Africa day 2 - Tema Station

Last night (Tuesday) I was taken to a place called "Tema Station" which is basically a huge parking lot where thousands of women and children sleep.  I was unable to take any pictures, but I need to write some of this down so that I never forget

I sat down with a group of about 20 of these women ages 12-20 and was able to ask them some questions about how they live and what a normal day looks like - here's what I found out:

They work between 12-15 hours a day, some days they literally make $0, sometimes they make as much as 6 cedi's ($4).  They get up at around 3am to prepare for their work - 7 days a week (that's 84-105 hours a week)

All of their money is spent on survival - food, small bags of clean water to drink, a shower every once in a while

They literally sleep on the concrete, some of them have a blanket to lay on

They hang out in small groups for protection.  One person from their group is always awake and when someone comes and tries to rape one of them, they all wake up and attempt to fight him off

When they get desperate enough for food, they will sleep with a man to eat - we call this prostitution, they do it to survive

There was a really young girl in the group (I'm guessing between 7-10)  I asked her how old she was and she had no idea - she couldn't even guess

The hardest part for me was that these girls seemed completely normal.  They weren't drug addicts, they weren't prostitutes on a street corner, they were teenagers trying to survive.  They're somebodies daughter and they talked to me like I was their friend

Africa day 2 - the slums of Accra

Well this was a morning I'll never forget.  I got up early and went to a place that the locals have nicknamed "Sodom and Gomorrah".  It is the literal slums of Accra, where somewhere between 40-80,000 people are crammed into tin roofed, smaller than my bedroom shacks.  Most of us have a nicer place to park our lawnmower.

Let me show you some pictures.

The first thing I saw as we drove up:

Piles of garbage everywhere and many people were digging through these piles trying to find something they could sell.

A few kids outside their "home":

There were children everywhere, many completely naked, others running barefoot through the mud (a nice way to say dirt mixed with urine).  Here's a little girl I met who is turning 4 - she's in her families home.

I spent some time at a ministry called "Lifeline" whose main purpose is helping teenage girls out of prostitution, trafficking, and poverty.  The girls stay at this place for 9 months and are taught about God, they receive counseling and rehabilitation, and are taught some sort of trade (when I was there they were teaching them to sew)
Here's the whole group - I was told there is 87.  Many of these girls have been raped or trafficked:

Here's where they sleep - the nets keep the mosquitoes away:

One of the girls learning to make a dress - the sewing machines had a hand crank that you turn:

Their toilets:

 At Lifeline they also have a program for children.  The kids come early in the morning and are taught how to read and write.  Here's a few pictures of the kids - they were so fun!

And my favorite:

I'm flying out early tomorrow morning to Northern Ghana.  Apparently, North Ghana is poorer than Accra.  In fact I was told that many people who are living in the slums of Accra are originally from Northern Ghana and have come to the city for a better life.

Thanks for your prayers!

I don't know if I will have internet access for the next couple days, I'll have to wait and see

Africa day 1 - I've arrived!

I arrived in Ghana at 12:30pm (7:30am MN time) and the traveling went great!  No delays, no problems, bad food, and very little sleep - but I'm here!

I was picked up from the airport by Kwame.  He is head of relief and development for the Assembly of God in the country of Ghana.  He has been a great help and I'm looking forward to his company.

One of the first things I noticed as we drove through the city was the disabled people.  At every stop light were people with no legs or deformed body parts pushing themselves around on a skateboard or a form of a homemade wheelchair.  They were literally going from car to car asking for money.  Apparently the country of Ghana has zero welfare program to help and this is their only way to survive.

Tomorrow morning I'm up at 6am to visit a ministry called "lifeline".  This ministry is right in the middle of the slums of Accra where they deal with child prostitution and children living in the gutters.
Pray for me!

Day of travel

Well I'm sitting at the airport in NYC waiting for my flight!  I'll fly all night and arrive in Accra at 7:30am (MN time).  It will be 12:30pm in Ghana.  Hopefully everything goes smoothly getting to the place I will be staying.

Thanks so much for everybody who helped me put this together and those who gave to make this trip possible!

Next time I write will be from Africa!

On the way!

Well I'm officially out of Sauk Centre and on the way!  I'm spending a couple days with my beautiful wife of 6 years, 363 days in Bloomington, but I fly out Sunday at 1:47pm.

I'm quite nervous, but very excited!

Getting ready!

Wow!  Time has just flown by the last couple months.  I can remember when this trip was just a dream - now I'm starting to pack my bags.  On Sunday I'm heading to Accra, Ghana which is located on the west side of Africa.  For 12 days I will be in the midst of poverty, human trafficking, AIDS, and who knows what else.

Please pray for me and my family while I'm gone and don't forget to follow along with me on this blog!

Believing in the God of the Bible

Do we really believe in the same God that we read about in the scriptures?  The God who spoke and created the universe?  The God who split the red sea? The God who sent 10 plagues on Egypt?  and we're only to the book of Exodus.

I'm quick to claim that my God can move mountains, and it's easy to throw out the "all things are possible" line - but do I really believe it?

I don't pray like I'm expecting impossible things to happen.

I believe that God can, but why don't I believe that He will?  maybe that's the problem