This week went too fast. All of a sudden it was Thursday, and once during that day I thought, "Is it Monday?". That does not happen often :)Language and culture go together. At our meetings last week we talked about how important it is to know the culture you are working in. When you learn a people's language you learn why they do what they do and who they are. This week was more of a culture learning week.We were invited by Rev Abukari, who works with an organization called Call of Hope, to come to a seminar talking about the dominant religion here in Tamale. On Tuesday and Wednesday we learned the basics of this religion and also how to reach out. We learned to see these believers as an opportunity and not a threat. I was reminded again about the love of God. He also shared a devotion on Jonah 4. Jonah was angry that God saved the wicked people of Ninevah. I pray, we as servants of God, would not be angry at God saving those in Tamale living and dying without hearing the Gospel but would remember his love and compassion for ALL people. We serve a great, great God!
The hat, which I thought looked a bit silly but I am sure we wear things that they think are silly, had verses from their god rolled up and pasted on to the hat. He also wore amulets around his neck that had verses inside it and were sealed with animal skins. The leaves are Dawadawa plants and are used for many things here in Tamale including herbs for soup.We did not stay to the end but I think we still got a great look into culture. Pastor was trying to tell me ways that Christians can and have used this to give God glory. Like, in the hat they can roll up Bible verses and put it on and they can put verses from God's Word around their necks. Doesn't the book of Proverbs say, "Bind them always on your heart; fasten them around your neck." ? (6.21) They also would wear a smock with the symbol of a cross on it.I was so thankful I walked out the door on Thursday! God is so faithful! He cares for me as I learn this language. He cares that I learn about the people here because HE cares for them. I pray I would love the Dagbon people.What a great week. Thanks for praying!
Wednesday afternoon, Damary and I went to the market to prepare food for the people staying with us and the meetings. I was planning to cook Ghanaian food with Amama. But, Thursday came around and she had really bad asthma and could not come. I freaked out a little bit because I rarely cook Ghanaian food. Maybe once every 2 years or something because it takes so long to cook and I always mess up. Ghanaians do not use recipes, so everyone"s way of making something is different. It is hard for me to learn. I was excited for Amama to help and then scared when I was on my own. Thankfully, it all turned out well!! I made a big dish of Kontumerie Stew which goes over boiled yam or rice. Damary, Yvonne and I made meals for Friday and Saturday and snacks for the meetings. Also, on Thursday, since Amama was not there we had to clean the house, bathrooms and get the guest rooms ready. It was a busy day. We have a big house!Friday, I went to the airport to pick up Phil, the big-boss-man, (maybe you may get the wrong impression of him when I say that. He is a big man, and he is my boss but he is a great friend and amazing leader. I really admire the wisdom God has given him and he is so faithful to use it for God's kingdom.) Pam also came with. She is the newest SIM Ghana missionary. She will serve in the guesthouse in Accra. I am so glad she was able to come up and see other parts of Ghana.When we got back to my house the Gushiegu team was already there. We had a quick lunch and in the afternoon started in on the meetings. They were strategic planning meetings. Normally, I hate meetings. But, I knew we needed this. I know as I walk around I see so many needs and I wonder how in the world am I going to know how to pick where to serve and who to serve with. I needed direction and hearing from my teammates they were looking for direction too.By the end of Friday evening we had an idea of our vision statement, or the why, for working in the Dagbon area. We also knew we love working as a team and want to continue to work together even though we are not all in the same place.Pam, Rema and Maami, and Baby Ethan slept at Yvonne's house and Phil, Fela and Puii, and Grace slept at our house. Our house was made to be full!! Yay!Saturday, we started again more focused in the what and how of ministry. To be honest, I really wish Phil would have said, "Sherri, this is what you are going to do." And then he proceeds to tell me. He didn't :( HaHa. Instead, each of us had to come up with our own goals and objectives. It was good to think thru. It was good to look at our why statement and then come up with some simple goals we/I can accomplish in 6 months. I feel good. I feel like this is a good focus. I know, at least, which direction to put my feet and that is great for right now. After Saturday afternoon, I was able to pick Phil's brain and ask more questions.
I am so thankful for this team of people I work with. I love that God knew I would be working with them even before the world began. That is really too much for my mind. On Saturday evening, we went out to enjoy!
Sunday, Damary, Yvonne and I took Phil and Pam back to the airport. Rema and Maami, Fela and Puii headed back for Gushiegu. It was so great having Phil around. When I lived in Accra, Phil, and his amazing wife Andrea, were my neighbors. We would see each other almost everyday. They were people for me to dump on when short termers got difficult or laugh with when I shared a story of the kids at church or go to if I needed eggs, or sugar or something. Andrea and I found it a bit easy to organize meals because we love food so much! I was so comfortable with them when I would come over I would not even knock. I would just open the door and yell, "HIIII" and they would yell back, "HELLOOO" and then we would sit and chat or whatever. They are super busy people and I never once felt like I was taking up their time. OOOOO how I miss living next to them. All that to say it was nice to see Phil, even though Andrea wasn't there, and even though it was mostly meetings, it was still nice :)Next week, we have been invited by one of our pastors who was raised in a M*slim home, which is the dominant religion here, to come to a seminar. He and his wife work with an organization called, Call of Hope. He is going to be teaching about that religion on Tuesday and Wednesday. I have been waiting for this. I want to hear more about it in the context I live. Damary and Yvonne will also come. Pray it will help us understand the people we live with.P.S.-- On the way home from the airport, I got a flat tire. I proceeded to get my spare out and Yvonne was saying she does not know how to change a tire. I told her that I know how but God always brings an angel to do it for me. As I put the lug wrench on the nut a man came by and said, "let me do that for you". Okiedokie! God does it again. This man's name was Samuel and he used to drive taxis. He had it changed in less than 10 minutes. AHHHMAZING! 
I am super-duper thankful for this SIM Ghana team!! We are very multicultural and because of the unifying grace of the Holy Spirit we get to work together and build each other up. LOVE IT.
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red and puffy and gunky. It is a good morning when I can actually open them!In Accra, my allergies were pretty bad too. I was all drugged up on Benadryl or Claritin or something. I remember last year when I moved up here, I was surprised my allergies were ok, but not this year. Thankfully, rainy season has been going since June and my allergies are only kicking in now. That is better than what it was in Accra. The rains should finish by October and I can go back to normalcy.I finished my allergy drops and Mom said she sent some out but they haven't come yet. I went a couple days without and OOOOOO MYYYYYY GOOOODNESSSSSSS I suffered! I even googled how to make my own eyedrops, in which you need chloride tablets...yeah, I don't think I can find them here. I found I could use tea bags and put them on my eyes. That worked for about 5 minutes and then I was itchy again.On Friday I went to the post office to see if the package had come. It did not. There was a pharmacy across the street. I have looked at other pharmacies and no one has had allergy drops but THIS ONE DID!! I almost cried I was so happy! OOOOO how God provides!!!We had some of the Tumu team over. They had to do errands in Tamale and we were their hotel for a few days. We love it. It gave me an excuse to cook comfort food like meatloaf, mashed potatoes and I even baked rolls and carrot cake! I also found a recipe for peach french toast bake for breakfast. I substituted mangoes and it was amazing...can I say it was amazing even though I was the one who cooked it??? EI!! I told them the food was really all for me they were just the bonus :) Damary, the next day, cooked an Indian meal and OOOOO it was delish! We had great times of talking and hearing about ministry and language learning. They are all in the midst of it too. I am so thankful I work on a team!I should have few interruptions this week for language...let's see how it goes...Be praying!
PA and Jemima had a baby boy last week.
With the rains being more consistent, and thus the weather being cooler I found people are staying inside until more the middle of the day. At one compound that I visited, I went inside and said, “Good Moooorning" (in Dagbani, of course) and no one responded. I walked in farther and inside a little hut, I saw 2 older ladies laying down watching television. To me, it was so funny. Traditional and Technological meet. I wished I could have gotten a photo of that.On Sunday, there were 8 white people in the small church of Good News Shalom. Usually there are 2 or 3 depending on where Damary and I fellowship. This was 8 people not including me and Damary! 
There was a team with an organization from the USA called Adventures In Mission(AIM) and they have a program called The World Race. It is a short-term mission trip that lasts 11 months, serving in 11 countries. They have different routes for different teams to travel. In each country they plug into a ministry that has already been set up and prepared for them. Well, almost. They were in a city called Sunyani, which is about 8 hours from Tamale, for 6 weeks and then were supposed to go to Burkina Faso but because of security reasons it was cancelled and they were asked to go to Tamale. Tamale, they knew no one and had nothing to do. They called it Ask The Lord (ATL). The Lord led them to Pastor Andrew and then they met us and Pastor introduced them to a couple other pastors and let’s just say, their week got filled up fast!Damary and I had them over for dinner on Sunday. 
It was so fun having Americans at my table! There are little things, things I can’t even pick out but just know, that Americans do. We have many people stop and stay at our house and we love it, but there was something special about having my own culture with me. It was comfortable and homey. I don’t know how else to explain it. Damary made and Indian dish and I made an American dish. They were so thankful. They haven’t had much home cookin’ lately. We decided to show them where they can buy a cheeseburger and fries or a pizza on Wednesday. That was fun too. They were so excited. We went to Chuck’s, which has a really cool ambiance and good food. It was wonderful to sit around and talk and hear their stories. They have been in the program for 5 months. Some really good times and some really hard times. They will be heading on to Montenegro after Ghana.Monday was a holiday for Muslims. Their fasting finished. I was told it is almost like a Christmas for Muslims. They eat a lot, get new clothes and go around visiting people. They had been fasting for 30 days, called Ramadan. Damary and I stayed inside and did a much needed-to-be-completed job called painting. I have had the paint since November and finally we did it! We finished the spare bedroom.
we went to a cultural market where vendors sell their goods, made locally like cloth, soap, lotions, breads, beads, wooden art, jewelry, etc, etc. Such fun! I love Ghana things. They even had food there like bagels and sausages with no preservatives. I met up with my friend Ian, who volunteered in Ghana for many years and speaks Twi fluently. 
He said I borrowed him 50 Ghana cedis 8 years ago and never paid me back. So, he told me to pick something out. “UM… can you pick out something harder for me to do!??” I think I had something picked out in 5 minutes. It was a cloth make up bag or things to hold your toiletries. Wasn’t that nice?Full, full, full...a very full week. Always something going on in my life! One reason why I love being a missionary! Now for a week of rest, a very full week of rest.
that wind blown look to the extreme.
I stayed at the hospital until afternoon with Simone and another brother, Augustine. Augustine brought food for him. There are no cafeterias here. If you need food you better hope someone will you bring you some. He ate in the later afternoon. The pain was gone but of course he was still weak. He stayed over night just to be sure the pains wouldn't come back.One way people speak love to me is quality time. In Ghana spending time with people is very important. I don't know if it would be everyone's love language here but I know it shows people that you care. I always see people sitting together in the shade or walking together. Yes, I could have left and went to practice language. He was sleeping, he wouldn't have known. I could have just called. But how hard is it to sit and wait? Or pray? I really felt with all the things PA and Jemima do for me, staying was the best way I could show love to them.PA called me on Saturday and said he was being discharged. He told me that the other 2 guys in the room with him were Muslims and were so impressed that I stayed. They told PA how I prayed for him while he was sleeping. Maybe seeds were planted? Only God knows.One of the first things I learned in Ghana was that everything takes time. 11 (almost 12) years later, though this time is not necessarily about taking time, it is still about TIME.Love you. Thanks for praying!
Sometimes after we finish our food shopping we dig through the used clothes that people have hanging up or in piles on a sheet on the ground or on a wagon. The ones hanging up are more expensive. You have to bargain so the price could be from $1-$4 (I would never pay $4, just saying). The ones in piles can be from .30 -.75 cents. It is hot though to be digging and one day I tried on a pair of jeans. Ughhhh such a sweaty experience but when it is cheap, well, you deal with it. I know some of these clothes and shoes come from thrift stores in western countries because I can see tags on them :) funny.
Love you! Thanks for praying!