Life update:
It’s been way too long since I’ve updated on what’s been happening on this side of the world.
So here are eleven things to update you:
1. We are about to go into our third month of our eleven month journey. HOWW?!?!? Time is flying by so quickly.
2. Last month, my team lived on a compound in Cape Coast, Ghana. The compound, which was an old hotel, was run by a non-profit organization for child advocacy. We had the privilege of living with a family who all came from different backgrounds, but cared for each other as if they were blood related. Uncle P and Mary (our hosts) collectively care for these children who were once in unsafe situations and who have parents in recovery. In addition to the children, they also housed adults who were in-between life stages. I had so much fun coming home to play with the kids, but it did make finding time to rest more challenging than last month when we had our own living space.
3. During my time in Cape Coast, we taught in a local school in the mornings and played basketball with a ministry called Hoops Care International in the afternoons. Most ministry days lasted anywhere from 10-12 hours. We would wake up, have breakfast at 8am, leave the compound at 8:30am, spend time at the school, play basketball until 6:30pm and arrive home around 7:30pm for dinner at 8pm.
4. The Hoops Care Int. coaches have a heart for training boys and girls (ages 10-17) to play basketball in hopes of players receiving a scholarship to go to a university and get an education. Our role in this was to have fun getting to love on the kids and pour into them spiritually.
I connected with the teenage girls the most, which was fun for me having spent the last four years of my life as a Young Life leader. I’m really going to miss the girls I got to know this month, but I’ll always have sweet memories of the time I had with them.
Playing basketball (even though I’m not the most skilled basketball player), was probably my favorite thing about this month.
5. Ashley, my alumni team leader (who quickly became such a sweet friend), and I got to love on the preschoolers at the school we were at all month. All I have to say about that is shout out to all the preschool teachers out there. You guys are actual ANGELS.
Our mornings mostly consisted of trying to get them to listen and be still, while teaching them the alphabet, numbers, and colors, singing songs (our favorites: “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”, “The Wheels on the Bus”, and “The Moose Song”), and playing Simon Says (which worked until Simon said to sit down. Go figure.)
(Unfortunately, Ashley was only with us for the first two months:( She flew back to the States a few days ago. I miss her already!)
6. As some of you may know, I am the Beauty for Ashes Coordinator alongside my squad-mate, Hannah. Beauty for Ashes is a women’s ministry run by Adventures in Missions that aims to empower local leaders to continue discipling their communities of women in the practical application of living out the freedom of God’s truth and purpose in their lives. Throughout the month I was able to facilitate two retreats with the women and teenage girls living on our compound.
7. On one of our off days, my team got to spend the day at Kakum National Park. We hiked up the mountain and did a canopy walk through the trees of the rainforest!
The BEST part was meeting up with one of my high school friends (Russell) while we were at the park. It was so nice to feel like I had a small piece of home with me on what feels like the other side of the world.
8. My team and I are currently in Accra, Ghana for a few days until we leave for Togo early on Saturday morning. Its been nice to rest and relax before we start another full month of ministry.
9. Last night, Russell brought my team and I to one of his favorite spots to eat a local dish of Tilapia and Banku. It was SO good.
10. Togo is my LAST month in Africa!! Its been so sweet to experience West African culture these past two months. The people are full of so much life, the food is bomb, theres always music playing, and not to mention the coast is beautiful. Savoring every moment I have left here.
11. I will be posting updates as much as time and wifi allows. My time in Africa hasn’t allowed much of either, so I apologize for not updating as much as I would have liked to.
Enjoy a few more photos below from the past two months:)
