Summary thoughts on the whole trip:
It’s hard to summarize how I feel about my trip to Ghana. God is up to things I can’t even really express. I am learning how much I need strong relationships in my life, and I’m wrestling with whether that is a weakness of mine, or a strength. I so need to be known and loved. I am seeing again my insecure heart. The Lord has been speaking to me about some deep heart issues, particularly about some injuries there that need to be addressed, brought to the light, grieved, and healed. Let it be, Lord. Let it be.
I’ve learned that it’s a joy to share the gospel. May it be that I take that new found joy and skill to America. That I could live unashamed of the gospel. I learned stuff doesn’t really matter much. After hearing Paul’s story of struggle just to go to school, I realized that my own fretting our our kids’ going to college has been misplaced. Paul’s words about seldom knowing when his next meal would come from jerked me from my complacent faith. Why do I am so small?
Holding an orphan awakened in me something I didn’t expect.
Watching my son fall in love with the people of Ghana and the beauty and power of Jesus Christ is perhaps the most priceless lesson. This trip was not about me. (Oh how well aware I am of my own insecure pride.) It was about enabling my son to pursue his dream. I came along for the ride. He is changed forever, and for that I am forever grateful. He is compassionate toward others and passionate toward Jesus Christ. He is not ashamed of the gospel. He shares Jesus with a sincere heart. He gets excited about God’s work. He has a heart to minister to those who have less. He wants to provide for people in Ghana in very specific ways. Watching him give away money was a treasure for me, one of those things I will store away in my heart. It thrills him to give his money away.
I learned about service, about taking the last place, about being faithful in little things. I learned once again that God is the God who sees the deep recesses of my heart and is big and strong enough to whisper my fears to others so that they could encourage me. I love that about Jesus. He can take our unspoken heartache and address it directly through another Christ-follower. God is good. All the time.
I gained greater respect for my friend Jeff who loves Ghana and is well-loved in Accra and the northern regions too. He is dear, and I can’t wait to debrief our adventure with him. Funny, but he and our team leader live within blocks of us.
Deuteronomy 8 keeps coming to me, but I’m not sure why. I’ll keep reading it until the meaning for me and my family becomes clear.
All in all, a life-changing, perspective-altering adventure. I can’t wait to go back to Ghana again. Lord willing.
6 Comments:
Dear Mary and Aidan,
Thank you so much for sharing your hearts. Through your words and photos you both painted a clear picture of the people and the areas you visited and gave us a glimpse of such beautiful faces amid a backdrop of poverty.
A team of us from Proverbs 31 Ministries traveled with Compassion International to Ecuador and, like you, we will never be the same. The difference Compassion is making in the lives of sponsored children, their families, and their communities is so inspiring. My ONLY regret is that I was not able to take my 14-year-old son, Nick with me.
Thanks again for sharing. My trip to Ecuador was a life-changing experience that I know I will never forget. However, reading about your trip is reminding me of some of the little things that I had forgotten. Thanks for giving those memories back to me.
Blessings,
LeAnn
Mary & Aidan:
I've just finished watching your You Tube video on your trip to Ghana. I'm in tears over here...
mostly because of the heart of this one young man and the mother who is willing to let him dream his dreams.
Tomorrow, my husband and 19 year old son will travel to Bolivia to do the same. They go with my blessing and with part of my heart. I will remain with the 3 left behind in anxious anticipation for all of the sacred shaping that will take place within their hearts during this
special time.
Aidan...build that well. Never let man's attempts at water supply be the end. Our God is the end, and his specialty is water...living water. You have given a cup in his name. I think, perhaps, it is the first in a long line of cups that will overflow from your consecrated heart.
Be blessed, and here's praying for the Water to come to your village.
peace for the journey`elaine
LeAnn and Elaine,
Thanks for your precious words and stories. God seems to be in the habit of changing folk when He opens our eyes to the world's needs. It's such a cool thing!
Wonderful post, Mary.
Mary, my family just returned from a mission trip to Yucatan peninsula and Cuba. Your stories grip my heart. I have a fresh and vivid understanding of the things you write about. People in other places want our prayers because they know they survive by God's grace,not American dollars.
I asked our missionary guide how we can touch the hearts of Americans. After discussion, we decided that we need to get Americans to go. Those who really connect to your stories - and mine- are likely to be those who have gone and seen these conditions. Those who haven't are polite but aren't changed.
I've started asking people to get their passport and begin to pray that God would send them. That's a scary first step but think what would happen if more faithful would go - whether to Ghana or Ecuador or Juarez. (Juarez is easier for people in Colorado where I am - cheaper, closer, no overseas flights...)
We in America are marinated in the stew of materialism which makes us finicky with selfish expectations. We NEED to retreat from that - and missions trips help us right our spiritual ship. Thanks for sharing about Ghana, Mary. Your insights touched me.
Glory to God!
Kathy
Dear Mary,
What a tribute to your son! There is no greater joy than knowing your children walk with the Lord.
For as Jesus said in Luke 12:34, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Aidan has clearly demonstrated his heart by giving of not only his money, but the treasure of himself.
And not to mention the mother who raised him to love the Lord and others.
God Bless,
karen
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