Multiple Entries from July 10th

These are a few entries from July 10th that we could not get posted earlier

Here goes..............

Hi Folks,

This is day 7, depending on what time zone you’re in!

Most things are going well. On Saturday we spent some time in the cultural marketplace in Accra. This is where many craftspeople from across the country bring their wares for sale. It was a good intro for many on the team to the amazing quality and diversity of things that people here make to sell and to earn a living. It can be a very exhausting experience however, and some found it pretty overwhelming – I’ll let those who wish to share their stories.

Sunday we went to church. The average church service here is about 3 hours long and usually pretty loud – this was no exception.

We sang for the congregation and I was asked to bring the sermon for the day. We were well received and found the congregation very friendly. The afternoon was spent doing laundry and then a trip to the beach! An exhilarating and refreshing time in very big waves.

Monday – it’s back at work. Many loads of stone, sand and cement were carted, heaved, shoveled and watered to make concrete which was then carried by head pan up stairs to the roof of the building we are working on. We were supposed to be laying block, and it may yet happen, but right now we are the concrete brigade.

There are some struggles we are facing right now and so we seek your prayers as well. It seems that the sickness which Mikaela experienced on the aircraft may have been a flu of some sort. It also seems to be going through the Stogryn family. Hope, Isaac, Nathan and Nadia have all had their turn so far, to varying degrees. This type of environment is not one that makes being sick an easy experience for anyone, much less someone from North America who is used to a bit more comfort and convenience. On the other hand, everyone is working through it and moving forward.

Others on the team are still waiting for their bodies to adjust to the food and climate, but it is all coming around.

Our hosts are wonderful and we have made some good new friends here. We are enjoying the work, but mostly the people.

The team is great and they work very well together – we ill post more later.

Blessings and Grace to all who read this. Keep the prayers flowing.

In His Service,

Daryl

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Notes from Hope

Hi everybody!! It’s great to be getting all these notes, especially from our St Paul’s family. You don’t seem so far away.

I haven’t had time to read what the rest of the team has written so I’ll give you little tidbits you might like to know. We have lights….most of the time. The ones in our room are a little tempermental and go out if we plug in too much stuff. We have Showers!! Just cold water,African cold not Canadian cold. We get to do our laundry in buckets and hang it on the roof, which has a fantastic view!!! We cram all 17 of us plus a few Ghanaians into a 15 passenger bus and drive around. It’s crowded, but some of the roads are so washed out from recent rains, It’s better crammed in. We discovered on our way to the beach to day that you rattle around too much if not everyone is here.

The team works really well together. We are one awesome concrete moving machine. Everyone is really great about finding the best in every situation and helping everyone to laugh.

I think the Stogryns are all on the mend from the 24 hr flu. PLEASE everybody out there pray that noone else gets it. It puts a cramp in our concrete moving style.

Love to all, especially Eleanor, Geri, Ellen, Richard and Alicia (my prayer team) and thanks to Frances, Francois, and Tracy for your notes.

God Bless, Hope

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Hello everyone at home! We really enjoyed your comments from the last week! We have been praying for you, too! We pray that you won’t worry (we are being well taken care of here by our Ghanaian friends, as well as our awesome team). We, also, pray for the Lord to take care of all of you while we are gone. We have been challenged by many things -hard work, our bodies adjusting to the smells around us, living in Ghana where schedules and traffic rules are only suggestions! We are always amazed at our team’s capacity to rise to the occasion! We have had a lot of fun – playing at the beach, singing and being silly where ever we go, visiting with the children at church. Mealtime is always an occasion to laugh!

Lawrence: Thank you for being so wonderful! Benjamin: Looking forward to seeing your smiling face. Hope you’re having fun! Christopher: Hope you save some special reading time for the two of us!

Melissa: Yes, I am taking pictures! Glad to hear you had a little chat. Please continue to pray, I’m sure He’d like to hear from you again. Say hi to Shari!

Love to everyone back home! Have some ice cream for us!
Blessings, Penny

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Hello to Canada, it is good to be in Africa !!!!! We are all fine and are getting better from our many bugs. I miss everyone at home very much and Andrew yes, I am coming home to see you soon. I saw a beautiful moon up in the sky tonight as I was hanging out laundry on the roof of the compound where we are staying and I thought of you. Wish you could see all the things that I see. I swam in the ocean yesterday and played with children today. The faces of the people I see here will always be something I remember. They have nothing and yet they have everything. My heart is moved completely as I see the way that they long to make me feel welcome and go out of their way to do so. I wish I could do more however God has granted me one month here and I will take that. Heard of a family that has a child with a disability and is interested in knowing if we could offer any help from the team. Hopefully we will be able to connect with them.

The bus rides to and from the places that we go are almost unbelievable. So many people in these vehicles all going down a dirt road with vendors on either side of the road selling you anything you want. No need to go to the store to purchase anything, simply drive your vehicle down the road.

Love to everyone back home. I need to run as we have construction tomorrow and things start to become active at around 5:00am when they start to prepare breakfast for us all. Please continue to write as notes are so encouraging to all of us.

Love in Christ, Diane.