Eight Months in Ghana - From a 14 Year Old

Guest Blogger:  Franklin Beebe, age 14 years      

        It seems like only a week ago that we were boarding our flight to come here.    For me, my time here has flown by so quickly.  Although, it has been pretty rough at times we have to remember why we came and what we came to do. 

God has been so faithful to us and blessed us in so many ways. One of those blessings is everyone in the U.S.A that loves and prays for us. When we receive a care package from friends and family back home, it is refreshing for us and also reminds us that our family is loved and prayed for.  Hearing from home is a great encouragement.  

It is crazy for me to think that we have lived in Africa for over eight months now. I miss my family, friends, milk, smooth roads, and cold days outside. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like Ghana though. Sometimes I am thankful for the heat and bumpy roads. I love living in Ghana. Ghanaian people are usually kind and giving and they love to make friends. I like to be their friend.

This is Rosalinda, one of my good friends from G.M.I.

I love making new friends!

I enjoy learning to live in the Ghanaian culture and do what they do and eat what they eat. I will not eat the fish eyeballs though. I have had the chance to learn many things about the Ghanaian art from an artist at the art market. I took painting lessons from a man named Zikiru, and learned how Ghanian’s paint and different styles they use. I loved it and I am always ready to try new things. I have eaten Goat, bush-meat, (Bush-meat are animals that are caught in the "bush" then cooked and eaten.  The people that gave it to us said it was squirrel, but it looked more like a rabbit.) and I am intending to eat cat sooner or later.

            Yummy!!!

This is the Bush-Meat that I ate.

While we have lived here, our family has bonded so tightly and whenever the Lord allows us to go through a tough time, it is always for His benefit.  We get to be his vessels - His hands and feet. It has been an amazing God-filled eight months here. I have seen God work in so many hearts (including mine), and so many places.

I am looking forward to some things about going home for a short furlough, and there are some things I don’t look forward to. I can’t wait to see my family and friends, but I don’t look forward to seeing all the materialism in America. Here in Ghana, everything is so simple and nobody cares what others think about them or what brand of clothes or shoes they are wearing. Also, in America so much food is wasted while here in Ghana there are children starving to death every day. Literally. So, the next time you are going to throw good food away, I want you to think of all the people around the world who don’t have three meals a day. Most people in the remote villages here in Ghana are privileged to get one small meal a day.

These kids are from a remote village. They were so happy to get a pack of crackers.

God has changed my heart since we have been here. Before we came, sure, I cared about the orphans, but not as much as I do now. Now, I really love them. When we go to an orphanage I love getting swarmed by all the cute, little, brown faces. I give out many hugs to them and hold almost all the little kids at least once while we are there. Most of the time they look sad when we come, but I try to get them to smile. Whether its tickling them or playing soccer with them. I really love them and wish they all had a father and mother. I know and have to remember that God is their Father in Heaven and He cares for them when it can seem like no one else does. He watches over them.

I want to thank you all for the prayers, and all of you who send us treats, cards, and stuff in our care packages. It has been a blessing for our family. 

Ghana is always a THUMBS-UP!!

So is Mango!!!

 Look at the birds in the sky: They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you more valuable than they are?  And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life?  Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers of the field grow; they do not work or spin.

  Matthew 6:26-28