October
Wow, this month FLEW by! October can be marked by math (of course), baking, card games & football, Career Day, and several new experiences.
First, all things math! The JHS3 students took their big exams the week of the 17th, so there were many evenings of studying leading up to that. They were all feeling pretty confident in how they did, but we won’t know their scores for awhile! Praying they were able to show their knowledge well all around! We will celebrate their graduation from JHS on November 11th. In other math news, I was blessed with the opportunity to meet with the school admin team recently and share what I have notice in the students’ math understanding. In the upcoming school year, starting in January, I will have a more hands-on role in the math lessons that teachers are using and expanding my role to support the teachers in various ways. It will be a challenge leading up to the start of the school year, but I am pumped! The roles fall right into what I have been feeling so much passion around in the education field lately so it will be great experience I am sure! Otherwise, my evenings are typical full of tutoring small groups, and it is pretty much always a good time.
October baking! I enjoy baking so much and this month I got several opportunities to bake a couple cakes and banana bread! So fun! Definitely my favorite part is tasting the raw batter and usually whoever I am baking with gives me a weird look since most people here don’t like anything raw. November is here which means we will be preparing Thanksgiving so probably more baking! Woohoo!
Recently, other evening activities have included card games and football. UNO takes over the night, especially when we play for higher stakes- if you lose, you drink a full cup of water. It sounds like a mild punishment, but goodness, if you lose more than once… your stomach is not happy ha! The last time we played, I lost several times (I was targeted) and I decided to not play for water ever again (probably). Watching football (soccer) has been a fun activity lately too! I love watching and getting invested into almost any sport, so I have claimed Manchester City as my team. I honestly initially chose them because of their light blue color, but nobody needs to know that. Finally, a few other university graduates and I set up a projector and watched “Friends” one night at the end of the month! So fun!
Career day was earlier this month! Man, was that cute! The students dressed up in a future career and the day was full of skits, dances, and poems! Such a fun way to get students thinking about what job they want to have in the future! There were many nurses, doctors, athletes, military, lawyers, and business men. Faith Roots does a great job at planning fun events for the students to enjoy and learn from.
Now for the new experiences… they were messy. The first was seeing a 6+ foot python that they guys had found killing/eating the chickens. They said it was a battle to get this thing killed because it was super strong. It was an ordeal that morning! And then… I did not ask to do this, but the python was put into my hands so I held it! AH. The first and probably last time I will ever hold a snake, or at least one that giant. The next experience was being part of the chicken killing day. CORM has a poultry farm that allows them to raise up their own chickens that they will consume. So every once in awhile there’s a team effort to kill the chickens, de-feather, and prepare them for cooking. It was my first time even watching this happen but somehow I ended up in the messiest job: gutting the chickens. I was taught all the steps, what to be careful of when cutting into the chicken, etc. Definitely had to get comfortable with chicken intestines real quick! What a crazy experience! Finally, a not-messy update is my new love of jogging! A small group of girls jogs most mornings and some afternoons and it has been so fun! The humidity is INTENSE but it is exciting to see progress in my distance.
God has been so so faithful for many reasons throughout the past four months here in answering prayers that I have prayed for years. He has provided in more ways than I can even count or name. Each day provides new opportunities to receive gifts from above, and through the struggles and distractions, He constantly is refocusing my mind to see the blessings all around. The biggest blessing has been the people around me each day. I am so grateful for the way God has gifted me these beautiful friendships. I just can’t believe how lucky I am to be spending time with people here in a culture that I would have never experienced if I said “no” to what I felt God calling me to. A reminder to myself to always be ready to say YES to God’s promptings! We can never anticipate what He will do. 2 Corinthians has been very encouraging lately, specifically 12:9 “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” In Christ, we are a new creation and are made strong when we are weak.
Prayer requests!
Ghana is experiencing inflation. Things are getting very expensive! Prayers for continued financial stability for CORM and increased financial support if necessary.
No more splinters campaign for Faith Roots! The campaign is to provide new desks and chairs for the students since the old, wooden ones are very worn.
Preparations for the next school year with the new curriculum all around.
Students in senior high school finishing up their school year! They will all return around mid December.
Continued physical health and healing for me and for everyone here!
Upcoming trip up north with a few other American girls! We are going to be at Mole National Park seeing the animals! Flying up on Nov. 3 and returning on the 7th. Safety and provisions throughout!
Thank you to all who are reading this and supporting me financially and in prayer! I am so grateful, I could never accurately put it into words. I would love to hear from any of you as well!
