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