It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I can't believe Christmas is tomorrow! This December is going by so quickly. This past week has been so crazy, and it's finally hitting me that Christmas is actually here! All this hot weather is really confusing me about what time of year it is.

This week has been the craziest week since I arrived in Ghana. Sunday, after a morning of worship, we welcomed a family adopting from GMI. They're hoping to take their girls home very soon! On Monday, I celebrated two months in Ghana  by meeting the precious kiddos at another orphanage in town and welcoming my dearest friend into the country. On Tuesday, we welcomed another family adopting from GMI. They brought a ton of donations, so we spent the afternoon sorting through everything. After we finished going through the donations, Pastor John let me drive his car home! It was such a fun experience!

On Wednesday, one of the girls walked up to me and said there was something in her nose. I soon discovered that it was a watch battery. Where it came from and how it got there, I still don't know. But praise Jehovah it was removed successfully without any trouble! After that, it was time to clean out my room. So many donations and Christmas presents were brought in, and there was a huge need for some organization. After spending all morning between the two rooms, I still wasn't done. It was such a chore! We spent the afternoon getting things for Seth and one of the families here for Christmas, and after that it was time to measure and weigh all the kids. So thankful I had extra hands to help with that! 

Thursday, I didn't even get to finish breakfast before 6+ totes/suitcases were brought into my room, and Christmas presents for the children were scattered on my bed. The older boys in the house were getting ready to leave for an outreach, and Richard and I spent the morning at the doctor with one of the children. Once we got back in the afternoon, they were packing up to leave for the outreach, and I had some errands to run. After I got back, everyone had left and I quickly realized there were very few adults left in the house. Almost all the older boys went to the outreach, so it was just me and a few aunties left to run the home. Thankfully, three older boys returned home from school that night, and they have been here to help. Still very crazy, but we're glad they're home!

Friday was very busy. I had to take one of the children to the doctor for another test and to get the results from the blood work. After waiting an hour, they informed me one of the results wasn't ready yet, and we needed to come back in the afternoon. We went back in the afternoon, only to find out the results still weren't ready, and we needed to come back in the morning. That was a really frustrating situation. After we got back in the afternoon, I was hoping to take a nap while the kids had their nap time. Unfortunately, I was quickly called to come care for another sick kiddo in the house. There was still a little bit of nap time left, so I tried to get some rest. But then two of the boys came in a decided it was time for a pillow fight. So much for getting any rest! Seth stopped by to pick up and drop some things off, and he stayed for the rest of the afternoon. The kids spent some time coloring, which allowed me some time to clean up my room. Everything has been so crazy this week, I could never find time to clean it. After dinner, we spent the evening playing hide and seek. The kids don't completely grasp it, but they have a lot of fun.

On Saturday, we had to go back to the doctor for the fourth time in three days. After waiting two hours, we finally got the hear the results from his tests! Everything came back normal. The doctor thinks his liver is trying to recover from malnutrition, and that's what's been causing the pain. He has been feeling better as the days go by, and complaining of pain a lot less! So glad he's feeling better. Once we got back from the doctor, the kids wanted to act out the nativity story. It was pure chaos, but they enjoyed getting to act it out. In the afternoon, we had a tree climbing contest with the boys. Of all the ones who tried, the six year old climbed the highest. He is such a little monkey! Once we finished climbing the tree, it was time to clean up the yard and make things look nice for when Pastor John and the rest of the team returned home. All the kids helped, and it looked great! Seth came over in the evening, so I had some extra help putting the kiddos to bed. Such a blessing!

Sunday, everyone was gone for the outreach, so we didn't have church in the house. They had devotions in the morning, and were done by 7am. Once the kids were all finished taking their baths, I started getting things ready for Christmas. The kids are all looking forward to celebrating! The boys spent the rest of the morning building a fort. Once I put the kids down for their nap, I got to sit down and watch a movie with the older kids. It was nice to have some downtime with them. After that, I headed over to Nyame Dua to take some things to Seth. After walking for thirty minutes out in the sun, my heart took another thirty minutes to slow down. >.< Spent the evening over there, and walked back home. On the way there, we got yelled at in Ga. On the way home, a car accident took place just a few yards in front of us. You never know what to expect around here. =P Once we got back, I put the kiddos to bed and everyone arrived safely from the outreach. Including the cow we're eating for Christmas. Which was butchered and placed in my freezer at 11:30 last night.

So yeah. It's been a chaotic week, but the Lord has brought us through! He has blessed me so much this week, and I'm looking forward to this final month in Ghana!

Thanksgiving Ghana style.

"Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!" Psalm 107:1

Celebrating Thanksgiving in Ghana was such a wonderful experience! In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, I asked people, both young and old, if they knew what Thanksgiving was. The answer was almost a unanimous “no”. Being reminded that Americans are the only people who celebrate the holiday made me realize how thankful I am for it, the history that it holds, and an entire day with my family. This was my first Thanksgiving away from home, and I got to celebrate with three adults who were celebrating Thanksgiving for the very first time in their lives. Can you imagine being twenty-eight and celebrating Thanksgiving for the first time? It was so neat getting to experience my first Thanksgiving in Ghana with other people celebrating their first Thanksgiving ever. 

The Lord blessed our day from start to finish, and I’m so thankful for that! He blessed me with a family to celebrate with, and so much more! After two feasts, playing games, fellowship, and laughter, we got to watch the sunset on the beach. I love how His beauty fills the sky!

Corn hole in Ghana!

Our Thanksgiving feast.

Once we got back to the Beebe’s house that night, I was able to Skype with my family. It was awesome getting to see all of them together. My prayer all day was that I would be able to Skype with them right before they sat down to eat. And sure enough, the Lord answered my prayer! Everyone had arrived, and they were putting the finishing touches on their feast. Once everything was ready, they asked me to pray for them. From Ghana! It was so awesome getting to share that moment with them, even though 6,000 miles stood between us. It was the perfect ending to our Thanksgiving in Ghana. 

I can’t count the many ways God blessed me this Thanksgiving! It was hard not getting to spend the day with my family, but I loved getting to experience Thanksgiving in a whole new way. God is so good!
 

Month one: Complete.

It's hard to believe I left for Ghana one month ago today. I'm so thankful Jehovah has allowed me to spend the past thirty days caring for these precious children. There's no place I'd rather be than where Jehovah takes me, and I'm so glad He has placed me here to live and serve for three months! It's not always fun, it's not always easy, it's not always desirable, but I LOVE getting to share Jesus with these kiddos.

I've had the opportunity to meet several adopting families this month, and I look forward to meeting more in the coming weeks. It's such a wonderful experience getting to see parents meet their new children for the first time. Last week, I saw a father embrace his son with open arms for the first time ever. It's such a gift to see God's glorious picture of adoption put on display. :)

"He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved." Ephesians 1:5-6

"For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing." Deuteronomy 10:17-18

This month has been a wonderful adventure, and I'm excited to see what the Lord has planned for the next two! Please be praying He continues to provide strength to make it through each day.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Three wonderful weeks.

It has been such a blessing to live and serve here in Africa. I have so enjoyed the first three weeks in Ghana! Adjusting to life in a house with 37 children has been challenging at times, but the Lord has been teaching me more about Him and myself every day, and I'm so thankful for that!

Last week, I said goodbye to my dear friend and roommate, Amanda. She spent two months here at GMI, and it has been awesome to see the impact she made during her time here. She loved well, and everyone speaks very highly of her. It was hard to see her go, but I'm glad the Lord allowed her to serve here for two months. Now, my only roommate is a lizard. Unfortunately he isn't much for conversation, but thankfully he stays out of the bed. =P

Days here are very long, but so good. They start with morning devotions at 5:30 and end with goodnight prayers at 8:00. The time in between is filled with school, putting on countless bandages (Last week, I put on ten in under ten minutes!), singing, laughing, playing soccer, washing dishes and clothes, teaching the children to read, and so much more. I love getting to spend all day loving on these precious kiddos! It breaks my heart to think each and every one of them was abandoned.

How could someone abandon their child? The very thought of looking into the eyes of a child and abandoning them makes me sick to my stomach. But there is hope! A Father of the fatherless is God in His holy dwelling! I've been reading through Isaiah the past couple weeks, and this was part of what I read the other day: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me." Isaiah 49:15-16. So thankful that the Lord never forgets us!

"I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you." John 14:18.  

Made in His image.

Life is grand.

We had a great weekend with the kids! They were out of school on Friday, so we've had a lot of down time with them. Friday was very productive. They cleaned out the boys room and fixed their bunk beds.  After that, they built a coup to keep chickens and rabbits.On Saturday, they finished the coup and went to purchase the animals. We now have guinea pigs, chickens, and rabbits!

After they finished building the coup, we did a lesson with the kids about the difference between walking in darkness and walking in the light of Christ. To demonstrate, we blind folded them and had them navigate an obstacle course in "darkness." The kids really enjoyed it, and some of the adults even got involved.

Sunday was a much needed day of rest. We had church in the morning, and spent the afternoon loving on the kids. Calm days are a rare occurrence, but we are very thankful for them!

On Monday, I started to teach some of the children how to read. They are very excited and eager to learn! Most of them are catching on quickly, so that's encouraging!

Prayer requests for this week: Comfort for the children and Amanda (a volunteer who has been here for two months), as she prepares to head back to the States. That the Lord will continue to perfect His power in my weakness. My sickness has been a struggle today, but His grace is sufficient!

Counting my blessings!

Ete sen!
It's been such a wonderful week! The days leading up to my trip were very eventful, and Jehovah Jireh continued to provide in such incredible ways! His provision during the preparation for my trip was incredible. "Give thanks to Lord for He is good; His faithful love endures forever." Psalm 118:1.

I arrived in Ghana Wednesday night, and thankfully didn't have any problems at the airport and all my bags arrived safely! When I got to the orphanage, the kids were already sleeping, so I had to wait til morning to greet them. The rest of the week was very busy. Spent most of my time loving on the kids, and getting settled in to all the craziness.

The Lord has been so good to me! The trip here was good, and my body is adjusting surprisingly well to the Ghanaian food and climate. I can't even begin to count how many ways He has blessed me this week! He's so good! "But I will sing of Your strength and will joyfully proclaim Your faithful love in the morning. For You have been a stronghold for me, a refuge in my day of trouble. To You, my strength, I sing praises, because God is my stronghold, my faithful God."  Psalm 59:16-17.

Please be praying that I would be intentional during my time here, and always seek the Lord's will above my own. Also, there's a child in the home who has been causing a lot of trouble, so please pray that the Lord will   work in his heart, and draw him unto Himself.

I'm very excited to see how the Lord will work here in the next three months! Thank you so much for your prayers, and I will try to keep you updated!

"Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the word." James 1:27.

Getting ready to leave!

 Greetings!

Life is pretty crazy right now. My departure date is quickly approaching, and I will be Ghana bound on October 16th! The Lord is continuing to bring everything together, and His provision has been amazing! 

Right now, I'm in the process of getting everything finalized and ready to go. There's a lot of planning that goes into being gone for three months, but the Joy of the Lord is my strength and the excitement of knowing that I will soon be there is pushing me to get even the smallest tasks done. 

Your prayers are most definitely appreciated during this time before I leave. You can pray that God would bring everything together, and that all the details would be finalized. You can also pray that Jehovah Jireh would provide the financial needs for my trip. I'm still short on funds, but I'm confident He'll provide everything I need. Most importantly, you can pray that God would be glorified, because this trip is all about Him!

If you have any preschool/kindergarten teaching supplies that you think would be helpful, please let me know! I'll be teaching the preschool/kindergarten class in the orphanage, and there will be about twenty kids. So whatever ideas/supplies you have would be greatly appreciated! 

you mean, I get to go back?

That's right! Lord willing, I will be headed back to Ghana the first week of September. But it's going to be a little different this time...


Different? Cause I've been there before, I know how to prepare, and I know what to expect? Nope. Different, because  this time I'm going with a chronic illness called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). The list of symptoms is far too long to put here, but basically, it affects my entire body. My autonomic nervous system doesn't work properly, so my blood pressure, heart rate, and internal temperature don't regulate normally. Some of the things you're supposed to avoid with POTS are excessive heat and bending down (Among several other things). Doesn't sound too hard, right? Well, Jehovah is calling me to go to Africa, in the excessive heat, to take care of the fatherless, which requires a lot of bending down. Some people might think it's foolish to go to a third world country when I'm so sick, but the joy of the Lord is my strength, and I'm not saying no to His calling! It's probably going to be the most difficult experience of my life thus far, with lots of challenges and struggles. But His grace is sufficient, and I can't wait to be back in Ghana loving on those precious children. :)


We don't have dates finalized yet, but it will most likely be the first week of September til early-mid December. That's right, three whole months of caring for orphans. =D Lord willing, there will be three other ladies going with me. Please be praying for us as we prepare for this trip, make plans, and raise the funds.


I will be setting up an account through Parkway Baptist Church, so please let me know if you're interested in making a donation. Your contributions are much needed and greatly appreciated! I won't be able to go without the support of my fiends and family, so please consider being apart of this journey!

Thanks so much for your prayers and support! 
-Rebekah

Back in Knoxville.

I made it back to Knoxville Thursday morning. I meant to post sooner, but I have been really busy since I got back. The transition has been a lot harder than I anticipated, but God is good.

I'm praying about going back in August and staying for 4 months, but we'll see what God has planned. :)

Thank you so much for all your prayers and encouragement while I was gone. They were such a blessing!

When I'm weak, He is strong.

Its been an interesting couple of days.
Emily was sick for almost a week, but praise God she is finally feeling better. I got sick Friday morning, and I spent most of Friday and Saturday curled up in bed. I hated that I couldn't be out playing with the kids because I had no energy. Saturday night, all the volunteers went to have dinner with Johnbull and Stacy. Emily and I couldn't hardly look at the food without wanting to vomit. And sitting in a resturaunt, that was pretty difficult. After we got back from dinner, I was starting to feel a little better. Sunday morning, I got to sit in on Sunday School for the younger ones; the older boys did a lesson about Abraham and Sarah. After Sunday School, it was time for church. The older boys led the music, and pastor Eben gave the message. After lunch, we loaded up and took the kids to the beach. It's pretty chaotic taking 30 kids to the beach, but they love it. As soon as we got home from the beach, it was time to bath all the sandy kids. They love it when mommy does bathtime for them, but man, it's a chore to wash off a bunch of kids all covered in sand. Once we finished bathing, we ate dinner and the boys played soccer.

Monday morning, Sarah and I went over to Assurance Of Hope, the orphanage that Lola is staying at, to help with some crafts. We did valentine cards for their food sponsors, and we also did a little craft for them. It was kind of challenging, because some of them didn't really speak English, and we didn't know their names. But we made their crafts successfully. There was one little boy that stole my heart while we were there. He was clinging to my side shortly after we walked in the gate, and once I picked him up, he absolutely would not let me put him down. If I was able to get him down, he would hold onto my leg until I picked him back up. The kids all love to be held, but he would not leave my side the whole time we were there. It broke my heart to have to put him down and leave, and I've been thinking and praying about him ever since. God has a perfect plan for his life, and I trust He will watch over him. And I also pray Jehovah allows me to be apart of his life. :) I've been living in an orphanage for three weeks, and I love the kids here, but none of them have stuck out to me like this little boy has. I don't know why he's so special, but he sure has a place in my heart.

Today, we are doing valentine cards with our kids. I'm glad I get to spend valentines day loving on the fatherless. :)

 This is Peter. :)

I'm heading home tomorrow night, so please be praying for safe travels. It's going to be hard to leave all these beautiful children, and I cannot wait for the day I get to come back.

"There is power in the name of Jesus"

Its been a very long day. Emily is still sick with Malaria; she feels very weak, and hasn't eaten much the past few days. I wasn't feeling well when I woke up this morning. I threw up, and have had "the runs" all day. I thought it might have been the food we ate last night, but I'm still feeling very sick, so I don't know what it is. Jehovah Rapha is mighty to heal, so we are trusting in Him. Please pray for healing for the both of us. Sarah, the other girl here with us, isn't sick at all, so we are praising God for that!

Heading home in a week.

I can't believe I only have one week left here in Ghana. It has been such a wonderful experience, and I pray that God allows me to come back soon!

We have spent most of our time at the orphanage the past few days. Just taking care of the kids, and helping wherever needed.

On Monday, Emily passed out in the middle of the night. Thankfully she landed halfway on our bed, instead of on the floor. John took her to the doctor, and they said she had Malaria. She is doing a lot better now, but she's still feeling very weak.

Here are some pictures of the kids. :)

 Frankie riding his bike

 This is what happens when the kids have oranges. 

 Luka. He and his two sisters went home to America on Friday.

 Playing with the girls.