Returning to Ghana

I remember the clinic very clearly. Our team sat on metal folding chairs, waiting our turn to get injected. Our imaginations ran wild wondering what kind of horrible device would be used to administer our Yellow Fever vaccine. Did this little medical clinic tucked into a shopping mall have clean needles? Competent staff? As Mennonites, we had all jumped at getting $17 shots instead of spending $100 at a medical clinic in America, but now, sitting in the waiting room, eyeballing each other, we began to have doubts.

I have no problem with insulin injections. In the past 15 years, I've given myself literally thousands of shots. I once started doing the math but I stopped because the numbers went too high.

I've had north of a dozen vaccines in my life. Polio, mumps, measles, rubella, tetanus, various influenza vaccines, chicken pox, etc. I don't necessarily like vaccines. Not because I fear they'll turn me into a vegetable or that my offspring will be the focus of the next Xmen movie, but because they get injected into muscle and hurt like crazy for a few days.

I jumped up and followed the nurse back to a small examination room, which was clean and organized. She prepared my arm for the injection, administered the vaccine, and gave me a bandage. It was all over before I could worry about HIV or tarantulas. The nurse was well-trained and very competent.

We were given a Yellow Fever card that showed us the date and location of our vaccination.

Fast forward 18 months. I need that card, and I can't find it.

I'm headed back to Ghana, Africa on a ministry trip with Crusades for Christ this Fall. God has really opened a lot of doors, starting with changing the date of the entire trip so I wouldn't have to miss my roommate Shane's wedding. God is so good! I've been running through all of these open doors until I tripped over giant piece of furniture labeled "Yellow Fever Vaccination Booklet".

I am not organized. I lose important things all the time. Once I angrily called my car insurance provider, telling them that they neglected to send me an updated Proof of Insurance card (which got me in trouble when I was pulled over and didn't have it with me). The insurance provider promised to send out a copy as soon as possible. When it arrived, I ran inside and set it down on the counter, which is where I found the original copies that I accused them of neglecting to send me.

I have no idea where that Yellow Fever booklet is. Please pray that I find it. Worst case scenario is I can't find the card and will have to take the shot again.


How this trip to Ghana will be the same: 

-The trip is under the same organization: Crusades for Christ. 

-God will be present in our work. Is that conceited? God provided in so many ways on the last trip, and I believe He can and will do that again.


-I'll be going for two weeks, which is the same duration as the last trip. I could certainly tolerate longer trips (Two weeks on a foreign continent is like ordering a salad at a steakhouse.) but shorter trips work with my job schedule far better.

-I'm going to be staying with the same Missionary family, Jon & Sarah Sauder, who are living just outside of Accra, the capital of Ghana.

-I'm going to consume large quantities of delicious fruit.

-I will be traveling with a wonderful group of like-minded believers. I can't wait to meet the whole team! 

-I will be purchasing a machete like the one I got last year.

This one has seen rigorous use in the woods around my trailer, as evidenced by the battle scars and dents. 

How this trip to Ghana will be different: 

-Ron & Audrey Bontrager, a dear missionary family I met last trip, will not be in Ghana. Their three-year term has come to an end. They're being replaced by Leon & Barb Geigley and their daughter Carissa. I was blessed to work under them at Prairie Camp in Indiana, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

-Last trip, I helped put up rafters on the Crusade for Christ Bible Institute building. This trip is a Missions Crusade, where we'll be working in clinics and spreading the life-giving words of Jesus. These are things I had hoped to get involved in the last trip, but there simply wasn't enough time.

-Last year, I traveled with a friend from my church and a pile of Pennsylvanians. This year, I'll be the sole Iowa team member lost in a sea of energetic Indianans. Indians? Indiananites? 

-Instead of just one, I'm going to buy multiple machetes. I really like them.


Our group will be catching the very beginning stages of the yearly Harmattan, which is a nasty sandstorm that whips through West Africa from November til March. I was smack dab in the middle of the storm when I went in February 2012. The sand that blows from the Sahara desert just hangs in the air like a gritty smog.


The trip dates are October 27th to November 8th. Please keep my team and I in your prayers as we prepare for the upcoming trip.

You can download my account of the first trip here:
http://www.cfcint.com/images/Africa_Trip_Report.pdf

The Crusades for Christ International Bible School is still being constructed. Teachers and students meet in portions of the building that are already completed. There are all sorts of lovely photos of the project here:
http://www.cfcint.com/cfcilanddevelopment/2012pictures.html

For comparative reference, this is what the building looked like when we got done with our portion of the project.

Parked out front is the trusty 15-passenger van we used. No, I didn't make a mistake. It held 15 people regularly. Sometimes more, when we completely surrendered all personal space.

Lord, thank You for the opportunity to serve in a foreign land. Please use our small group for Your honor and glory.