Update Jan 4

If all goes well, this will be my second blog post in 1 week.  I’m pretty sure all the others have come years or months apart, so this may become a new personal record.  It’s about a quarter past eight though, and I’m hot and bored, and feeling a bit reflective.

The power has been out for a couple of days.  The locals like to set small brush fires this time of year.  They call it “weeding”, but I haven’t yet ascertained its purpose.  In any event, a neighboring village accidentally burned down a couple of power line poles.  At least way out here in the sticks, the government and/or power company will not be coming to our rescue.  Allegedly, the power company will fix the lines only if Makango acquires one or two new poles.  It’s up to Makango because the neighboring village, who is actually responsible for setting fire to the poles, is even smaller and more remote and does not care if their lights work or not.  The people in Makango are quite upset about their lights, but aren’t yet motivated enough to buy new poles.  The cost is minimal, only about $400 USD.  They have begun taking a collection, but it is slow going.  Since we are part of the community, we are going to contribute.  Actually, we’re going to pitch in substantially more than our “fair share”, but we don’t want to shoulder the entire financial burden.  That seems like a bad precedent to establish this early on.

In fact, we’re lucky there are even poles available to purchase.  Rumor has it, poles are lost to fires every year.  Last year there were no poles available to purchase close by.  The power company told Makango to go and take a pole from a near-by village.  However, the power company had given this pole to the near-by village sometime back along with promises of improving that village’s infrastructure.  Of course, the power company hadn’t yet followed through with their promises.  This village chased away the Makango people with stones and machetes, seriously – at least that’s how the story goes.

I’ve asked many Ghanaians about the fires and mostly they respond by shrugging their shoulders.  Our Ghanaian friend Alice told us today that young boys set the fires to drive out small animals for hunting.  I don’t think this is entirely true – or false.  It’s probably one of many reasons.  It seems odd to me though that most people just go along with the fires, even though they burn down power line poles and occasionally homes, without even knowing why they are set in the first place.  I guess it’s just a tradition of sorts.  I spoke with an American missionary two weeks ago and asked him about the fires.  He’s lived here for 5 years and still hasn’t figured out the reasoning.  With a few “obrunis” pressuring the counsel and power company, I’m hopeful we will have power again within 2 or 3 more days.  Last year, it took several weeks.  Again, that’s the rumor.  There are plenty of stories and rumors in Ghana.  It’s part of the culture.  Mostly, we take them with a grain of salt.

Our life here is both interesting and dull.  Like in Haiti, progress comes slowly.  I anticipated this though, so it isn’t a shock; but it is still sometimes discouraging.  The second “rescue” will happen in about 2 weeks.  There are more than 20 trafficked children who will soon be headed to rehab, then home, then back to school.  Most of the groundwork for this operation was laid well before my family arrived in Ghana.  I’m feeling absolutely ecstatic for these children, but my work has had very little to do with their release.  What I’m trying to articulate is that life here feels an awful lot like life at home.  We’re simply living and muddling through the details.  Sure, we have goals, a plan and ambitions.  But we still live day to day just like everyone else.  We are here because we believe God gives Christians explicit instructions to love (AND DO) justice.  However, living in the 3^rd world and doing justice work does not necessarily bring you a sense of fulfillment, not every day.  We’re definitely not any more spiritual or better Christians than our friends at home.  We’re exactly the same people as we were in Utah, just doing a different job in a different location.  Sometimes the praise and compliments we receive (though I know they are simply meant to encourage) makes me feel uncomfortable.  My job title with Mercy Project is “missionary.”  I’m still not sure that this term is well suited in our instance.  Missionaries are supposed to be better Christians.  They pray and read their bibles every day.  They go to church on Sundays.  They struggle less with sin.  Besides caring for the poor and downtrodden, they convert the lost and baptize new believers.  If that’s the definition of a true missionary, I’ll never measure up.  Besides, we came here to fish : )

As we were considering this move, several of our pastors advised us not to take the leap into “ministry” if our motivation was merely a desire to feel fulfilled or wishing to know that we are living “God’s will.”  I understood them then, but totally get it now.  Still, even though some of our struggles have not changed, our family is on mission together – for the first time ever.  That’s pretty cool.  We do get to live for a cause that’s bigger than us.  And that’s pretty cool too.  I love what Mercy Project is about and I’m looking forward to feeling useful in the future.

The power loss and heat ushered in some culture shock, which has put me on edge the last day or so.  I’m not going to let that dampen my outlook.  Things are in fact going extremely well.  We found a new hatchery to buy better quality fingerlings.  The manager is traveling to Sabonjeda with us on January 7^th.  The villagers in Sabonjeda are excited for us to bring in a cage fishing expert.  This guy’s name is Blackie.  Blackie is going to help us measure the water quality.  He will also make some operational recommendations aimed at improving our success with the cages.  During the Christmas break, we learned lots about stocking densities, fingerling size and transport, grading, acclimation, dissolved oxygen, pH, ammonia and carbon dioxide.  No doubt, we are working hard to become cage culture experts.  I like having a very specific job description.  Being given the specific task of making the cage fishing successful is one of several big reasons why this opportunity with Mercy Project is such a good fit for me and my personality.  There are other extremely competent missionaries and staff (American and Ghanaian) who can focus on other areas of responsibility.

We love Clint and Hailey.  They’re super easy to live with.  Literally, there has been zero conflict between our two families.  Also, they spend a ton of time with our kids.  Whether it’s crafts or games, our kids are having a fun time.  This means the world to us, and we’re so thankful they are putting forth the effort.  The Ghanaian staff is great too.  We’ve spent a lot of time with John Patrick (JP or John P. or Patrick) and Sam.  These guys are kind, patient, trustworthy, talented and intelligent.  We’re their partners, not bosses.  Prior to arriving in Ghana, I thought the dynamics between our family, the Askin’s and Ghanaian staff might be tricky.  But so far, my concerns are unfounded.  Really, relational dynamics couldn’t be much better.

Right now, there is a baby lizard on the wall.  He’s busy at work lapping up gnats, which – right now – makes him my best friend.  I do miss our closest friends from home, especially Maverick (my dog), the Draper’s, Summer’s, Normandeau’s (sp?), McLaughlin’s, Bardolph’s, Rollinson’s, Bird’s and Nance’s (lol!).  Drinking buddies are hard to come by, as are good drinks – especially beer.  I’d kill for a Uintah Brewing Company Golden Spike Hefeweizen.  Did I mention how much I miss my dog?  Holy crap, I could have never guessed how hard leaving him behind was going to be. We are making friends in Makango.  It’s not exactly the same though.  There is a group of boys that come to our home each day.  Sometimes we arm wrestle.  Sometimes we bowl with water bottles and trash.  Sometimes we shoot slingshots.  The Ghanaian kids call slingshots “catapults.”  Liv always confuses the word “catapult” with “parachute.”  It’s hilarious because each day when the boys come over, Liv says “Dad, the parachute guys are here.”  These boys also enjoy boxing and Kung Fu.  Here’s a pic of us all watching UFC together.  Thank you James Rollinson for bringing the UFC to Ghana : )  We all had a blast watching Anderson Silva pummel Chael Sonnen. He’s such a punk.

It’s late.  I’m getting tired and have taken to rambling.  Good night.

And good morning.  It’s about 11:30AM in Ghana.  Early this morning Mr. Mumuni came to my home looking for money and a ride to the job site.  I was happy to give him our contribution and a ride.  I’m optimistic that we may have power later today.  At the job site, there were 15 or so men from Makango with pick-axes digging up remnants of the old pole.  It looked like back breaking work.  There are no power tools or machines.  Three workers from the VRA (Volta River Authority) were also present.  The pole, some hand tools (a screwdriver and pliers), and extra power line was in the back of their small Nissan pick-up.  I did get the impression that the VRA men may be expecting a “dash” (tip) from the “obrunis” once the power has been “onned.”  In Ghana, you don’t “turn on the light” or “turn off the light”.  Rather, you “on the light” or “off the light.”  So, if it’s already been turned on or off it’s referred to as “onned” or “offed.”  My English is going to be totally screwed up by the time I return to the States!  At least I’m not saying “y’all” any longer…

I feel a bit guilty this morning.  Our friend Alice keeps asking us to attend church with her on Saturday.  She goes to the “Church of God.”  After a bit of questioning, she was able to confirm that her church was started by a Seventh Day Adventist pastor from America.  We haven’t gone with her yet.  Saturday is our first day of the week without homeschooling.  On Friday, going to church Saturday morning sounds like a good idea.  By early Saturday morning, not so much.  African church services are looong, hot, uncomfortable and not in English.  Yet, we want to go to church so that we can worship God corporately.  That’s important, plus we are trying to assimilate into the community.  Once the other Mercy Project building is complete, maybe we can start a small house church or something.  Unless you’re Muslim, there are few choices in Makango.

We live in Makango, but work in smaller, more remote villages around the lake.  For some reason, the people in Makango were under the impression that we were coming here to build schools or clinics and invest in their community, rather than work on the lake.  We’ve heard rumors that there is some disappointment due to the lack of community projects by Mercy Project in Makango.  Though there aren’t any trafficked children in Makango, there are still plenty of needs.  The town’s people are poor and unemployment is high.  Though the cost is only about $7/year, some families cannot afford government health insurance for their children.  This means that something relatively common and simple to treat like Malaria could have dire consequences.  Some kids appear malnourished (my guess is not lack of food but rather disease, lack of nutritious foods and/or food variety, or parasites) and some do not attend school.  Women do not have equal rights with men, and typically work much harder.  All of this presents our family with some unique opportunities to assist and serve.  Over the last couple of days, we’ve had some wonderful conversations regarding microloans, microbusinesses, and savings clubs.  Within the next 1 to 2 months, we would like to start a savings club for some women Makango.  Ideally, we’ll be able to include the most disadvantaged women, maybe the elderly or widows.  Given a chance to “get ahead”, most women in Makango will work studiously.  As quickly as the cage fishing is back on track, we’d like begin this other work.  We have lots of ideas, and so do the women in Makango!  Pray that we can get the cage fishing working soon.

Last night the kids and I were playing “spoons.”  Madelynn jumped up quickly knocking over Liv’s box of Nerds, so I thought.  Like you do when a box of Nerds gets knocked over, I quickly grabbed several for myself and popped them in my mouth.  I guess I’m just plain dumb because I took 3 or 4 hard bites before realizing that something was wrong with these Nerds.  Here’s what really happened…  Madelynn jumped up and knocked over an empty box of Nerds.  She also snagged her bead bracelet on the plastic table.  Rather than Nerds, it was her beads that fell on the table.  Because we didn’t have power, we were playing the game with a rechargeable lamp, so the light was dim.  I mistook the beads for Nerds and nearly broke my tooth!  My mouth is still sore this morning.  It would have been funnier if our friends were here to witness my stupid mistake and then harass me mercilessly.  Clint and Hailey were having a “date night”, so they weren’t even here to see.  Their date night involved cooking together and a backpacking or mining headlamp.  Hmmmm.  Date nights are always at home as there is nowhere to go in Makango.

I addition to a Uintah Brewing Company Golden Spike Hefeweizen, I’d kill for a date in America with Ruth.  Lately, we’ve taken to reminiscing about our last date night in Las Vegas.  We stayed at the Palazzo and ate at Lava.  We drank just enough for two err responsible and consenting adults.  Good times –  maybe even the best date night of our entire lives.  Hailing from Africa with a small baby, I’m afraid it will be some time before we get the chance to take that sort of trip again.  Ah, and we will never forget Fiji.  Or steaks and boneless buffalo chicken sandwiches…  But I digress.  We’re starting to plan a Ghana staycation.  I think it will be good for us to take a short break at 3 months or 6 months.  There are beaches in Accra and several hotels with swimming pools in Accra and Kumasi.  There are several lakes and nature preserves, some with small amounts of African wildlife (monkeys and birds mostly I think), to visit.  It should be fun and, when we go, I’ll post pics.

Adios!

Afternoon update:  The lights have been “onned.”  Woo-hoo!

Welcome to Makango, Northern Ghana, West Africa.

Though it’s only been 4 months since we left “home” (Utah), it’s hard to imagine us anywhere else but here.  Mostly, the time has flown by; especially the last 30 days or so spent in Ghana.  Makango will never be anything like home, but it is starting to feel something like it.  Does that make any sense at all?  Clint and I travelled twice during the last couple of weeks, once to Accra and once to Kumasi.  Both times, I was relieved when we arrived back in Yeji.  The people and scenery in this part of the country are beginning to seem familiar.  That’s all I mean, I guess.  But overall, we like it here.  We’ve begun work and homeschooling, and settled into some routines.  I’ve have lots to write about Ghana and our journey getting here.  I haven’t been able to group my thoughts well.  So, this is going to sound a lot like rambling, probably because it is.  Disappointing as it may be to my 7^th grade English teacher, there will be no 5 paragraph essay today.

I’ll tackle the major gripes first.  They’re easy and I just want to get them out-of-the-way.  Really, I have only two:  1) Bugs, 2) Lack of cell/internet coverage at or near our house.  Ghana is pretty rad, but our home was built in the middle of the jungle forest.  This jungle forest is alive and, if you look closely, it moves.  During the day, the bugs don’t bother us, but we can’t go outside at night, period.  Despite the netting, windows and curtains, some bugs manage to get inside.  Mosquitos haven’t been successful, thank God!  But there are these teeny tiny biting gnats, and they do get inside, no matter what precautions we take.  It’s the dry season right now, so there is some reprieve, but not too much.  Because of the gnats, we have to keep most of the lights turned off at night.  Sitting around in relative darkness at night is wearing thin. It’s not unbearable though and definitely sounds like a “first world problem” when compared to the average Makangonian’s living conditions.  Same thing I guess with the cell phone networks.  MTN and Vodafone must have not seen the building permits for our home; therefore, they were not able to build towers closer by.  And there aren’t too many existing towers in this jungle forest.  In order to use the phone or internet, we have to drive our SUV down by the lake.  It’s only a 7 or 8 minutes drive, but it’s become a nuisance.  I would like to spend more time speaking with friends, sending email, surfing the internet, and playing with Facebook.  At home, these things are sometimes a time suck.  But here, access would help us feel more connected.  Boom!  That’s it.  I really do like Ghana.

I won’t say anything broad and silly like “all the people in Ghana are sooo beautiful.”  I’ll also try hard not to make stupid assumptions such as the people here must be more spiritual or closer to God because they are African, live simpler lives, are materially poor, or worship in different ways.  That being said, I really do like, and am beginning to appreciate, the Ghanaian people and their culture.  I especially like the people and culture in the particular region of Ghana where we live and do most of our work.  It’s rural, away from the big cities like Accra and Kumasi.  People here generally are laid back and friendly.  Everywhere we go there are lots of smiles, waves and “hellos.” Nearly every day, people from town drop by our home to visit.  Because this part of the country is remote and under-served, it has not been saturated with NGOs and westerners.  That’s good for us because the culture has not changed to worship or take advantage of outsiders.  We don’t get the best seat on the boat or pay more for a bottle of Coke because we’re Caucasian.  Most of us are Caucasian anyways, except for Ruth.  I guess half the kids, but they look Caucasian.  The Ghanaians don’t know what to make of Ruth.   White people are uncommon, but most of them have probably never seen a Hispanic person before.  In any event, they treat all of us well, but not like bosses or royalty.  That’s great, because we don’t want to be treated like bosses, or really anybody special.  As best we can, we want to be part of the community, definitely not above it.

So far, the culture shock has not been as difficult as I anticipated.  Either it’s a cyclical thing based on the expected length of time spent in country and we haven’t yet reached the worst part of the cycle OR, Haiti set the bar really, really high and we came here better prepared.  It hasn’t been a cake walk, but life here has been much smoother than our time in Haiti.  Of course, Ruth and I bicker some.  And the kids whine and fight with each other on occasion. But it hasn’t been any worse here than at home or in Texas.  Our family was beginning to come unraveled in Haiti.  The 3 months we spent in Jacmel were some of the hardest of our lives.  I’m so grateful that it hasn’t been like that here.  I’m also grateful and indebted to our friends and family at home that pray specifically for our marriage and family dynamics.  My opinion is that, if our marriage and family succeed in Ghana, so too will our mission- likely.

Our first foray into cage fishing was an epic fail.  To put things bluntly, the fingerlings (baby fish) died.  This sucks but, for several reasons, isn’t the end of the world.  First, now that we’re here, we can get new fish and try again soon.  In times past, it could take months for Chris (who lives and works stateside) to assess the situation, plan a trip and procure new fingerlings.  Secondly, we have some good ideas as to what caused the fish to die.  It’s mostly likely a problem with dissolved oxygen, pH levels or a blood/water salinity imbalance.  These are things we can fix.  It won’t be long before we make some minor changes and try again.  In fact, we should have more fingerlings in the lake by mid-January.  Also, we’ve met some local aquaculture and cage culture experts who are willing to offer us their time and expertise.  Several would like to do so for free because we’re an NGO and they are sympathetic to our cause.  Clint and I aren’t (yet!) cage culture fishing experts, and I truly believe that God directed us in establishing these crucial relationships.  Lastly, the villagers are patient.  They want to partner with Mercy Project.  They want to learn cage fishing.  They’re impressed that we keep coming back to their villages.  This level of investment by an NGO is uncommon.  And I believe that God has impressed on them that it is indeed important to choose freedom.

Then there is Twi.  Ah, yes – language learning.  I’ve read many missionary blogs and believe what they have to say regarding learning the native tongue.  The thing is, there are roughly 45 different languages in Ghana.  Many days we can get by with English.  In fact, most writing is in English.  Road signs, business names, billboards, menus, etc. are all in English.  Some days though, we cannot.  But you never know if the person you are speaking with speaks Twi either.  In our region, Fanti, Gonja and Hausa are popular.  There is no way we are going to learn 4 new languages, at least not in a few years!  We aren’t here to proselytize or train pastors in theology either.  To do that properly, we’d have to understand much more about the culture than just its language.  We’re picking it up slowly though.  I imagine we’ll have a pretty good grasp of it sometime before we head home.

Now, for the brief and/or mundane, I’ve reserved bullet points:

• We drive a Tata Safari.  Since my visit to India in 2009, I’ve wanted a Tata or Mahindra.  While it isn’t a Toyota or Nissan in terms of quality, this car is going to have character.  I can tell.  Plus, it’s half the price (or less) than a Japanese vehicle of similar proportions.
• I killed a snake with my machete last week.  I was going to post a pic but realized the snake was tiny and that my friends would make fun of me.  One of the locals though told me that it was an extremely poisonous snake.  I found it by the fire pit.
• We burn our trash.  I wish we could employ some sort of sustainable or environmentally friendly practice.  Really, I do.  But there are zero options here.  The best thing we can do is try not to bring too much trash home.  I still have no idea what we’re going to do with glass, metal or other items that will not burn.
• The house is pretty fantastic.  The electricity works 95% of the time.  We have wall mounted A/C units in each bedroom and the main living area.  The “Latex Foam” bed is large and comfy.  We have a well, running water and septic tank.  We live towards the end of a long dirt road.  The home is set back from the road and the nights are quiet and peaceful.  There are Acacia and Mango trees on our land.
• We accidentally pumped the well dry last week.  This resulted in lots of dirty water and mud in our reservoir.  I found out late in the day after arriving home from a long trip to Kumasi.  I was tired and nearly out of patience.  I did experience some culture shock that night.  Luckily, the water has already cleared up and the well is replenished after a 5 day or so break.  There is plenty of safe drinking water available for purchase nearby, so this was merely an inconvenience.
• Aside from the insects, there isn’t much alive in the bush around here.  We hear lots of birds in the mornings, but rarely see them.  There are no monkeys, lions, tigers, giraffes, hippos, zebras, crocodiles, gazelles, cheetahs, elephants or any other animal featured in the Lion King or National Geographic special.  We do have lizards and bats.  Both live in our attic space in between the ceiling and roof.  Since they both eat insects, I’m cool with them.
• A friend from Makango built us a chicken coop.  We were going to buy chickens this week but said friend’s wife told us that all the chickens in Ghana are dying right now. She said that this happens every year.  I have no idea.  However, I’m not going to pretend to be smarter than the locals.  We’re going to buy the chickens next month or buy guinea fowl instead.
• Right now, and for the past couple of weeks, the sky has been hazy and filled with ash.  The villagers like to burn the brush during the dry season.  Apparently thought, the fires are not the sole cause of the hazy sky.   Trade winds are currently blowing silt and dust from the Sahara desert through this region.
• The kids like homeschool.  Ruth teaches them everything except math.  She actually teaches them that too when I’m not home.  However, the days that I am home and not working, I teach them math.  I really like spending that time with the kids.  They asked Ruth to do homeschool even after we return home.  Haha, the answer is no for now.
• Dang it!  The power just went out.  I also have to figure out what to do with the frozen, but never gutted, salmon that’s sitting on the counter thawing for dinner.  [edit:  see below.  the winners of the “catapult” contest took home the frozen, but never gutted, salmon.  they said it’s great and were very surprised that we didn’t know what to do with it.]

I’ve said it before, but it’s worth saying again:  we’re blessed to be here.  We’re grateful for the opportunity to live life differently, even if it’s just for a season.  We’re here to learn and serve and give.  No doubt we’ll also experience life that is rich and full and different, and sometimes stressful and difficult.  Hopefully, as a result of our time here, trafficked children around this lake will return to their homes, live with their biological parents or next of kin, and go to school.   As adults, these children will probably not remember our names or faces.  That’s okay – I prefer it that way.  My hope is that they see love.  Not our love, but God’s love.  I hope that God is glorified by our work and their lives.   Ruth and I continue to covet your friendship, prayers, thoughts and readership.

Time to go.  There is no time for proofreading.  I’m sorry for leaving so many spelling and other grammatical errors unfixed. No doubt there are plenty needing attention. My buddies with catapults (slingshots) just came over for target practice and arm wrestling.

And the pic…  Old?  Yes.  Used once before here?  Yes.  From Ghana?  Nope.  Haiti?  Yes.  Why?  It’s my most popular pic ever and, in my ever so humble opinion, adds some much-needed sexiness to this blog post.  I mean, look at those well-groomed armpits.

Good-bye Bryan (and a plea)

I grossly underestimated how difficult transition was going to be for the kids.  When I was a kid, my family moved from Mississippi to Wyoming to Utah.  And honestly, I can’t remember caring much.  For some unknown reason, I just figured my kids would be the same.  I know, I know…dumb (rookie?) mistake.  Obviously,  the kind of uprooting and change we signed up for is going to be a catalyst for all sorts of powerful and mixed emotions, especially for Maddie and Liv.  They’ve had to say all sorts of “good-byes” lately.  Good-bye to friends.  Good-bye to grandparents.  Good-bye to extended family.  Good-bye to school and teachers.  Good-bye to church.  Good-bye to neighbors.  Good-bye to toys.  Good-bye to pink bedrooms.  Good-bye to Maverick.  They’ve said “good-bye” to just about everything familiar, except for immediate family.  Ya’ll probably knew this already, but that’s tough for a 6 and almost 9 year old.  Ruth and I said most of the same “good-byes.”  But we’re grown-ups.  We are mentally and emotionally equipped to deal with loss, stress, and change.  Plus, we better understand why we had to say “good-bye” in the first place.  In any event, the kids sadness kind of blindsided me, and that sucks.

Now, we’re getting ready to say “good-bye” again.  This time to Bryan, Texas.  No offense Bryan, but this isn’t a real big deal for Ruth and I.  We love Bryan and all, but – for crying out loud – we’re ready to be in Ghana already!  Again, it’s a little different for the kiddos.  They’ve only made a few friends since we left Utah.  And there are really only 2 little girls whom they play with regularly.

Enter the Faulkners.  We’re thankful that Matt and Amy let us live in their garage apartment.  It’s been great, really.  We even found time to enjoy a few drinks together.  What’s been better than the real estate and beer though are their daughters, Lily and Emma.  During this period of transition, they’ve been my girls’ friends.  In fact, right now the four of them are playing together and having a blast.  The thing is, we’re loading up the U-Haul and driving to Houston tomorrow.  This is probably the last time Maddy and Liv will get to play with Lily and Emma.  And I don’t really have the heart to tell them.  Like with the gecko and cockroach, I need to “dad up.”  But I don’t think I can.

I’m so excited about where we’re going.  I’m stinking excited that we get to be part of Mercy Project’s work in Ghana.  I don’t even mind the sacrifices Ruth and I made along the way.  I mean, I knew about them.   I planned to make them.  I would go as far as to say that we thought it would be wrong not to make them.  There are more to come.  However, our decision is solid.  No regrets, none.

I just wish that my kids could be happy all the time.  I wish I could take away their sad feelings.  I wish that I could lift the weight of a pending cross-cultural move off of their shoulders and bear their burdens.  I wish they could go to bed in a familiar place.  And, oh yeah, I really, really wish that I could get their (mine) dog back and bring him with us to Ghana.  But none of those things are possible.  And, as I say often, it is what it is.

It’s not all doom and gloom : )  In 3 1/2 weeks, we’ll be on a plane to Ghana.  Whatever it ends up being, it will no doubt be the biggest adventure of our lives.  Our family gets to experience life together in a way that most families on this planet never ever will.   That’s huge, and we intend on making the most of it.  Pray that we remember to be intentional about that.

[edit – We’re leaving November 18, woo-hoo.]

On an entirely different note, would you consider making a monetary donation to Mercy Project?  Because there was no housing available in Makongo, Mercy Project built a missionary home.  Well, Africa happened; and so did poor bidding and some bad luck.  As a result, the home costs are 2x over budget!  We need an additional $30K to wrap it up.  A generous donor has already stepped up with $15K in matching funds.  Please consider being part of the other $15K.  You can give online here:

http://mercyproject.net/projects/house-complete/

[edit – Sorry, for the lame transition from feel sorry for us to we want some money.  I’ll try and be smoother next time.]

As always, thanks for reading.

Good-bye Faulkners.  Thank you for letting us use your bunk bed, and being our friends.

The Easy Way Out

My blog is struggling.  I think it’s actually just my OCD or perfectionist tendencies getting in the way.  I’ve started writing on several occasions during the past couple of weeks, but I keep stopping because I’m unhappy with my work.  I want to tell our story – the one about how we got from not going to Haiti, to Texas, and on our way to Ghana.  I also have some thoughts about the Church and a church, culture, politics, right and wrong (and gray areas) and the Gospel.  But I can’t seem to get these thoughts out of my head and onto the internets in a reasonably articulate manner, and I do not wish to ramble.  Plus, I’m not even sure that I have an audience who cares about my opinions (I have so many of them!) or this story.

So, today I copped out – sort of…  Rather than push through and write more of our story, I indulged in my OCD’ness by tweaking and updating the “Learn Twi” page.  You can see it here:  http://wannabehumanitarian.com/learn-twi/  Don’t misunderstand.  This wasn’t a waste of time.  Tweaking and updating this page involves tweaking, updating, reviewing and refining my language class notes.  Through each iteration, I learn a little more Twi.  Nonetheless, it was the easy route for today.

And though there are some uncertainties in my mind regarding what you all (ya’ll, you guys, all ya’ll, ya’ll guys) want to see, I am fairly confident that most everybody would like to learn more about Mercy Project.   I keep running into friends or acquaintances who have no idea what it is that we’re actually, really up to – and that’s no good.  My bad!

And here is the big cop out:  I’m not going to write about Mercy Project today.  Rather, I am going to ask you to take 30 minutes and watch this video, “Journey to Freedeom.”  It’s worth your time, I promise.

Enjoy.  Adios friends!

Catching up

Dang it, I just lost my train of thought!  I had some great ideas, I promise.  They’re all gone now though.  I spilled a glass of Wit beer on both of our laptops.  Oh well, one beer couldn’t hurt Windows 8.  The touch screen does seem to be a little more responsive now.

Even though all of my great ideas are gone, the blog still has some catching up to do.  Those of you who are family, friends or even just Facebook friends, probably know a lot has changed since 2011.  Here is my attempt at a super brief recap.

For reasons only fully comprehensible to our Haiti friends, we are not moving to Haiti.  Although I hope to make it back to Jacmel for a visit someday, our family will not be living there – at least not until the girls are grown up and out on their own.  Coming to this realization was a huge disappointment.  We also feel terrible (still…) for letting down our Haiti peeps.  I guess this feeling could be presumptuous on my part. They may not have actually wanted us to come back.  In any event (I say this a lot), we now realize that WE  have absolutely nothing to offer Haiti, or Ghana for that matter.  Wherever we go, we’re simply vessels.  And sometimes not even sturdy vessels.

Where did we go?  Well, right now we’re in Bryan, Texas.  Go Aggies!  Haha, or something.  Several months ago we decided to join Mercy Project’s team.  Mercy Project is a Christian based NGO headquartered in the BCS area.  We moved here to train and prepare for our pending move to Ghana.  Mercy Project partners with rural fishing villages in the Lake Volta region of Ghana.  In exchange for economic development projects, these villages agree to give up their longstanding practices of child trafficking and slavery.  Right now, Mercy Project is investing in aquaculture projects in three different villages.  Twenty four trafficked child slaves have already been freed.  Hopefully, by God’s grace, many more children in this part of the world will come to know freedom.   My family, along with Clint and Hailey Askins, will be moving to Ghana soon – the Askins in October and the Webers in November.  This has been a real incredible journey for my family.  I’ll save the details for another day.

Oh yeah, we had another baby.  Scarlet Quinn was born on May 9th.  She’ll be six months old when we arrive in Ghana.  She is beautiful and healthy.  She’s also a bit grumpier than her older sisters, seriously!  So this is funny…  Several minutes ago she was screaming, and I was  singing (in my head of course) “Grumpy Cold Medina.”  I thought to myself “What a good blog post!”.  I sat her down for a pic (still screaming) and this is what I got:

She immediately quit screaming and smiled for the camera.  No kidding!  Ya’ll won’t believe me now about the grumpy attitude.  You can’t tell from the pic, but she has a bit of red in her hair and blue-ish eyes.

By the way, we just started learning how to speak Twi.  Wanna learn Twi?  Go here:  http://wannabehumanitarian.com/learn-twi/  There isn’t much now, but I’m going to add more content as time allows.

If you get a chance, check out Mercy Project’s website:  http://mercyproject.net/.  Also, go read and follow our partners’ blog: http://askinsinghana.wordpress.com/.

Thanks for reading.