Our Last Day in Ghana

So, here we are at the last day's update! I'm going to try to stick to the facts, and post again later about my "after the trip" feelings. I know you can't wait for that one. :)

The last day was another eventful one, and we fit as much in as we could before leaving.

We spent Friday morning with our last little Compassion girl, Freda. She shares a birthday with our Carlie, and Carlie had waited ALL week for us to finally meet her friend. Freda lives in a different area than the other two, so we had to save her visit for a different day. It was a treat for us to get to bring Colin, Amy, and Megan along for this visit, to see what Compassion does for these kids, and to get to see Freda's school and home.

(Unfortunately, the man who took pictures for us didn't quite know how to work the camera. So, most of our pictures did not turn out. There were a few that did, though!)

Just like the visit on Tuesday, we were once again humbled by our warm greeting. As we walked in the church where the Compassion office is, we heard music and saw children dancing. Godfrey, the Compassion representative, told us this was all for us. They had been waiting for our arrival! It's just unbelievable that they honor their sponsors this way.

As we met with the staff there, we were once again impressed by all that Compassion does for these kids. And, we were even more blown away when they showed us a computer lab full of Dell computers and learning resources that they had just received from Compassion for the children and the community. It was donated by a single donor and was worth over $30,000. What an amazing resource for these kids and families!

We quickly headed to Freda's school to meet her and see her classmates. Once again, we drove up to see the entire school waiting on the steps to greet us. Amazing!

We walked to Freda's class, which was in the preschool area. Her class was so sweet and were so excited to see us! Freda, however, was a little nervous and very shy. We had already been told that she was a very reserved child, but I think this just completely overwhelmed her! Here is the moment we met her...

She is our youngest sponsored child, and did not speak English as well as the others either. But, even with these challenges, I hope and pray that she understood how much we love her and her family, and that we pray for her always!

As we entered her house, we once again were reminded of the circumstances these families live with. The father lives across town, and the mom and children live with their grandparents. They all sleep in the same bedroom. (This is Freda's little sister, Anita...)

Freda's mother runs a small store attached to the front of their home (which our group was able to shop at on our way out to help support this family. We bought some Obama Cookie Wafers, which were hilarious, and some floor mats for the Village of Love.)

We gave Freda all of her goodies, and enjoyed watching her put on her new dress, new tshirt, new flipflops, and play with her new toys.

The Compassion staff kept telling us that she was so happy. But, the girl only cracked a smile once. :) I wish we could have spent the whole day with her, because I think we could have found those smiles somewhere inside! But, we had a whole afternoon planned with the kids back at the VOL, so we had to say goodbye to Freda after just a couple of hours. It was wonderful to be with her and her family, and we look forward to visiting again.

As we got back to the hotel, we were able to hear the update from the rest of the group, who had been working all morning on the medical needs of the children. They went to purchase mosquito nets for each child in the Touch A Life program, as well as begin an immunization program at the local hospital for the kids. They had quite a few stories about their experience at the hospital, and we are continuing to pray that a good relationship can be established between this group of children and the hospital close by.

We were then able to greet the children as they arrived home, and the medical team began the health screenings right away, to fit everyone in before we left!

Brad was able to respond to some important physical needs of these children right away with the medication he brought, and has also made medical treatment plans for others who he found had specific needs and issues. We are SO THANKFUL that he has been able to help these children in this way! And, we are also SO THANKFUL for all of you who sponsored a child and helped make this happen!! I look forward to sharing more with you after Brad returns and we have more photos of the whole day.

As medical checkups continued, so did our painting, reading, and playing.

We were joined by the Mercy Project team as well, who were heading to Kete Krachi the next day to provide a similar VBS for the Touch A Life kids there. It was fun to have so many people there for a few hours!

That evening, we did a final time of singing with the kids. I wish I could say I got through that without crying. But, of course, I did not. We began singing "God is So Good", which we taught them this week. A verse we added was "He rescued me, He rescued me, He rescued me, He's so good to me." As I looked around at these beautiful faces singing about God's rescue, the tears just streamed down my cheeks. I was so sad to be leaving them. And, I was so thankful for my week with them. I am thankful they are rescued. I also feel that God has rescued me through these last few months. He has rescued me from a status quo life. He has rescued me from the self-centered, all-about-myself American way. And, I am so thankful.

Next we sang Blessed Be The Name of the Lord, which of course did NOT help me stop crying. "You give and take away, You give and take away, My heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be Your name..." He has given us so much, even in our loss. "When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say, Blessed be Your name."

As we sang, and cried, the girls especially became worried about some of us. Emefa dried my tears with her hands, and hugged me, while she cried too. Comfort asked me "Ma Chelsea, why are you sad?" I told her I was crying because I loved them so much, and didn't want to leave. But, I'm also crying because God is so good and I am so happy to see them all so happy. She just hugged me and smiled. Here is little Teiko, cuddling with Ma Amy while we sang:

After some singing, it was time for the kids to show off their African drumming and dancing skills. Oh my goodness, they are amazing. It is so fun to watch them! Joseph is the lead drummer, and is really gifted at it.

I wish I had pictures of the whole event, but the kids had our camera, so we have pictures of the walls, the floor, and a few kids' faces. :) They love taking pictures, and some of them are really good at it. I have a feeling they were dancing WHILE taking pictures that night.

So, this is when it gets sad. We sat for the next hour or so and read with the children, knowing that time was almost up.

By the way, I've never loved bald heads more than I do these. :)

We read as some fell asleep next to us, and after sitting and reading as long as we could, they told us it was time to go.

So, the hugging and crying began. Most of the kids did very well, and although they were sad, they hugged and loved on us, as we promised to come again soon. Many asked for us to write them and tell our kids hello.

A little earlier Mary had asked if we could go sit alone for a minute. So, we went off by ourselves. She told me that she would pray for me every day and I told her I would do the same. I took the opportunity to share a "mother's blessing" with her as well, telling her all that I see in her, and what I pray for her. We just sat and hugged, and I prayed that God would never let me forget that moment. She is a very precious girl, and I know God has very big plans for her. I've really never seen a child with so much of God's spirit in her.

As I was hugging many of them goodbye, I noticed I had not seen Joel. I was looking everywhere for him to say goodbye and finally found him sitting by himself behind the house. As I reached down to pick him up, he was just limp and wouldn't look at me. I picked him up and cradled him like a baby with his head on my shoulder. I told him I loved him and that I would be praying for him and that I would be back to see him again. Then, I felt his tears falling on my shoulder. He was crying but making no noise. I began weeping. Shannon was walking by, and came and surrounded Joel as well, and cried with us.

I carried him to the front of the house and hugged him some more with Mark. I had no words to make it better. And, it killed me to leave them all. Of course, I know they are children and that they probably bounced back by the next day, but something about spending this amazing time with them, and then leaving them, was just too hard.

There were lots of tears as we drove to the hotel to get our bags. And, really, for me, they still haven't stopped. Even as I type this entry, I am sitting with my girls watching videos of our week, listening to the kids sing on the last night. My tears still come very easily. And, this morning, Mark and I were already talking about when we would go back to see them all!

But before I get any sappier, I will close. We hope to have some video to share with you very soon. That is Mark's big project for the evening! And, what is my project? Lots-o-laundry. :)