Tuesday, August 24, 2010

What I am learning

I am learning how to depend on God daily and not put as much trust in myself, my job, my bank account, my car, and my health. I am learning to see that everyday, everything good is from God. Whether it is a safe journey to town or a hot meal that fills my belly. Whether it is the opportunity to spend time with the homeless children at street church or hold hands with a small boy who lives at the city dump with his family. God is behind it all, somehow…I don’t understand it…but I am learning to see life this way.

I am still fighting the idea that my self worth comes from 'what I do' rather then 'who I am'. Everyday that goes by I wonder at night, “Was I an encouragement, am I helping, was I productive?" Most of where I find self worth and contentment is based on my performance. But I am learning how to find my identity in who I am and not in what I do. I find who I am through relationships; relationships with my creator and with the people around me. It does not matter what I accomplish that day, it is about who I spent time with.

Going to Kenya

We came to Rohi with the mind set, “How can we encourage and learn from the people here and support the ministry that is already taking place?” We came to live as closely as possible to the students and staff here. We know we are Americans, and we are not trying to pretend as if we are not, but we want to learn from them and embrace their culture and lifestyle as much as possible. This includes: how they eat, cook, clean, wash their clothes, how they buy food, and take public transit. We are learning to embrace their perspectives on time, relationships, and God.

Even after all this we realize how different we are and how despite our efforts to live in the same way, we still live in excess. Even with our small cement house, our monthly income, the clothes and things we own, we are still living above the means of the average Kenyan. With the extras we can afford like toilet paper, a cup of hot chocolate, a meal at a restaurant, having a hot shower, electricity, a roof that does not leak or let in mosquitoes, and a toilet that flushes; we realize we have many earthly comforts. How then do I live or respond?

Do I feel sorry for people that don’t have these luxuries that we take for granted and assume that everyone has?  Do I feel blessed because I do have these things? Or do I just leave it as an observation?

See a video of our home:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GuclEARk48

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Ghana

Hello family & friends! Sorry it’s taken us so long to update you all, we have been on the move and not much internet access till now. Our time in Ghana flew by so fast and we have just recently arrived in Kenya. We wanted to share a little bit from our time in Ghana.

I think both Nate and I were most inspired and humbled by the staff and leadership of the
ministry we worked with called Meaningful Life International. The leaders of MLI are so legit, they really know what they are doing and have sacrificed so much to do ministry in Ghana. All of them could easily have chosen an easier more comfortable way of life but have chosen to do ministry among the poorest of the poor. We led a team of six from Cornerstone and paired with the MLI team and did a wide variety of projects. Some of the projects we did included visiting a school for the deaf and blind, medical outreach camps in the rural villages, a ground breaking
ceremony to commence the start of the hospital building, door-to door prayer, and bringing clothes, shoes, school supplies and food to poor orphanages.

The medical outreach camps were most
impressive as they were so organized and the people are so appreciative of the care. Another RN and myself lined all the children up and administered de-worming medicine as most of the children get worms from the water or from not wearing shoes and walking through feces from animals. The children are so eager to take medicine and receive care, even the babies don’t cry at all when we assess them, so different than in the U.S.!

One special girl touched all of our hearts and I
wanted to share her story with you. Her name is
Belinda, she is 6 years old and lives in a mud hut in a village called Tsopoli. She cannot walk or
talk because she suffers from hydrocephalus. Her head is so enlarged and heavy that she can barely hold it up and shakes her head constantly due to the pressure. Her mother told us that
she tries to keep Belinda hidden in the hut as the village seems to outcast her because of the deformity. Her mother cannot afford to have the surgery or the outpatient follow up care, and so Belinda’s quality of life and life expectancy is not very good at all. This would be a very treatable condition in the states, but not in Ghana. We were able to pray healing over Belinda at church on Sunday.

Belinda’s story is an example of the large need for why MLI is building a missionary hospital. Belinda’s surgery only costs approximately $3,000 and through the medical outreach camps, they are able to find children like Belinda that they can refer to the mission hospital. MLI is in great need of more financial funds to help build the missionary hospital. Both Nate and I feel very connected to the leaders in MLI ministry and hope to support them more in the future.

Prayer

Pray for Belinda that the Lord will bring healing and peace to her and her family.

Pray for Godwin and Lenucia and the MLI team as they raise funds to build the hospital and care for the people with the clean water projects and medical outreaches.

Please pray for peace in Kenya. Today, August 4th, they are voting for a new constitution. It is quite controversial so please pray that there will be no fighting amongst the tribes.

We love you and miss you much

-Nate and Sarah