It’s hard to believe that I’m already almost finished with the third month of the World Race. Getting to be in Ghana during the month of September was wonderful. Our team, Ethereal Flames, and another team, One Pulse, stayed together at a ministry called CORM. CORM stands for City of Refuge Ministries and is a place where children rescued from modern-day slavery or those who are susceptible to being trafficked have a place to call home. They also have a program for single mothers called 7 Continents to help them start seamstress businesses to support their families to prevent them from selling their children into slavery as a means of support. One of their other main ministries is Faith Roots International. It is a school where children who live at CORM and in the local village get education and love to be able to flourish.
The school and the children who lived at CORM were our main ministry. At the school we were asked to each pick a class to be a volunteer in. I was in Creche which is the smallest children aged 1-3 years old. If you know me, you know I love little kids, but I did find out how difficult it was to help teach and take care of 8 at a time. The teacher, Auntie Happy, is a joy-filled woman who loves the children she teaches well. She has a 2 month old little boy named Daniel that I had the pleasure of holding practically every day. I also got to wear him around me like the African women do. I remember how secure he felt against me and the peace it brought me.
We also got to go on prayer walks with various staff members praying over the land and the people in the area. One of the highlights of the month was visiting an art market with our two teams. The market was filled with beautiful paintings, sculptures, masks, jewelry and other various items, but that was not what made it so special. While there one of the girls started sharing about Jesus and was able to lead a couple people to the Lord. When we joined up, we were able to pray with one of the ladies and give her a Bible. There was also another woman, Mary, who was already a believer and worked in the art market that we were able to pray for. She was expecting her third or fourth child and especially wanted prayer for the child. We laid hands on her stomach and prayed, but then one of the girls asked if we could also pray for her. As we surrounded and prayed for her she started crying. It was a wonderful moment of being able to love and encourage her. As we walked away she waved bye with tears still streaming down her face.
Another special thing we got to do was host a short retreat for the women who worked at CORM called Beauty for Ashes. A couple girls got to share a testimony and message while I got to lead worship; we also had popcorn for the ladies to much on. It was great getting to pour into and bring refreshing to these ladies who pour out of themselves on a daily basis.
The Lord this month was really working on my identity in Him. As I struggled through the first month with this foreign idea of what community was and saw tremendous growth it by halfway through my second month, I was still grappling with who I was in Christ. From the beginning of the month at CORM and throughout the Holy Spirit kept confirming the word Known. He was speaking over me that even if I didn’t know who I was, He KNEW me and I could rest in that fact.
I can’t forget to mention the incredible food that was cooked for us three times a day, the spice and all. One our adventure weekend we got to travel about 5 hours away to Kakum National Park and do a treetop canopy walk in a rainforest, those views were unforgettable. Later that day we got to go to a beach house to spend the night and the next day we visited the heartbreaking Elmina Slave Castle.
Needless to say, our two teams thoroughly enjoyed our time in this amazing place which is celebrating their 10 year anniversary this year! God has done incredible things through the servant leaders that call CORM home and I’m excited to see what’s to come in the next 10 years. If you’d like to possibly donate to help them finish their church, purchase a handmade item from the 7 Continents ladies or sponsor one of the children from the Children’s Village, please visit their website: www.cityofrefugeoutreach.org
Thanks for being patient with me as I meant to have this posted about a month ago!
God bless!!!
