Letifu and Dot

My house mate Rebecca has left, to return to America. I miss her much more than I thought I would and it is the first of the many "endings" I will be experiencing in the next couple of months. I am already struggling with leaving the children, especially after watching their tears when Rebecca left. But I know that God has another story for me, the next phase of my life, and I am ready. He has not disappointed me yet.
I want to introduce you to two very special people. Letifu and Dot.

Letifu:

My house has now become a sort of gathering place for some of the neighborhood children. I could tell you many stories about their lives and how special they all are, but I will tell you about Letifu this time. Letifu is "special". They say here, "He is not normal". He cannot speak well and appears to be cognitive delayed. I tried to teach him some sign language, but his fingers don't quite form the words either. I noticed that he was around a lot, and that he often had pajama bottoms, old t-shirts, and wore them same clothes for days. He seemed to never go home and had no parents around. I found out that his mother works at the market all day, everyday, from probably 7 am till well after dark. So he just hangs around and takes care of himself. I am not sure who feeds him when I don't, but he comes in almost every day and says "showa" (shower) and "fafa" (singkafa...rice). So he takes a shower, I wash his clothes and he eats some rice and watches a movie while his clothes dry. Yesterday he ate his rice, then noticed me eating spaghetti and chicken. He wanted a piece of chicken so I shared. He loved it so much, as was so excited to get chicken that I gave him the rest... I had more in the pan. Who could say no! When he is not with us, he is just sitting outside the building. Even the adults in the neighborhood call him "fool" and one day I saw girls hitting him and throwing rocks at him. We are trying to get him enrolled in the Hand-in-Hand community that I discussed in my last blog. He is a sweetheart. Here he is in the Oregon Duck t-shirt that he wears while he waits for his clothes to dry and eating noodles and chicken. Please pray with me that the community will accept him and he will find a happy place to live and learn.

Dot:

Last week we had a mission team from Florida come to do a Vacation Bible School and teach in the villages. They arose early every morning, even after traveling 39 hours to get here, and went to a village to share God's word and plant a church. Most days they barely returned in time to teach the VBS to around 1,000 children. The college students that joined them were even exhausted. I was tired just watching them. I would return in the evening, shower and be in bed by the time they finished their nightly meetings. But there was one lady who never complained. This was Dot's 5th mission trip to Ghana and she just turned 85. I never heard her say a word about being tired or hot, about swollen feet from the traveling, or about too many hugs from dirty little children. When I talked to her, I felt right at home like I was talking to my mom, aunt or grandmother (although she is not really old enough to be my grandmother). She is my encouragement, that I may still have 32 more years to do this work. And she should be an encouragement to all of you who think you are too old to serve God on a mission trip. You are never too old!! (unless you are 90) Dot says that she is just thankful that God still allows her to go and gives her the strength. When I think of all the things I would still like to do here, about returning to visit, now I hope that I have as many years as Dot! Here she is teaching Bible School under a tree in near 100 degree temperatures. Please, pray for Dot's continued health and strength. And I pray that all of you will have as many years as Dot!