Update #22 Sept. 15th - Dec. 12th

Dear Praying “Family of Supporters”,

  I’m sorry for the long silence on our part. I don’t know why it is so easy for time to slip away and before we realize several months have passed without writing to let you all know what is happening in our lives.

  Back to the last update…. We were waiting on my Parents to arrive on the 12^th of Sept.! They came and went, and what a wonderful time we had with them! They enjoyed getting to hold their 8mo. old grandson, Jarren, for the first time as well as re-acquaint themselves with the other children. We had the privilege to do some traveling and tourism with them, such a wonderful way to spend time together! We visited a very beautiful waterfall called WLI, located about 4hrs drive north of us. The waterfall was back a footpath about 45min. walk, crossing a river/creek about 9 times, a very beautiful walk. Then you reach the bottom of the falls and viewed the waterfall as it cascades strait down for about 300+ feet. It is actually more than twice that high total but you can’t see the rest from the bottom. Only the strong and the brave can make it to the middle where you can view most of the rest of it. Melody, Dad, our van driver, and I braved the 3hr grueling hike but it was very strenuous and I think Dad almost wished he hadn’t gone the next day! It’s supposed to be a 4hr. hike round trip and we did it in 3! Along the way to WLI, we also stopped and took in a “monkey sanctuary”. The monkeys  seemed to come out of nowhere among the trees and before we realized it we were surrounded by them, probably 40 or so.  Feeding the monkeys bananas from your hand is really a riot! The children thoroughly enjoyed themselves! We also enjoyed a Saturday fun day with Brother Samuel’s family at the Ocean, about a 45min drive from our house. They were here for only 8 days so the time went VERY fast and it was hard to see them off at the airport so soon after they got here. I think we all had to shed a few tears. J Somehow, it was a bit comforting to think that we would be the ones traveling next time! J

  We have started constructing a new church building on our new property site. So I (Chad) have been putting some time into that. Of course the progress is very slow because WE don’t want to be the ones to build the church but rather do it as the local Church here has time and money to do it. That way when it is finished they will know it is their church instead of the white man’s church! We are planning the construction in several stages. The first stage is to build the two rooms that will eventually be like two prayer rooms at the front of the auditorium. Then when those are finished we can use those rooms for services while we construct the auditorium as the church has money. Please pray that it will help the church to pull us together and not cause problems. Also pray that the Property where our old church was can be quickly sold without problems and misunderstandings.

  Nov. 18^th found us headed for Tamale to spend Thanksgiving with Uncle Ross’. We were privileged to be able to borrow a friend, Godwin’s, air conditioned car which made the 15hr. drive much more comfortable for us! What a blessing! We had a wonderful 5 days in Tamale area, went out to visit the town of Karaga, where Liz and I first met, and then spent Thanksgiving day going out to eat our Thanksgiving dinner with Tanner Leibee’s in their village. I don’t want to forget to mention the wonderful times of fellowship with Ross’. Fri. the 23^rd we headed back home and drove the whole 15hrs. in one day! I didn’t think the driving was too much but it was an overload for Elizabeth’s arthritis! She spent the next week laid up in a lot of pain. L Traveling here isn’t like traveling in America. Part of the way the road is dirt, mud and really rough, part is partially paved with lots of potholes and then the rest is nice smooth American like road. Sometimes it seems you are driving through a gauntlet swerving from side to side of the road trying to avoid the potholes or save a tire from bursting. Have to love driving in Ghana! J

  We are still having our language class in the afternoons. We really covet your prayers that we would be able to find ways to retain the things we have learned, throughout our furlough, and that we would be able to come up with a more effective ways to learn this language in the future. We are about to stop having the class for now as we prepare for our furlough in about 5 weeks.

   Yes, for those that don’t know it yet we have ticket’s purchased to leave Ghana on the 21^st of Jan. and we are planning to be in America for about 7mo. We have high hopes to get to see most of you during our time there, but if we don’t get a chance to see all of you, you can be assured that we would like to. We also know that 7 months will pass quickly and we won’t be able to do everything we would like to do. Please pray for us, especially our children as we go through all the adjustments and traveling over the next few months.

  Please pray for the Church here in Sogakope! Especially, Brother Samuel’s, Brother Nelson, Brother Seth, Brother John and Brother Simon. We need your prayers much for God’s wisdom as we continue working with these brothers. We desire to be able to encourage them in the Lord and that they would continue to grow and seek God for their lives. Also keep the outreach in the village of Ngugblibi in your prayers. We have a fairly large group of children (about 25) that have been attending services but we haven’t had much interest from the Adults. Pray that God would raise up these children to serve HIM!

  Blessed to be in the service of the KING!

         Chad, Elizabeth and Family 

 

The lower falls

The upper falls

Juli & Elayna

Our whole group

At the monkey sanctuary!

The Children loved all the monkeys... Chace was a lil afraid of them eating out of his hand

Bro Samuel's family at the ocean

Aunt Cynthia making rice balls

Uncle Ross feeding Jarren

Tanner Leibee's family at their village on Thanksgiving day

Our family at Tanner's village

Update #21 Aug. 11 - Sept 10

Dear Praying friends and family,

“And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto HIM that is able to do EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY above ALL that we ask or THINK, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto HIM be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Eph. 3:19-21

We have a powerful God…  One who delights in doing, exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think!!! We just wanted to give a praise report of how God answered all of our prayers in behalf of our quota application. It’s been 2 ½ weeks now that Chad went in to the Ministry of Interior  and spoke with the officials. Chad had prayed, and prayed about what he should do and what he should say. And he felt like he had the most peace about asking if we could withdraw the quota application for now. He explain to the lady that we are planning to come back to the States the beginning of next year and when we return to Ghana we will try and do things the more ‘legal’ way. Then she suggested that instead of withdrawing it we could just postpone it so that we don’t have to redo the paperwork that is already started.  Chad was glad for her advice and thought that would be a good idea. So she told him that she needed to talk with her supervisor before she can finalize postponing it. Her supervisor is the man who had told us earlier that we were here illegally and would need to be fined for it. So Chad waited prayerfully as she went in to speak to him. She return surprisingly fast and told Chad that he should travel outside of the country next year and they will take care of everything! Chad looked at her puzzled and so she asked, “Do you understand what I’m saying?” And Chad said, “NO?” So she explained that they will go ahead and process our quota application while we are gone in the States and we should be able to come back and get on our own quota when we return!  God is merciful! We don’t have to pay any fines and we can have our application being process while we are away instead of having to do all that processing when we get back which may take up to a year to complete! We are praising God for his goodness in changing the heart of this man! Seeing how God worked out these details for our quota application gave us fresh courage to know that God really does care about us and He has a purpose for us being here in Ghana! Yes, at times we get discouraged and wonder why God ever called us here, and if we are qualified for His work here. But HE DOES CARE!!!!!! He is watching over us and delights in blessing us!

Over the same time Chad talked with the Ministry of Interior about the quota, we had also spent a few days with Irvin’s in Accra. It was right after their missionary retreat so we got to glean a few tid-bits from them! We really miss the fellowship of other believers and especially fellow missionaries who know and understand the joys and stresses of missionary life! The one evening Chad and I and Irvin and Mattie had a couples night… not the kind of fun and fancy couples night with candles and chocolate, sparkling grape juice and lots of laughter. But the kind of heart to heart… sharing are weaknesses and struggles as young missionary families. Irvin’s shared some things that Bro. Emmanuel Esh had shared with them that was a blessing. And we shared some of the things we have struggled with in the past 2 years. It was a sweet time!

The children are doing good and seem to enjoy life here in Ghana. Elayna had malaria a week ago. It was a bit stronger strain and lasted for almost a week but she is now her normal self. Chace gets the normal bumps, scrapes and bruises that little boys get. We have to constantly stay on top of treating even the smallest scrap and sore so as to prevent infections! Jarren just pushed through his third tooth… one of his top ones. He had a low grade fever and diarrhea for a few days… but seems to be feeling a lot better now.

Just this past weekend Irvin & Mattie came out to visit US!!!! It had been more than a year since they came out our way… so we felt honored to host them! They came late Friday night on public transportation since their van wasn’t fixed by the time they were ready to leave. And stayed till Mon. noon. It was so sweet of them to brave public transportation and come without their vehicle! We know it’s not always the easiest with little children! Their visit was such a blessing and highlight for us!

We are really, really getting excited about Grandpa & Grandma Martin coming!!!! Chad’s parents, Vern & Elaine Martin, along with his sister Melody are coming the 12^th of Sept. They will be with us for 8 days! It’s been year and a half since we saw them last… and they have yet to see their new grandson! The children are all talk about them coming…. And can’t wait to pick them up at the airport! J

May Jesus richly bless you for all your prayers on our behalf! Please keep praying!

Specific prayer request:

·         Language learning - understanding minds

·         Our Health

·         Wisdom to know what to do with the Church property that Moses, the squatter, is claiming

·         God’s protection over us

Rejoicing in God’s goodness and mercy!

Chad & Elizabeth Martin & Family

Juli Yoder and our children

Our sweet helper

Elayna, Chace, Joy Lynn, and Rachelle

Sorry that this post got way delayed in posting! Hopefully those of you that get our updates on email at least got the written part!

Update #20 July 1 - Aug. 10

Dear praying supporters,

  

“My soul doth Magnify the Lord”!

 It has been really hard to sit down and write when it seems we don’t have anything exciting or new to write about… but I know people want to hear from us and we do have a couple of situations that need FERVENT Prayer!

  I will start back with Phil’s visit. We had a great time with them! Some of the things included visiting church members in different parts of the country, and having our first communion service since we came here to Ghana almost 2 years ago now. We were also so blessed to be able to spend a day and night by the ocean at a nice, quiet, beach “resort”! Their visit was such an encouragement for us! After having been sick, off and on for almost 6 weeks, they came and were able to really help give us the encouragement that we needed at the time. On July 13^th came the time to say goodbye to them, and LeAnn who had been here serving our family for 6 months.  Of course, we said goodbye to one and welcome to another. Now we are so blessed to have Juli Yoder with us who they brought with them.

  We have been doing fairly well health wise since Phil’s visit, with only a few colds and coughs. I think that is fairly normal for this season because it has been kind of cool and overcast most days for the last few months. Thanks everyone for your prayers regarding our health! I know that is what ultimately made the difference! Elizabeth has also found tremendous relief from her arthritis pain through a supplement that was recommended to us by some friends. It’s called Stemtech, for anyone wondering what it is. She started taking it about 3 months ago for the past 6 weeks has been so very blessed to feel GOOD and mostly free from this pain that has been quite severe since her last pregnancy with Jarren! Again, we thank the Lord for leading us to this product!

  I have been trying to get an Immigration Quota for some time now… The application has come under scrutiny by the officials because I am staying here on another Mission’s quota and trying to apply for one for Light and Hope Missions at the same time. I didn’t realize it would be “illegal” to get our Mission set up while staying here on another mission’s Quota.  I had been given advice from some that that would be the way to do it! I still am not sure if what I am doing is truly illegal or just “illegal” because they are trying to collect a big bribe from me! Anyway, I am asking for specific prayer that when I go back this next time, on the 14^th or 15^th of this month, that I would be able to get it all worked out without big fines to pay. They want to fine me close to $2000 plus cancel the residence permits I just got with the other mission, and make me buy new ones for Light and Hope! I have gotten some advice from an attorney and she says that I am NOT doing anything wrong. The law that they are talking about is only for those who are here on work permits for monetary gain, not non-profit work! I want to ask them about that but also be very careful how I talk to them because they have the authority to ban me from the country for 5 years if they so desire!  It could be a very sticky situation if not handled prayerfully! Please, please, pray that their hearts will be softened!

  The other prayer request is about the property plots that the squatter has lived on for quite a few years now. His name is Moses. We, Brother Samuel and I, finally had the opportunity to sit down with him the other evening and hear his side of the story. He is very certain that he owns the plots and doesn’t really care that the court ruled in our favor. He isn’t about to take to one his house is built on and leave the other one for us, which is what we were proposing to him. Our desire was to make peace of the situation, in a way that we could both agree on. He doesn’t want peace unless it means that we leave both plots to him and forget about the place. To make a long story short, we the church brothers here need LOTS of wisdom to know how to handle this situation in a Christ like Christ Honoring way! Please pray that this man’s heart would also be softened and he would turn to the Lord in true repentance.

  Thanks in advance for your prayers! We feel them and know that they are being hear before the throne of our Heavenly Father!  God bless each of your today in your own areas of service!

Chad & Elizabeth and Family

Juli Yoder our new helper

Chace 2 1/2 years

Elayna 4 years

Jarren 6 months

Our family at the Beach resort

The Church service at Ngblebi

Phil & Brenda with some village children

Communion service [Bro. Phil washing Bro. Samuel's feet]

Bro. Simon and Chad

Update #19 April 25-June 30

Dear Praying Supporters,

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But REJOICE, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” I Pet. 4:12-13

These verses were a real encouragement to us a few weeks ago! We have been fighting sickness for a month now. Chad, LeAnn and I have all been having malaria and parasites. Just when we think we are getting better then it hits us again… we have treated for malaria twice. The beginning of the week I went to the hospital here in Sogakope to have a blood test done to see if there is still malaria parasites in my blood. And to see what the Doc. had to say about it. The Doc. wasn’t very informative and the blood test came back negative. We have just been trying to take it easy and not do much… just the bare necessities. J When you have 3 active children and 3 lethargic adults it takes a lot of the grace of God to get through each day! But we are very grateful that the children have not been sick so far! They were complaining of stomach aches and had diarrhea so we are treating them for parasites.  But other than that they have been very healthy! We had treated Jarren for parasites a couple of months ago when he had some blood and mucus in his stool.

Thank you to all who prayed for our water situation! It has greatly improved since the rains have been coming regularly! We get water just about every night and sometimes it is still flowing in the morning… which is nice for our close neighbors who come and fetch water from our outdoor faucet .

Elayna just turned 4 the beginning of this month! She is very happy to be 4 and to be growing bigger. Her only disappointment is that she isn’t growing as fast as she would like! I had been doing school with her almost every morning… until I got sick and couldn’t. Now she asks me almost everyday when we can do school again! She loves to learn and is a very quick learner. She is also a very big helper and does the breakfast dishes most mornings. She is learning to be cheerful in everything!

Chace is 2 ½ and is a very active boy. He loves to climb, run, jump, and most everything else that little boys like to do! He has been pretty grumpy the last while as he is cutting his 2 year old molars. But they are almost through and we will all be happy when they are finally finished! Chace loves helping his Daddy or just watching whatever he does. It is such a temptation to follow him into the garden… but the rule is he has to stay out because he doesn’t know the plants well enough to not step on them! J

Jarren is our smiley little baby… who is growing up way too fast! He is 5 months old now and just popped through his first tooth! He seemed to be teething for months….. sucking and slurping on all kinds of things.  He is on the verge of crawling, he gets up on his hands and knees and bunny hops with his knees but doesn’t move his hands. Or he’ll move his hands forward but not his knees! Very soon he’ll get coordinated and be crawling everywhere and getting into everything!!!

Language learning has been at a stand still for about 6 weeks now due to either us or our teacher being sick with malaria! We hope to resume classes as soon as Bro. Phil Petre’s visit is over.

Bro. Phil and his wife Brenda along with Juli Yoder are all planning to arrive in Ghana tomorrow [Sat.] Bro Phil’s will be here for about 2 weeks and will take their daughter LeAnn back with them. And Juli Yoder will be our new helper for the next 3 months! We are very excited to have them come!

Chad has taken numerous trips to Accra to work on paperwork. And so far things are not going as smooth as we had hoped! So please continue to pray that God would soften the official’s hearts and that His will would be accomplished concerning Light and Hope Christian Missions!

We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your continued love, prayers, and support for us and God’s work here!  We know that your prayers are what get us through each circumstance God brings our way!

Rejoicing in God’s goodness, Chad & Elizabeth Martin

Elayna's 4th Birthday

Chace with a teddy bear pancake on Elayna's birthday

Jarren 4 months old

Elayna and Jarren ready for Church

Jarren enjoys playing on the floor

Update #18 Feb. 16 - April 23

Dear Prayer Supporters,

     As I sit down to write this update, I am reminded of the song; “We have this moment” because of how time never waits on us. I am challenged to try to do all I can for the Lord today, not tomorrow or next week, although we think that tomorrow or next week will be a better time. Godwin, one of my good friends here in Ghana lost his mother a few weeks ago, who wasn’t a Christian. He said he had talked to her about 3wks before her death and begged her to give her heart to Jesus and live for him. Sadly her answer was what it is for so many, “I will try to do that soon”. Three short weeks later she died of blood pressure problems, entering into an eternity without Christ, very sobering.

     “Water problems”…  We didn’t realize how blessed we were to get early rains last year! Not only to water the earth, but it relieves the stress on the pipe water supply which allows the water to flow into the outskirts of the town where we happen to live! Let me back up… I was finally able to get the water company to agree to let me dig up my water line to my house, and with a borrowed air compressor I pressurized the line and went along cutting it in some places to try and find the blockage. After much digging and time we finally did find the problem in our water line. Someone had tried to help themselves to some water by breaking a hole in our water line and connecting a hose. Well, when they got the water they needed instead of repairing the line the just stuffed it full of sand with some kind of stick or rod to block the water from flowing out on top the ground. As if that wasn’t enough they covered the place with a very neat pile of sticks so that now one would see the damage, it looked like a pile of brush. After finding the leak I reported it to the water company and they actually came out and fixed the pipe! Then I went along and repaired all the places I had cut the line and that night we got WATER, Lots of water. Unfortunately, it was very short lived. We had water for about 2wks then it started getting very scarce again, finally it stopped all together. Sometimes I can get about 10-15 gal. from 1am.-5am. not really even enough to survive. So we are back to having someone haul water for us several times a week! The best I can figure out is that in the dry part of the year everyone depends on the “pipe water” for everything, so the pressure gets drained off the line before it reaches our side of town. In rainy season people catch water from their roofs and things because it’s free and the pipe water isn’t used as heavily. Anyway, we sure are learning that running water is a privilege not a necessity!

     Last month we were privileged to be able to attend a retreat, put on by some misc. Mission groups from the southern part of Ghana. This year it was close to Cape Coast at a beach! We were blessed to be able to arrange traveling with one of the other families going so we didn’t have to use public transportation the whole way there! We have learned that the best way to enjoy a vacation in Ghana is not to have too high of expectations… The moment you think “now we are going someplace nice” you will be disappointed by something! We were pleasantly surprised by this place from the moment we arrived! Nice roomy rooms and baths, hot water, A/C that worked, up on a little hill overlooking the Ocean! The meals were fixed to perfection and the service was great! Then on the second evening we were there the electric went off about 7pm. and didn’t come back on all night! Needless to say those lovely A/C rooms were no longer as lovely. Because they were designed for A/C, there was very little window ventilation! I even went out and tried to sleep on the porch for part of the night because the rooms were almost unbearable! The nice generator they had for backup was in the process of being rewound or something. So, we all had to smile and say, we are still in Ghana!

     Language learning continues to take up quite a bit of our time. I (Chad) try to go to the welding shop as many mornings as I can, and we still have our language teacher come each afternoon that we can make it work. For the past two weeks we haven’t had class because of a death/funeral in his family. Then last week, since he is a school teacher he is taking a major role in the final exams that are being given to the students. He says he should be free this week after today? We will see. These types of things can be a bit discouraging when we think on it, but we have to come to the place that we realize God is in control and must have a purpose for the delay. We can become a bit frustrated sometimes at how slow the LL is going, again we have to do our best and trust that God, in his timing will teach us the many lessons we need to learn as we go along.

     I have also made several trips to Accra to take care of business and paperwork things. Usually, going to Accra is a long, all day trip. About 3hrs. travel each way plus whatever stops I have to make in Accra. We are selling one of the church property plots to another church and so I have had some running to do for that as well. On one such trip I had to go to Ho, our regional capitol, and I got to spend some time visiting with Bro. Seth since he is working there right now. On this same trip I was also blessed to be able to meet another Missionary family from Ho area who works in Agriculture and his wife is a Nurse/Midwife! They came to our house for a visit last Sat. so that we could get better acquainted. It is really exciting to think of knowing a midwife in our general area, we wish we would have learned about her a few months earlier. Again we realize God is in control and he has reasons for EVERYTHING he does, and his timing is always perfect!

  

Prayer Requests:

•   LL would move forward and that the Lord would continue to open our minds to all the new words and sounds
•   Safety on the roads, we realize it cannot be taken for granted.
• Continued heath for the children.
• Wisdom to know best how to relate to the Church here in Sogakope.        For the processing of our Quota.

We know many of you are supporting and praying and we are eternally grateful. I can assure you we are very aware of your prayers! God bless you for this and may he alone reward you with heavenly riches! Chad and Elizabeth Martin and family

The evidence of the busted hole in our pipe line

The beach resort in Cape Coast

Jarren at 2 months old

Elayna and Chace

Elayna 3 1/2, Chace 2 1/2, & Jarren 2 mo.

Jarren at 11 weeks

Update #17 Jan. 15-Feb. 15 2012

Welcome!

Jarren Timothy Martin

Weight: 7lb 10oz

Length: 19 ½ in

Born Jan. 23^rd at 6:55pm

Dear Praying Supporters,

"I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness; and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high."

Ps. 7:17

God is soooo good… ALL the time! We are rejoicing that our little Jarren Timothy has arrived safe and sound! The birth was more intense than our previous two children but Praise the Lord there were no major complications! Jarren came out a little blue because of the cord being around his neck but the Doc. had that off in a matter of seconds and he turned pink real quick! My mother, Susan Dunn, was able to be there at the birth which was a real blessing and encouragement!

We left for Accra [the big city where we planned to have the birth] on Sat. Jan. 14^th. We were in Accra for almost 2 weeks! The first week we were just waiting for the baby to come and we stayed at Irvin’s little guest house. Then the second week was rest and recovery before we went home. My father, Rickey Dunn, came in on Fri. Jan. 27^th. And we picked him up at the airport and headed home to Sogakope that afternoon. It was soooo good to be home again!

Here in Ghana they have a baby naming ceremony to bless the child and name him/her. They usually do that at 8 days old. But many of our friends told us that we can have it whenever we are ready [up to 3 mon.]. Here in Volta Region they call it “Out Dooring”. We had Jarren’s “out dooring” on Feb. 6^th when he was 2 weeks old. We invited our Church family, a few friends and neighbors. We have gotten to know a retired German couple that lives on the other side of the river about 10 miles from us. So we invited them to join us as well. We told everyone to come at 10am… but it didn’t start till 11! First off, all the guest were seated outside in chairs. While Chad, Jarren and I, along with my parents and Bro. Samuel and Sis. Eunice went to our bedroom and had a private prayer/song service. We told them the name of the baby and its meaning. Jarren means, Cry of Rejoicing or Shout of Joy, and Timothy means, One who Honors God. Then Chad gave a blessing for the future life of his son and his Grandpa prayed that blessing on his grandson. After our little service we all went outside with Bro. Samuel carrying the baby. Then Bro. Samuel had a prayer in Ewe… then one in English . Next came the announcement of the name, Jarren Timothy! Timothy is a common name for most Ewe’s so everyone was calling him by that name! We had a local restaurant make us rice and chicken and put it in a take-away box … so we had 30 of them to give to those who came. Plus we had bought small bottles of soda to hand out as well. Everything was pretty well over by 1pm…. but several of our neighbors kept trickling in throughout the afternoon. We ran out of take-away meals so Chad went in and had them make us 15 more! We met more of our neighbors that day than we have since we moved here almost a year ago! We hope it was a blessing to all who came!

I (Chad) will insert a paragraph to explain some of the paperwork that I have been very busy with the last while. We are applying for residence Quota’s and it is quite a long process. First I went to the Ministry Of Interior a few months back to ask what the requirements are. The Secretary told me to go and make up a letter of request on our letterhead and bring it back to her with 200GHc about $130 and she would give me the forms to fill out! I went and prepared the letter and when we were in Accra over the birth of our baby I took the letter to her, paid the money and she gave me the forms to fill out. Along with the forms was this list of required documents that I needed to submit when I returned the forms. Among them was: Tax Clearance Certificate, Social Security Clearance Certificate, and a few other certificates that I already had. Thankfully I can get the Tax Clearance Certificate right here in Sogakope, but the SS Clearance Certificate had to come from a town close to Aflao, about 2hr motto ride from here. I prepared myself on Wednesday the 15^th Feb. and left to go and see what I had to do to get it. First I had to register the company, then they could issue the Clearance Certificate. I reached there about 10:30am and left around 2:30 with the certificate in hand PTL! Those of you that know anything about Ghana, know that that was nothing short of a miracle! The man working with me was VERY helpful and since I had come from a distance, he went ahead and processed everything in one day instead of giving me the usual “come back tomorrow” answer. I am still waiting on the Tax Certificate from Sogakope here! It was supposed to be finished Friday but when I went to pick it up there was a “problem” with the letter of request that I had made. They had tried several times to reach me but the phone wasn’t going because they had mixed up one of the numbers…. So anyway, they are supposed to rush it and have it for me by Monday the 20^th DLW! I also had to change our bank account into the name of our organization instead of my personal name. Again just another of the requirements to go along with this application for a Quota that I am preparing to submit. I plan to take the application to Accra Tuesday the 21^st providing I get the documents I need Monday. I won’t bore you with more details but I thought it would be good to give you a little window into what has been keeping me hoping the past week or so. I will ask that each of you will make this Application for Quotas a matter of prayer! The Ministry of Interior has the ability to accept or reject our request for a Quota at their discretion. Just lift this situation up to the Lord that He would clear the way and make the processing smooth!

Another BIG prayer request is our water situation! We have not had any water since the end of Dec.! We are out of town a little ways and our house is at the end of the line so our water only comes in the night… but we have a poly tank and usually every couple of nights the water would come n fill our tank. But now we have not had one drop of water for almost 7 weeks!!! We keep complaining to the water company and they always say they are coming but they never come! Several in our area have been complaining that they are not getting water but most of them get water sometimes but we are not getting ANY! Chad traced the line back a couple of houses and they are getting water, so we think there is a busted pipe line somewhere in between their house and ours! Chad told them what he thinks the problem is and they said, “Oh we know it is a big problem!” Chad said he is willing to get a shovel and start digging to find the problem… and they said, “Oh you can’t do that!” We do have someone haul us 3 barrels of water every couple of days and we were able to get a pump sent with Dad to pump it up to our poly tank! So PLEASE pray that the water company will do something SOON!

Chace just recently recovered from a bout of Malaria! Thankfully he responded to the medicine well and with the power of prayer he was soon his normal self! He is doing lots better now!

Specific Prayer Request:

· Pray for our health and safety

· Pray that our Quota will be granted

· Pray that we will soon have water again

· Pray that we will master the language

A special THANK YOU to all of you who pray for us! We know that your prayers are our life-line…. We can’t do without them! We would love to hear what God is doing in your corner of the world!

Looking to Jesus! Chad & Liz, Elayna, Chace, and Jarren

Our Family!

Our new helper ~LeAnn Petre

"Out Dooring" service

Announcing the baby's name

Bro. Samuel praying a prayer of blessing

Jarren at 2 days old

Jarren at 4 days old

Elayna 3 1/2, Chace 2, Jarren 1 wk.

Update #16 Nov. 10-Jan. 10

Dear Prayer Supporters,

New Year Greetings to each one of you!!! It’s so hard to believe that we are almost half way into the month of January! Where does the time go??? I like the quote… “Only one life, twill soon be past… only what’s done for Christ will last!” May we live our lives for Christ every moment of the day! We are excited about what all God has in store for us in this next year!

It seems like we are only able to get an update out every 2 months instead of every month these days! J And I doubt very much that our lives will slow down any in the near future with a new baby on the way! We have only 1 ½ weeks till the due date! Everything is going well with the pregnancy and we are all ready to meet this new little one! The doctor has wanted to see us every week in this last month… and with public transportation the trip there and back gets more and more difficult the bigger I get! So Lord willing we plan to go to Accra next week and stay there until the baby comes.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends in Accra! Uncle Ross & Aunt Cynthia came down from Tamale and celebrated with us and Irvin & Mattie Rudolph! We had a lovely time of fellowship and yummy food! It was a blessing to share the things we are thankful for! And to reflect on all God has done for us in the past year!

The weekend after we came home from Accra we had the Nugbulibi Church come to Sogakope and share in our service. I think that was the first time most of them had been to our church and it was good to have a bigger crowd than just our family and Bro. Samuel’s family! The Nugbilubi church consist of children and young people. As of yet we don’t have any parents or adults that attend regularly! But Praise God for the earnest young people we do have! So for the ones that came to Sogakope for church were Mary [18], and Emafa [14] out of the girls and then there were 5 young boys ranging in age from 14-7. We had a fellowship meal afterward of rice, red stew, and fish. It was a real blessing and we hope to do it again in the future!

Since coming back from Accra in Nov. Chad had been working every morning Mon- Fri. in a friends welding shop! He really enjoys the work and the language exposer it gives him! I think it gives him a connection with others in town as well! He has also been called on to help with some mechanics since there is a mechanic shop right beside the welding shop. He really enjoys getting out and doing some physical work! He has stopped working since the New Year in order to get some things ready before my mom comes and this baby! And once things settled down again he will resume again! I have noticed that he is able to hear the language much more than I am able… just because he is hearing it around him everyday! So that has been really exciting for him as he discovers new words and phrases!

Christmas day turned out a little different than we had planned! On our way home from church Chace was riding on the back of Anna’s bike and got his foot caught in the bike spokes! It twisted it pretty good and peeled the skin off the back of his heel! It was all swollen till Anna got home with him… and he was screaming uncontrollably!!! It took both Chad and I about ½ hr. to get him calmed down! He kept saying, “Owie, owie, big!” Thankfully his ankle was not broken and by that evening he was putting pressure on it and running by the next day! We had a fellowship meal at our house for the whole church.... Jollof rice, fried chicken, coleslaw, and Christmas cookies and candy! Everyone enjoyed the meal… once we got Chace to quiet down! Sis. Eunice wasn’t able to come because of some things that she needed to do in the house, but we sent a plate of food home for her! It was a blessing to share together with the body of Christ that God has blessed us with! Later in the afternoon our wash girl, Patience, came and gave us a live chicken as a Christmas present! So since we didn’t have a cage to put it in Chad butchered it right away! We put it in the freezer to make groundnut soup with… the local chickens add soooo much flavor to the soups! Then we will eat it with Bankou! We really enjoy the bankou and we eat it once to twice a week with various stews/soups! It is the main staple for the Ewe’s and some claim they haven’t eaten till they eat bankou! They like to eat it at 7-8pm so it sits on their stomachs all night and makes them feel full! J

We have been blessed as we look back on God’s bountiful blessing in the past year! We have experienced exceptionally good health for the most part! Elayna did have a bout of Malaria right before Thanksgiving but she responded to the medication very well and was herself again by the 3^rd day! We have been making progress with the language… slowly but surely! And we have been blessed with many dear friends and neighbors that we have come in contact with! One of our dear friends just had a baby boy… by C-section! The mother and baby are doing very well… something you don’t take for granted in this culture! Just last week a mother that had delivered by C-section died the day after the surgery! Nobody knows why? Did she get an infection? Did they puncture something when delivering the baby? Who knows but now there is another little infant without a mommy!

Please continue to pray:

For Liz and the birth of our little one

That we will continue to learn the language, esp. be able to hear what the people are saying

Our health… right now is our cold season so some of us have been fighting the sniffles and coughs!

Striving to be more like Jesus! Chad & Elizabeth Martin

Thanksgiving Feast

Chace's 2nd birthday Nov. 27

Anna and Bro.Samuel's children... she made their outfits!

Joint Church service

Christmas Service

Christmas Dinner

The Christmas cookies that Anna made

Chad butchering our Christmas chicken

Our friend Godwin & Becky's little baby boy