hi people! so i mentioned sometime back that i got the chance to go for a local missions trip to yeji in the brong ahafo region of Ghana in february. it was organsied by the ministry i serve with called teens aloud foundation.
we set off from accra late in the night from my old university campus on on 23rd february. it was a very loooong drive. we had to pick our members from the other university campuses (Kwame Nkrumah uni of science and tech //KNUST//, uni of energy and natural resources //UENR//etc).
so we got here the next morning. and right away we dispatched in groups and went for junior high school outreach (j-reach) in several schools in the town.
here's a little recap of the missions. twas an amazing time with children and young people. this is going to be mostly photos. ;)
junior high school outreach at citizen int school :)
ice breakers// doing the banana dance ;)
the students trying out the banana dance :D
i think i was pulling someone's leg about the dance ;)
we're dancing! yaaayyy! :D
time for the sermon. i shared my slightly thick passion story heheheh ;)
the key text was based on 2 timothy 2:22 "Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart."
we shared "shine magazine," a magazine designed for young people filled with devotionals, puzzles and fun, fun, stuff that's geared towards helping the nurturing process of their spiritual growth.
having fun taking dozens and dozens of photos with the students with their copies of the shine magazine. :)
of course, i couldn't leave without hanging with the sweet little children i befriended there and give them bear hugs. hihihih
with my fellow missionaries walking through the market place in the town on our way for SOS (Sermon on the Sofa) to minister to senior high school students.
playing ampe with girlsss :)// yes, yes, that's me in flight. heheheh
marching through the town during the Jesus March to crown Him Lord over Yeji! :D
our final stop at the bank of the volta river on 26th February, our last full day. hanging with wilma and alex!
hanging with dessy, gould, joseph and another awesome missionary. :)
my friennnd!
so i borrowed her bike, trying to test to see if i could still ride a bike cos it's been forever since i rode one. the last time i did was way back in junior high. bwahahaha!
oh you know, taking a photo with the bike that i actually couldn't ride cos my riding skills have gotten so, so rusty. :P
the evening we were leaving.
we took this after i spent some time chatting with them and making them laugh their heads off. kwakwakwa! laughter is good for the soul i hear. :D
i miss allll my kidssss. :( they bring me so much joy. :D
baring our teeth in the pitch dark cos we're excited missionaries!
alright guys, i hope you've been inspired to go out there and serve cos you've been saved to serve! ask the Lord where He would want you to go and follow His leading!
heya! i'd like to introduce a new line of songs i'd be blogging about. guesssss!!!!
hymns!!! :D i grew up mostly catholic and got to learn and sing a lot of hymns plus i went to an all-girls catholic senior high school too. but well, with time i grew out of being catholic. i guess i desired something more, not to mention that i had a tad load of excuses to give not to go for mass on sundays especially during vacation times from school. a great deal of my sundays during my university life was my laundry time and watching unnecessary tv series + movies.
lemme pause on this bit of the story and tell you about "why hymns?" considering it's 1:22 am and i awfully need me some beauty sleep.
so the long and short of my story about hymns is that, i sang them alright in church, but i didn't ever bother to actually hunt them down, learn the lyrics and collect them on my playlist. i found them too slow and well sometimes 'boring' but these days, i've been pondering on how Father says in His love letters to us that we need to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to encourage ourselves. actually, all the 3 worship camps at which i recently served as one of the camp ministers had ephesians 5:18-19 as the key scripture. and i'm being reminded how hymns actually have deep meaning to their words. and you know ya girl, she likes deep. ;) i find the words of hymns carrying so much depth, so much weight. the depth that actually moves you to think some more on eternity and Jesus and the meaning of the lives we are living on this fleeting earth. this depth obviously comes from some of the difficult personal experiences of the composers. and this hymn...hark the voice of Jesus calling...there's just something about it. i came across it twice last month on 1st december and the second time a few days after that. the first encounter was when after going back to facebook after 3 years of deactivating my facebook account, i saw it on a friend's facebook wall. i didn't know why then, but the words meant something more to me than mere lyrics and i read each line with intrigue. the second encounter with this hymn was a few days after the first encounter. when i realized it was the same hymn that intrigued me on my friend's FB wall i went like, this hymn again! i shook my head in quiet disbelief but somehow smiled too. as i sang it with some lovely humans after a much convicting message about missions and missionaries, i just knew God was talking to me. as i sang this beautiful and compelling hymn, i couldn't withhold the tears. they flowed down unhindered and i wasn't in the least ashamed. i let them flow as Jesus was tugging at my heart yet again about what He had been telling me way back in 2013 before i actually went on a missions trip to south africa and swaziland about serving Him in ministry as a missionary. i just knew encountering this soul stirring hymn on both occasions wasn't some coincidence. (i'll fill you guys in on more details about the call Jesus has on my life to be a missionary + teacher). so as i offer this hymn to you, as i share the richness of its lines with you, i hope it somehow moves you to ask Father what He wants you to do about its message, should you go for a short term missions trip? has He called you to be a full time missionary? ask Him, talk it over with Him. in matthew 28:19 Jesus says we should GO and make disciples of all nations. every Christian is a default missionary wherever they find themselves.
there's just something about soulful hymns. really, there is.
enjoy this lovely goodness. :)
Hark, the Voice of Jesus Calling// Daniel March
Hark, the voice of Jesus calling,
"Who will go and work today?
Fields are white and harvests waiting,
Who will bear the sheaves away?"
Loud and long the master calls you;
Rich reward He offers free.
Who will answer, gladly saying,
"Here am I. Send me, send me"?
If you cannot speak like angels,
If you cannot preach like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus;
You can say He died for all.
If you cannot rouse the wicked
With the judgment’s dread alarms,
You can lead the little children
To the Savior’s waiting arms.
If you cannot be a watchman,
Standing high on Zion’s wall,
Pointing out the path to heaven,
Offering life and peace to all,
With your prayers and with your bounties
You can do what God demands;
You can be like faithful Aaron,
Holding up the prophet’s hands.
Let none hear you idly saying,
"There is nothing I can do,"
While the multitudes are dying
And the master calls for you.
Take the task He gives you gladly;
Let His work your pleasure be.
Answer quickly when He calls you,
"Here am I. Send me, send me!"
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”// Isaiah 6:8
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples: "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field." // Matthew 9: 35-38 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord. // ephesians 5:18-19 "Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts." // colossians 3:16 "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose." // acts 16:25-26 singing hymns is a very powerful tool against the enemy. it causes miracles, it helps me to dwell and ponder on Jesus some more and on things that actually matter on this side of heaven. I hope this hymn means something deep to you after sticking it out with me, reading all my words above. i promise, i didn't mean to write so much, it just kinda happened. ;) well, so Jesus desires for us, His children and friends to obey Him and share His gift of eternal salvation with others. you are a default missionary where you are. what is your response?
Well, hello there! I know, I've stalled a bit on this post. Apparently, a bad malaria fever thought it was fun to attack me the past week, but here I am, healthy and strong again, thanks to our awesome Healer. :)
Ok, let's cut to the chase. lol.The final week in SA was bittersweet. As much as I loved my experience, I was kinda dying to get back to my warm Ghana. ;) Seriously. Missions is certainly not the most glamorous, luxurious work to do. We always slept late and woke up early dawn to pray. But that's what it's all about. Sacrifice. I made that tough decision to leave behind my comfort and go out there because I'm that concerned about the lives and souls of people I don't even know. And as I felt thankful and fulfilled to have done my assignment in SA/Swaziland those three weeks, I also looked forward to the new chapter of my life. (this lass is a fresh graduate!...I know, I don't look it. lol)
Ministering to some Oosrand senior high learners, focusing on 2 Timothy 2:22
"But flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the name of the Lord from a pure heart."
During one of the love fellowship meetings at Tembisa.
Celebrating Denzel's birthdayyy! (guy on the extreme right)
That's our host pastor, Pastor Wesley in the striped shirt and his wife on his right. Such sweet people!
Me with Jayden, Denzel's fiancee. :)
So, the teachers and students of Goede Hoop Primary, one of the schools we consistently ministered at, loved us so much they decided to have a lil thank you/goodbye party for us. These are some of the lovely students dancing to 'Who am I' by Casting Crowns. I certainly was entertained and happily sang along too. *claps* Oh, they danced so beautifully!
That's one of the teachers presenting some gifts they had packaged for us. Talk about lovely hearts!
This is my precious gift from the teachers. A Bible to make teaching kids about God extra fun! Thank you Goede Hoop Primary!!!
Aquala, the school prefect & her buddy, Mickayla and I.
That's Mickayla teaching me how to play some melodies on their huge xylophones.
See, I'm a fast learner. ;)
Sweet Kayla dropped by when we were decorating placards for our very last Jesus March.
The placards all ready for the march.
I chanced on some of the kids from our host church playing in a park during the march. I miss these kids!
BBQ party at our host pastors house. The steak though. Finger lickin'!
Crystal! Miss her lots.
Before church service on the very last day.
Me with elder Celeste from Potter's House and her son after service. *Goodbye pictures*
Remember Nokwanda from Swaziland? Yurp. It was such a pleasant surprise to see her come over to fellowship with us at Potter's House and go see us off at the airport. :)
Final moments at Potter's House.
At O.R Tambo Int. airport. Leaving was getting real, but I kept my smile anyway. :)
A slice of O.R Tambo Int. airport. It's so huge and beautiful.
Grabbing a bite at Nandos after check in.
My almost cleared plate.
Yeah, you guessed right. I couldn't miss taking a snap with the cloth imprinted with the photo of our dear Nelson Mandela. :)
A snap of one of the numerous planes at the airport.
I had a flight to catch but of course, I stopped for a snap. lol We would have been a lil late if we hadn't super hurried our tails from Nandos to get through security. Nandos is right inside the airport but I tell you, it's a long way from there to security. We skipped and ran when we could. lol I was bold to stop and take this snap cos I was done with security and I was literally about to board my flight. Plus, I needed to catch my breath and I loved the view. ;)
I totally enjoyed my 6 hr flight back home. I watched some comedy shows to while away the time, and I conked out while watching Despicable Me 1. Oh well... South African Airways has great service though. :)
Yeah, I got a middle lane seat this time around, but I thoroughly enjoyed the flight all the same. :)
And it's goodbye to SA...till some other time.
I've learned so much from this experience, seriously. Being with the kids from our host church and the schools brings me such joy and I believe God is calling my heart into children's ministry. The way the faces of the kids light up when I'm hanging with them is something of a confirmation for me.
I'm glad I got to speak with all the people I spoke with on this trip. I believe God beautifully designed it all even before I made the decision to GO. And I'm so thankful for being graced with the wisdom and strength in my beginning steps to honor Matthew 28:19,20
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."
I pray that all Christ followers will see the seriousness of this scripture and put their comfort on hold for the greatness of the Kingdom.
I pray all Christ followers see themselves as default missionaries with a task to GO near and far to share the Good News, helping to save souls from the horror of hades and to encourage people in their walk with Jesus.
God needs you on board dear one. What do you say? :) xoxo,
Delali.
