Akwaaba!

This is how you say "welcome" in Ghana. The language is called Twi, and I have not mastered it yet.

It has been one week since we flew out of the Minneapolis airport and began the journey to Ghana, Africa. Things got exciting when I, Katie, got a call from one of our teammates saying that the first group that was assigned to fly out was incorrect, and we needed to get the right six people there ASAP. Though everyone had gone to the Mall of America for lunch, they made it back in record time to get to the airport. We thought that would be our main stress for the day. After two delayed flights, one missed, and poor communication at the Frankfurt airport, we found ourselves on a bus heading an hour outside of Frankfurt to a hotel in the hills for our troubles. (see photo). We didn't quite get the view as we arrived after sunset and left at 3am, but we knew it was something special.



Breakfast at 3am: Sandwiches, whole tomatoes, sausage patties, and Coke. This was the start of crossing cultures for sure!

Upon check-in in Brussels our names were not on the passenger list. 30 names--nowhere to be found. Thankfully there was room! Sitting among French, Ghanaian, and Belgian passengers we finally landed in Accra a full day later than planned. We were greeted by the rest of our team that went on the flight before us, along with Richard, the CCC staff member we would be working with while there, and three Stinters who had been there all year.

The first 24 hours brought a big learning curve. Ben and I felt inadequate as we navigated a new city and dealt with issues like no running water, cell phones to call home, or much knowledge about how to solve these problems. We are now in another region of Ghana for the week, and until we left to come here Friday we were never able to shower in our room. Once I used the one girls' room that had running water, and once I used an open room in the bottom of our large hostel that allowed only a partial shower. (I wasn't willing to stand in the inch deep pool of dirty water).

Something else we learned is that people in Ghana don't sleep in. At 5am people were roaming the halls chatting with each other, and across the courtyard in another room a group was having a loud praise and worship gathering. 5AM!! Between that and the bullfrogs ribbiting into the night, it's a miracle I slept as well as I did.

We had two days on campus before the semester ended and we left for the Volta Region (where we are now) so we wanted to make that time count. We held some trainings to prepare our students for the types of conversations they might have, walked across the red dirt parking lot, and down the road to campus. We had heard that Ghanaians are so friendly and that it is really easy to talk with them about the gospel, and it couldn't have been more true. I talked to five girls that day, and it was so different than in America where you sometimes have to dance around in conversation for a while before you get to share the gospel. These people have grown up in such a Christian culture, they have a vast wealth of knowledge of the scriptures. Literally, there are signs everywhere that say things like "Blessings Beauty Salon", or "Lord and Savior Gas". Everything is marketed in a Christian way.

Despite this upbringing, something is missing in the common Ghanaian theology, and that is knowing that they can be assured of their salvation through Christ. A lot of our conversations center around this topic as we help them grow into the men and women God has called them to be.

I have taken some awesome pictures and had many more experiences I hope to share in the days to come...but this is a bit long and I can't get my pictures on my computer until we get back to Accra, so ciao!

Filled with Life

"Filled"= stretched to the full. This is the description I got from my pastor a few weeks ago at church, as he talked about God's Holy Spirit at work in our lives. As I'm sitting in my office trying to think of what to do to relax tonight, when I should probably just go to bed, I am feeling very stretched to the full. This week has been one of the weirdest weeks Ben and I have encountered as a couple. Totally unexpected, heart-wrenching circumstances have caused us to slow down and take a new perspective on this life we are living.

Sitting on the beach in Panama City, Florida last Friday, we got a call from Ben's mom saying that she may have Leukemia. We were able to stop by and see his parents and sister on our drive back to Milwaukee on Sunday, and pray for her and just be with them. It was still pretty surreal. Monday night it was confirmed that she had cancer, and she was going in to start treatment Wednesday. The Doctors discovered this when she went in for a regular checkup and had some blood tests done. For years they have known Leukemia could be a possibility, but now it has become a reality. I've heard stories and read articles about people whose family members have gone through treatment, and how people rally around them. But I never understood it until now. Seeing my husband cry his heart out in sadness and anger at what his mom would have to go through to fight cancer opened the door to a whole new season we would walk through together. And it's not just his struggle because it's his mom, it's our struggle, as a whole family. We are fighting together and praying that God would provide a cure for her.

Though it hasn't been easy, God has already used this in so many ways: To strengthen our family, to help me love my husband the way he needs, to be his biggest supporter, to show us that though we have plans for our lives, they may be different than God's and we need to submit to whatever He has and continue to trust that He is good, and knows what He is doing. That it's okay to take that last day that she was at home off from work so we could just be with her in those few hours, even when Ben is scheduled to speak at a meeting and we have been gone for a week. That we don't need to be in control of everything that's going on at our campuses.

Having a full schedule keeps me busy and feeling productive in life, and I enjoy the satisfaction of maximizing every opportunity possible. But I want to be filled less with things on my plate and more with the people I love, and the moments I get to have with them. To be able to hear what God wants to tell me in moments of stillness and times of need, which are many. God says He is the one who will be exalted in ALL the earth-and I want to be still enough to follow His leading and give Him the notoriety that He deserves. (Psalm 46:10)

If you want to pray for Ben's mom, her name is Chris, and our main prayer right now is for a successful bone marrow transplant that leads to a cure. She is an amazingly strong woman, and we are all hopeful that she will get through this and only be stronger by the grace of God.

Students Sharing Christ

Some of our UWM students decided to create a Facebook group where they can share stories of how God is using them to reach people with the gospel. They started the group in January and I wish I had thought to share stories sooner-because there are so many good ones! It is awesome to see them stepping out to share the most important thing they have come to know, with both strangers and friends. Below, one sophomore shares his encounter after our weekly meeting last night.

"Hello everyone tonight was kinda a strange night in the midst of driving down Maryland I happened to see a homeless man struggling to get across the street, and i felt a tug on my heart that maybe he needed something. on my way back home i saw him at the bus stop thinking to myself that he might be hungry i went home and made him a PB&J i then went back to the stop where i was surprised to find him still there.... I got outta my car and went up to him and asked how his night was... He said it was good and we started talking for a bit... i then asked him if he was hungry and he said was quite hungry and that he hadn't eaten in quite awhile. i then handed him the sandwiches and asked him if he believed in God. He said he did. i then finished sharing the main message with him and asked him if he needed any prayer. he said that he would like some he just didn't know what for. So if you guys could just lift him up in prayer throughout the week that would be great... God is amazing and I'm glad to be a tool at his disposal. Have a great week everyone and God Bless!"

Waiting

I tend to over pack when I travel, and this was the case once again as Ben and I prepared for a five day trip to Dallas for a training conference. I like options, so it's hard for me to choose just the amount of items needed for an event, be it five outfits for five days, or two books for a two hour flight. (This WILL not be the case come May when we go to Ghana!) My carry on was loaded with entertainment options for our short flight-and I'm happy to say that I ended up using most of them! One acted as the gateway to the others, and it was my least anticipated resource.

'Worldwide Challenge' is the magazine put out by our organization, Campus Crusade for Christ. Its writers and photographers travel around the world to capture stories of what God is doing through a great number of ministries and individuals. Though I love reading magazines for recreation, I am rarely inclined to pick this one up at home. I usually move toward 'Real Simple' or something I can get good recipes or housekeeping ideas from. So I thought I might actually read it on the airplane-and I'm glad I made room for it!

Many of the articles challenged me to open my Bible and reflect on the messages myself. I pulled out my journal to scribble things God was showing me about about my own faith and journey with Him. An article that particularly struck me was one about waiting. I tend to jump ahead to whatever is next in life and neglect to just be where I am. I'll just end by sharing a thought from the author.

"Having to wait requires me to feel the depth of my need and my inability to do things alone. Having to wait exposes upon whom I trust and depend. Having to wait allows for growth, maturity, and, sometimes, the opportunity to savor things I could only enjoy at that unique time. Considering how I usually respond to seasons of longing, I overlook those benefits. Instead I have moments of obsessive focus on what I don't have, angry complaining, frantic comparisons. Basically, I become self-absorbed." -Author Sarah Martin

Check out the latest stories @ http://worldwidechallenge.org/magazine

TCX-Twin Cities Experience

Every year for the past six years I (Katie) have spent New Year's in Minneapolis with 1,000+ college students. Through our organization, ten different conferences are held around this time throughout the U.S. to rally students and challenge them in their faith. TCX 2010: Awaken was my favorite one yet.

Part of it was me finally feeling like I fit in my role as a staff member. Another part of it was the excitement of having new students from our campuses come for the first time. (15 out of 18 were new from UW-Parkside!) All in all, it really was an adventure. Every role I had was a new one this year.

*Ben and I led a breakout session for Ghana, where we are leading a team this summer. We included students from last summer's team and invited those attending to join us this year. Below, they are dancing to welcome others to the session!


*We emceed a 4 hour long senior seminar, which kicked off this year and was a huge success! While students are challenged at the main sessions to think about having an impact back on campus, seniors are thinking about how they won't be on campus much longer and are wanting to know how to transition to the 'real world'. *I led our two campus times, where students from our nine schools gathered to share what they learned at the conference and pray together. A highlight is always the day of outreach, where everyone pairs up and goes to a house, assigned by a local church, to deliver food and spiritual resources. Sometimes people don't need the food; other times they are in tears because their refrigerators are empty.

I had the privilege of going with Jisha, (above left) a student at Parkside that had come to TCX with her friend. She was honest with me about not being sure if she could follow Christ, because though she was raised in a traditional Christian home and once felt close to God, she has studied a lot of science in college and wants to be able to give reasons for her faith. I enjoyed getting to know her and prayed that God would continue drawing her to Himself throughout TCX and back on campus. I couldn't help but think during our evening session that much of what the speaker said would penetrate Jisha's heart. Later that night, her friend told me Jisha accepted Christ! She had told me that afternoon that she just wanted to get her to the conference so God could use the speakers and others to help Jisha overcome her barriers to trusting Christ. What a good friend!

For more photos, stories from students all over the Midwest, or sessions streamed live, visit www.TCX2010.com.

Dexter McCluster's Testimony

In the spirit of finishing the football season-a real life story of KC Chiefs wide receiver Dexter McCluster.