A SMILE EXCHANGED WRITES A STORY UPON ONES HEART THAT CANNOT BE FORGOTTEN.
Saturday, September 26, 2015
RICH IN CULTURE
KENTE FESTIVAL AND A ONCE IN A LIFETIME LOOK INTO SHOTS OUT OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC... THIS FESTIVAL IS HELD ABOUT 3 HOURS AWAY FROM ACCRA IN THE VOLTA REGION, AND IT HAPPENS ONLY ONCE A YEAR. WE MISSED IT LAST YEAR, AND MADE SURE NOT TO MISS THE ADVENTURE OF GOING BACK IN TIME THIS YEAR. WHAT A RICH CULTURE OF TRADITIONS OF KINGS AND PARAMOUNT CHIEFS, WITH WOMEN FETCHING WATER AND MARKING THEIR BODIES WITH A FRAGRANT MIXTURE OF MUD. THE COLORS AND PATTERNS OF ALL THE CLOTH ARE SYMBOLIC, THE KENTE WEAVING CONTEST, DANCING AND THE CEREMONY OF ENSTOOLING A NEW CHIEF. IT IS TIMES SUCH AS THIS THAT WE AS MISSIONARIES HAVE THE CHANCE TO SOAK IN THE WAYS OF SO MANY TRIBES THAT LIVE HERE. HOW CAN A MISSION GET ANY BETTER THAN BEING SURROUNDED BY THE PAST BROUGHT TO THE PRESENT.
OUR OLD DTA WHO WAS TO BECOME A CHEIF DURING THE FESTIVITIES.
THEY BOUGHT THEIR POTS AND MADE THE RING FROM THE GRASS THAT THEY PULLED BY THE RIVER.
ONE BY ONE IN GROUPS THEY ENTER THE WATER WITH CEREMONY.
FIRING OF THE MUSKETS AND THE SPRAYING OF WATER TO SEND EVIL SPIRITS AWAY.
WEE ONES WATCHING ON....
BEAUTIFUL MARKINGS FROM THE RIVER MUD!
THE CHILDREN COMING TO DANCE FOR THE CHIEFS.
A YOUNG GIRL GIVEN TO A CHIEF'S WIFE AS A PROTECTOR.
ALWAYS THE BEAT OF THE DRUMS!
WHEN FRIENDS COME
WHEN YOU GO TO THE AIRPORT TO PICK UP FRIENDS.....IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE REALLY THERE. IT SEEMS ALMOST OUT OF REALITY, BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN HERE ALL THESE MONTHS AND THEN THERE THEY ARE. THEY BECOME PART OF YOUR DAY, AND YOU BECOME PART OF THERE'S. WITHOUT EVEN PLANNING THEY COME AT THE PERFECT TIME WHERE THEY ENHANCE YOUR MISSION, AND YOU HAVE THE TREASURE OF SHOWING THEM THE LAND OF SO MANY MIRACLES. IN SO MANY MOMENTS YOU FEEL A GROWTH THAT YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ON THE LEVEL OF YOUR SERVICE. WHEN YOU SHARE THE GROUND OF YOUR MISSION, THEN YOU SOMEHOW STEP BACK AND CAN SEE THE WHOLE PICTURE OF YOUR DAYS. OH THANKS FOR COMING SO YOU WILL KNOW FROM BEING TOGETHER AND MAKING MEMORIES.
MY AKWAABA FRIEND!
THEY WERE LOST IN ALL THE BEADS WITH ALL THE POSSIBILITIES
OUR DEAR FRIENDS THE OPARE'S AND OUR SONG OF DAN A SAY.....
MORE BEADS ALONG THE WAY TO THE KENTE FESTIVAL!
ALL FOR ONE......
FETCHING WATER FOR THE KING.....
I WAS BY THE WATER AND WAS PAINTED WITH THE MUD MARKINGS AT THE FESTIVAL
UNDER THE TENT TO WATCH THE ROYAL FAMILIES COME IN.
HERE THEY COME!
OUTSIDE OUR HOTEL IN HO WHERE WE ALL TOOK OUR POSITIONS....I'LL TAKE GETTING WATER.
OUR DEAR FRIEND GEORGINA GETTING A WHITE BREAD SQUEEZE!
TO BE CONTINUED!
IT WOULDN'T BE A TRIP TO GHANA WITHOUT A STOP AT A CLOTH STORE.
HOW TO TEACH LIKE AN ANGEL
WHO WANTS TO KNOW HOW TO TEACH LIKE AN ANGEL? MIRACLES SURROUND US ON SO MANY CORNERS THAT SOMEDAYS YOU CAN HARDLY CATCH YOUR BREATH. ON OUR RETURN TRIP FROM SIERRA LEONE WE STEPPED ON THE PLANE TO THE VOICES OF ELDER/SISTER TERRY, AND AS WE LOOKED AROUND WE WERE SURROUNDED BY MISSIONARY BADGES. ALL 12 MISSIONARIES WERE COMING INTO LIBERIA AS THE FIRST SET SINCE THE OUTBREAK OF EBOLA. JUST DAYS BEFORE I HAD CHANGED OUR SEATS, AND NOW FOUND THAT WE WERE IN A NEST OF MISSIONARIES ON THIS HUGE AIRCRAFT. I WAS SO SURPRISED THAT I FELT ALL OF MY MOTHERHOOD SURFACE, AND WE SHARED AND SHARED. THEY ASKED ME ABOUT THE CHURCH AND MY CONVERSION, WHAT IT FELT LIKE COMING OUT OF THE WATERS OF BAPTISM AND IF I REMEMBERED THE MISSIONARIES THAT TAUGHT ME? THE HUNGER TO KNOW WHAT A FEAST LAYED BEFORE ALL OF US.
JUST THAT MORNING I HAD READ ABOUT THE ANGEL COMING TO NEPHI TO TEACH HIM THE THINGS THAT WERE GIVEN TO HIS FATHER LEHI ABOUT THE TRUTHS OF THE GOSPEL AND THE TREE OF LIFE. THE PATTERN EMERGED OF HOW THE ANGEL ASKED NEPHI TO LOOK, NEPHI LOOKED AND THEN BEHELD. I SHARED WITH THE MISSIONARIES ABOUT MY READING AND HOW THEY COULD TEACH LIKE AN ANGEL....WOW WENT MY HEART! 1 NEPHI 11-14 IS THE PATTERN AND FITS PERFECTLY WITH THE PAMPHLETS THAT THEY ARE GIVEN TO EACH OF THEM TO TEACH. ALL THE PICTURES IN THOSE MATERIALS GIVE INVESTIGATORS A PERFECT WAY TO LOOK AND DESCRIBE WHAT THEY SEE IN A PICTURE, AND THEN THE MISSIONARIES CAN ADD WHAT IS MISSING. OUR SHORT FLIGHT OF A LITTLE OVER AN HOUR WAS OVER, AND AS THEY WALKED OFF THE PLANE I'M SURE THAT I SAW WINGS ON EACH ONE OF THEM. AS I WAS SITTING ON THE PLANE, ELDER HEZSELTINE TEXTED ME TO SAY THEY WERE OUTSIDE THE TERMINAL WAITING FOR THE MISSIONARIES THAT HAD JUST LEFT THE PLANE. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES TO HAVE TWO ENCOUNTERS WITH THE HEZSELTINE IN A LITTLE OVER A WEEK, AND BEING SURROUNDED WITH MISSIONARIES ALL IN THE SERVICE OF OUR GOD. I KNOW SIMPLY BY THE HEAVENS ABOVE WITHIN A MORNING WITH THE SCRIPTURES.
WHAT A HUG FROM HEAVEN!
KNOWING HE KNOWS
WHEN I TOOK THIS CAMERA SHOT OF THE MAN IN THIS PICTURE HIS EYES HAD FOLLOWED MINE, AND I WONDERED WHAT LIFE HAD BROUGHT HIM DURING HIS TIME HERE ON EARTH. NEVER TIRE OF LOOKING UPON SO MUCH THAT CAN BEND OUR GRATEFUL HEARTS EVEN DEEPER IN THANKSGIVING FOR WHAT WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED TO RECEIVE FROM HEAVEN. PRAYERS TAKE ON A WORLD WITHIN THEIR OWN FOR THE CARE OF THOSE THAT PASS QUICKLY BY.
THE EXACT SPOT WHERE THE SPIRIT SPOKE ABOUT BEING ON A MISSION, AND HERE WE STAND BADGED AND READY TO GO WHEREVER HE WANTS US TO GO! HOW HE HAS BLESSED US WITH MULTIPLE COUNTRIES AND COUNTLESS PEOPLE THAT HAVE MOLDED AND SHAPED OUR EVERY GROWING TESTIMONY. THANKFUL THAT WE ALL SMILE WITHIN OUR GRATITUDE.
WHEN I LOOK UPON THIS PICTURE, I STAND WITHIN MYSELF TO KNOW THE HAND OF GOD IS INTIMATELY INVOLVED IN OUR LIVES EVERY MOMENT!
THE 63 STEPS UP AND DOWN EACH DAY GAVE US ALL THE PERSPECTIVE OF GOD'S WAYS AND NOT OUR WAYS! ALL 40+ COMPUTERS WENT UP 3 FLIGHTS OF STAIRS AND BACK DOWN AGAIN. EACH STEP ELDER TERRY TOOK GAVE ME A VIEW OF THIS GREAT MAN IN MY LIFE. HIS WILLINGNESS TO SACRIFICE WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET THINGS DONE IS AMAZING.
UPSTAIRS ON THE BALCONY BEFORE OUR DEPARTURE HE GIVES THE ASSURANCE OF THE SUN SETTING AND RISING UPON A LAND THAT HE WILL NEVER FORGET NOR WILL WE!
Regards,
NOW GO AND BE A BLESSINGS!
HARD TO BELIEVE
HARD TO BELIEVE......THAT IT HAS BEEN A MONTH SINCE WE CAME BACK FROM SIERRA LEONE. I FELT MY HEART NEEDED TIME TO BE VERY STILL WITH THE COMINGS AND GOINGS OF THAT GREAT LAND. EVEN WRITING IN MY JOURNAL HAS PROVEN MORE OF A CHALLENGE TO PEN WHAT MY THOUGHTS HAVE ENCIRCLED THEMSELVES ABOUT. AS I STEP BACK, IT COMES IN WAVES OF THE KINDNESS OF THE PEOPLE, THE DEDICATION TO THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR, THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH THAT THEY LIVE, THE EXERCISE OF GRACE THAT THEY PRAY FOR AND THE TIME THE LAND WILL BE EBOLA FREE WHEREBY THE MISSIONARIES WILL BE AMONG THEM ONCE AGAIN. OUT OF ALL THE COUNTRIES I HAVE HAD THE BLESSING TO PLACE MY FOOTSTEPS UPON, I CHERISH THE GENTLENESS OF THE PEOPLE OF SIERRA LEONE THE MOST. IT HAS PROVEN TO ME THAT DURING THE HARSHNESS OF TIMES THAT THE MOST GENTLE FAITH FILLED SAINTS CAN EMERGE.
THE BLESSING OF MEETING OUR PRECIOUS FRIENDS THE HEZSELTINE'S WHO HAD A LAYOVER AS THE FIRST ASSIGNED SENIOR MISSIONARY COUPLE TO RETURN TO LIBERIA. THEY HAVE SERVED THERE BEFORE, AND ARE RETURNING FOR 4 OR 5 MONTHS TO HELP SET THE MISSION UP BESIDE THE MISSION PRESIDENT. THE LORD SMILES ON US AS MISSIONARIES, BECAUSE THEIR LAYOVER AND OUR LEAVING FOR SIERRA LEONE MATCHED FOR A REUNION IN ACRRA AIRPORT. NOW THAT IS A TENDER MERCY!
WHEN YOU COME TO SIERRA LEONE, YOU LEAVE THE AIRPORT AND TAKE TRANSPORT TO COME TO THE WATER'S EDGE TO GET IN A BOAT FOR THE CROSSING TO FREETOWN. THANKFUL THAT ELDER TERRY SNAPPED THIS PICTURE OF MY HEART'S RETURN.
READY FOR THE JOURNEY!
BRANCH PRESIDENT AND WIFE THAT WE HAD THE PLEASURE TO MET. THE SAYING ON HER SHIRT SAYS IT ALL FOR 365 DAYS OF THE YEAR. I WILL LONG REMEMBER THE WONDERFUL CONVERSATION THAT I HAD WHERE THE STORIES OF EBOLA AND WAR POURED FORTH ON THE PORCH OUTSIDE THIS BRANCH BUILDING. AT THE END OF A LONG AFTERNOON, IT WAS WITH GREAT LOVE THAT I LEFT WITH AN UNDERSTANDING GAINED THROUGH THEIR OBEDIENCE TO WHAT THEY KNOW TO BE TRUE....LOVE AND FAITH COMBINED! WE HAVE NO IDEA THE GREAT SACRIFICES THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN THEIR LIVES.
JUST OUTSIDE MY WINDOW AS I LOOK UPON VOLUMES TO LEARN MAN'S HUMANITY TO MANKIND!
THEN A RAINBOW UPON THE LAND APPEARED AS IF A PROMISE THAT THEY HAVE NOT BEEN FORGOTTEN!
THE HOPE OF THIS LITTLE GIRL LOOKING UPON ANOTHER DAY!
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