Graduation & Summer

Hello friends. :)

Since I haven't posted for an extremely long time, I thought that now I do have some time to do so, I should, even though I have probably lost a lot of people who used to check this blog due to inactivity on my part. But, regardless, I thought I'd start it up again, mainly to post some grad pictures, and also because blogs seem to be a good way again to keep in touch over the summer. (you'll notice I had to add some new links to the right).

So, an update. My life as a graduate (*yeah!*) isn't all that interesting yet. I'm still searching and waiting for the Lord to open the next door in my life... speaking of which, any of my friends that still do read this, if you hear of any potential job opportunities that I would enjoy, please let me know! because until then I am in Princeton, MN, with my family. I enjoy my family very much, but it's not a place for me to stay long-term. Speaking of family, my sister's about to have a baby any day now! It's exciting.

Really, that's about it for now, you'd think that after being in MN for about a month that since I have a lot of down-time I'd have a lot more profound thoughts to post, but not today. :) The sun is beautiful, the area of the country that I live in is actually very beautiful (there are two fields here that I have deemed "Pride & Prejudice" fields because bicycling past them is reminiscent of the country-side scenes in the latest movie version, especially the opening one.) And it's simply breath-taking.

Until the next post...
love, peace, and prayers!

Grad Pics - Family

Grad Pics - Friends

Happy Thanksgiving

Hello friends-

This break was much needed. Although, it doesn't seem like I have truly been able to celebrate Thanksgiving, as I was home for only 1 1/2 days. Thus, to help with the celebration, if anyone has anything really creative that they are thankful for (this is coming off of an idea done at GIFT Thanskgiving 2 years ago), post it on a comment on this blog! Some ideas this year that I've thought of include international phone calls, the feeling after a good work out, conversations that last longer than the cup of tea/coffee, silence and solitude retreats, and picture frames. :)

The major thing that has occupied much of my life I've just finished this past weekend, and that would be a silence and solitude retreat for the other sophmore RAs who are in my buildling (I'm a senior, and so this was an extra project for me). Do you remember when i went on one last Christmas break and decided that this is something that I really would like to continue to do, because it is such an important way of meeting with God? well, my RD said that I should go ahead and plan one for all of the other RAs to do as well. So, the past couple of meetings I've been leading them in ways that they can meet with God, either by listening to His voice or quieting their minds so that we can just be in God's presence. Anyways, it took a lot of planning, and I made a packet for them to read about it all during our time, and it finally happened last Friday and Saturday at a retreat center that I had booked - we got there on a Friday night, ate dinner together, made tea afterwards and talked for a while, and then began our time in silence (each of us had our own room). We took tiil the next day at dinner to be in silence and solitude, and then came together to talk about our time, and how we heard God or was just with Him in His presence, which is so important for RAs, because of the weight of our job and the lack of private space and silence at Dordt. There was one girl who was really nervous about it, and I talked to her privately beforehand, and that helped out some, and she didn't seem to have an awful time, so I'm looking forward to talking with her after break some more about how it actually was. The rest of the girls seemed to really enjoy it. Two girls even said that they wished that they had had another day of it. :) So, that went really well, and I'm excited that it did! I really hope that this idea takes off and that other staffs go ahead and do this as well.

Any thoughts on silence/solitude? is it needed? why is it so important? one neat thing that happened to me during my silence time was that I picked up a book - No Greater Love by Mother Teresa that I just happened to bring along, but wasn't planning on reading, and ended up reading the first chapter, which is on prayer, and promptly discovered that she had written about 4 pages worth on silence, why it's important, and even more wisdom on the practice. :) God is good.

“We cannot put ourselves directly in the presence of God if we do not practice internal and external silence… in the silence of the heart God speaks…. We need silence to be able to touch souls. The essential thing is not what we say but what God says to us and through us. In that silence, He will listen to us; there He will speak to our soul, and there we will hear His voice.” (p. 7-8, No Greater Love)

peace... be still...
peace... be still...
the storm rages...
peace... be still...

I hope you all experience peace in your lives today.

Life at Dordt

Well friends, I'm procrastinating. I was hoping to update my blog for the first time since I've been back at college over break, but break was definitely not the restful respite that I was hoping for, and so now instead of writing my biopsychology paper, i decided to give a little update!

So, life at Dordt - it's my senior year! In some ways I really don't feel like a senior - at least, what I made seniors out to be in my mind when i was young in my college career. On the other hand, I do feel like a senior when I remember that this my last time for this or that, I don't get another chance. Sometimes it's depressing to think about, and sometimes I'm soooo excited. In some ways I love college life. In other ways, I can't wait to be done. I know, I know, I'm trying to enjoy it while I can. :)

I'm an RA again this year - same wing, EH 2 North, and many of the same girls who were on my wing as freshman last year are back again. :) which is a blast. my freshmen are pretty cool too. :) I'm enjoying getting to know them. But besides that and GIFT, that's all of the activites I'm involved in this year - I cut down a lot on activities this year in order to be less busy. However, the desired object of that action has not occured, unfortunately... how, I don't know. Maybe it just feels busier because i absolutely loved the Ghanaian pace of life and the different emphasis on important values, and it's really difficult for me to transition back to the American style. Somethings gotta change... or do I just need to adjust back again?

Well, those are really all the thoughts I have for now, biopsych is calling my name.

Maa salaama and Nyame nsrishawo!

Stories & Pictures!

Hello friends -

As promised, the next posts contain stories and pictures from my time in Ghana. During our debrief we had to write a 10-minute story, and so I decided to base my pictures and stories from that. Looking at it now, I realize it's long to read, so please, feel free to break up reading these stories/looking at pictures into sections. I also tried to put headings on them even though it reads as one long "story". MIDASE (thanks) so much for your support in prayers and finances - without your partnership with me in this trip, none of what God has done in me and through me could have happened. Thanks again, and enjoy!!!

Africa's Light

The dawn of each morning in Kpandai Ghana brings with it the music of African life. The sounds of chickens, goats, and other edible animals combine to create the basic rhythm. The sweeping of the cement floor of the compound and outdoor cooking area adds another dimension. The noises of breakfast – clanging pots, water swishing, female voices calling – compose the melody of the morning song… and if I’m awake early enough, the call of the Muslim muezzin adds a harmony. It is to this music that I am awakened, as well as the light beam that penetrates my pixilated world, as I sleep in a mosquito net. And although the net distorts my own vision, light has no problem entering and bringing with it the presence of God.

Many times in the Bible light is used as a metaphor for God and His presence. And in Kpandai, Ghana, God’s light is really shown through the Nawuri language project of GILLBT – Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation. GILLBT is a Wycliffe partner organization and they have language projects all over Ghana where they are translating the Bible into other African languages. Some projects already have the Bible fully translated, others have only just begun. The Nawuri language project is still working on completing the New Testament, which is done before the Old Testament. Although the Word of God is not finished being translated, there are still other ways that the project is bringing God’s light to the people. This is through programs that promote holistic community development, such as literacy classes, women’s development, anthropology research, and more.

Translation

My Ghanaian partner, Gertrude, and I were privileged to be part of the work of the Nawuri project this summer for 4 weeks. While we weren’t able to help with the translation, we learned a lot about it, and I was able to type the Gospel of Mark on the computer for them, since their typing skills were still developing. One time when I was typing, I remember sensing the presence of God in the room, and His power in the work of this specific translation of Mark into Nawrui – the “heart” language of many people. The “heart” language refers to the mother tongue, or the language that speaks to their heart, although they may know other more common African languages. When I finished typing I personally dedicated in prayer this translation of Mark, and I pray that the whole Bible translated into Nawuri would be a great light to the people.

Anthropology Research

Besides typing, one type of work that I particularly enjoyed was anthropology research. Gertrude, a translator and I went to visit an elderly lady in her home one morning to ask her questions about marriage in her culture. After practicing our newly learned Nawuri language greetings, Gertrude manned the tape recorder, I asked the questions, and the worker translated both to the woman and back to me. As the four of us sat there on wooden benches and chairs in the small compound, other women who were doing housework chimed in with answers or details that the elderly lady must have forgotten. And always when the worker was translating back to me, the lady watched me, checking for my response and understanding. Even though we didn’t speak the same language, our eyes held a conversation that spoke of the delight in interest and sharing. There was a connection between us. As I sat waiting for a translated response to one of my questions, I felt that at this moment we were living out a photograph which could be found in any popular missions newsletter, along with a story of the work that we were doing for the Lord. Anthropology research is work for the Lord, since it demonstrates care for another. Many Africans whose mother tongue is not a well-known language feel that their language and their subculture isn’t valuable. By recording the culture of these groups, we are showing that they are worthwhile. If an “obruni” – a white person – showing interest in another culture and language is powerful, think of how much more powerful Jesus actually speaking their language in the translated Bible must be.

Other work...

Other work that Gertrude and I were able to experience included speaking to women’s groups about nutrition, hygiene and budgeting, teaching the other GILLBT workers computer skills and English, leading a Sunday School Teacher’s workshop, and more. Being able to experience so much different type of work was a huge blessing, since one of my hopes of going on this trip was to determine if working with Bible translation, especially women’s development, was something that God was calling me to after I graduate. While I didn’t have an epiphany answering my underlying question, I did receive encouragement through people that I was working with and through my own experiences that God is calling me to cross-cultural ministry, although (unfortunately or perhaps, fortunately) I am still unsure in what way.

Sign Language

I do, however, have quite a few avenues left to pursue. One of those avenues is sign language Bible translation. Before I left for Ghana, I found out about the need to sign language Bible translation around the world. I had emailed my leader and asked if there was any sign language Bible translation going on in Ghana currently and if there was any way that I could help with it. He said that he didn’t think so, but when we got to the GILLBT headquarters, I could ask around. But, before I could even do that, God brought people who were interested in sign language Bible translation to me: The first day at GILLBT during the prayer time, there was a prayer request for a couple who were going to visit a deaf school that day. I found out who the couple was, and connected with them. I found out that they were visiting from Benin (and had only 1 week left in Ghana from their 3 month visit) on work related to linguistics, not sign language, but that they both worked with the deaf in Benin, and were able to visit a couple of deaf schools in Ghana. Due to their visit, they now feel led to start a West African sign language Bible translation, since the sign language used in the schools in Ghana is the same as Benin, and they suspect would be the same in other West African countries as the man who brought deaf schooling to West Africa used the same sign language in all the schools. Through our many conversations afterwards, I am excited to pursue sign language Bible translation as a possibility, and I am so thankful for this divine appointment!

People!

Another way that God encouraged me in His calling me to cross-cultural ministry was by reaffirming gifts that I had in cross-cultural ministry. One of these gifts is developing relationships. In a book I was reading during my stay, a quote reminded me that:

“You are on a pilgrimage. If you seek truth, then you must look into the eyes of people. There you will hear soul. If you hear soul, then you will hear truth. Everything else is… everything else is disguise…. If you wish to see this country, my friend, then you must close your eyes. You will not see it until you look with your heart.”

The night I read this I prayed that I would be given the gift of being able to see the souls of the Ghanaians that I was living with. This trip for me was the first time I had spent 4 weeks as the only expat among all nationals. It was something that I wanted to experience, as this might be the scenario that God’s calling places me in, but living cross-culturally at first is never easy. There are many cultural barriers, such as language, or different ways of communication even if the same language is used, or different values (such as time v. events), or even the connotations that being white brings to their minds and my own unknown preconceptions of Ghanaians. That night I prayed that these barriers wouldn’t be actual barriers to being able to see the real people of Ghana.

Thankfully, God answered my request in several different ways. The following pictures and captions show many of the people that I was blessed by, and I pray that I was also a blessing to…

Sister & Family

I was blessed to truly have as my partner, a sister in Christ. Together Gertrude and I shared the ups and downs of living and working together cross-culturally, and through it all the Lord gave us the grace to be able to discover and enjoy each other.


I was able to actually be part of a Ghanaian family: I was not a “sister” to my host family in name only. I felt accepted, and I saw and shared the joys, sorrows, struggles, and delight that one finds in living with parents and 4 girls. At one point I witnessed a broken relationship in the family, and I prayed that before I left I would see this relationship on the way to healing. At one point later, I felt that I had seen promise of a renewed relationship, and considered my prayer answered. But, God blessed me even more when He allowed me to witness one of the parties apologize to the other, and to be part of that healing process.

God also blessed me richly through the soul of my host-mom, who knew English very well. She was very free in sharing with both Gertrude and I her life story, and what was happing in her life currently. She took both of us under her motherly wing, advising us, mentoring us, encouraging us. I think that a lot of God’s purpose in bringing me to Ghana and this project was to learn from and be encouraged by my host-mom.
Besides my host family, I was able to have a glimpse of the souls of the GILLBT workers. With everyone, I was able to hear their story of how God brought them to work with Bible translation. Their unique personalities and testimonies will not be forgotten.

A Priest & a Nightingale

We also were blessed to meet the compassionate and principle-orientated heart of the parish priest. Our first day with him, he took us along while he visited several villages, one of them being a village for lepers. ...
A nurse also came with us, a nurse who is a Ghanaian Nightingale because of her work and sacrifice to help lepers and the sick in the villages.











(The inside of a leper's home - he sleeps on the bench. The nurse provided him with a mat, but he sold it for food - the lepers have no way of earning money, and they would rather have a full belly then have material things such as a pair of good clothes, or a mat to sleep on.)

(In the leper community, there is some promise of life - you can see the baby in the picture. The baby may not have much hope, however, of not being a leper, but through the work of the nurse and others like her, a light is beginning to shine in their bleakness.)

Friends & Cross-cultural Ministry

Besides all these “workers” in ministry, we were also able to develop friendships with Ghanaians as friends living in the area. A Ghanaian custom of friendship is to stop by unexpectedly to sit and visit. I typically enjoyed this, but the last week, when Gertrude and I were so busy, we often has visitors during the only short times that we could rest. While my American culture and introverted personality caused me not to appreciate this as much as I first did, I realized that it showed that we truly were given friends during our short stay.

Partnering with 7 Ghanians, 8 non-Ghanaians, and 3 team leaders was one of the best parts of the trip for me. The team's unity and the individual personalities and relationships was a blessing to me.

1 Corinthians 13 says that without love we are but clanging symbols. Showing love to people and building relationships with people is also cross cultural ministry, since it is through our lives that God shines. Jesus is the greatest example of cross-cultural ministry as he came down from heaven to earth to be physically present with us. I thank-you for supporting me and giving me the opportunity to do cross-cultural ministry by going and being physically present with people so that together we could discover God’s light and grace shining brightly in Ghana.

Struggles & Light

So far, I've shared mostly the joys of my trip, but I also want to be real and honest in that I did have struggles as well. As some of you already know, I didn’t want this to be just another short-term missions trip, which sometimes have the connotations of inducing spiritual highs which sometimes cause participants to make hasty decisions about God’s calling in their lives without allowing them to come into contact with the reality of long-term missions. I prayed that this wouldn’t be just another short-term missions trip, but rather, a trip that would truly help me discern God’s calling for me, and give me a glimpse of what long-term missions would be like. Although this meant pain, thankfully I felt that God answered my request, especially during my 4-week stay as the only “obruni” among nationals. For one, I learned how being the only “learner” can be discouraging. By this I mean that in living in another culture, one must be a learner: one is entering a conversation that God has already began with the people of that culture, and thus one must be willing to take the learner position so that he or she can join in the conversation. I also learned that living cross-culturally brings out weaknesses for which we have coping strategies in our culture, but not in our new one. During my 4-week stay, I felt that my weaknesses were magnified – at least, in my mind. But, God promises that it is in our weakness that He is strong, and while I personally did not see the end result of God shining through my weakness, I do know that through these experiences and insights, God is working in me, and I feel more prepared to minister cross-culturally in the future.

In the third book of the Chronicles of Narnia (which I picked up as a relaxing reading book for my trip), there is a part where Lucy and Edmund and their boat of Narnians sail through darkness toward an island. As they rescue one survivor from the island surrounding by thick darkness, they learn from the survivor that this is the island where dreams (as in nightmares) come true. They instantly turn around and attempt to sail out of the darkness, but they realize after a while that they have become lost. Lucy whispers a desperate prayer to Aslan, and a couple of seconds later, a beam of light shone through the darkness onto the ship. An albatross then flew in the beam and whispered to Lucy, who was up in the crow’s nest, “Courage, dear heart.” The albatross then continued to fly, leading the ship out of darkness and into the light.

God used this story to speak to me when I became discouraged, and as I think about it now, it also is a good story to close this post, fitting in with how I opened it: God’s light shining in Ghana in the people and in Bible translation. Thank-you, again, all who have supported me in prayer and through donations. I don’t know how to sufficiently tell you all what a difference you have made, except to say “midase” (thank-you), and “Nyame nrishamo” (God bless)!



The next few posts are pictures with short explanations that didn't make it into the overall "presentation" for you to enjoy. :)

Me and my host parents at the Annual General Meeting of GILLBT during debrief.

Gertrude being Gertrude. :)

My host sister and my host mama making fufu, a traditional favorite African dish. They then took a picture of me making it, but it didn't turn out good, so I'm posting this one instead!

Helping serve lunch at the GILLBT Annual General Meeting during debrief.




At the market.












Women carrying their wares on their heads - the most popular form of carrying things for women in Ghana.

The guys on my trip - now you know what I had to put up with. :) Just kidding, they were all really great.


Lizzy next to an elephant! We had the opportunity during our debrief to go on a safari... kind of. :) We went to a National Park and there they had guides that took us walking and looking for animals - we got to see monkeys, antelope, and finally, elephants in the wild. Very cool.





One of the last days during debrief, my two roomates and I spent the early hours of the morning (none of us could sleep in 'til breakfast) laughing and talking on one bed. We decided to take this picture in memory.



In one village that we visited the children were all really scared of me (they either hadn't, or didn't get to see an "obruni" very often). But, my partner, Gertrude, beckoned one of them closer, and then the rest followed. Playing with the children was one of the best parts of the trip.

Safe Arrival Home

Hello friends and family!

In Ghana they have a traditional African symbols which each have a meaning. One symbol that they have chosen as their national symbol is the "Gyn Nyame" meaning "Only God", which serves to remind them of God's sovereignty and grace in everything that happens or will happen. In Ghanaian English, this concept is translated as "by grace". Thus, I am happy to announce that by grace (Gyn Nyame) I have finally arrived safely home!

Although my bag hasn't followed me all the way here yet, I am glad that I am here. Saying goodbye and ending the time with my Ghanian and non-Ghanian teammates and leaders was sad (as goodbyes always are), but I'm glad to be home to rest and process the trip a little more, as well as recover from an exhausting "kata" (headcold), which I recieved on Tuesday :(.

I'm excited now that I have access to the internet to share with you pictures and stories from my time in Ghana! Due to my decreased energy level, I won't put it in this post, but the next upcoming posts will share my experiences with all of you who have participated with me in this trip by graciously praying for me and supporting me.

Nyame Nrishamo! (God bless you)

Surprise!

Hello friends! Surprise! I am finally able to update my website! One of the workers at GILLBT is Catholic, and we visited his church and met the Father, who surprisingly has internet because he is fortunate enough to have a phone line (almost no one here does, I was surprised he was able to have one), and so internet is available, and he is gracious enough to let me use it! Praise the Lord! :)
Everything is going well, except that time is running so short! We only have until Thursday in this village, and it seems that we are just beginning to really get to know the people here. As my beloved sister wrote for me, a lot of what she wrote we were able to do, thank God. Another thing that we are able to do that wasn't listed was visiting surrounding villages. This place is actually more like a "town", and so we went to visit some of the other villages too. We actually haven't been "doing" so much, but just our presence, visiting churches, villages, and other places has been a ministry in and of itself. I have had so many people talk to me through a translator asking me if I am to stay, and if not, well then they are so happy that at least I (a white person - "obruni") came to visit them. :) Thankfully, I have been able to witness what I was hoping to in regards to a future career, and so I thank God for those experiences as well, such as women's development and anthropology research. I also was actually able to meet some people who are interested in sign language Bible translation, but not do any work with them... I'll have to write more on that later, as well as all of the other stories that I want to tell, as now I am running short on time! I'll write them down when I return.
For now, please know that I am well, that I am learning a lot, and seeing God work a lot as well. Continuted prayers for health (I am treating an ear infection currently), blessings on developing relationships, eyes open for what God has to teach me and do in/through me and my partner would be greatly appreciated. Also, prayers for traveling mercies and blessing upon us as we come together with the rest of our team for debrief are also needed. Thank-you all so much, your prayers are greatly coveted!! God bless, and I look forward to sharing with you all what God has done when I return!
Love and prayers,
Jess

First weeks in Ghana!

Hello all!

This is Liz, Jessica’s sister for those of you who may not know me :-), writing this post on her behalf. Jess is not able to get internet access over there in her village in Ghana, but she was able to give me a quick phone call today on her host family’s cell phone to let me know that she is alive and doing well, as well as to update me on what’s been going on in her life the past couple of weeks to that I can share that with you.

Orientation week went very well, and she is now partnered with Gertrude, a 21 year-old Ghanaian who is very much like Jess. They are having a blast together and look forward to ministering together this summer. Their assignment is to go to Ghanaian villages and speak to women’s groups, literacy groups, and youth groups about various topics such as hygiene, nutrition, humility, prayer, spiritual gifts, and the importance of education. She hopes that they will also have many opportunities to share the gospel.

This past week Jessica was able to form many relationships with her wonderful host family and others in the village. They also did some anthropology research. Jess’s assignment was to talk to different people through a translator about what marriage customs they have in Ghana and then document it. They also spent some time working with the GILBITS workers doing translating as well as teaching them computer skills. She had a lot of fun and is still enjoying learning about the culture.

She asks for continued prayers for her and Gertrude and the rest of the team as they go out ministering to different groups. She praises God for the good health she’s had this past week (Hallelujah!) and asks for prayers for continued good health as well. She also gives thanks for the prayers and support you have given her. God Bless!