This is where our 6 mile walk lead. The school that MA is almost finished with! :)

Today was AMAZING! I love these people, and my heart is so broken for them. We eat 3 meals a day plus snacks! These kids have one or two meals a day and it’s always the same thing - white mushy porridge. (smells terrible.) It really makes me want to cry when someone from my team leaves a lot of leftovers and the kids eat the scraps even if it falls on the ground. There really are starving kids in Africa, and that will no longer be a joke to me. I want to take them all home with me! Especially Princella, I wish she was my child. That’s no joke. I really want to bring her to live with me, and it makes me so sad that I can’t. It’s hard to even write this trying to see past my tears. Jesus, please bless them with food and people to love them all the time. I do not want to leave!

This morning I left again with the same group as yesterday to get started early. We finished scraping the building and sanded it. There’s a painter that has been here to help mix the paint and he painted the top white part of the orphanage with the help of a boy from the orphanage, Bless. He didn’t want our help for that part.. we tried. I ate a fruit bar for breakfast and an hour later took my medicine and it made me sick. I threw up a lot of water, and Dr. Jack was so nice, so was Sam. They both made sure I was okay and brought me some water and took me to the summer hut to ay in the shade. After about 30 mins I felt tons better. We had lunch (sandwhiches with tomatoe, chicken, onion, lettuce, hard boiled egg, and ketchup, and french fries) It was a little sketchy, but I ate it all. The food has been pretty good over all. For dinner we had spicey rice, some kind of mean - maybe goat, chicken, and potatoes.

We went for a 6 mile walk after lunch and after playing the drum with Paulina and Catherine.. that was so much fun! We walked to the worksite of the school that MA is building for Eugemot, and before long they are building a new orphanage! The walk there was interesting.. on the side of the highway in Hohoe- these people drive oh-jimmy!! (CRAZY!) haha A few of us nearly got ran over a couple of times. We passed through a village and the people were so friendly. We said hello to a bunch of people in Ewe. They kind of laughed at us because we weren’t really saying it right, but they all said “Welcome!” and one guy said “Bonjour!”.. he thought we were from France, and we told him we were Americans and he just laughed. When we got back to Eugemot I was pretty tired. Not gonna lie.. my legs were killing me, but od gave me tons of strength to play Bombalica with the kids. I love that game! haha Oh, and I learned a new song! (me-ahm-me-ay) Meaning my God is good! I love it. He is so good!

Princella didn’t feel well after we played, so I held her and took her to see Dr. Jack for some stomach medicine. Then we layed in the grass together and I rubbed her back and we sang, “I have the best Dad” She loves that song and sings it ALL the time now. She is so precious! A little while later some of the kids had to take baths outside.. butt naked. Mama Eugina scrubbed them down. After dinner they sang and played drums for us and we all worshiped together! Sining and dancing around.. the Spirit was so thick! We sand “This is the day!” Jesus is so so good. After worship we broke up into our devo groups and the lights went out so we used flashlights to read the Bible. I love these two girls, and they continue to amaze me with their faith. We read and talked about Hebrews 13:5, and I prayed for them and we had to head back to our hotel.

I seriously loved today! I forgot to mention.. on our hike back to Eugemot we stopped and bought pineapple, and a hot coke! And the notecards from my sister and my friend both have been right on point! I love how Jesus works! :) And that meet I thought was goat.. it wasn’t. It was grass cutter! That’s a mix between rat and beaver! I’m so proud of myself! haha Debriefing with the team tonight was great. Jesus is doing a lot in all of us, and it’s so cool to hear about what He’s doing in each individual person. I love my life!

Last night’s team debreifing was pretty awesome. I was able to share with the team about how God lead me to Ghana. :) This morning we woke up at 8:00 and left the hotel around 9:00 after breakfast (me, linz, bailey, hannah, sam, and the guys) - We were the trooper group of girls that went with the 1st van load. Today was a pretty productive work day. We started our work project. Scraping the ENTIRE orphanage inside and out, sanding the outside, and repainting the whole thing. We got a lot done today! Princella is my precious 6 year old princess. She is adorable and very attached to me. I love it, but am going to be so sad when I have to say bye.

I met a new friend today, Catherine (aka: Bless, aka: Commander of Commaders) Bahaha This girl is hilarious! and she knows it. She loves making people laught and breaking out in random dance moves. She also loves to help. She helped me, Bailey, and Sam sweep the rooms. She asked me today if I was going to leave my dress here..(the clothes I was wearing - tshirt & basketball shorts) because she needs new clothes. These kids all share clothes and when they get wet at the river they lay them in the grass to dry.

A lady from MA sent 2 swing sets in the mail a few weeks before we came, and today some of the guys set them up, we’re putting them in concrete tomorrow. THey love it! These beautiful kids are SO joyful. Jesus is shining on the so powerfully. It’s amazing!

Lunch was pretty good today, or either God gave me even more grace. Probably both. We had sausage link kabobs, GOAT egg roll’s, and french fries. The goad egg roll’s were pretty good for real! For dinner we had white rice, fish, fried potatoes, some kid of sauce with chicken in it. The food isn’t bad at all. :)

Today I was talking with Paulina and “Bless” and they were asking me about my family. I nearly cried telling them, because I am SO blessed and don’t even realize it half the time. Paulina told me durning devo the first night that when she was little her father died and then when she was 9 someone killed her mother and she had to live with people who were mean to her. She ended up running away to some relatives house and they took her to Mama Eugena’s orphanage. Bless told me she never knew her dad, and I’m not sure what happened to her mom. After they both shared more about their lives, they told me about how happy they are to have God as their Father and that we’re all brothers and sisters - one BIG family. :) Then I taught them the song that says, “I have the best Dad in the whole world!” They loved it! So did Princella.

We had pineapple “communion” tonight at debriefing. haha We passed a big bowl around the circle we were sitting in until it was gone. It was sooo good. I’m in love with this place and these people already.

Paulina and Paul :) I’ll tell you about him later. I love them! 

FINALLY!! We’re in Ghana! We arrived at the airport around 7:00 this morning Ghana time which means 2 AM our time. I got a few naps on the plane last night… after Sarah threw up.. it got on my backpack, pillow, and feet! Yuck! I got everything cleaned up though, although the plane still stunk. I’m getting sick to my stomach writing about it, so.. yeah. We’re on a bus now from Accra to Hohoe. The airport was small compared to JFK and ATL… and kind of smelly. One guy from our team couldn’t find his luggage. —Oh.my.goodnesss— Breaking news: some people take it offensivly when you take their picture! That scared me to death! These two guys were selling stuff in Accra and Bailey and I were taking pictures.. they ran at our window with a huge rock in hand ready to throw!! Anyways.. at the airport trying to take our luggage to the bus was an experience. So glad we had our missions small group! I feel very prepared. Some guys came trying to help and begging for money. A bit scarey. We met Mama Eugena’s daughter, son, and nephew - all beautiful people who love the Lord. It was such a blessing to meet them. I’m sooo ready to be at the orphanage!!

We made it to Hohoe!! :) The 3 1/2 hour ride there wasn’t too bad - minus the scary guy with a rock and the potholes! When we got her we made a quick 5 minute stop by the orphanage to say hello to all the beautiful kids. They are precious! And the excitement they showed as we pulled up almost made me cry. After the quick stop we went a few miles down the road to check in to our hotel. We had reservations for 12 rooms - 2 people to each room - but the man let someone else take them, so we have 4 and 5 people to each room… one bed per room. It’s a lot nicer than I expected! The shower was a little annoying because it takes forever to get my hair wet with dripping water. I’m just glad we have a shower, and I’m sure the cold water is always going to feel good after a long hot day in the african sun.

-Orphanage- wow, Jesus totally blew me away today. Those kids are unbelievable. They are all so loving and have such sweet smiles. When we got there I flt kind of out of place at first because all the kids remembered the rest of the team fromn last year and seemed pretty attached to them, but after saying their “hello’s” and “I missed you“‘s they were just as excited to see new faces. We went down to the river and all the kids had a blast swimming (mostly naked) They are so joyful. After that I met a new friend, Paulina. She’s 14 years old and absolutely loves the Lord with her whole heart. She tried teaching me how to say a few things in Ewe. It was interesting. haha

These kiddos love to have their picture taken, but not as much as they love to take pictures! My camera has had a bit of a workout today. For lunch today we had noodles, french fries, sausage link things, and some kind of sauce. and for dinner we had chicken, mashed potatoes, and rice. Not so bad, but God def. gave me grace to clean my plate. I’m so glad I did missions training in Auburn! So helpful! Our van driver.. crazy! Not as bad a Drew though. ha! We divided up into devo groups tonight - 2 kids to 1 of us. Tonight was awesome with Jesus and my two girls, Paulina and Vida. We read Proverbs 2:3-4 and Romans 8:28 and their responses blew me away. They are such beautiful children of God-inside and out! They both shared with me a little about their past and how they ended up at Eugemot. Then we prayed and the whole time the Spirit was just there. His love never fails!

My sister and a friend both made me notecards to bring on this trip. There is one for each day, and it’s been perfect. Thank You, Jesus!

Today has been a bit challenging. At times I have felt discouraged by words a team memember has been speaking to me. I really believe it’s just the enemy making me take things the wrong way. Not anymore! when Jesus opened my eyes He encouraged me, and is helping me to see everything through His eyes. “Resist the devil and he WILL flee from you..” Thank You, God for Your Truth!

We had a pretty long bus ride from Huntsville to Atlanta. I didn’t sleep AT ALL last night! I slept for about an hour on the way to Atl. We’re now on our first flight to New York! It’s a pretty short flight - 1 hr. 45 mins. We’re not swithcing planes, but we have a little bit of time to kill at the airport before we continue this journey to Accra! Then yet another long bus ride.

I am praying for strength - that even after getting little sleep and being in the HOT sun I will not grow weary. Jesus, carry me! I’m holding on to Your promise that You are with me wherever I go! This is only the beginning… :) Thinking about and praying for BA, Val, Abigail, Courtney, and their team coming back from Haiti today! And the YWAMers in Thailand and China. They’re coming home soon. :) Thank You, Jesus for what you are doing in my beautiful friends and myself. You are too cool! I just love You!

There’s lots of time to journal today! We are now on our 2nd flight! This is it!! The 9 1/2 hour flight from NY to Accra! I believe we’ve only been up in the air for about an hour, but it seems like so much longer! We were supposed to tak of at 4:45, but we didn’t leave until 5:30. I am so tired of riding on buses and planes, but once I see the beautiful faces of those precious orphans I’ll be reminded that it was all worth it! I took some Benedryll thinking it might help me sleep… wrong! The movie “Leap Year” is playing now, but when I put my headphone in it’s a different language.. not sure how to change it. Oh, by the way.. we’re flying delta, and we ended up switching planes in New York.

Today while we were sitting in the JFK airport waiting to board the plane I took a few pictures of the people who were also waiting to travel. I’ve seen so many different faces-people with totally different backgrounds, nationalities, and travel destinations. God really spoke to me in that airport. We aren’t all some southern girl/guy from small town USA, but we’re all so different! And the cool thing is God molded each one of us individually. He placed certain abilities, strengths, and desires in each of us one-by-one, and He loves us all the same! I feel SO blessed to know this about my God, and also to know that no matter how many people have a close relationship with Him, mine and His relationship is like no other. It’s personal and spiritual. I’m unique! and beautiful - made in His image. So cool!

From this trip I want to take more with me and leave more with the people of Ghana other than just memories. I desire to see changed lives by an everlasting God who cares so much about us. I’m expecting such great things! He is able!!

I haven’t mentioned our group name. We’re Group 2 and at all times we are supposed to follow Group 1, which is the Godhead 3 in 1 - Father, Spirit, Son. As long as we follow that group we’ll never be lead astray! Praise God!

I’m getting EXTREMELY excited now! I’m at Linzee’s house in Huntsville. We’ve had so much fun catching up. We even got to talk to our dear friend, Jessica Day for a while! :) We’ve been looking at Ghana pictures from last year when Linzee went. I CANNOT WAIT TO BE THERE!!! Jesus amazes me! I went earlier to eat with Daddy, Anitra, Mamaw Prince, Alex, and my mom at Cracker Barrell. It was pretty good until Mom found a fly in her food! Ayyyy! Nasty! I guess it was a blessing though - free food! Ha! It’s now 12:30 and we can’t sleep. We’re waking up at 2:30 anyways to take our last hot water shower. We’ll be leaving here by 3:45 and meeting up with our team and headed to Atlanta for our first flight! I’m starting to remember the things I forgot.. i.e. pillow, head phones, sheets, hair brush, and who knows what else. It’s a good thing Linz can spare a few things. :) I guess I am going to lay down in a nice comfortable bed before we leave! Ahh, thank You, Jesus! I’m so so blessed and SO in love with my King!

I cannot even begin to describe this excitement I am facing. A lot of people are praying for me and the team I am traveling with. God has His hand on me; I can feel it. :) I started taking my malaria medicine yesterday, and when I took it this morning it made me feel so sick for about an hour. Of course, it kind of freaked me out, but I’m thinking maybe it’s just my body trying to get use to it. Actually I know that’s it. I refuse to be sick in Africa! haha Lord, keep me well!! The devil sure is trying to attack me. He’s doing everything he can to discourage me, but I’m not even going to worry about it. All I can do is pray. God’s in control, and He will work everything out. No need to worry!

I talked to Mrs, Carol this morning about one of my righteous angers, and that is people telling me how amazing I am for going on this trip. It’s not at all me! It’s all Jesus! He deserves ALL the praise, and I guess when people point even a tad bit of it towards me it really frustrates me. She knows exactly how I feel with her heart transplant. She told me when people talk abouthow strong she is she feels the same way. She nearly died, but JESUS gave her strength. Alone she could’ve done nothing at all. She reminded me of what Brother Danny says.. “We are just the conduit..” we are everything that we are only because of Christ! 1 Cor. 15:10