The trip up north...

Oh how wonderful to have Internet. Coming back from up north to no power was not fun yesterday. It has been the hottest part of the year. It is just crazy here.

Where do I even begin? It was just wild going up north. You see so much along the way and then going out on the islands and seeing how people live was just like out of National Geographic.

Aimee was bloody sick and slept most of the day. The power was out and I did not have one stitch of clean clothes. I started washing my clothes out by hand.

You will not believe the 7 and their English. It is so much fun to just sit and speak English with them. They are so funny. I am heading into Accra today to buy the boys some football boots (soccer shoes). I just have to spoil them a little bit. I told them when I was here in January that if they worked hard, I would buy them shoes on the next visit. I think they have kept their word so Ma Pam must keep her word.

I am just so proud of them I could cry. John has a new best friend Francis. Francis came two weeks ago and they are constantly together. Francis just smiles all the time. Hagar is a little leader for her group and keeps the girls her age in line. Sara is clueless and we are always looking for her – she beats to a different drummer. Kojo is still Mr. easy and happy to be hugged and smiles all the time. Kofi is doing his own thing and doing great at school. He has kind of made his own group of friends and we usually have to call for him. Richard still concerns me, just not as plugged in as you would hope. He needs prayers. Mark is a brat. We have cracked up. He gets jealous if I have anyone else on my lap. He has thrown several temper tantrums and definitely expresses himself. I would love for Aunt Kathy to tell me that is great and healthy. He is so funny in class, he just writes his alphabet over and over and talks constantly. They have 12 new kids from up north so it is already like they are the old group helping the new group.

I really want to help Village of Hope finish the second floor here at the school. After they finish the third floor it will be a boarding school and they will turn a profit for the school. They do such an amazing job here that I want to help them in anyway. They are in the same boat we have been in - a lot of contacts and promises but have yet to see the money ship come in to port. Fred is so cool with everything. He is like, "God has provided up to now, why would I worry he won't bless our efforts hugely since we have been faithful with little?" I feel he is so positioned for blessing that he is about to be blown away also. I really like him.

I think Touch A Life should stick to first house in Krachi, 15 kids, and see how that goes for one year. Fred and Tommy had a meeting with George and Paul two weeks ago and gave them great advice. Start small and then your mistakes are not as costly. Fred said he really supports George and he did not get his district teacher title unless he was a man of integrity.

As far as the Pacodep team, they are awesome amazing men. George's house is the nicest house in Krachi and it is the community hangout center. They feed at least 25 people a day just dropping in or passing through town. One morning Aimee and I saw a whole room full of women and children sleeping in the next room and it was just friends passing through needing a place to stay. George's kids are amazing and that in itself speaks volumes. His daughter Erica came home from Accra just to cook all week for us. She is in catering school. That is a whole story also. She just wants to come to America and work in a restaurant. She is 23 and exotically beautiful. She has such a servants heart.

I am only hitting the highspots. One is the slave castle Elmina in Cape Coast. I want to come home and read a whole book. This castle was occupied by the Dutch and I cannot believe that Van Dorn belongs to that heritage. I know several countries were involved in the slave trade but why did we end up gong to that on over the British castle a mile away. The dungeons and the stories just blew me away. We had a great guide that spoke excellent English. The guide was saying how this should never happen again.

The lake up north is the most demonic thing I have ever experienced. The children have stories of bodies popping up dead that have worked loose from the nets. It is just the creepiest place I have ever been to. I have to tell in great detail the night of the rescue and the storm that blew up. We have to negotiate for several hours at each village. The rescue is a long process. There were 14 children targeted and getting six released was a huge deal. Anyway, the storm blew up out of nowhere. It was like an attack of Satan. There is so much detail and I have to say I was scared. I could only think of the boat capsizing and the children drowning after all with us too. The thought alone of going down in the water was enough to freak anyone out. I just held those kids so tight and thought of the many times they endured a storm and had no one to tell them they were okay. We passed canoes paddling for shore and they would spend the night on the island and head out after the storm. AT one point we saw four little boys that could not of been older than ten taking refuge on the shore all alone. It is really too much to even comprehend. I will have nightmares. It makes me even more determined to keep working and rescuing more slaves off that hell on earth lake. They told that a 12 year old died just two weeks before we came. George ran to the morgue to take a picture and he was already buried. George is so passionate about this work.