AFEHYIA PA

Afehyia pa (Merry Christmas) from The Pearl House! The past few days have been jammed packed with activities to keep the girls entertained. Whether you are in America or Ghana, if you have un-entertained children, people get feisty. Wednesday, the 23rd, was our beach day. We encouraged the girls to put their feet IN the water this time and they really took it to heart. They surprised us with their ability to swim-or not drown, how ever you want to look at it- and literally went in head first. We of course took loads of pictures, played with the local kids that live at the beach, and Laura and I introduced them to the wonderful world of hammocks. By the end of the day the girls were drenched and exhausted.

On Thursday, we turned the pearls into architects and constructed gingerbread houses. We paired them up and let the icing fly. We had walls as roofs, and windows as doors, but at the end of the day, it all tasted good. The gingerbread was perfect because it wasn’t too sweet for the girls. As far as the icing goes, they girls looked like white people because more of it ended up on their skin than on the house. The girls wrapped up their remaining “decorations and foundation” and I still see them munching on from time to time. I think our undeclared winners were Beauty and Eunice. It was truly a work of art. Thursday was of course Christmas Eve, meaning we went to church service. The service was nice and very centered around thanksgiving to God. Everyone that was there went up in front of the congregation and shared what they were thankful God had done in their life this year. Some of the girls brought tears to our eyes by sharing the work God has done in her life. As the night went on there was about 30 minutes that was all in twi and very loud. I found myself having to sit down and pray.

“God I know that this is worship to you and I know that you delight in this praise. And for that I am so thankful. But it to me this is noise. It sounds like yelling and not glorifying what so ever. Lord, please change my attitude and let me hear what you hear.”

I was able to finish out the night, singing praises to God, thanking Him for the birth of His son and all that He has done. HERE IS THE COOL PART. After the service, Laura and I were talking outside of the church and I was sharing my frustrations with her. I told her that I did not like feeling that way, especially on Christmas Eve. Laura then shared with me that she had the same thoughts! As I was praying my prayer, Laura was lifting up the same words to God. It was so cool to see God humble both of our hearts and remind us why we were there- to celebrate the birth of His son.

            Christmas day started off the way it should always start off, by praising our Lord and Savior. Devotion was about an hour and a half, as we sang, prayed and gave more thanks to God. The girls worked on Christmas lunch all morning and we all ate together. No, we didn’t have a big turkey or ham, or mashed potatoes, or stuffing, but it was just as special because the girls put in so much hard work preparing our meal and we got to enjoy it together. After lunch, we shared gifts with the girls. They each received a stocking with their name on it and watching them try to figure out why the Christmas tree had 20 boots under it was pretty entertaining. They wore their stockings as hats, gloves and shoes. Just like at home, it doesn’t matter what they present is… they want what it came in. We spent time reading their letters and sharing who gave them what. Courtney even surprised Laura and I with presents. After presents, we packed up snacks and drinks to take down to the new house. The workers had stayed at the site for Christmas to continue building and we wanted to thank them and celebrate with them. We delivered their snack with an American touch- CAROLING! The girls sang Christmas songs as they passed out food and shook the men’s hands, thanking them for their hard work. We ended Christmas day just as one should, with our church family, worshiping God.

            As you can see, our Christmas here was full of Thanksgiving. I am so glad that the staff here has instilled an attitude of gratefulness. I enjoyed learning new ways to celebrate and sharing some of my own this Christmas season. God has done so much for these girls this year and I love seeing them rejoice in Him for it.

A fin co beh to yeh (Happy New Year)