Chuck's Blog

New Beginnings - Spring - 2005

HERE ARE THE FIRST 6 months of journal entries. It was such a new time for us then, and reading them brings back memories. I do wish, however, that I had written more for each entry. Alli always wrote three times as much as I did, and i will try to do the same in the future. Its funny that when your only doing one journal a month, you would assume there is plenty of time to make a good article; yet, when the time has already passed when you should write something, we always have to hurry to put something up and then we've rushed when we could have taken our time.

It is Such a blessing to be here. The night we stepped off the Boeing777 after 18 hours of flying, we were glad to meet a welcoming party from the school. The students and faculty have been so receptive and kind to us. Aside from giving us a couple of days to settle in, we won't really dig in until after Christmas. We've found a small vehicle, (92honda Here we are standing in front of our new Honda, and the beginnings of the administration building for PATC.civic) and straightened the offices we should use. Our apartment is on top of the school offices, and it seems much hotter than any other building here. For my B-day I bought a strong fan. I also had the vehicle tinted, but couldn't get the AC fixed. Praise God for cold water!! [January 3-2005]

A Mechanics Office, believe it or not. The Hut behind is a bar that provides lunch.

Driving Here during the day is Crazy!! With Potholes, narrow roads, lack of attention to road signs (the Taxis especially), it really requires technical skills. But if driving during the day is bad, driving at night is literally a nightmare!! I've been adding up the reasons why driving in the dark is so difficult: (1) No Street Lamps, (2) many people don't replace brake/park bulbs in back of vehicle, (3) most vehicles leave bights on all the time, (4) Black Africans like dark clothes, (5) no sidewalks for the large number of pedestrians, (6) bicycles drive facing traffic and never have reflectors, (7) all the problems which continue from day driving. My fear is primarily hitting a pedestrian. But God has blessed us thus far. [February 10-2005]

On a morning this month, when I was particularly busy, I somehow dropped my wallet in a taxi! I didn't even notice that I had lost it till (Praise God!) the taxi driver showed up saying he "knew where my money was." So, we went together to a home across town where some elderly ladies, whom had found the wallet, refused to give it to the taxi driver without my presence. I assured the ladies that I was me, but to my own satisfaction, was made to stand behind my Tenn. Driver's license in order to redeem the goods. There were two Visa Cards, a Bank Card, and 100 U.S. Dollars that I had just grabbed to exchange. Who would guess I would ever see it again, but "Nyome Adom"-by God's Grace!! [March 15-2005]

God is such a great caretaker and provider! Since I've been in Ghana, my work has been primarily concerned with teaching, video editing, web building, and other small jobs; all of these tasks, I've found, give me great satisfaction. Since before I had a driver's license, I cannot remember really enjoying my work. Here, though, I have found many early mornings when I woke up excited to carry out a plan I put together late the night before. I Love my work here. We never really know, do we, when our prayer "God give me Your desires," comes to pass. But that's the nature of the prayer: if He desires, we will desire it ourselves without, unfortunately, always recognizing it as part of His purpose and design. [April 15-2005]