All work and no play

Yesterday, I made my first presentation about HIV/AIDS to a Junior Secondary School. It went really well despite the rough beginning. I was so nervous that the students couldn't understand what I was saying with my accent and speed of speaking. Penny had to give me the signal to slow down! Anyway, I did manage to relax and the students were great listeners and participants. I have been working on this presentatation for over two weeks. It is a series of three, one-hour presenstations talking about HIV/AIDS, building healthy relationship, and love. I will visit five schools in the next five weeks. The meeting with the director of education went very well, though, he was more interested in the fact that I was Jamaican than the work I wanted to do (hehee). When I went greet the teachers of the Junior Secondary School, I also received a warm welcome. One teacher said that he wants to students to hear any good thing. Well, they will certainly hear the Good News.

I am the first short term missionary in Tumu, so I am told that I am the pilot project. The director of SIM Ghana has wanted to begin a project in the schools about HIV (within the context of healthy, moral relationships) so I am a working that through with Penny. The door of opportunity are flying open. Everyone (teachers, principals, NGOs, pastors) we have talked to about such a project have been really encouraging to us. HIV is not a problem in Ghana like other African countries, but there is the potential (of course) if young people aren't educated about the realities of the disease. There are a lot of myths flying around and a huge stigma against those who are HIV positive.

Two weeks ago, I began discipling the teen girls in the Tumu church. We are working through a book called the Foundations of Faith. Each study looks at a basic (foundational) truth about God and man, for example, God created all things; God hates sin; God loves man. In our short time together, I still don't have a good feel for the group. They are a lot of fun, but while we are studying the Bible together, they are more reserved. I know this has to do with the teaching style that they are used to (lecture rather than discussion) and the fact that I am still new to them. Whether I see it or not, I want them to grow in their faith, and knowledge of God. Please pray that our time together will be 'growthful' for them (and me).

Each Sunday, I teach adult Sunday School (until July 29). The congregation comprises mostly elderly women who cannot read and are used to an oral tradition, so the lessons are in the form of a story. Since my Sisaali is still muamua (small small, i.e. very poor) I have a translator. My lesson have been/ will be about Christian living as taught in a few parables and other passages. When I am teaching, I don't always know if anything makes sense to the listeners, but after the fact, in conversation, I can see that they are learning. It can be hard for these Sisaali (and us Westerners) to tease apart "religion" from "tradition", but that is the main work. Penny ("my" missionary) says that she has really seen growth in the congregation from the time the left Ghana ten months ago. Please pray for the Tumu church that they don't compromise the gospel while maintaining their identity as Sisaali.

Penny meets with women in various villages in and around Tumu to discuss health and Christian living. I have gone with her to two of these meetings, and I will start health teaching for these groups in two weeks. I'll likely teach about nutrition.

The pastor of Tumu church, Pastor Edward, and his wife have been mentors, of sort, for my time here. They are not Sisaali, but they are Ghanaians so they can give me some insight into the culture that foreigner and Sisaali can't. I also meet with them biweekly for prayer and chill time, which is essential. On Friday this week, Penny and I will travel to Chiana (~ 1 hour's drive, I think) to meet with the SIM missionaries in the north of Ghana for prayer day. Some missionaries don't have phones, so we have radio contact twice a day, but it is not sufficient for good conversation and fellowship, so each month, we meet for prayer day.

Penny and I manage to go running, 2 - 3 times a week. We start at 0600h now since the rains have started and it's not as hot. The cooler weather (rather, the less humid weather) is lovely. It is still 30oC most days, but not so uncomfortable that I feel lethargic. Please thank God with me that I am healthy and able to work here. Pray that the lessons I present to the sunday school, girls in the Bible study, and the students in the Junior Secondary Schools, and relevant and "growthful".

Thanks for reading ~*