Some of the children walk, but we normally send the bongo truck to pick up the kids. It takes about 3 runs to get all of the kids to the Centre, so as the children arrive in groups, the Brennans play music or games to keep them occupied. Currently, the bongo truck is in the process of being repaired, so today we rented a tro-tro for the children. While waiting for the others, I sang a few songs with my guitar and had them sing along....it's so cute to hear their accents when they sing, I love it.
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| Tro-tro! |
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| Singing "Love the Lord Your God" with the children |
Once all of the children arrived, we began with some worship songs. The children LOVE these songs - they know all of the words and motions.
Today's subject was "The One Thing." We talked about how it is important to give God everything and not hold anything back - there cannot be "one thing" that we refuse to give up that keeps us separated from God. We used the example of an old calendar with different events listed throughout the months, both good and bad. Then, we showed a new calendar with no events listed. We explained that in God, as we give up the old He can give us a new and fresh start! We then told the story from the Bible of the young rich ruler who asked what he must do to follow Jesus. When Jesus told him he must give up his earthly riches, the young man was sad because he did not want to give them up! To help illustrate this, Mathias and Mr. Ambrose portrayed a skit. Mr. Ambrose had a brand new shirt to give to Mathias, but in order to receive the shirt, Mathias had to give up his old, raggedy shirt. Mathias wanted to keep the old and have the new, but Mr. Ambrose explained that we MUST give up the old in order to receive the NEW! Unfortunately, Mathias decided to keep his old shirt and miss out on the new one!
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| What if I keep the old one AND take the new one? |
I then gave an object lesson about how Jesus can take our hearts and make them new, soft, and clean. I used a hard boiled egg and asked the children about sin. As they gave me examples, I wrote them in permanent marker on the egg until it was covered in black lettering. The egg did not look very good - just as our hearts are hard and dirty before Jesus lives in them. I explained to the children that only God can change our hearts, and I began peeling the egg. What was left was, of course, the white, smooth, soft egg white. We then prayed and closed the class.
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| "Madame! Madame! Picture!" |
I really admire the way that the Brennans and Ms. Diane work so hard to get these lessons together and to teach the children in the area about God's love. It's so important because planting a seed at a young age will help them as they grow. Although there are so many children and you wonder if they are even hearing what you are saying, I know that they are hearing SOMETHING, even if it is simply that God loves them. It's really an amazing outreach and I was so thankful to be part of it for 2 classes!
There is an age limit for the children, but some of the children bring their younger siblings. Today, a little girl showed up with her 2 year old brother on her back. She wasn't much bigger than he was, but I know she carried him the entire way from either Prampram or Ningo, both a sizable distance from the Centre. Throughout the lesson he was starting to get fussy, so another sister took him and put him to sleep. During the rest of the class, the little guy was passed from sister to sister, all of them taking the "motherly" role. I've seen so many small children taking care of smaller children. Just the other day in Prampram I saw a little girl with a baby strapped to her back. These children, in a sense, raise themselves. This is not for lack of good parenting, but simply because many of the parents have to work to support the family, so the children are in charge of each other. Many of these children act like young adults, even though they are still so young.
It seems that the way of living here is based mostly on survival. In a way, it's like survival of the fittest (without the Darwinian spin). In order to survive, these children learn at a very young age to take what they need and to fight to protect it. I've noticed that the way the children speak to each other and interact to each other is very rough. I don't think it's because they don't like each other, but I think it's simply their way of communicating based on their lifestyle. There is little room for convenience here - even something like Advil isn't common. So, in order to survive, you learn to push through and deal with whatever life brings. Even the vegetables are tough - in order to survive in this type of weather and soil, they have to be.
All of that to say, it makes me think of the many things I have been blessed with in life...and it also makes me think of the many things I take for granted and so easily think of as "important" when really, they pale in comparison to the situations the people here face on a daily basis. Humans are humans, so we all go through emotional experiences. But the other things, like my phone not working fast enough or my Internet connection being down for a day, truly aren't that important when compared to a young person my age with no money to attend senior high school, so they must drop out at the junior high level and work to help support the family. America is a very blessed nation, so I don't believe that we should condemn the way we live, but I do feel that there are areas we could be more conscious of when it comes to certain issues. Ok, stepping off my soap box.
In other news, I am getting so excited for classes! In one week, we'll be having our first class!! We've gotten some text books made and I'm in the process of making the rest. Tomorrow Ms. Diane comes back from the U.S., so tonight I will have to move out of her desk area that I've completely invaded and move to my 3rd "desk" that I'll have used while being here.
Last night, I met one of the students named Frieda. She's 17 - I asked her if she had ever used a camera and she said no. When I told her she would have the opportunity to use a camera and to see the pictures she will take, she was so excited. I realized I'm going to have to start from scratch with my photography course...I was completely naive in assuming that these students have all used a camera. It will be a learning curve for them as well as myself! Freida is really sweet and I'm so looking forward to her being in the new program.
Well, once again I've rambled far past what I originally intended to...if you found yourself skimming through this post, don't feel badly.
Enjoy the day, I hear it's been freezing cold one day and warm the next back home....here it's been very consistently HOT! So from warm Ghana I'm wishing you a "fine morning!"
