Paul:

Hey this is Paul again. So yeah, we went to the orphanage again today and had a blast. But first we went to the studio to check out the album progress. We ended up being the sandwich makers, which was quite a feat considering we had 70 mouths to feed. They choir later ended up needing a djembe track so I laid a simple one down as a basis. Afterwards we took the van to the orphanage, which was definitely my highlight. I got assigned to the younger kids, 7 and under, and it was…. Interesting. Our games were fun, but the attention span of the kids was like maybe twenty seconds. So we had around twenty kids running around.  Eventually we gave in to the almost constant chants of ‘Football! Football!’ it was a pretty intense game, and as usual I got whooped by the kids, even though they were under 7. After our semi-organized activities, we had some free time with the kids. Hannah did some songs and I played soccer. It was an awesommmeee day.

Emily:

Any of you who know me well would undoubtedly say that the standard little kid American lunch of peanut butter and jelly is one of my last options on the list of foods I will eat. But today, I think I can safely say I went from an amateur PB&J sandwich-maker (meaning it had made about a total of 4 PB&Js in my life) to being a pro (70 sandwiches later) and even ate one myself!… After all that hard work.. Very sticky hands.. And of course I got to specially cater it to my likes :]. I really did have a fun time though. Just doing simple services like that for others, I realize the joy God gives us as we follow the call of Jesus and take on a servant’s heart. Truly amazing.

 

After a bus ride to the Agape orphanage filled with attempts to plan out some kind of divide and conquer technique since the kids are ages 6 to 17, we arrived at the grassy field with the beautiful, green, rolling hills in the background. We tried some big group songs but only got about 2/3 of the kids ‘going bananas’ with us since the high school guys definitely thought they were too cool for it. Our fairly impromptu plan to split into three groups – elementary, jr high, and high school – worked pretty well and with two leaders in each group, we played lots of fun games for about an hour and a half. I group-hopped with my camera (also making sure there wasn’t a group that was severely struggling hah), practicing a bit for my job this summer at SpringHill Camp in Michigan as a photographer. Near the end I did some beading and bubble-blowing with the little girls as Paul played some much anticipated soccer with the younger boys. With one more final group gathering, we had them teach us a song called ‘All Around.’ I have to say, African songs are just really catchy, and of course fun, and the fact that even the high school guys were loudly singing along was really great :].

 

Probably the best part of the day though was the 30 minutes or so where we simply hung out with the kids before they had to go in for dinner. The sun had stopped it’s glaring rays and some kids were playing soccer, others still blowing bubbles, some gathered around Hannah and her guitar to sing songs, and the rest in small groups around the rest of us. One boy who is about 10 came up to Paul and said, ‘I want to ask you questions about the Bible’ ..which we soon learned meant he wanted to quiz Paul on some Bible trivia. It was insane. He not only knew who wrote every book in the new testament, but what many of the prophets in the old testament did. Soon a crowd of about 6 other young boys gathered and they brought up more questions, eventually telling us to quiz them (which didn’t go so well considering they got most of the answers before we even finished asking the question haha). And if I wasn’t amazed enough already, they zealously proceeded to list off Bible references for Hannah to say the matching verse (and yes they had them all memorized and yelled them in unison when she couldn’t get one, they weren’t just listing off random references hah), I was proud to find out that she new most of them.. And relieved they hadn’t picked on me.. But it was so incredible to hear them yell back ‘yes we love Jesus!’ as Hannah asked, ‘do you love Jesus?’ It should be such a simple question but for some reason it is just to profound, so fundamental; sometimes I think we forget that just being completely sold out for and in love with Jesus should be the base of our faith. Their excitement to know the Bible and just their love for God’s word (‘my favorite book in the bible is……. Genesis to Revelation!’ one boy said), was definitely a wake up call to my lazy, ungrateful attitude toward the abundant access to God’s word that I enjoy.

 

Oh and one more thing, on the bus ride over to the recording studio Hannah and I got to sit next to a Ghanaian girl named Richess. One thing we’ve noticed about the people here is their immense faith in and communication with the Holy Spirit. For some reason many Christians in the United States don’t ever understand the workings of of the Holy Spirit who is always there is comfort, direct, and sustain us.

One last thing: The people here are just so beautiful.. And it may be cheesy.. But on the inside and out.  Their prayer, worship, and everyday conversations are just so genuine and filled with hope. A combination of the ability to focus on God’s plan for the here and now in balance with the overwhelming hope He has given us for the rest of our lives and a secure salvation (eternity with Him), is truly amazing.

 

So I feel like I could go on forever about what I have learned and experienced here but I’m pretty sure some sleep for tomorrow’s work and play at the orphanage, hospital visit and possibly a visit to the market, a fun African dinner, and a some time to meet with the choir at night and just share the impact this trip is having on each of our lives would be good. Goodnight and please pray for safety, patience, open hearts, servant-like attitudes, and complete faith in God’s supernatural power and authority.

 

All around, all around

Everywhere I look I see love all around

Let the nations sing, let the people shout

Let your kingdom come, pour your spirit out

All around, all around

Everywhere I look I see love all around

 

(the song they taught us ^ :] )

 

-emily