Trip Details

Got a text message from Jake yesterday morning letting me know that they made it safely to Ghana! Right after they got into the airport they hopped on a bus and headed out to Asikuma. They arrived in the evening, but they couldn’t wait to go and check on how the medical clinic was running! Jake will have more updates and blog posts when he gets back, but he did tell me a few details when I talked with him on the phone yesterday. He said they were absolutely blown away by the amount of progress that was completed on the medical clinic since we left in August. It was about 90% done, but seeing it yesterday Jake said they (the workers in Asikuma) had completed all the projects we left them with including putting in a sidewalk, landscaping, and a few other tasks on the inside. He said it looks awesome, but also that it is running and thriving. The clinic staff told Jake that they have seen 459 patients since it opened at the end of August – WOWZA!!!! We brought 3 construction guys on our team this trip and they will be finishing out the cabinetry in the medical clinic and also building more patient beds. In addition, Mercy Medical Center (of Des Moines) donated a load of medical supplies which filled 10 suitcases (!) and so Jake and the team will be stocking the clinic on this trip as well.

This trip was originally intended to begin the remodel of the structures that we planned on turning into a children’s haven like I had blogged about here and here. However, back in October we received an email from Chief Nana that delayed this project:

Hope you are all fine. I have some disappointing news regarding our children’s haven in Asikuma. The government of Ghana has approached us with an urgent request to give the place out to a construction company who are to reconstruct the road from Asikuma to the north. They are to rehabilitate all the buildings to use for a road camp and residential accommodation for their senior staff.

The contract period is between 18 month - 24 months. The condition is that all the rehabilitated buildings will be handed over back to us after the construction period. It is very unfortunate that all our landable plans will have to be reviewed.

Here are my thoughts:
1. We could shelve the children’s haven project until after the construction period and redirect our efforts at other areas. In this case we will benefit from improved infrastructure which we could use for the haven at no cost.

2. Alternatively, I could provide a piece of land measuring one acre. In this case we will have to plan to construct the building at our own pace.

This is food for thought. I know that the good Lord will give us bright ideas to fulfill our mission of supporting these helpless children.

So, this was quite an unexpected road block - literally. However, we are reassured in knowing that God already knew this was going to happen. Perhaps this is Him steering our children’s haven to a different location or just orchestrating the timing. We don’t have the answers yet, but are waiting expectantly as there are many options of how to move forward from here.

Since the children’s haven remodel has been delayed for now, we were able to use this trip to also finish up the library project that we started on our August trip - if you remember we only got it about 50% built (to read posts from our August trip go to my blog archive on my sidebar and click the month of August 2011 and all my posts will be listed out). This trip Jake and the team will also be visiting an orphanage in the Eastern region called Kwahu Orphanage. This orphanage was started by the in-country social worker (named Kofi) that handled our adoption of Justice. Jake will also be hosting a basketball tournament in Accra with the Kingdom Hoops Ghana team….currently there are 18 teams signed up for the tournament!

You never know how God will fill in the itinerary from there, and I am excited to hear the many stories that will come out of this trip. There are 3 tripsters on the team who have never been to Africa before, and I just love the excitement of wondering how God will change them through this experience!

Early this morning I received a text message picture from Jake of him with our two daughters and the little lions he brought for them. His text said: ‘A’ came right up to me to have me pick her up. My heart practically melted in my chest after taking this in at 4am and I could not get back to sleep (which is why some of you also got to enjoy that picture at 4am because I just had to share it)!!!! I just laid there for 2 hours thinking about our girls and adoption and praying and telling God that I trust Him with every aspect of this process. It’s so hard to see their little faces and know that Jake will be leaving them in a few days. My heart wonders how long this adoption will take and how smooth or rough it will be. I am so thankful that I can trust God with every detail. In my devotional this morning I was led to these verses in perfect timing ~

When I am afraid,
I will trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
In God I trust; I will not be afraid.
(Psalm 56:3-4)

I know from our adoption of Justice that this process is unpredictable, and will be full of opportunities for me to get nervous and fret about the details. I am setting my heart on God's Sovereignty today and choosing not to worry.

Trust Me with every fiber of your being! What I can accomplish in and through you is proportional to how much you depend on Me. One aspect of this is the degree to which you trust Me in a crisis or major decision. Some people fail miserably here, while others are at their best in rough times. Another aspect is even more telling: the constancy of your trust in Me. People who rely on Me in the midst of adversity may forget about Me when life is flowing smoothly. Difficult times can jolt you into awareness of your need for Me, whereas smooth sailing can lull you into the stupor of self-sufficiency.

I care as much about your tiny trust-steps through daily life as about your dramatic leaps of faith. You may think that no one notices, but the One who is always beside you sees everything - and rejoices. Consistently trusting in Me is vital to flourishing in My Presence.

~Jesus Calling~