A Day with God...in Italia

The last Monday of every month is our teams Day with the Lord. For my day Amber and i went to Italy. OK not really Italy but once it stopped raining we left the apartment and headed downtown to find a place to sit and be still before God. One student recommended Coffee House Italia and so that was our main goal to find. Surprisingly is was the closest coffee shop to the bus stop. (On the way to it we stopped in the health food store and found tahini. Yay!)

The day was really great. It was a splendid time to sit and contemplate and read articles and parts of books to help stimulate thought and to journal and Amber and i ended up having a really great conversation as well. And we were in Italy! Well not really.

I want to dedicate this to the Italian STINT teams (specifically Salerno but all the rest too). They are really in Italy serving God in a country that is less receptive than Barbados. They are learning true perseverance and will also experience true Hope in Christ because of it. I love knowing people who are trusting God in other countries. It astounds me and reminds me all over again exactly how Big and Amazing our God is.

We forgot Jeffrey on the bus...

Saturday night we forgot Jeffrey on the bus.

We went to dinner at Bubba's which is a sports bar and grill (and has AC). Bubba's is down by Accra and the Magic Isle so we have to take the bus from the bottom of the hill. All went well. Dinner was amazing. We did miss the first bus back but the second bus wasn't too far behind it. (in the mean time Amber and I got ice cream at Cheffette) Jeffrey had a headache for most of the night and so when we got on the bus he put his head in his hands to rest until our stop. Amber and I were sitting behind him of sorts, talking. We finally get to our stop and we all get up and get off. Allen and Amanda were further back on the bus so they got off first, then Amber and I excited behind us and Jeffrey was the last one off...well he was supposed to be the last one off. We got off, started walking towards home and all the sudden realized that Jeffrey wasn't with us. About the same time the bus comes to a halt 50 feet down the street and Jeffrey comes bounding off. Yes...we had forgotten Jeffrey on the bus. He had fallen asleep, awoken, realized his team was no longer on the bus and ran to the front asking the bus driver to let him off.

At the time he was a little confused...but now we all laugh at how we forgot Jeffrey on the bus.


...if anyone is to blame it's probably my fault we forgot him. I was sitting closest to him. (ie right next to him)

Visa Extensions and the Amish Maffia

On Wednesday we went to the immigration office to apply for extensions for our visas. After standing in line the lady told us we needed a picture to go with our application. Wisely, someone had set up a little Kodak picture place across the street with a nice sign advertising passport pictures. After following several signs through a grocery store and up some stairs, down a hall way and into a small room we found the place. And then proceeded to crack a deal because there were 5 of us.

Amanda went first and this is when we learned you could not have your shoulders showing...or your teeth. Allen went next. And then it was my turn. In attempt not to show my teeth I also failed to smile. Not caring at all about my visa picture I barely even glanced at the digital shot when the photographer proceeded to ask my approval. Amber followed me and then Jeffrey ended our photo shoot for the day. As the pictures came back we all laughed and giggled...and then we saw mine.

It just happened like that. A friend said I look like I am now Amish. My team thinks I look incredibly angry. All I can say is thank goodness my earrings match my scarf.

Meet the Team

I have the best most wonderful team ever! I love that it is so diverse and we have so much experience when you put us together. Today in our team development time we talked about synergy. The sum is greater than the parts. This is definitely true of my team.

I think this week especially we are really learning to depend on each other and love each other even when we might not naturally do it. It is amazing when God reveals himself through the people around us.

*Sorry Michael that this is the only good overall picture...except your eyes are closed.

Barbados is Beautiful!

The beautiful Beach of Accra.

The sunsets here are gorgeous. Especially over the water. Look at the clouds in this one. They are actually Purple!

Accra again. A two year old could take a picture of the water here and it would still look Amazing!!

Tourist Adventures

Last Saturday Amanda and I decided we were going to go to the beach. About 11 I go to get ready and emerge from my room to see POURING rain out the window. Needless to say our trip was postponed to this weekend.

However, getting to the beach isn't as easy as it might seem. Aka we took the wrong bus. We had to walk down our big hill (past the school) to catch a bus at the bottom of the hill. As we're about to reach the bottom we see a bus pass by headed to our stop, so we take off running (like any good American would do). In our haste and joy in catching the bus we forget to ask if we're on the right bus and soon find out we're not. But no problem. We're headed to Bridgetown and can catch another bus from there. Well we thought the bus depot was closer than it was, but even then we're doing fine. We buy our passes and stand in front of the booth waiting for our tickets...finally I ask the guy for them and then he informs us that it's a token not a ticket. What do you know. So we get on our bus and finally make it to the beach, an hour later.

It was well worth the hour. We went to Acra Beach which is the same beach that Magic Isle is on for all your summer projecters/spring breakers. We didn't get much sun because we got there in the afternoon but it was definitely relaxing. Just what Amanda and I needed. Paul (from Barbados and STINTed last year) ran into us on the beach. Allen and Jeffrey came down and met us for dinner so the 5 of us had a delicious meal at Just Grilling.

The Bug Problem 9/2/07

We have a bug problem. There are ants, tiny little harmless-seeming ants, all over our apartment…and the boys apartment. Jeffrey had ants all over their sink a couple days ago. Amanda had to throw away half a bag of cereal because the ants decided they’d like to live in their food…or in this case our food. Our landlady hasn’t been much help except to buy us a bottle of bug killer. The boys have tried poison traps but the miniscule ants must have some kind of brain in there b/c they don’t eat the poison. The best bait so far has been yogurt. Allen left a yogurt cup out accidentally over night. The kill the next morning was by the dozen.

Aside from ants we’ve seen huge cockroaches, tons of mosquitoes (my personal nemesis), flies, centipedes, grasshoppers, snails (not really a bug but they’re everywhere. I think Amanda and I accidentally washed one today.) and new bugs that I have no idea what their identity is.

My favorite bug here is the fly. (With the exception to my partiality to grasshoppers.) I upped my fly count today. It’s rather a matter of pride in my life. I have killed 3 flies since being in Barbados. 2 by hand. The one I killed today was by foot. I think they may be slower here or something. That or my time of training in Oak Forest has finally paid off. If I am ever starving in the middle of the jungle I will be able to sustain life by killing flies. It’s such a comforting though.

Fly Count: 3