Unplanned Trip

Once again, we apologize for the prolonged times between our blogs!

A quick recap of our last several months:

-          We finally received Hannah’s birth certificate in April- yay!- so we made a trip to the US Embassy in Accra in May to apply for her US passport (and to renew Lori’s, Rebekah’s, and Abigail’s passports as well)

-          A couple weeks after arriving back in Nalerigu from Accra, we received a call that Lori’s grandmother had fallen ill, and then a day later, that she had died. We then made an impromptu visit to the US to attend her funeral. She was an amazing godly woman who is now worshiping our heavenly Father at His feet! She will be missed by so many who loved her. We will miss our visits and conversations with her. She was so faithful to point others to Christ and to pray for those who God placed in her path, including us every day.
         We had planned on coming home for a visit at the end of 2018, but because of the time and cost of Ghana to US travel, we made this our trip home, staying for a couple months total with family. We did not have access to a consistent car this time, so we were able to enjoy more time with our families and less time traveling on the road. Sorry to those of you we were not able to see this time! God allowed this visit to be rejuvenating and reorienting, preparing us well mentally and spiritually for our return to Ghana.

Also, God worked in amazing ways to make it possible for us to make this trip home! At the time we received the call about Lori’s grandmother, we had none of our passports in our possession. Hannah’s had just arrived at the US Embassy in Accra, and the rest of our passports were at Ghana Immigration awaiting renewal of our resident permits (reportedly going to take at least 2 months, and we had just turned them in a couple weeks prior). In Ghana, it’s all about who you know (as it kind of is in most other countries as well J). Tim called his contact at Immigration in Tamale, told the guy our situation, and asked for help. God used that man to get our resident permits expedited (without bribing!) so that we could pick them up on our way driving from Nalerigu to Accra. We also had a friend in Accra pick up Hannah’s passport from the embassy as we prepared to travel to Accra.

Lori's parents

We were able to spend a little over a month with each family. During our time, we got to celebrate several birthdays, including Lori's brothers', Tim's, Tim's parents', and Hannah's.

Tim's mom's birthday

Tim's dad's birthday

       






     Hannah turned 1 year old while in the US! Since it was our last weekday before returning to Ghana, she had the privilege of getting her one-year vaccinations (plus some extra travel vaccines- a total of 8) that day at our local county health deparment. Happy Birthday Hannah!

 

Rebekah with some cousins,
two of whom had just
helped pull two of her teeth

      Rebekah lost several of her teeth while we were in the US.  She and Abigail also got better at riding bikes and swimming. Rebekah's favorite memory from our time in the US was her opportunity to ride a camel when we visited the zoo. Abigail said her favorite memory was getting to play with all of her cousins!

      

      

Rebekah officially started 1^st grade homeschooling curriculum back in July. Abigail is also wanting to do some school, so they are doing it together right now.

       Rebekah and Abigail making slime for   
homeschool

Making ''snowflakes for
homeschooling

                                 

Abigail's first haircut

          Other random outings in US:

Cow Appreciation Day at ChickfilA.
You get a free sandwich if you
dress like a cow!

Visit to the aquarium

The deep thoughts of a baby

 Our two adult hens had more chicks (one had two more, and the other had seven) while we were in Accra. Several of our chickens later died presumably from snake bites while we were gone in the US, but we still have 12 chickens left

We arrived back in Nalerigu about three weeks ago. Tim then spent a week fixing things around the house that were breaking or had  already broken. Thankful to God for protecting him when he almost fell through the roof while patching some holes. Fortunately, some friends had just arrived when he broke through the roof, and these friends had experience with roofing locally. They helped Tim repair the large hole he had made. He then resumed work at the hospital the following week.

shiny new roofing over hole area

Please pray for us for the following:
- Tim and Lori waking up earlier together to have devotions each day before Tim goes off to work
- Rebekah (and Abigail) focusing during school and obeying mama
- Lori is registered for the Ghana Foreign-trained doctor’s exam this fall in hopes to start officially practicing part-time at the hospital soon.
- Wisdom on what changes need to be made to make it possible for both Tim and Lori to work at the hospital and homeschool the children
- God to raise up more prayer warriors to fight battles alongside us