All is not lost

So here's the good stuff: Traffic made us so late that I was sure I missed a micro finance meeting that we had been invited to. Rev. Thomas (see day 1 photo), actually held over his meeting for 45 minutes of 85 people, in order for us to visit with them and dialogue with the folks who are the recipients of the micro loans. It was so cool. I greeted them and thanked them in Ghanaian (Andy has been schooling me) and they went nuts! It was so funny to experience that reaction. Most of them did not speak english, so Rev. Thomas translated for me, and then translated back their responses. What precious people these are! I asked what they liked best about the program and several of them said, "we like the teaching that comes, and especially learning about the blessing of tithing our profits back to God!" I'm not making this up, that was what they liked BEST. Wow!

The second picture is George Sr. from Kete Krachi. He has been in Accra this whole time doing some schooling, and came over to meet with us and share more about Pacodep and the needs that the ministry has. This guy is so passionate about this ministry it just warms our hearts!

Thanks for your comments!! Keep them coming!

in the car all day

Today was so weird and frustrating and exhilirating all at the same time. We chilled in the morning and decompressed the whole Kete Krachi experience, and then walked to Pastor Markwei's home to meet Andy and the plan was to go into town to purchase some computer hardware for Pacodep. Well, our ride didn't show til after lunch (no big deal), and then we went into town....sheesh! Traffic was unbelievable!! We literally sat in a car and travelled about 4-6 miles, and it took us 4 hours total travel time! I'm not kidding. And cars do whatever they want...we were on a 3 lane arterial, with four lanes of cars, driving on the dashed lines, even on the other side of the road. But here's the difference between American drivers and Ghanian: Ghanaian drivers are still nice. Even their horns are nice, no one hits each other, people let others merge....you have to see it to believe it.

A coke and a smile

After 9 hours on the road, Karen and Andy take a break and have a coke. The boat that is behind Karen and I, is the boat that the Pacodep ministry uses for child rescues. sweet.

road hazards

one of the things you learn pretty quick is that animals roam freely and are all over the roads. Yes, that is a shepherd boy wacking his cows with a stick to get them out of our way. the pic above is a monkey (look right) that was running around chasing local dogs. The pic to the left is one of goats, who are so numerous you wouldn't believe it. And they will defy you to run over them. Incredible.

More of the kiddos

This is me and the fellas being goofy. Everywhere we have been around children, they cling to you, and typically begin petting my arm hair and my leg hair. They have very little hair on their bodies, so I guess hairy anglos are a novelty. Wait til they see my back!! The other pic is Andy and Karen helping the kids with their toys. The slinky didn't go over real well, no even steps to play it on.

Everything on your head

Okay these people are amazing, we have seen little kids and old women, carrying unbelieveable poundage on their craniums. It is as natural as throwing a backpack strap on one shoulder! I have taken a million pics of this because I'm constantly amazed, but I'll show you only two.

Trafficked kids and rescued kids

So this is the problem and part of the solution in these photos. On the left is "uncle" Albert from Pacodep talking to two trafficked kids. He took Karen and I down there to see the lake and where the 3 kids escaped kids landed. While he was talking a very nicely dressed 20 something walked to the boat, with cell phone, nice leather sandals...he was their slave master. More on that later. On the right all of the rescued kids are eating a scrumptous meal of Bankoo, which is tomato based broth, a lump of soft cornmeal, and chunks of redfish. It is eaten by hand, which Andy showed us how to do.

Kids future home and brain trust

Pacodep is the name of the ministry that rescues the trafficked kids (they use the term trafficked, but it means kids in forced slavery). This is the future home that will be completed soon. But is the anglo, who sits on the Touch of Life ministry board, who oversees Pacodep. Mark is sitting across from him, he is a Christian leader and bible translator, and Albert is sitting across from Karen. We are hearing all about how the culture of trafficked kids works and how we might be able to partner with them. Very exciting conversation! They are so excited that we have come all the way there to learn.

typical village

this is a shot of one of the many villages on the way to Krachi, and these are the kids that would coming out to our vehicle, smile and wave like crazy. Apparently they are not use to seeing cowboy hats....

random shots

This is Karen putting our misquito net up by candlelight on our first night in Krachi. And this is a tro tro, standard transport for people, luggage and goats.

thanks for you prayers

Thanks Genesis for your prayers, we have really, really felt them here. There is so much that is unknown, and to feel the confident strength in God's people interceding for us is really cool. This is the ferry we crossed to get to Kete Krachi. About 8 cars and trucks would fit on it, and perhaps 150 people.

Kids and us

We brought over some toys, clothes, and fun things to give the kids. We did not give it to them all ourselves so we don't look like the American Father/Mother Christmas. BUT, we did give them a couple of toys each and Regina (the lone female) loved having Karen paint her toe nails and fingernails. It brought me great joy to see how excited they were over a simple hot wheels car, or a bottle of bubbles!

Rescued Kids

These are the 10 kids who currently reside in Kete Krachi, 7 who were rescued and 3 who escaped their slave master. Kobe (who was in the video we showed in worship) is in the orange. All of them were so happy and cheerful.

The only form of payment accepted

Karen and brought US travelers checks with us, which mean nothing here. One have found only one bank that will change them into Cedi, and then only $200 per day. bummer. We have had to borrow Cedi from the pastor who is hosting us. And no visa, not for anything!

Back online

Wow, we were pretty sure we would be out of cell coverage and internet coverage for our time in Kete Krachi, and we were right on. It feels so great to be back. I'm still having trouble uploading pics and video, but I'll keep trying! We didn't have power the first night in Krachi, so I journaled in the dark by laptop battery power, here's the entry:

August 27, 2007

Today we drove to Kete Krachi with Bud, Andy, George Jr., and our driver Kennedy. I wasn’t scared, but it did have a few harrowing moments:

-Karen convinced me to rent a driver and 4 wheel drive vehicle because it sounded like George Jr.’s car would be to small, and in case we had care problems. Guess what? So thankful Karen convinced me, because George Jr.’s car broke down 11 times on the way there!! ELEVEN! The first time, our driver dropped off the Americans at a rest stop (think kids lemonade stand with bricks), and then went back to get the car repaired with some mechanics. Karen and I interacted and took some pics of kids who continually flock to us, and then once the car came back the real fireworks started.

-Bud claims that he paid for our gas, but the gas salesman said no, he didn’t. Then the shouting started: Kennedy and George Jr. yelling back and forth at the gas salesman, a crowd was forming, and I felt like I was in the middle of a movie. I wish I would have filmed it, because Kennedy got us out of there with some heavy words, and Bud ended up giving the guy some more Cedi (Ghanaian dollars).

-The ferry ride wasn’t scary, but mostly because it was a short 20 minutes. Man the mass of humanity there was amazing! Everyone was all stares at us and I just couldn’t take it all in fast enough. We bought some cokes for the ride and bought our drivers the Guiness malt beverage that tastes like grape nuts.

-We got off and the rains came down. Up til now the road was just a mess, lots of potholes, lots of weaving in and out, and then we came up on a broken down car that had an anglo woman who was crying inside. I think she was scared, because it was getting dark, so we took her and her companion in the first car then continued on our drove to Krachi.

-The villages got progressively more and more rustic, and the children would often come running up at our car to get a glimpse of us. Some naked, some fully clothed. Most without electricity, although some had it.


-We got to Krachi around 7PM, so an 11 hour trip!! We were immediately escorted to see the trafficked kids, all lined up ready to greet us. Bud knew all their names, I was so impressed. He said that he prayed for them every day. We then were seated to eat, and were given white rice, and meat stew. The meat was mostly goat, but I know that I had at least one liver in there, I supplemented with the two loaves of bread we bought earlier. We literally had no lunch, but feasted on water bread and peanut butter all the way there.

-As we arrived we noticed there was no power at all!! So we ate by candlelight, then were taken to our rooms. Pouring rain, no lights, candles only, 4 buckets of water for the toilet and bucket showers. We hooked up the mosquito nets, looked for snakes, and then chatted for awhile about the day. Wow, God, I am truly thankful for this experience to see how your other children live.

more from day 3

The second worship experience was at the main church where they meet in a large tent, which is where I will get ot preach next Sunday. It was also lively and full of joy, lots of great worship music, singing and dancing. They even sang a few songs in english (the first worship was all in the Tree dialect) that we knew. Pastor Markwei was amazing. I am more than a little intimidated following this guy. Afterwards we walked the property where they are building a 10,000 seat conference center that should be done in 3 years, total project $7M, completely debt free. amazing.

Day 3 Ghana

Wow! What a day! We enjoyed not one but two Ghanaian worship services. When Pastor Markwei learned that Genesis was a church plant, he set us up to visit what they call a "branch" church a few miles away, and it was amazing!! Very loud, very rockin', with people dancing throughout the worship. But not weird uncomfortable to watch dancing, but incredible, rhythmic dancing that looked like a conga line, only much cooler. The woman were all dressed in bright, bright native garb, and the men either in native garb or coats and ties. The preaching was totally without notes (don't even say it), and went about an hour, it was very lively and very interactive. The tradition in the Pentacostal church is that when you feel the pastor is talking right at you, you walk to the offering container and put some bills in there while he keeps on preaching. Wild! I was asked to bring a greeting from Genesis, and I'm not sure half the people could understand my heavy accent (their words). While the service was wrapping up, Karen, Andy and I were escorted into a "green room" and given bottled beverages while the crowds thinned. I was told this was to protect us from people bothering us. Very different culture, but man is God doing some stuff in me. Pictures are very difficult for me to upload from here, but I'll try to add more later. Pray for us as we head north to Kete Krachi tomorrow, it will be a harrowing 10 hour drive, but we are excited to meet the kids rescued from the lake.

Amazing Canadians

These four have just spetn 2 and a half months in Kete Krachi, documenting the many children who are enslaved in the upper Volta region. Under the guise of checking the children's health, they counted, documented names, ages and years of enslavement of the kids. They had several scary times when slave masters were not happy they were there, and had many heart breaking stories of children who bore the scars of severe mistreatment and abuse. The Canadians came during their summer break because they believed they needed to do something to help. We learned so much from them.

pics

Day 2 in Ghana

Today was another amazing day, completely full and completely awesome. We hired a driver (since we can't drive here and the traffic is unreal) to take us to Village of Hope. This is an orphanage sponsored by the Church of Christ, and they house 178 kids and provide education for another 200 or so during the school year. They serve 14 villages around them. Compared to the last orphanage there were some marked differences and some similarities. Differences: the place was incredibly clean, organized and huge!! they have over 25 acres, and lots of cool buildings for the kids to live in, each with a house Mom and Dad, very well groomed all the way around. the similarities: these kids just make you smile man! every single one of them is just happy to be alive and have somebody to love them, it's truly amazing!

more Ghana pics from day 1

Orphanage photos

First Orphanage trip

Today we went to visit Peace and Love Orphanage just outside of Accra and it was amazing. Imagine taking care of 100 kids from babies to teenagers, all of them abandoned or abused or just given up because a parent tried to sell them? Grace is a former Ghanaian TV actress who decided to turn her property into this amazing orphanage. The children were so sweet and just loved all over you. Several of them were in awe of my hairy arms and pretended to trim them with scissors...nice. The dance was amazing and drummers were too.

Photos of first full day in Ghana

This is Andy and I with Pastor Thomas, who is a branch pastor (church planter) with the Living Streams pastor we are being hosted by. But he is not just a pastor, he is also the director of a sweet micro finance organization that groups people together (mostly women), and gives them loans of 1000 million cedi, which is about $100. It was so powerful to hear how faith based work like this not only helps people to survive, but has won many to the Gospel of Jesus too. awesome!

Oak Plaza Hotel

This is a couple of shots of our hotel. We are so grateful that Pastor Markwei has set us up in a place that is literally next door to his home.

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We're in Africa!!

We are so excited!! we got in last night around 8pm, made it through customs without much problem, then found Andy Laryea waiting for us at the airport exit, we squished our 6 suitcases into the car and then entered the most amazing traffic jam I've ever seen in any city in the evening!! We then went to the home of Pastor and Mrs. Ebenezer Markwei, our host while we are in Accra. We were met with hugs from he and his household help, we chatted for a bit about customs in the different regions (wow, getting married here is very interesting, more later...) around Ghana. Then, Pastor Markwei said, "well, let's eat!!" this was around 10:30pm, and Karen was already full, and so was I but we ate anyway. The menu was two different kinds of rice, chicken gizzards in red sauce, barbecued goat, chicken thighs, and spicey plantain. Of course I tried everything, and it was all delicious. We then talked, (okay mostly listened) to Pastor Markwei talk about his ministry here and abroad. We finally were escorted to our hotel at about 1am. Whipped, but glad to be here. I will try to post pictures of our day later on this evening. btw, while you are quietly sleeping at 2:51am, we are off to start our day at 9:51am.

talk to you soon Genesis!! Thanks for your prayers, we are so blessed to have you supporting us~!

in His Grip,

Pat and Karen and Andy

video test

http://www.youtube.com/v/TjFjOg573-U

more medication than I hope I'll ever need

So Karen and I have a small drug store that we are taking with us to Ghana. In addition to 8 shots, a prescription for Malaria pills, we have any over the counter medication that we might possibly need: heavy duty anti biotics, Airborn, first aid kit, and stuff you probably don't want to know about...

soccer balls and more clothes

Karen, my wife, has been doing all kinds of shopping for the recently rescued child slaves. She is a wheeler deeler man! When Old Navy and Target sees her coming, they know they are losing money!

70 lbs of clothes for African kiddos

One of the places we are visiting is a ministry that rescues child slaves from the fishing industry there. Karen has been looking at pictures of the kids, and with the help of generous Genesis people, has purchased shorts and shirts for them. She tells me I will have room to back a pair of underwear for myself, one shirt, one pair of shorts and flip flops. I will be wearing several layers of clothing on my body so I have a few more options...

Up and Running

This is where I'll post updates from our Ghana trip.
Thank you for your prayers as we begin this adventure.

ihg,
PS