Jake has started a blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, from now on you can find his Thought for the Week and many other thoughts and insights on his own blog. Here it is:
http://kingdomhoops.blogspot.com/
Happy Monday!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
I'm Going to Ghana!
The perfect ending for my Project:Ghana posts this week is to share with you that I am going to Ghana for a one week stay in a few months (with Jake)! It will be my first trip! I have a full plate of emotions about this trip…I am excited, nervous, curious, and yet hesitant. Hesitant because of….
Reason #1.......
And, reason #2......
I SO do not want to leave my sweet red-heads for 7 days. Would you believe that we have never left them for more than 2 days in a row? I wish they could come with us. I just feel this heaviness in my heart in thinking about being away from them for that long. I am sure they can do without me, and I know they will be in good hands, but I am not sure if I can do without them. I know you moms out there know what I mean. Jake booked the flights on Wednesday, and I wanted to be really excited, but I was quite sad thinking about it. Then, my mom was over Wednesday night and she was saying all the things she has planned to do with them while we are gone…swimming at the YMCA, library time, tot town trips, and more! Then I thought, ‘Good grief what I am worried about? They won’t ever want us to come back if they have that much fun while we are gone!’ :)
Even though it will be extremely hard for me to leave my kids, I know that God has put it on my heart to go on this trip. Jake had started planning this trip for himself around summertime, and then about a month ago I had this feeling that I should go along. I couldn’t quite get myself talked into it though, because I always had this picture of my first trip to Africa being to bring home our adopted child. So, knowing that we wouldn’t be doing adoption things on this trip, it made it hard for me to convince myself to go…..or more specifically I thought I didn’t necessarily have a strong reason to go. Of course I was excited about working on Project:Ghana stuff, but I know Jake is capable of doing all that on his own, so I just wasn’t sure what to do. So, I prayed about it. And, I got an answer.
So, at the end of December we are off to Ghana (after Christmas time)! We have about a million things that we are going to be doing while we are there….. finalizing the purchase of the land for the Kingdom of Christ Academy (we have two spots in the western region that they are holding for us so we will look at both and decide which one), we will be meeting with the educational administration branch of the Ghanaian government, locating temporary facilities to begin Kingdom Hoops Ghana until the facility is built, Jake will be putting on 2 national coaches clinic at the Sports Institute – one clinic in the central region and one in the west region, we will be looking for a house in the western region to lease for missions group trip attendees and also for Mark to stay at while he works for us, we will be meeting with the Ghana Basketball Association to create a plan on how to grow the sport, and we will visit schools to get a picture of how to approach that part of the facility.
And, what I am super excited about, is that Mark is looking into volunteer opportunities for me to work at an orphanage while we are there. Yes, get ready to check it off the bucket list please. I am sure it sounds weird to be excited to work at an orphanage, but I really am. Here is a sample description of one of the volunteer opportunities:
Volunteer Abroad in Western Region Ghana: Volunteering Opportunities: Life in the rural communities can be quite difficult with limited access to health, paved roads, education and other everyday facilities like clean water, electricity and sanitation. There is a great need for health care professionals, teachers and child care assistance throughout the rural communities in Western Ghana.
Children Orphanage Assistance: The children come from a variety of situations including loss of one or both parents, physical and sexual abuse, extreme poverty, and more suffering than many of us can imagine. Many of these children have been denied the chance at an education as well as the basics for survival-food and shelter. The orphanages we support strive to provide a better future for some of the most vulnerable children in Ghana by providing love, food and informal education. As a volunteer, you will primarily assist with the daily care of the kids; including feeding babies, playing games, teaching songs, reading activities, creating arts & crafts projects and sharing your affection and attention with these wonderful children. Many volunteers also get involved in repairs and painting as the facilities are in constant need of upkeep. Prior experience not necessary, volunteers should demonstrate patience, an open mind and a sense of compassion. Come prepared with ideas and be a creative self-starter who can handle situations where schedules do not exist.
Yes, this is right up my alley. I’ve already got an ever-changing list of items to bring along for the children…suckers, toy cars for the boys, nail polish for the girls, coloring books, bouncy balls, and lots of food, formula and juice! It will be so good to have this experience.
I’ve also been praying that we would be able to work on the adoption in some way, shape or form while we are there. Specifically I’ve been praying that Bernice’s family would be able to identify a child for us by then, and that we would be able to meet him on the trip – as Jake had met Solomon previously. Maybe you can pray for us about that too.
So, that’s the scoop! I am so excited for the opportunity to experience Ghanaian culture and to see this country that so far I only know through pictures and Google images. I am sure it will be life-changing to finally gain a first-hand perspective on the poverty situations in Ghana that I’ve only read about. I need to know more about this country - I need to see it personally - I need to experience it so that I can wrap my mind around it!
Reason #1.......
And, reason #2......
I SO do not want to leave my sweet red-heads for 7 days. Would you believe that we have never left them for more than 2 days in a row? I wish they could come with us. I just feel this heaviness in my heart in thinking about being away from them for that long. I am sure they can do without me, and I know they will be in good hands, but I am not sure if I can do without them. I know you moms out there know what I mean. Jake booked the flights on Wednesday, and I wanted to be really excited, but I was quite sad thinking about it. Then, my mom was over Wednesday night and she was saying all the things she has planned to do with them while we are gone…swimming at the YMCA, library time, tot town trips, and more! Then I thought, ‘Good grief what I am worried about? They won’t ever want us to come back if they have that much fun while we are gone!’ :)Even though it will be extremely hard for me to leave my kids, I know that God has put it on my heart to go on this trip. Jake had started planning this trip for himself around summertime, and then about a month ago I had this feeling that I should go along. I couldn’t quite get myself talked into it though, because I always had this picture of my first trip to Africa being to bring home our adopted child. So, knowing that we wouldn’t be doing adoption things on this trip, it made it hard for me to convince myself to go…..or more specifically I thought I didn’t necessarily have a strong reason to go. Of course I was excited about working on Project:Ghana stuff, but I know Jake is capable of doing all that on his own, so I just wasn’t sure what to do. So, I prayed about it. And, I got an answer.
So, at the end of December we are off to Ghana (after Christmas time)! We have about a million things that we are going to be doing while we are there….. finalizing the purchase of the land for the Kingdom of Christ Academy (we have two spots in the western region that they are holding for us so we will look at both and decide which one), we will be meeting with the educational administration branch of the Ghanaian government, locating temporary facilities to begin Kingdom Hoops Ghana until the facility is built, Jake will be putting on 2 national coaches clinic at the Sports Institute – one clinic in the central region and one in the west region, we will be looking for a house in the western region to lease for missions group trip attendees and also for Mark to stay at while he works for us, we will be meeting with the Ghana Basketball Association to create a plan on how to grow the sport, and we will visit schools to get a picture of how to approach that part of the facility.
And, what I am super excited about, is that Mark is looking into volunteer opportunities for me to work at an orphanage while we are there. Yes, get ready to check it off the bucket list please. I am sure it sounds weird to be excited to work at an orphanage, but I really am. Here is a sample description of one of the volunteer opportunities:
Volunteer Abroad in Western Region Ghana: Volunteering Opportunities: Life in the rural communities can be quite difficult with limited access to health, paved roads, education and other everyday facilities like clean water, electricity and sanitation. There is a great need for health care professionals, teachers and child care assistance throughout the rural communities in Western Ghana.
Children Orphanage Assistance: The children come from a variety of situations including loss of one or both parents, physical and sexual abuse, extreme poverty, and more suffering than many of us can imagine. Many of these children have been denied the chance at an education as well as the basics for survival-food and shelter. The orphanages we support strive to provide a better future for some of the most vulnerable children in Ghana by providing love, food and informal education. As a volunteer, you will primarily assist with the daily care of the kids; including feeding babies, playing games, teaching songs, reading activities, creating arts & crafts projects and sharing your affection and attention with these wonderful children. Many volunteers also get involved in repairs and painting as the facilities are in constant need of upkeep. Prior experience not necessary, volunteers should demonstrate patience, an open mind and a sense of compassion. Come prepared with ideas and be a creative self-starter who can handle situations where schedules do not exist.
Yes, this is right up my alley. I’ve already got an ever-changing list of items to bring along for the children…suckers, toy cars for the boys, nail polish for the girls, coloring books, bouncy balls, and lots of food, formula and juice! It will be so good to have this experience.
I’ve also been praying that we would be able to work on the adoption in some way, shape or form while we are there. Specifically I’ve been praying that Bernice’s family would be able to identify a child for us by then, and that we would be able to meet him on the trip – as Jake had met Solomon previously. Maybe you can pray for us about that too.
So, that’s the scoop! I am so excited for the opportunity to experience Ghanaian culture and to see this country that so far I only know through pictures and Google images. I am sure it will be life-changing to finally gain a first-hand perspective on the poverty situations in Ghana that I’ve only read about. I need to know more about this country - I need to see it personally - I need to experience it so that I can wrap my mind around it!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
The Facility & Vision
So, the name of the facility will be Kingdom of Christ Academy. The facility will have two main purposes:
The first purpose of the facility will be the basketball side of things, and we are calling this part Kingdom Hoops Ghana. Kingdom Hoops Ghana will mirror what the Right to Dream (www.righttodream.com) has done with their soccer program, but will have an emphasis on a Christ-centered education. Kingdom Hoops Ghana will serve the purpose of giving disadvantaged children (aged 9 & up) an education and housing, while at the same time training them in basketball skills. With this basketball section, the goal will be to coordinate it with Jake’s hosting program, so that when the kids reach the age of 15 or so, they would have the opportunity to come to the U.S. on an F-1 visa and receive a high school education from the United States. Mark’s already established program (the Fadama Vikings) will merge into Jake’s vision and be renamed Kingdom Hoops. So, these will be the first players in the Kingdom Hoops Ghana program. So, this part of the Academy will be for the ‘Nana Yaw’s’ of Ghana – those who have basketball talent or are interested in having the opportunity to be trained in it. This segment of the facility will include a basketball gym, school, and housing. All of this was the original vision that Jake had in observing the Right to Dream organization, and it is what fueled the beginnings of Project:Ghana.
Then, this summer, both Jake and I kept coming back to the same question….what about impoverished children in Ghana that are too young to be involved in basketball, have physical limitations, no basketball skills/experience, etc? How can we just stick to helping on the basketball side of things, and not do anything about the children and families living in the poorest conditions possible? These children have no chance at an education, because in Ghana you have to pay to go to school. It’s as simple as that. There is no free education. And, what we have learned through our adoption process, and also through Jake’s interviews with the Right to Dream student/athletes, is that there is a bigger question in these kids’ minds. The question is, ‘When am I going to eat? How am I going to eat?’. One RTD student shared with Jake that before he came to RTD, he sometimes would only be able to scrounge up 1 meal in 3 days. I can’t even imagine that, but in Ghana it is a day-to-day reality for too many families, and too many children. Jake constantly talks about that interview in particular, and I know it echoed in his mind all summer long.
So, because of all that Jake decided to also incorporate in the facility a housing arrangement for 100 children who fall into any of the following categories:
1) 1 or both parents deceased, or child abandoned with relatives who do not have the means to care for child
2) Family income less than $1000/year (for example, this would be Solomon’s situation)
3) No educational opportunities available
4) Parent hired as staff member
This housing arrangement might sound similar to an orphanage, and it is. However, the one thing that will be different, is that the children living at the academy who fall into the above categories will be educated. We have learned that Ghana very much frowns upon orphanages. There is a slogan in the country that indicates there are no ‘orphans’ in Ghana because they are all family and will care for one another. Hence there are not many orphanages in Ghana to begin with, and recently a handful have been shut down because of corruption, and because of improper care of the children. Therefore, many of the children live on the streets, or hang out in the villages, but are not necessarily getting proper care or food. Because our housing for the orphans/needy children will involve schooling, and will be fashioned right alongside Kingdom Hoops Ghana, we know that we have an exciting set-up for giving these children opportunities that they wouldn’t have in a typical orphanage setting.
One goal of the facility is to hire and train the natives to work at the facility. For example, Solomon’s dad was a farmer. So, he could be given the option to farm the land which we would use for food, and then he and his family could stay in the housing….Solomon would receive an education. We will also be looking to hire a handful of Ghanaian teachers for the school. It’s a beautiful set-up, and I am excited about it!
Lastly, a very exciting thing is that our adoption agency, About A Child, will be partnering with us to process adoptions for children who qualify. The unaccessability and instability of orphanages already set up in Ghana has been a huge road block for our own adoption, as well as for our agency. To date, there is just no clear connection that our agency has been able to make in Ghana to be able to confidently promote their Ghana adoption program. We are prayerful, that the Kingdom of Christ Academy will become the means for About A Child to be able to start processing adoptions consistently. In the mean time, the academy would educate the waiting children, and obviously care for their basic needs.
So, you can see there are a lot of parts to this, and there is really no short way of explaining it all, so sorry for the extremely long post! When I think through all these moving parts - the staff that we will need to find, the inexperience that Jake and I have in the educational/school side of things, and the money that needs to be raised for this, I get completely overwhelmed. But I know that God has a plan. And, if it is His will, this facility will be created. I’ve found myself clinging to this verse:
Matthew 19:26 "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
It really just says it all doesn’t it? Which is why I just had to put it on our Project Ghana wristbands!
(They just came in yesterday and they are lookin good!)
And, there you have it. That is the plan. That is the vision. And, you know I'll keep you updated on the progress!
The first purpose of the facility will be the basketball side of things, and we are calling this part Kingdom Hoops Ghana. Kingdom Hoops Ghana will mirror what the Right to Dream (www.righttodream.com) has done with their soccer program, but will have an emphasis on a Christ-centered education. Kingdom Hoops Ghana will serve the purpose of giving disadvantaged children (aged 9 & up) an education and housing, while at the same time training them in basketball skills. With this basketball section, the goal will be to coordinate it with Jake’s hosting program, so that when the kids reach the age of 15 or so, they would have the opportunity to come to the U.S. on an F-1 visa and receive a high school education from the United States. Mark’s already established program (the Fadama Vikings) will merge into Jake’s vision and be renamed Kingdom Hoops. So, these will be the first players in the Kingdom Hoops Ghana program. So, this part of the Academy will be for the ‘Nana Yaw’s’ of Ghana – those who have basketball talent or are interested in having the opportunity to be trained in it. This segment of the facility will include a basketball gym, school, and housing. All of this was the original vision that Jake had in observing the Right to Dream organization, and it is what fueled the beginnings of Project:Ghana.
Then, this summer, both Jake and I kept coming back to the same question….what about impoverished children in Ghana that are too young to be involved in basketball, have physical limitations, no basketball skills/experience, etc? How can we just stick to helping on the basketball side of things, and not do anything about the children and families living in the poorest conditions possible? These children have no chance at an education, because in Ghana you have to pay to go to school. It’s as simple as that. There is no free education. And, what we have learned through our adoption process, and also through Jake’s interviews with the Right to Dream student/athletes, is that there is a bigger question in these kids’ minds. The question is, ‘When am I going to eat? How am I going to eat?’. One RTD student shared with Jake that before he came to RTD, he sometimes would only be able to scrounge up 1 meal in 3 days. I can’t even imagine that, but in Ghana it is a day-to-day reality for too many families, and too many children. Jake constantly talks about that interview in particular, and I know it echoed in his mind all summer long.
So, because of all that Jake decided to also incorporate in the facility a housing arrangement for 100 children who fall into any of the following categories:
1) 1 or both parents deceased, or child abandoned with relatives who do not have the means to care for child
2) Family income less than $1000/year (for example, this would be Solomon’s situation)
3) No educational opportunities available
4) Parent hired as staff member
This housing arrangement might sound similar to an orphanage, and it is. However, the one thing that will be different, is that the children living at the academy who fall into the above categories will be educated. We have learned that Ghana very much frowns upon orphanages. There is a slogan in the country that indicates there are no ‘orphans’ in Ghana because they are all family and will care for one another. Hence there are not many orphanages in Ghana to begin with, and recently a handful have been shut down because of corruption, and because of improper care of the children. Therefore, many of the children live on the streets, or hang out in the villages, but are not necessarily getting proper care or food. Because our housing for the orphans/needy children will involve schooling, and will be fashioned right alongside Kingdom Hoops Ghana, we know that we have an exciting set-up for giving these children opportunities that they wouldn’t have in a typical orphanage setting.
One goal of the facility is to hire and train the natives to work at the facility. For example, Solomon’s dad was a farmer. So, he could be given the option to farm the land which we would use for food, and then he and his family could stay in the housing….Solomon would receive an education. We will also be looking to hire a handful of Ghanaian teachers for the school. It’s a beautiful set-up, and I am excited about it!
Lastly, a very exciting thing is that our adoption agency, About A Child, will be partnering with us to process adoptions for children who qualify. The unaccessability and instability of orphanages already set up in Ghana has been a huge road block for our own adoption, as well as for our agency. To date, there is just no clear connection that our agency has been able to make in Ghana to be able to confidently promote their Ghana adoption program. We are prayerful, that the Kingdom of Christ Academy will become the means for About A Child to be able to start processing adoptions consistently. In the mean time, the academy would educate the waiting children, and obviously care for their basic needs.
So, you can see there are a lot of parts to this, and there is really no short way of explaining it all, so sorry for the extremely long post! When I think through all these moving parts - the staff that we will need to find, the inexperience that Jake and I have in the educational/school side of things, and the money that needs to be raised for this, I get completely overwhelmed. But I know that God has a plan. And, if it is His will, this facility will be created. I’ve found myself clinging to this verse:
Matthew 19:26 "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
It really just says it all doesn’t it? Which is why I just had to put it on our Project Ghana wristbands!
(They just came in yesterday and they are lookin good!)And, there you have it. That is the plan. That is the vision. And, you know I'll keep you updated on the progress!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
The Land
So, yesterday I mentioned a guy named Mark, and spoke a tad about how he and Jake have developed a business relationship over the past few months. Mark has lived in Ghana his entire life, and has his own basketball program that he runs there http://www.eteamz.com/fadamavikings/. Mark has become Jake’s main contact in Ghana, and for the past few weeks Mark has been searching out the land options for the facility to be built on. He's been getting input from the government as well as tribal chiefs, and taking inventory of other non-government organizations (termed NGO’s in Ghana) already set up in different regions. The more NGO’s already set up in a region, the less success rate Jake’s facility would have. He would be better off to ‘set up shop’ in an area where there are no other organizations like his already running. Ghana is broken up into 10 regions….each region is about the size of one state in the U.S.
So the main task has been trying to figure out what region to build the facility in. It was originally thought that the facility would be built alongside the Right to Dream facility in Accra (the capital), but through Mark’s meetings with District coordinators (which I believe would be similar to mayor’s here in the U.S.) and other government officers, this has become a realistic ‘no’ since Accra has the most NGO’s and things already up and running. After deciding that, the government requested that Jake look into building the facility in the West region or the North region. With this in mind, Jake and Mark strongly considered the city of Cape Coast as the site (west region), but Mark wanted to personally travel to both regions to make sure that they had done their research. So, that is what he did...he was in the North region for a few days and then traveled to the West region. More meetings with chiefs, phone conferences with Jake, and lots and lots of travel for Mark.
Well, with all this going on the week before last, the fundraiser kick-off a few days away, and the continuing on of our adoption journey I felt quite bombarded last Sunday night, so I emailed two friends for some prayer. I just felt like we really needed it for some reason. So, the week began and then Monday afternoon we heard from Mark. The consensus was that without a doubt the facility would best be put in the west region, specifically the Shama District, and for three main reasons: #1 – The North region dominates in NGO’s as does Accra, and this would make it hard for Jake’s facility and program to come into the lime light. #2 – The Shama District is newly created so the acquiring of land is quite reasonable. A plot of land (100ft x 100ft) is approx $2000 U.S. dollars. Document processing is an additional $500 U.S. Dollars. Jake would need about 5 to 6 plots of land to complete the project…..so we are talking under $15,000 for the entire purchase of the land….which is unbelievably AWESOME. #3– The west region is quite poverty stricken. There is a great need in the West region for an organization like Jake’s to come in, because they have nothing like this already set up there. So, Jake had been forwarding me Mark's text messages all day with this information, and towards the end of the day Mark’s final words were to put the facility in the city of Takoradi in the west region (also referred to as Sekondi-Takoradi). After seeing the name of that city it crossed my mind to check an old email from our case worker to see where Bernice’s family (the family seeking out an orphan for us) lives. I couldn't remember what region they were in, let alone the name of the city near them. Well, I looked back at the email and found that they live in the west region.........in the city of Takoradi. It still gives me chills. And, I know it didn’t ‘just happen’. Out of the 10 regions that we could have built in, and 3 other strong and pending sites in the running, God certainly had a plan for us to ‘land’ in Takoradi. How cool is it that we will be able to build the project in the exact city in which an orphan is being identified for us?!!! I can feel His hand working!
Takoradi is down here on the coast.
So the main task has been trying to figure out what region to build the facility in. It was originally thought that the facility would be built alongside the Right to Dream facility in Accra (the capital), but through Mark’s meetings with District coordinators (which I believe would be similar to mayor’s here in the U.S.) and other government officers, this has become a realistic ‘no’ since Accra has the most NGO’s and things already up and running. After deciding that, the government requested that Jake look into building the facility in the West region or the North region. With this in mind, Jake and Mark strongly considered the city of Cape Coast as the site (west region), but Mark wanted to personally travel to both regions to make sure that they had done their research. So, that is what he did...he was in the North region for a few days and then traveled to the West region. More meetings with chiefs, phone conferences with Jake, and lots and lots of travel for Mark.Well, with all this going on the week before last, the fundraiser kick-off a few days away, and the continuing on of our adoption journey I felt quite bombarded last Sunday night, so I emailed two friends for some prayer. I just felt like we really needed it for some reason. So, the week began and then Monday afternoon we heard from Mark. The consensus was that without a doubt the facility would best be put in the west region, specifically the Shama District, and for three main reasons: #1 – The North region dominates in NGO’s as does Accra, and this would make it hard for Jake’s facility and program to come into the lime light. #2 – The Shama District is newly created so the acquiring of land is quite reasonable. A plot of land (100ft x 100ft) is approx $2000 U.S. dollars. Document processing is an additional $500 U.S. Dollars. Jake would need about 5 to 6 plots of land to complete the project…..so we are talking under $15,000 for the entire purchase of the land….which is unbelievably AWESOME. #3– The west region is quite poverty stricken. There is a great need in the West region for an organization like Jake’s to come in, because they have nothing like this already set up there. So, Jake had been forwarding me Mark's text messages all day with this information, and towards the end of the day Mark’s final words were to put the facility in the city of Takoradi in the west region (also referred to as Sekondi-Takoradi). After seeing the name of that city it crossed my mind to check an old email from our case worker to see where Bernice’s family (the family seeking out an orphan for us) lives. I couldn't remember what region they were in, let alone the name of the city near them. Well, I looked back at the email and found that they live in the west region.........in the city of Takoradi. It still gives me chills. And, I know it didn’t ‘just happen’. Out of the 10 regions that we could have built in, and 3 other strong and pending sites in the running, God certainly had a plan for us to ‘land’ in Takoradi. How cool is it that we will be able to build the project in the exact city in which an orphan is being identified for us?!!! I can feel His hand working!
Takoradi is down here on the coast.More tomorrow on details of what the facility will be.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Before I Start
This week I am going to be posting a lot on Project: Ghana and hopefully I can break up all the info into smaller posts to space things out a bit. If you don't plan on reading any of my other Project:Ghana posts this week, please at least read this one.
Before I start in on all the plans, I just wanted to share something on my heart. And, that is that I have been praying that I will be able to present all of this in a way that glorifies God. Afterall, He was the one who started all of this, stirred up our hearts, led the way, and has guided us through this for the past year. It is not by our own means that we have done this, but it is God who has worked out every single detail. The way I see it, all that we have done is prayed about each decision, and obeyed in the areas in which we felt God’s lead. Anyone could do this. It’s as simple as obeying and praying and having faith that God has a plan. As I was trying to formulate my posts for this week, I kept coming back to all this, and I have been praying non-stop that these next posts will all point to God.
I don’t believe it ‘just happened’ that a year ago this time we went to 9am church service to work in the nursery, but were told they had enough workers so we could instead attend the service. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that during that particular service our church showed a video clip update on the Zambian orphanage they had started, and it didn’t ‘just happen’ that I felt a 15 second out-of-body-experience of God impressing on my heart His plans for our family to adopt a child from Africa. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that as I prayed and cried and prayed and cried about this that the next morning when I woke up and read from my usual devotion book, that the exact spot I had left off at began a section entitled ‘Stepping Out in Faith’. Furthermore it read ‘faith is stepping forward as God directs, even when we don’t know what the outcome will be. It’s doing something bigger than ourselves – so big that we are dependent on God and not on our own strength and ability.’ And, it didn’t ‘just happen’ that in this exact excerpt the example given was 3 paragraphs about a man who cared for orphans. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that the next day on a whim I emailed an old friend to pray for us about possibly adopting – only to find out in her return email 1 hour later that she and her husband had just began their own international adoption journey in Ethiopia, but they hadn’t told anyone yet. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that the next day I received the usual bi-weekly email from Focus on the Family highlighting their book of the month: Ten Things to Know when Considering Adoption.
Once we decided to adopt from Ethiopia, it didn’t ‘just happen’ that during our first homestudy appointment our social worker ‘just happened’ to mention her special Ghana adoption program at least 15 different times. And, it didn’t ‘just happen’ that after our appointment was over that she stayed and talked with us about it for another hour and half. As we prayed about a possible program switch from Ethiopia to Ghana, it didn’t ‘just happen’ that the next day as I flipped off JJ’s movie I saw an ESPN special highlighting The Right to Dream soccer program in Ghana, Africa. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that Jake felt moved to look into it and 3 months later was on a paid flight to take a tour of the RTD facility to see about extending their program into basketball. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that while Jake was in Ghana he saw Nana Yaw playing in a game, went up to him afterwards and mentioned that if he ever wanted to come to the U.S., Jake would help him. Nana Yaw didn’t ‘just happen’ to be visa-ready and it didn’t ‘just happen’ that his mom had been constantly praying for years that he would have the opportunity to school in the U.S. as she had back in 1979. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that the adoption of Solomon fell through. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that a guy named Mark (a bball coach in Ghana) googled basketball programs in the U.S. and found Jake’s program listed. And, it didn’t just happen that Mark called Jake late one night, knowing none of Jake’s previous trip to Ghana, to see if Jake would be interested in helping Mark’s players come to the U.S. for educational opportunities. And, it didn’t ‘just happen’ that Mark is now our go-to-guy in Ghana who has worked his tail off the past month to identify land for the facility, and who will now be partnering with Jake for the facility in Ghana. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that we were asked to help with a gala for an orphanage in Nigeria where we met Bernice, who is from Ghana. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that Bernice’s family still lives in Ghana and takes in orphans and children off the street. And, after two failed attempts at identifying children for us, it didn’t ‘just happen’ that our social worker began a partnership with Bernice’s family in Ghana to locate a child for us. And, tomorrow, you will find out the next and possibly biggest thing to date in my mind that did not ‘just happen’.
And so, my hope from all that rambling is that you will see I don’t believe that chain of events ‘just happened’. To some, it may seem that it was all just a coincidence or should be down-played. If another person experienced these things, it may not feel the way it felt to Jake and I. But, I know that God lives in the hearts of His people. And, I know that He reveals himself in the most unique, personal, and touching ways, if our eyes are open to see it. In my heart I know that these things didn’t ‘just happen’ but that God orchestrated the entire thing. I know that I couldn’t have planned out all those things even if I had tried. I know that God has a plan for this country who’s people live on less than $1 a day. A country who’s children consider 1 meal a day a far-off dream. A country that has no free education. I am sharing about Project:Ghana because it is becoming a big part of our lives. I am sharing because you might know someone who knows someone who knows someone that could go on staff at the facility. I am sharing because God is amazing and loving and faithful and forgiving and unchanging and compassionate and the one true God and powerful and and in control of all things and I hope that you can see it.
And, now, with all that said, I feel like I can begin to share the vision of Project: Ghana….starting tomorrow. :)
Before I start in on all the plans, I just wanted to share something on my heart. And, that is that I have been praying that I will be able to present all of this in a way that glorifies God. Afterall, He was the one who started all of this, stirred up our hearts, led the way, and has guided us through this for the past year. It is not by our own means that we have done this, but it is God who has worked out every single detail. The way I see it, all that we have done is prayed about each decision, and obeyed in the areas in which we felt God’s lead. Anyone could do this. It’s as simple as obeying and praying and having faith that God has a plan. As I was trying to formulate my posts for this week, I kept coming back to all this, and I have been praying non-stop that these next posts will all point to God.
I don’t believe it ‘just happened’ that a year ago this time we went to 9am church service to work in the nursery, but were told they had enough workers so we could instead attend the service. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that during that particular service our church showed a video clip update on the Zambian orphanage they had started, and it didn’t ‘just happen’ that I felt a 15 second out-of-body-experience of God impressing on my heart His plans for our family to adopt a child from Africa. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that as I prayed and cried and prayed and cried about this that the next morning when I woke up and read from my usual devotion book, that the exact spot I had left off at began a section entitled ‘Stepping Out in Faith’. Furthermore it read ‘faith is stepping forward as God directs, even when we don’t know what the outcome will be. It’s doing something bigger than ourselves – so big that we are dependent on God and not on our own strength and ability.’ And, it didn’t ‘just happen’ that in this exact excerpt the example given was 3 paragraphs about a man who cared for orphans. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that the next day on a whim I emailed an old friend to pray for us about possibly adopting – only to find out in her return email 1 hour later that she and her husband had just began their own international adoption journey in Ethiopia, but they hadn’t told anyone yet. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that the next day I received the usual bi-weekly email from Focus on the Family highlighting their book of the month: Ten Things to Know when Considering Adoption.
Once we decided to adopt from Ethiopia, it didn’t ‘just happen’ that during our first homestudy appointment our social worker ‘just happened’ to mention her special Ghana adoption program at least 15 different times. And, it didn’t ‘just happen’ that after our appointment was over that she stayed and talked with us about it for another hour and half. As we prayed about a possible program switch from Ethiopia to Ghana, it didn’t ‘just happen’ that the next day as I flipped off JJ’s movie I saw an ESPN special highlighting The Right to Dream soccer program in Ghana, Africa. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that Jake felt moved to look into it and 3 months later was on a paid flight to take a tour of the RTD facility to see about extending their program into basketball. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that while Jake was in Ghana he saw Nana Yaw playing in a game, went up to him afterwards and mentioned that if he ever wanted to come to the U.S., Jake would help him. Nana Yaw didn’t ‘just happen’ to be visa-ready and it didn’t ‘just happen’ that his mom had been constantly praying for years that he would have the opportunity to school in the U.S. as she had back in 1979. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that the adoption of Solomon fell through. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that a guy named Mark (a bball coach in Ghana) googled basketball programs in the U.S. and found Jake’s program listed. And, it didn’t just happen that Mark called Jake late one night, knowing none of Jake’s previous trip to Ghana, to see if Jake would be interested in helping Mark’s players come to the U.S. for educational opportunities. And, it didn’t ‘just happen’ that Mark is now our go-to-guy in Ghana who has worked his tail off the past month to identify land for the facility, and who will now be partnering with Jake for the facility in Ghana. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that we were asked to help with a gala for an orphanage in Nigeria where we met Bernice, who is from Ghana. It didn’t ‘just happen’ that Bernice’s family still lives in Ghana and takes in orphans and children off the street. And, after two failed attempts at identifying children for us, it didn’t ‘just happen’ that our social worker began a partnership with Bernice’s family in Ghana to locate a child for us. And, tomorrow, you will find out the next and possibly biggest thing to date in my mind that did not ‘just happen’.
And so, my hope from all that rambling is that you will see I don’t believe that chain of events ‘just happened’. To some, it may seem that it was all just a coincidence or should be down-played. If another person experienced these things, it may not feel the way it felt to Jake and I. But, I know that God lives in the hearts of His people. And, I know that He reveals himself in the most unique, personal, and touching ways, if our eyes are open to see it. In my heart I know that these things didn’t ‘just happen’ but that God orchestrated the entire thing. I know that I couldn’t have planned out all those things even if I had tried. I know that God has a plan for this country who’s people live on less than $1 a day. A country who’s children consider 1 meal a day a far-off dream. A country that has no free education. I am sharing about Project:Ghana because it is becoming a big part of our lives. I am sharing because you might know someone who knows someone who knows someone that could go on staff at the facility. I am sharing because God is amazing and loving and faithful and forgiving and unchanging and compassionate and the one true God and powerful and and in control of all things and I hope that you can see it.
And, now, with all that said, I feel like I can begin to share the vision of Project: Ghana….starting tomorrow. :)
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