This week has flown by, as per usual, but it has been a week of a lot of “lasts”; last Wednesday night church service, last women’s fellowship & Bible study, last day of teaching, and so on.
It’s not easy to leave a place that you call home for thirty days. It takes only twenty-one days for something to become a habit, and calling this place home has become one. Habits are hard to break and goodbyes are hard to say.
I had to say goodbye to my class of fourth grade students, it was not easy and all I can hope for is that they were able to experience God’s love just a little bit through the time we spent together singings songs to worship Him. I taught them a few camp songs; He’s my rock my sword my shield, Arooshtasha (I don’t know how to spell it) and Tarzan. I taught them how to have fun learning by making up “Mad Libs” for them to use grammar in, I taught them how to play hangman and “heads up, seven up”. I will miss being called Auntie Kelsey.
I must brag about our host family one more time. We have been blessed to come alongside some of the most generous people that I know. Osofo (Pastor in Ewe; and what we call Pastor Calvary) has become a protective father figure to us; he loves to goof around with us (he thinks he is really funny, and he is) and he tells us stories and we are constantly blessed by his huge smile and welcoming presence. Abigail has become like our mom, she makes the best chicken I have ever had, she cares about us making sure we have eaten enough, she jokes around with us and we can talk to her about anything in the world and she is such an amazing woman of God. Annie has definitely come out of her shell around us, we have been having breakfast with her almost everyday of the week and she just sits and listens to us talk non-stop, she has also helped us become obsessed with some soap operas during our meals; she has become like another member of our team and we love her. Hillary is wonderful although we see her the least because her school is so far away, but man is that girl sassy! And Steve, Steve, Steve, what is he going to do without all of us women around? He has come out of his shell so much and he is such a good kid. Can you see why it’s so hard to say goodbye!?
Osofo and Abigail gave us all Ewe names, so it feels like we are a part of Ghana as much as anyone from Ghana. My Ewe name is Kafui, which means praise. It helps remind me that God is why I am here and that I need to continue to give Him praise for the wonderful things he has done for me and has given me.
This week we celebrated our 50th day on the race! We had a party where we were staying and got treats throughout the day courtesy of Kelsey and Jenna. We shared our favorite moments and memories from our first two months. We also discussed that we are no longer World Race babies because new squads launch at the beginning of October.
We still have this weekend to look forward to; we have a special dinner outing with our host family tonight, we have a trip with our host family to some waterfalls to go swimming on Saturday, on Sunday we have our last church service with the congregation of Gracelife Church, after church we will be taught how to prepare native Ghana dishes (I’ll let you know how that goes), our last Sunday night Bible study class and on Monday evening our last meal with our remarkable host family.
Then we pack up all of our belongings, throw it on our backs and head to the next country where God is waiting for us. It’s bittersweet, we have been asked to stay in Ghana numerous times and it gets harder and harder to say no. Ghana is special. I really do love it here and can see myself coming back to visit. It feels like I have family here, Osofo and Abigail have become like parents to us. We have been spoiled this month with great food and even better fellowship.
I am so thankful to have had this experience and to have built these relationships for the Kingdom of God.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me financially and prayerfully. I am truly blessed to be on this crazy amazing journey and I honestly can’t thank you enough.
Until Nepal,
Kelsey
I am still in need of financial assistance! My next and final fundraising deadline is coming up fast! I am still in need of $4500! Please consider helping me continue this journey God has sent me on to come alongside ministries to help grow God’s Kingdom together! Thank you!
