Starting Over - Again

It has been quite a long time since I have written on this blog. It's been quite neglected. But I think it is high time for me to start again.  There are so many things that have happened lately that have pointed to this. I am so glad to share my thoughts with you.

I struggled with this idea of a blog for a while, wondering, 'Why would anyone want to know what I have to say?' Yet as I read other's blogs, I'm amused and entertained, and I believe they are useful. So why can't my words be the same? And then there's that other pertinent question, do I have anything to say? But in the last few days, there have been things that I have experienced that I have wanted to share. I didn't really have a place to do so; this might just be that place.

I will share with you the story of my tipping point, the thing that made me say yes to writing. I went to Bible study last night. It's not so much a Bible study as a designated time to be the Bible out loud. We were focusing on the second half of second Kings tonight. Can I just say that there are some weird shenanigans going on in the Old Testament!

The people in this group are starting a new church in the uptown area. Thursday night will be a discussion of things like names and purposes and people's roles in the new church. We will be discussing the strengths of each person, and part of the preparation is to take the strengths finders test (You can check it out at strengths@gallup.com). I have taken this test before but it's been quite a while. I think my results have changed. But of course I couldn't find the other results to compare them!

Anyways. My results are this:

Adaptability *

People who are especially talented in the Adaptability theme prefer to “go with the flow.” They tend to be “now” people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.

Strategic

People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

Ideation*

People who are especially talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

Intellection

People who are especially talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.

Input*

People who are especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

The ones with the stars all mentioned being a journalist as a possible wise career choice! And intellection says “Take time to write. Writing might be the best way for you to crystallize and integrate your thoughts.’   It all makes sense. I love telling stories. I love being on the Internet. I love finding images to illustrate my point. I love connecting with people. I love sharing what God is doing in my world. And this seems like a very good medium to try. So hello. And welcome! And here's to many good stories!

Greetings From Nigeria

Here are a few excerpts from Erin's e-mails in the last couple of weeks:

Monday March 1
Hi!The LCCN conference is now done, so we will be starting our ''real'' work. It is still very very hot - I wish we could trade places for a day so you get your heat and I get my snow!

Saturday Feb 27
We made it to Nigeria! We flew from Accra to Abuja, had a 7 hourlayover in the Abuja airport, then flew from Abuja to Yola, where weare staying with host homes. Right now it is the Lutheran Church of Christ Nigeria’s annual convention – think Sonshine with no facilities whatsoever, one stage, and speakers instead of bands. The average temp has been 100 to 104 degrees. Though really hot, it is a very dry heat and there are canopies and other sources of shade. Cross Fire gets to sit in the special guest tent with the Bishops of each Diocese! We are 5 of 15 white people out of an estimated 30 to 35 thousand Nigerian Lutherans. I just might be the only Methodist!

So far, I think Ghana was the much more colorful country, the buildings were painted in vibrant colors and we were in the southern part where there was more greenery. Here, the buildings might be painted, but they are more neutral colors and it is much drier, so it is a lot more earth tones there too. However, the fabric the women wear is just as if not more colorful than in Ghana! Kaitie and I play the fabric game, pointing out different fabrics, different color combinations and patterns we like and think the other will like!

Yes, we received the mail package, Finally!!! I got the most letters by about 8! I got 16 total! Thanks so much for the letters. I miss you and cannot wait to get home, but I also love the host home I am staying in here and actually cried when I thought Kaitie and I were going to have to switch (not our choice, a very long story foranother time!)

Oh, by the way, a trotro is a 15 passenger van taxi that usually isn’t considered full until it has 18 passengers, and won’t leave the station until it is full. They are fun! Especially carrying all of your instruments and puppets and puppet curtain to a program! (can you sense the sarcasm here?)
That’s all for now!
Love,
Erin

Sunday 2-21
We fly to Nigeria tomorrow at 6:30am, which means we leave the house at 4am! Then, when we land in Abuja, we have a layover until 6pm or so, and then fly to Yola. I am weary from the 15 programs we have done since last Wednesday, plus the 15 or so hours of trotro rides to get to those programs! But each one is fun, and so very different depending on the age and makeup of the crowd and if we are inside or out... In that time we have done programs for a Seminary class of married men, and orphanage, a group that gathered to listen in the marketplace, a junior high, a senior high, and a primary school, and a group of Compassion kid's moms. Altogether, we have sung to over 1000 people in the last 5 days! WOW!

Greetings from Ghana

Greetings from Ghana - excerpts from Erin's e-mails posted by Wendy 2-16-10

Monday Feb 15
Happy Valentines to you! I cannot believe we are in the last week here in Ghana! I think we counted and there are 49 days left! That means we will be changing countries and everything will be new and different again – I am ready for a change. But we are staying in Accra at the Compassion International site again and as we arrived I was thinking that this was as close to a 'home' as we have here in Ghana.

Wednesday Feb 10
Everyone is fine – we are missing people from home, and some are adjusting still – sometimes reminding ourselves of the good life at home instead of embracing where we are here and now. We get more tired because of the heat and humidity.

We have only seen goats, sheep chickens, guinea fowl, and crocodiles, no big game.

I have a whole list of foods I want when I get home, but the 2 most important are pickles and mashed potatoes, not necessarily together. And I want to cook!!! I miss it. The most I have done is make a cup of tea.

Tuesday, Feb 9
Thank you for all of your support... I am doing much better. The stay here in Cape Coast has been more relaxing yet busier... Monday, we got to go see the Cape Coast Castle that Obama visited and presented a plaque for - I am sure you can find pictures online. Everything was Obama there - shirts, hats, bags, flags, key chains. I even saw a drum with his face on the side!The castle itself was beautiful though the history is gruesome – they had the chapel built right on top of the dungeon where they kept the slaves to be in near starvation with no plumbing but the rain and gravity for 6 months at a time.

The coastline was beautiful - it was my first tourist time in Ghana, and it was good! I have so many pictures...We then got to go to the beach after lunch (the french fries tasted like the state fair!!!). It was heavenly, walking in the waves, picking up shells, hugging palm trees... It did my heart good.

Today we have four programs. One was a school chapel starting at 7, this afternoon we are doing another at 2, then a radio program at 4:15 and another program for a village at 6. Tomorrow we have a 7am school chapel, then leave for Accra for a day of rest on Friday. I am hoping to go to the art market in Accra - they have beautiful carvings and jewelry and such. I have not bought anything yet because I do not want to carry it for the next 50 some days! It’s too heavy and too fragile to risk all the bus trips. We are planning to ask our contact to have a day the week we leave to do some shopping in Nigeria before we fly out.

Sat, 2/6/10
Hi!I am feeling rather out of sorts. I am very much in stage 2 of culture shock and would not be sad if at the end of our time in Ghana we came home instead of going to Nigeria, but I know, barring extreme circumstances, that will not happen. I miss home and all of the comforts there. I miss all my people. I miss being able to go buy exactly what you want without walking for blocks and looking at 27 different street vendors. I miss cold beverages and food I get to choose for myself. I miss snacking!!! We have not since we came to Ghana! I miss using fully functional plumbing. I miss being able to just go somewhere without bargaining for a taxi. I miss eating fish without bones. I miss talking on the phone!

But enough grousing and complaining. You asked about the surroundings here: The houses are mostly cement block boxes, at least most that we are staying in. They have screen windows and doors, but hold the heat all night. I have also seen many made of all corrugated metal roofing, empty shipping containers, etc... in the villages, there are more rounded mud huts with thatched roofing. There are a lot of ½ finished yet abandoned buildings, and I do not know why. About 1/3 of those buildings have 'stop work - produce permit' spray painted on them, but the rest do not. In Bunkpurugu, up in the north, the weather was very dry and hot and there were trees, but for the most part they were the only green. The land is very flat - think southern MN. The dirt is very red, about the color of terracotta, and very dusty. As we drove south to Kumasi, about in the middle, there was more greenery, but still, everything looked very dry despite the added humidity. There were palm trees there, but only around the nicer businesses and hotels. The land was not quite as sheet of paper flat, but not a lot of variety. As we drove from Kumasi to Takoradi, the plants were more lush and there were more hills and valleys - very pretty. And then we drove by the coast so I got to see the ocean! I am ready to come home, but I have so far left to go. I am enjoying myself and all of the new experiences, but I am about adventured out for a while!
Missing you a lot!
Love,
Erin

Greetings from Ghana

Greetings from Ghana - posted by Wendy
Monday January 18, 2010
Hello from Ho, Ghana!
At least once a day I sit back and just marvel that I am in Africa! Even though I am enjoying most parts, I also think that time has gone much slower than I expected - it is only the 2nd week! But I am also mindful that I should not wish my time away.

I spoke too soon about it not being too hot, it was day one and it was earlier in the day yet - we got there after the heat of the day and I e-mailed you before it - but it is bearable. We have rested in the afternoons, which helps.

Our first week we stayed at a guest house in Adidome. It was luxurious compared to what I was expecting. It was made of plastered cement blocks, painted and furnished, with a nice front porch, electricity and running water (at least it ran for 3 hours a day!)

The people were so friendly and welcoming and generous! We worked with the Globeserve Church there. Pastor Frank and his wife Gloria were so kind in seeing that we rested as well as making sure we knew what the plans were. Margaret our cook made delicious food - fried yams with tomato gravy (think french fries and ketchup, but not quite), ground nut soup with sticky rice balls, and my favorite, kokolo, which is mashed plantains mixed with corn meal that is fried (think big, really sweet corn fritters!)

The whole team is getting a taste of my life, how the little children flock constantly. After church services, they walked us back to our rooms at the guest house and they wanted to be helpful so they took things to carry - our bibles, water bottles, our instruments. We were all sad to leave Adidome - they truly made us feel like part of their family. But we know that moving means we have the chance to meet more amazing people.

I am missing you from so far away. I just changed my watch to Ghana time yesterday. It was such a comfort to know what time it was there and imagine what you all were doing.

Tuesday January 19, 2010
It is sunny and hot here, a little breeze. We are at a hotel the church owns, and we get to use the laundry for free! As far as what I packed, other than I should have packed more bandanas, and I should have checked - my sunscreen is "after sun" not before. Other than that, I have more than enough.

Cities: Adidome is about the size of Wells (1000 people) Ho is about the size of Albert Lea, but with more people.

Travels: On the way here we were in planes with 2 seats-aisle-4 seats-aisle-2 seats both from Chicago and Germany. We ride in a taxi-van most places we need to go. However, next week when we travel from Accra to Tamale, we want to find a bus or something bigger than a van at least. The distance is about 100 miles.

A typical day looks like this: Nearly every morning we get up and do door-to-door evangelizing for about 2 hours, then rest during the heat of the day. Then there is a 2-3 hour worship service starting about 7-ish.

The best thing so far has been: that the people praise with such passion and fervor and singing and dancing

The grossest thing I ate: taste-wise was banku - basically raw cassava bread dough you dip in soup. But we had a dish called kenkey that no one really enjoyed, but we ate it to be nice to the cook. That night, I woke to sound of puking outside my window. The whole group was nauseous in the night and it was worse the more you had eaten of it. The boys all threw up, the girls were only nauseous.

Editor's note - Kenkey is a staple dish similar to a sourdough dumpling made from fermented corn. The corn ferments for a few days, then is partially cooked, then wrapped in banana leaves or corn leaves and then steamed.

The strangest thing I have seen: a High School Musical t-shirt on a little girl! And the names of the businesses are so funny - God's Time is Perfect Hairstyles, or Classy Lady Fashions, Our God Provides Enterprises, or my favorite, Obama. That's it. Obama.

I am so excited about Saturday! In the morning the contact is taking us on what he calls an excursion which means we will be visiting a money sanctuary and possibly a museum. That is also the day our cultural clothes will be ready!

I have to go for the afternoon - time to pick up my laundry!
I love you and miss you,
Erin

Wisconsin

Rio 9/22-9/24
We stayed at Pastor Stephanie’s house which was less than a block from the church – long commute! Confirmation was Wednesday, where we did games and songs and Elliott did a great sharing. He tied in their requirements for the confirmation class with the pitfall of going through the motions. We all have gone to church or read our bible or gone to Sunday school or a bible study without really getting anything or even looking for anything from God. He had some great words about being intentional about seeking God.
While we were waiting in the parking lot, after the confirmation class was done, we started jamming and dancing – so much fun! And we get to go back and visit them in April when we are back from Africa!

Racine 9/24-9/26
This was a really cool church. It had a mansion attached! We got to stay in the mansion instead of host homes. We did a youth service on Thursday, and then a game night with a campfire on Friday. Games included Human Knot, Skittles, a new version of Twister (one you can buy at Target) that includes hopscotch in rings, Frogger (otherwise known and Frogs and Flies) and Racecar. We then got to sing songs around the fire and make s’mores… Yum yum!

Black River Falls 9/26-9/27
We arrived a little early to find that a wedding had taken place that afternoon and that they were still taking pictures! We led all 3 services, Saturday night and 2 Sunday. We all take turns doing the sharing and this was my turn. I used some of the material from when I spoke at my church this summer, about our Legacies, and tied it into the theme verse of Micah 6:8.
We all stayed at a beautiful cabin with our host family. Saturday night we had a campfire on the beach of _______ near Hatfield. Our host cooked some venison sausage over the fire – Yum!
The next morning, we had to get up really early because the host family did not live the closest… but the scrumptious egg bake for breakfast and the beautiful drive in the early morning fog totally made up for it!!!

Fairchild 9/27-9/29
This stop was one of rest. Truly. We stayed with a wonderful family who welcomed us so warmly and then basically gave us run of the house. It was so awesome to be able to truly relax and just be. In the 48 hours we were there, I played Boggle with the host family (I had forgotten how much I enjoy that game!), Made homemade chicken noodle soup, read 5 books, and slept in… I think I understand this whole day of rest thing!
Our host family lived on 75 acres, a beautiful mixture of forest and fields, and when you looked out the dining room window, you could see turkeys in field. Here, we experienced our first real cold temps of the year. It was really windy, which made the boys attempts at Frisbee quite comical!

Steven’s Point 9/29-10/1
The Lutheran Ministry center invited us to come and hang out with the students and lead their vespers service. When we arrived, they were having what they call English Café, a time for all of the exchange students, or students whose 1st language is not English, to get together and use their English skills and meet others in the same situation. Nametags were brought out when we got there, and by the end, some of us had 5 or 6 tags in different languages. The ones I remember are Korean, Japanese, Chinese, German, and English.
We stayed with students in apartments off campus – we rode the city bus to get back the next morning. Our first official duty here was a School chapel @ 8:30am, a rather interesting proposition seeing as we had to figure in the bus schedule, drive time, warm ups, and set up time before then! On our way, we Almost got lost, or had the great potential of, seeing as we differed on how to read the directions. But it all worked out, we went a block further and saw the sign and got there on time!
The kids had a theme in chapel of “I just wanna be a sheep.” They had banners and t-shirts and everything. We added that song in at the end and it was a big hit. They already knew it and could sing along, but we added new verses – we all had a blast!
At 9pm that same day, we lead vespers for the college. Campus ministry is much different than doing a Sunday school or family night, but in a good way. You get to go beyond the basics and go a little deeper. We were actually asked to do more of a concert than a service. It went rather well, I think. There were a few students who were interested in more info about team!
The next day, our contact discussed with us some of out strengths and weaknesses – it was really refreshing to hear straight talk about what could still use some practice.
The campus center has great retired couples who come and drop off stuff for the students, of which we were allowed to take part - blankets and cookies and bars, oh my! Not to mention the delicious lunch of homemade pickles, pulled pork sandwiches, cheesy au gratin potatoes, and brownies and homemade apple pie… Please excuse the drool!

Wausau 10/1-10/3
For Thursday, we were asked to lead our Family Night program and that the audience would be Sunday school age and their families. Great, ok, sure, can do. As we greet the people coming in, we quickly realize the crowd is about 50-60 years older than we had been told! The youngest person there was about 20! We followed our lineup of Sunday school sing-alongs with all the silly actions, and replaced the puppet show with a drama. Afterward, we were told they “hadn’t enjoyed something so much in a long time.” God works in mysterious ways.
The church had just hired a new Youth worker, Jordan, who hung out with us a lot of the time we were there. Friday we had no program, so after taking care of some rehearsal and other business, we had a blast just walking around the mall, having Wii bowling tournaments, celebrating Ludvigs’ Birthday, going out for some really good Chinese food, and playing Girls v. Boys Cranium (girls totally dominated of course!).

Fast forward 2!

This is my team at the commissioning service.

The next day, on our way to Ox Lake , a camp we might work at next summer,for orientation, we stopped for lunch in Amery, WI. Little did we know, it was their fautumn festival - very busy and crazy!
We got to be with the 2 other camp teams, Daybreak, who is at a camp all year, and Rainbow of Promise, who is going to India and will be joining us next summer working at the camp. These will be the facilities all next summer, something I was rather worried about untill I thought of what they will be like in Africa... Non-existant!

The water is provided by pumping the well :

Fast forward!

Ok, picture post!

So much to update!

Since last I wrote, we had a week of international training at Luther Point, including the session entitled ‘Cathy Is A Racist And So Are You!’ and a session on the very simple but fun game of 5 rocks.

We got to put on our program for all the international teams at Luther Point -here are some highlights:

The puppet show children's moment is one of my favorite parts.

And the skit isn't too bad either!

.

.

Thusday, September 17th, we had an international dinner. The alumni from the international teams cooked food for each of the teams. Former Cross Fire member Rachel cooked us Ground-Nut Soup. In essence, tomato-peanut butter soup with chicken pieces. You eat it with your fingers, dunking chunks of your rice ball into the broth. It grew on me. The alumni said to expect it often. You can also see in this picture a dish called Red-Red which is sauteed onion and tomato with red beans served over plantains - this was delicious!

It was served with warm Coke, (not just luke warm!) since that is all the cooler your beverages will be there.