and resources. And in these past 7 months I am being moved deeper into that understanding.

So now I ask you these two questions:

What malarkey will you sever ties with?

What truths...truths that were spoken over you long before you were born... do you declare?

For a Racer an I-pod is a multi-purpose tool. It's functions could be as follows:

1.       Personal Space. You plug in and you find some probably much needed alone time during a  14 hour bus ride or an 18 hour flight.

2.       God Time. You plug in and just soak in His presence and can read your Bible while listening to the prophetic worship of Bethel Church, etc.

3.       Worship. A lot of times on the race you get a chance to lead worship and if you are less than musically inclined you can pull out your I-pod and hook it up so your team, the squad, or whatever church you may be at can join in worshipping the Lord with Chris Tomlin, Jon Foreman, etc.

4.       Noise Blocker. If you are out in a village or even in a city a racer discovers that there is a copious amount of noises that can make it hard to sleep. I.E. dogs that bark long into the night, Roosters that did not watch the cartoons that show them as only crowing once when the sun comes up, Ethnic music, chanting over loud speakers, etc. In those instances and I-pod is a blessing that allows you to plug in and drift off to sleep to the soothing tones of Norah Jones or Jack Johnson.

5.       Mind Blocker. If you are like me, your mind runs constantly. Always thinking about something, a word you read or a word that was given to you, a moment you may or may not have missed... All those things that sometimes end up in being frustrated or restless. In those moments it is nice to tune your brain out of that and into something less complicated like Mae, or Eisely, or Shane and Shane.

These are just a few of the reasons having an I-pod on the Race can be nice. But upon our arrival here in Africa I was quickly relieved of my I-pod by someone with sticky fingers. As a result God is teaching me a lot about a life lived without my i-pod. .. It has been a bit of a challenge but I love seeing God show up.

When it first happened I was quickly reminded that whatever the enemy takes, it must be given back seven fold. I smiled at the thought of that and praised the Lord and prayed over my i-pod. I asked that even if I never get it back, that whoever took it would be changed by the worship music that was on there. I then pressed further asking that they pass it along to those in their town and that revival would break out as a result. Why Not right? We are called to live in a God sized reality so why not dream those God Sized Dreams?  Since then, my heart is growing more and more. Rather than thinking of ways to kill the roosters who start crowing at 4am and don't stop until around 5pm I've been praying that they will bless their owners... Instead of being frustrated by lack of alone space I get to learn more about my teammates and God in them. I get to turn that which the enemy intended for me to curse into a prayer list... It was a simple concept but one I had never delved deeper into. I get to spend time talking to God and blessing others rather than cursing. It drives the enemy nuts when we do that, bless rather than curse. But more than that it honors our Father when we choose to love rather than hate, rejoice rather than complain...

Also I have been learning more about worshipping the Lord with my gifts. Worship is from the heart. It is our chance to come before the Lord and tell Him how we feel about Him. It is for Him that we worship, not for ourselves. I play the guitar a little, sing a little, and write a lot. Since I can't plug into worship I have had to use the gifts that typically would remain dormant or handicapped by fear at best. In doing that though, the Lord has revealed that that is His desire. To hear His children praise Him with their gifts. To not worry about how it may sound or if  the words are pieced together in weird ways. He desires our heart... He wants it all and will do whatever it takes to get them because He aches to be with us. He aches to hear from us. It took me losing my I-pod to figure all that out. To figure out that in all things I can Love God and Love others.  And I can honor and worship by Father best by using what He has given me, and using it well by not burying my gifts but investing them in the Lord, sharing them with my teammates and my squad, sharing them in my blogs, sharing them with the nations. It's all pretty crazy, but it is better than anything I could have ever imagined asking for.

        So yeah...Please join my Hope by praying  for my i-pod... that whoever has it will encounter the Lord in a mighty way and that they will share Him with all those they meet and through that God will bless the nation of Ghana or wherever the I-pod ends up.

48 hours in a hospital bed...

I've spent some time in the hospital before, but always as a visiting family or friend, never the patient. However, I did get to spend the past 48 hours in the hospital as a patient. The diagnosis was chest infection/ malaria.I don'tfeel that it was that serious, but then again I'm not a doctor and after working for the two best podiatrists in the US J I learned never challenge doctor. They did not spend all that time in med school for nothing right? . But that Is neither here nor there... I wanted to share my experience:

While I was there I saw God show up in many many ways. First He appeared through His people at the hospital. There were many evangelists who came through to pray with patients and to share the gospel with them. A man named Thomas came to speak with me. It was a huge blessing to speak with him. After a few moments of our conversation he learned that I am a missionary, and smiled deeply. "May I share something with you?" He asked.

"Please do." I said sitting up in bed.

"You being here is no accident. If you had not been here you would not have met this old man," he smiled laughing a bit., " and this old man would not have been overjoyed to hear that brothers and sisters from other nations are coming to his country to partner with them in sharing the gospel!" He went on to share with me Romans 8:28 which talks about all things working together for good. I was greatly encouraged by those words because laying in a hospital bed was the last thing I wanted to be doing... Had I chosen, I would have been at the house on my bunk bed so I could at least be with my team to hear what God was doing in their ministry on campus. I think somewhere between being sick and being on medication I  forgot that God is not limited to the planned world race ministry... There were many others who came through to share words with me which were a rich blessing and an encouragement to spur me on in what God called us to on the Race and as Christians in general. They all said it was encouraging to them to know that God was bringing people here to share the word of God because they so desperately desire their nation to not only know God but to believe in Him.

God also appeared by allowing me the opportunity to pray for some of the staff there as well as to share some of God's word with a few as well. Sitting here now I can only laugh at myself for how I felt inside... I just wanted to go back to my team and back to our ministry, but God kept making it obvious that if I wanted ministry I was more than capable to do it there. Because every few minutes someone would walk by to ask how I was doing, what was I doing here in Ghana, etc. I think I just wanted to be back with my team because usually someone else is able to better explain things or I can tag team it with them. I don't think that I have not ever really been able to share the gospel one on one with someone... But apparently it was about time, hence the 48 hours in a hospital bed... so while I would have chosen to not get a "chest infection/malaria", God knew what was best as He usually does and for that I can't praise Him enough!

Please pray many blessings for the staff of the UCC Hospital as they took excellent care me!

Also Please pray many blessing for Gina and Forson who helped us figure out where to take me, payment, medicine, and so much more!

The streets were packed with traffic that day and her mind was occupied with thoughts of a running to-do list. Her daughter would be waiting to be picked up from school and there were groceries to buy at the market on the way home... She didn't see the other Vespa driving through the intersection. In an instant she was on the ground... It took a moment for pain to set in. The ambulance did not take long to get there. Before she knew it she was at the hospital... the medicine dripped through the IV and in a few moments the pain was gone. She would be just fine in a few weeks. Upon returning to the hospital a few weeks after the accident for some tests, she was occupied once again with that running to do list. As the doctor came in she was in the middle of trying to work out the dinner menu in her mind... "I'm sorry to have to tell you this..." he paused as though he had lost his breath, " When you came the day of the accident we had to give you a blood transfusion." She nodded, confused as to the relevance of that detail. "The donor who gave that blood had HIV. We were hoping it would not have infected you, but when we tested for it today..." the doctor sighed. There was no need for him to continue anyways... She froze... the to-do list dissipated quickly and only her daughter occupied her now racing thoughts...