Update #13 June 17-July 7

Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

Greetings! Well, I noticed that it was about time for another update and since it doesn’t seem like anybody has much time…. I thought I would write for a change! Let me introduce myself… I am the family lizard that lives in the living room window. Yes, that’s right I live in-between the metal and wood frame of the window. And come out as I please…. I hope you enjoy my ramblings.

As I observe the happenings around me, they seem to be numerous and at times hectic! The youngsters of this household have very little respect for peace and quiet… except for the few hours in the afternoon when they nap! You should have heard the loud avalanche as the blocks were dumped out at 6am in the morning! Whew, I nearly jumped out of my skin! Or the delighted screaming and screeching outside as they discover and chase a toad! I’m glad I’m a lizard because I’m much faster than toads and can get away from all the stick poking and rock throwing that the poor toads have to put up with. Not to mentioned that their eardrums almost pop! And of course, the children have no respect for cleanliness…. They come in the house with mud, sand, rocks, sticks, or else dripping wet! You should have seen the look on the mother’s face the time the little fellow, Chace, came inside with a handful of stones and climbed up on his Mommy’s lap and dumped his load inside the front of her dress! We all had a good laugh over that one! J The little girl, Elayna, is quite the informer and she repeats any information that she hears or knows…. She loves to know what is going on and where everybody is at. She asks many questions and is trying to learn all she can. Chace is starting to talk more and repeat words and phrases… like, “I want more chicken” or “Want ‘gango’” [meaning mango] or “Don’t dwink [drink] all” His speech isn’t as clear as his sister’s was at his age but you can definitely tell what his is saying. He is still as daring as ever and doesn’t give up even if he falls…. The other day I saw him walking on the concrete porch railing, which is about 8” wide and 3 ft off the ground with the concrete porch on the other side! He can climb up there all by himself! One of their more quiet and safe past times is looking at books and pictures…. It can get repetitious sometimes to hear the same book several times a day!

The Mother of the house hasn’t been doing a lot lately… I heard them say something about morning sickness, so I guess that means she is pregnant! She does a few things here and there and reads books to the children…. But mainly tries to keep her stomach settled. I think she said something like hopefully the worse is over!

The Auntie, as the children call her, is doing better. She had an ulcer on her ankle…. And at first we didn’t know what it was and were trying to treat it like a boil and it wasn’t getting better. Then she went to the hospital…. And got an antibiotic and a spray powder that is helping it heal up nicely. She is still doing a good bit of the work, like laundry, meals, cleaning, and babysitting! If she wasn’t here I don’t know how this household would manage! J

The Father of the house is a very busy man! He’s work load includes a variety of things…. Helping with laundry, changing diapers, keeping the garden up, ‘mowing’ the grass [uses a machete and whacks it down], running to town or market, and even cooking at times! My eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw him making bankou…. Yes, that’s right he was making bankou! He said he was so hungry for it and his wife didn’t think she could stand the smell to help him. So he did it himself and it turned out rather good! He is also quite handy at giving the children baths… the soap smell is difficult for the mother to handle! I’m sure he will be glad to hand some of these responsibilities back to his wife once she feels better…. But for now my observation is that he is doing an excellent job!

I must tell you of the awful storm we had on Sunday! The family was just about to leave for Church on their bikes and it started to rain…. So they waited for awhile. It soon stopped and they thought maybe they should make a run for it before it started again! But it started up again before they got left…. And it seemed like it could stay awhile! Not long after that they got a call from the Pastor and said let’s wait for service until the rain stops. The electric kept going off and on….. and it was beginning to get really dark! The rain started coming harder and harder…. And the wind was blowing quite furiously! The rain started coming in the closed window panes and under the door making big puddles on the floor. Chad mopped up several gallons of water from the floors! It got sooooo cold that some of the folks put socks on! And even decided to drink cappuccino! The storm lasted for about 3 hours…. Then it subsided to a gentle rain for most of the afternoon. The garden was a pitiful site! Their sweet corn that was in full tassel and had nice ears on it was flat on the ground! And the tomatoes, beans, soybeans, okra, and peppers all took a beating too! In fact, a lot of people’s corn was down…. And there were even some trees uprooted!

A bit more information that has been happening around here is Language study. In fact it takes up a good part of the parent’s day. They study in the morning using a Ewe language course that has an mp3…. They listen to the lesson twice and then study from the handbook what the lesson is saying in English. They go over the same lesson for almost a week. Then they have a young Ewe teacher who is on school break right now, come in the afternoon and go over the same lesson they did in the morning in greater detail! They seem to really like their new teacher, because he explains things very well and makes lots of examples in which sentences can be used. He is also a good culture teacher… he explains that in Ewe there are adult talk and child talk. Some things you say only to children and not to an adult…. And other things are only for adults and most children won’t understand what you are saying! An interesting thing they are learning in Ewe is that ‘most Ewe words change meaning depending on context’, so you have to know the context of the sentence being spoken to determine the meaning of a word(s)! Difficult! Do continue to pray for them as they try to do their best!

Well, now….ho hum…. I’m getting a bit tired…. And it’s already past my bedtime! So I guess I’ll let you go….. oh yes, I forgot to mentioned that after the storm we have been having nice sunny weather and the corn is actually standing partially up again! So hopefully they may still get some sweet corn after all! And they have been getting a ton of green beans… they froze like 8 quarts already! Yawn… now I for sure should get some sleep….

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all! Amen” II Thess. 3:18

From the lizard that lives in the Martin home!

Big Helper Girl... washing dishes!

Chace & Elayna

Elayna

Chace

Auntie Anna with Chace

Our Corn in full tassel... before the storm.

snapping green beans....

Our Garden

Chace 1 1/2 years old

Elayna 3 years old

Update #12 April 20-June16 2011

To all of our praying friends and family,

Greetings in the Precious Name of JESUS…. The name above All names!

Recently, in reading Oswald Chambers “My Upmost for His Highest”, the revelation of abandonment in lighted to me in a new way. It says, “There is actually only one thing you can dedicate to God, and that is your right to yourself. If you will give God your right to yourself, He will make a holy experiment out of you – and His experiments always succeed.” I know it basically means to give your whole heart, soul, mind and strength to God, but to put that into practical words… Your RIGHT to YOURSELF!!!

We are very sorry for the LONG silence! J And I will try and back up and inform you of the last 2 months!

From the middle of April into May our mailbox was full of cards! First Anniversary cards then birthday cards for Chad! What a blessing it was to receive all those encouraging cards and notes during that time! A hearty THANK YOU, to all who took the time to send us one! Chad got over 30 birthday cards plus about 15 anniversary cards!

The beginning of May Chad’s parents, Vern & Elaine Martin, and Elizabeth’s sister, Anna Dunn, came. Anna has come to take Serenity’s place and Chad’s parents came for a two week visit to bring Anna over and take Serenity home! We really had a wonderful time with them here! They helped us plant our garden, roof our new storage building, crochet some rugs, and enjoy being with us and our children!!!! We celebrated Elayna’s birthday while they were here…. Even though it was 2 weeks early! We took Bro. Samuel’s family with us to the ocean one day…. Their children had never been to the ocean before so they thoroughly enjoyed it! J And we also went to the Volta Dam, which is about 2 ½ hours north of us. We stayed at a very nice secluded guesthouse that had only 3 rooms in it, so we took up the whole guesthouse! J It was right along the river with grassy lawns and nice landscaping… outdoor pavilions with tables and chairs. They also had a restaurant right there too! Then we took a tour of the Volta Lake on a large Ferry Boat that could hold 200 people! There weren’t that many people on it when we were there but there were still plenty of people there! Another highlight of Dad’s being here was that Uncle Ross & Aunt Cynthia came and visited us for a day and a night! We all so enjoyed their visit here… and hope they did too! J All too soon we were saying a hurried good-bye at the airport! L It had been raining most of the day off and on…. And we were all thankful that the rain let up while they unloaded their luggage from the lorry and piled it on the luggage carts! It was a very sad moment…. But it was too brief for tears! Elayna kept telling her Auntie Serenity that she is going to cry when she leaves…. But it hasn’t happened yet! J But she fondly talks about her and probably won’t forget her!

Four days after Dad’s left Chad came down with malaria! We started treating right away and within a day or two he felt really good! The malaria dose we gave him is only a three day dose and after the third day he felt fine. But then two days later he started to get sick again… and it seemed like malaria again. The first dose must not have been strong enough to knock. So he went to the Doctor and he prescribed him a very strong drug…. Which did knock the malaria but the side effects of the drug were wearisome too! This week he seems to be feeling a lot better, except that his muscles are still sore, so pray that full strength could be restored!

Last week we went to Accra to see Matt & Janelle one last time here in Ghana L…. And meet the new missionaries that have come to take their place, Ervin & Mattie Rudolph. J We had a really nice time visiting… it seems like a looong time since we had the opportunity to fellowship with two other young families like ourselves! [Some of you may forget what a BLESSING fellowship is when it is a normal occurrence every Sunday for you!] Ervin’s have 2 little girls ages 2 ½ and 9 months…. Just a little bit younger than our two! There were seven children five and under…. And they all seemed to enjoy each other’s company! We will really miss Matt & Janelle…. But we look forward to getting to know Ervin & Mattie better!

Since coming back from Accra we have been really diving into LL again! We took a two week break when Dad’s were here and then when Chad was sick we didn’t do much….. so now we are at it again!!! Pray for us as we try to find new ways and methods that will help us to learn the language better/faster! We are praying about trying to find an young teacher that would have time to tutor us in the afternoons… like take the same language course book that we are going through and drill us on the lessons we are doing or have already done! It seems like we should be able to say more than just the greetings…. And we know more than that but we are still trying to figure out how to make sentences that make sense to them! Anyway, sometimes we think we are really making progress then other times it seems like we are not getting ANYWHERE! So pray especially against discouragement in this area so that we can have clear minds to learn and understand!

Rainy season is really underway here…. We were getting a rain almost every other day, but it’s been three days now since we had a good shower! Maybe we will get a downpour tonight! J We love the cooler weather rainy season brings…. But the abundance of mosquitoes isn’t so nice! So pray with us against malaria as we try to do all we can to prevent it!

May the Lord Jesus be near to each one of you this next week and keep you in His care!

Striving to be faithful! Chad & Elizabeth

All of Chad's birthday cards! Thank you!!!!

Auntie Anna!

Our new shop/storage shed

Uncle Ross & Aunt Cynthia Ulrich Family

Headed to the river...

Grandma crocheting...

Grandpa reading books...

Bro. Samuel's children at the ocean

Enjoying the sea!

At the dam

The Ferry boat

Our family on the boat

Enjoying the ride!

Serenity and Anna

April 28th Chad's Birthday!

Chad's birthday.... Rennie got up bright an early and started donut dough! Then after it rose twice... I came and helped her with the frying... and glazing! Quite a lot of fun! We made about 8 doz. of donuts... and more than that of donut holes [cuz we made holes with all the leftover dough]!!! About 9am we called Bro. Samuel to come with his children and help us eat up some of these donuts... then we gave some to our American neighbor girl, Hannah... plus bagged up some to give to our old neighbors from the other house!!! In the afternoon we went to Shekinaiah Glory Hotel to swim in their pool.. the was shining bright and the water was warm... a little green... and the water level in the pool was pretty low [several inches below the skimmers ]... but fun nonetheless!!! Two grown guys came and joined us soon after we got in... they didn't know how to really swim but were just practicing what they knew... so Chad was giving them lessons! Actually he was trying to help me learn how to swim better... and they overheard us talking and started asking him questions! Chace is such a fat heavy guy... but you get him in water and he just floats... we put arm floaties on him and would float all by himself and even try to 'swim' by kicking his legs, etc.! Elayna on the other hand is almost terrified of the water.... and this cute little rhino intertube that we got for her and Chace! Sometimes the children just like to sit on the steps with just their feet in the water... and the intertube is just in the pool... well, when it starts coming towards them they both cry and scream... and Elayna says, "The Rhino is going to get us!" With this horrified look! Then after swimming for awhile we made our way to another motel off the river where we ate supper ... it was a beautiful evening... and we had a delicious supper of grilled chicken and french fries! There were a ton of Americans there... all with the peace corp. So it was dark till our supper was over... and Ren and I had to bike back with Elayna... in the dark! [Chad took a moto with Chace back to the house since we only have two bikes] We were trying to decide if we wanted to ride through town.. with all the traffic and lights.. or the back way with all the loose dirt, pot holes, and few lights! Chad told us about a side road through town that we opted to take.. and it was a little busy at the one section... but thankfully not a lot of big semis trucks like the main road would have had! Then JUST as we got home... it started to rain!

Update #11 April 1- 14 2011

Greetings in the precious name of Jesus from Ghana!

It is amazing how much can happen in just over a month’s time! We continue to be amazed daily, at the grace of our Lord Jesus! “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee”

I’ll try to start back in March where Elizabeth last wrote… We spent the Month of March in Language learning and the other necessary things of life, including working on paperwork for us to be able to stay here on a more permanent basis. We also became increasingly worried because the landlord whose house we anticipated moving into by the 15^th of April had ceased working on the project and wasn’t making any effort to “hurry up and finish” like he promised he would do! After some repeated phone calls and visits by our pastor, Bro. Samuel he finally realized we are serious and want the place finished fast so that we can move in! He got most of the things finished and then basically said that is all he wants to do for right now! He didn’t want to put the tile in the toilet and bath or the hand sink in the hall way… “when I am ready I will come do that” In other words I am not doing it. The toilet and bath were left very rough, obviously with the intention of doing tile. And all the plumbing was there for the sink. We were able to “push” him and he got finished everything he was planning to do by the 4^th of April, then we came in for the rest of that week and tried to finish some things up and paint to make it “homey”. I got a local mason to come and smooth up the toilet and bathroom walls for me to make it easier to paint. We had a bit of a bike ride back and forth… about a mile or more each way. Two of us would come over in the morning and work then ride back for lunch, after which we would come back and work for several more hrs. in the afternoon. It was a lot of work but the end result is a cute little house that we get to call home. Liz loves to decorate and make things look nice, so we took the few colors of paint that we could get here and mixed things together and came out with some really nice colors!

Tuesday April 12^th was our big moving day! Our new landlord has a big truck which he offered to use to bring my things from our other house to here. We are very grateful because we got everything on one load and it went very well! It was a big load none the less! By evening the ladies had it really looking like home. I helped some but had some things to do like go and get ceiling fans and get them installed so that we could sleep! J And putting the trim back on our one wardrobe that had to be removed to get it into the temporary house we stayed in for two months. We spent Wed. the 13^th getting more things unpacked and getting ready to leave for Accra the next day!

April 14^th the day 4 years ago that I took my beloved bride to be my wife! We traveled into Accra and left Serenity and the children with Matt and Janelle Wollman. Then Liz and I went to a Hotel that we had made reservations at to celebrate our Anniversary! We had a very very nice time! The room had A/C something we really enjoyed, not to mention that it had a very “American” appeal! We had to stop and ask ourselves several times if we were really in Ghana! Serenity, bless her heart for watching our children, made this possible for us! We will really miss her when she leaves on May 24th, although I am sure that we will enjoy having Anna [Liz’s sister] here just as much. I also would like to say a special THANK YOU to all who made our day even more special by sending us an anniversary card! We got at least 6 so far and there may be even more coming yet in the mail, you never know! Mail service is slow here sometimes. Saturday afternoon found us traveling back home again with our regular driver John. He stopped along the way for us to pick up a polytank for water storage. The water at our new house is on from about 11pm. to 5am. So we need a lager storage tank to have enough water to get us through the day. We got home at about 8pm and got some egg sandwiches in the town for supper, Yum! If you have never tried a Ghanaian made egg sandwich come and visit, I’ll be glad to get you one! We were a very tired but happy bunch, having thoroughly enjoyed our getaway!

This past Sunday, Serenity and I made a trip to the village of Nugbilebi with Bro. Samuel and his wife to have our service… We were able to have a service with 4 of the youth. They are really seeking to follow the Lord! I am blessed and challenged by them every time I go, but I have to wonder why there is so little interest for spiritual things among the parents and adults? Please join us in prayer for this village… It is steeped in Idolatry and fetish practices! We really want to lift up Jesus but we are having a hard time getting them to realize there need of a Saviour. Or they think they are already Christians because they have been to church a time or two and so that makes them a Christian! But their lives are still full of all the sin and wickedness that Jesus Christ came to deliver us from! Please, Please, Please, lift them up in prayer with us, that their hearts would be softened and they would be ready to hear the Gospel message!

This week we have been getting back into our routine of language study again, after taking the previous two weeks off to work on the house and then move! We are enjoying our new location, being close to Bro. Samuel’s and having a little more privacy than before, at our temporary house. Although we do miss some of the friends we made over there. Life keeps moving on! We have now lived in Ghana for over 5months! What a privilege to be in the service of our LORD! May each and every one of us be in His service till He returns again!

May God’s blessing be upon each one of you as you ‘serve’ with us in prayer and support for HIS KINGDOM To Be Established!!!

Looking to Jesus! Chad & Elizabeth Martin

Living room

Kitchen

Girl's/Children's room

The moving truck at our new house

Master bedroom

4th Anniversary

Update #10 March 1-13 2011

Greetings in Jesus’ Name to each and every one of you!

I can’t believe that it has been a month since I last wrote! God had been very good to us and we feel very settled in our temporary house! We are able to have some interaction with our neighbors in front of us and also some neighbors just ‘over the way’ from us. Just across a field from us is a large house with 8 rooms in it and several different tenants renting there. We used to be able to see their house from our front porch…. But now they are building a very large building right beside us.... which obstructs our view! I think this building is another rental unit because it looks like several individual rooms with a small shower and toilet room inside.

About 2 weeks ago we took Elayna to get her hair braided in several little braids! I had asked Rebecca [Godwin’s wife] how much it cost to have it done and she said, “Oh, if you want to do it you should come to my house and I will have my hairdresser friend come and do it here!” So that is what we did… I had called Rebecca on Sat. to make arrangements to have it done Mon. morning around 9:30. Monday morning after Ren and I were done with the laundry we headed out for Rebecca’s house…. I didn’t once think to call her and confirm! We got there and she had forgotten all about it! J She was sitting outside sorting beans… and there were a half a dozen men there mixing cement and plastering a store that she is starting. Chairs were brought out to us and we sat down… made some small talk… but other than that we just waited. After about 20 min. Rebecca sent a young fellow to go fetch the hairdresser. Her friend who had done her girl’s hair was traveling so she was not around…. But she would have someone else come! Ok no problem…. Soon the guy was back and said that she is busy doing someone else’s hair but she is coming!!! J So we waited…. And waited some more! A cute neighbor girl about 2 yrs. old came over… her name is Dinah…. She just stood there and looked at us half scared! I guess she had reason to be scared because the last time we were at Godwin’s house this poor little girl wasn’t very fond of Elayna trying to be her friend….. Elayna treated her like a baby and was trying to make her do what she wanted her to do!!! So this time she and Elayna just stared at each other but made no move for the other! Finally Serenity blew up an empty water bag and gave it to her and she walked proudly off! J Soon her mother shows up and says something to Rebecca in Ewe…. Then Rebecca told us that Dinah’s Mother sent her over to ask Rebecca if she wanted to buy some bananas…. But all Dinah did was just stand here and stare! J Anyway Rebecca bought 1 cedi of bananas… put them on a platter and served them to us while we waited! That is Ghanaian hospitality! We ended up waiting there for an hour and a half and it took the hairdresser a half an hour to braid! We were planning to go to Accra the next day so it seemed like we had a lot to do yet today to prepare for that…. But what really is most important? Getting all my work done and having a clean house before I leave? Or building relationships with the people we have come to love and serve?

Tues. Mar. 1^st ~ Today we plan to go to Accra…. Spend a 2 days at Matt Wollman’s and then go to a Mennonite Missionary Reteat at the ocean for 3 days!!! We had told John [our lorry friend] that we wanted to leave by 8:30am….. but since he runs on Ghana time we knew it would probably be more like 9:30 before we left! J He gave us a scare at 7:15 and asked if we were ready to go! Chad said, “No, by 8:30 we will be ready!” “Ok, good!” John says, “I want to go to town first and I’ll be back!” We ate breakfast… had devotions… had a minor catastrophe, the kitchen sink faucet got left on during devotions and overflowed the sink and was all over the floor! You see, when someone outside is using the outside spigot our water turns off…. So sometimes we leave the water on and when the person outside turns off the spigot ours comes on… but this time it got forgotten and none of us heard the water running! J Oh well, at least now the kitchen floor is clean before we leave! Well, John didn’t disappoint us in showing up late…. And we left Sogakope at about 9:30! J At 11am John dropped us at the circle by the Accra mall…. and then went on to the central lorry station to drop off the rest of the folks that were riding into Accra! Then he came back to the Mall to pick us up and take us to Matt’s! Meanwhile, we did a little shopping, ordered pizza to take to Matt’s and share with them for lunch, and let the children play on the play area for half an hour! We had a very nice and relaxed rest of the day there at Matt’s… the children took naps…. And enjoyed playing with their little friends! Elayna is really going to miss Jenna and Alyssa [Matt’s 2 girls]…. To her going to Accra is going to her friend’s house! J Matt and Janelle plan to go home in June of this year! The next day we women and children spent the day visiting and relaxing….. and for the men it was spent in Accra traffic and in several different offices as we tried to get a 90 day extention for our visas [which was granted!] There is still a lot of other paperwork stuff that needs to be worked through in order for us to stay here for 2 years! We are VERY grateful for Matt’s willingness to help Chad with the process!

Thurs. morning we all loaded up in Matt’s van and headed to Till’s Beach Resort….. where the reteat was to take place! Of course, we had to drop something off at the immigration office…. And then at a grocery store to buy some last minute things… and….then to the beach! J It was really nice and refreshing to get to know some other missionaries and hear about their work and mission. Some of them were from Accra… and others from Cape Coast [about 3 hrs. west of Accra]… and then there was us from Sogakope which is 2 hrs. east of Accra. Crusades for Christ in Accra has a training school for pastors and our home church in Oklahoma sent Bro. Samuel to their school for a year about 3 years ago. The ocean was a big attraction for us all….. and the children loved the sandy beach! But Oh! our poor bedroom/bathroom was so full of sand and grit! :0 And even our bed did not cease to get some sand in it!

Sat. around noon we headed for home…. Matt’s were planning to go on to Wawase [another hour past Cape Coast headed west] but they agreed to take us to the main road and help us get a lorry going as close to the main lorry station as possible! It didn’t take long for there were lots of lorry’s passing that way and we were soon headed down the road… because the load wasn’t full yet that meant we stopped at almost every little junction along the way picking up passengers! Chad was in the back of the lorry… and Serenity and I were sorta in the middle. The seats were 4 across… there was a lady by the window then Serenity holding Elayna… then I was beside Ren but because was a tight fit… I opted to sit in the isle seat for as long as possible [till the lorry was full!] But when we stopped for more passengers it meant scooting over on Ren’s seat so the isle seat could fold up and let whomever by! We were on this lorry for about an hour then we got a taxi to take us to the main lorry station…. We boarded out Sogakope lorry with scarcely anybody on board! L That means sit and wait in a stuffy, hot lorry until it fills up! J Thankfully it didn’t take long to fill up and I think we left in about 20 min.! Record timing so far [usually we wait at least an hour!]! The two hour ride home was uneventful…. On our way we say a lorry headed into Accra that was broken down and the passengers lounging in the grass on the roadside! It made us very thankful again for all the traveling mercies that God has granted us so far! We arrived home at suppertime and I was very thankful that I had a meal ready in the freezer to just warm up and eat!

On Monday we all went to Bro. Samuel’s house to learn how to make “Akple” which is Bankou! JWhen had told them how we had ‘tried’ to make it once but it turned out more like Kanky than Bankou! Oh they said we didn’t cook the corn long enough! But when they found out that I accidently bought sour corn dough instead of cassava dough….. well, that explain everything! JOh, no, no, no, you don’t make it with corn flour and corn dough… that won’t work! There is 5 different ways to make Akple but right now we are just learning the corn flour/cassava dough mixture! Sis. Eunice is a very patient teacher and did her best to show me how to make their main staple food! She had already made the palm nut stew with fish… and had the cassava all prepared and ready to add before we got there. But “I” made the Akple! J While Rennie carefully wrote down everything in order…. So we can try it again! I got a blister on my hand to show for it too! But it sure tasted better than my first attempt! J

I know many of you are praying for us as we endeavor to learn the Ewe language… and Please, please continue! You may wonder how we are getting along… can we carry a conversation with anyone? Well, not quite but today Chad and I stopped at a little fruit stand and only conversed with the lady in Ewe and bought bananas and watermelon! The hard part about using what we know is that most everybody can speak English… or at least enough to understand what we want… so it is easier to speak English rather than fumble and stutter to say in it in Ewe…. And chance them not understanding us! But it is getting better and we are starting to rise above the frustrated level to actually being able to make some sense with their sentence structure, etc.

Thank you also for praying for our health…. None of us has gotten malaria since we’ve come to Ghana! That is a big Praise Report!!! We are getting over some colds…. But it has been very mild!

May we all continue to let our light SHINE everyday to anybody and everybody! Sharing the precious news of the Gospel of Christ Jesus!

All for JESUS! Chad & Elizabeth Martin

Coloring contest @ retreat

Elayna and her friend Savana playing in the sand

The hairdresser braiding Elayna's hair

Little 'African Girl'

Our family @ retreat at Till's Beach

Elayna and her friends, Jenna & Alyssa having a tea party!

Serenity and her new friends, Leona, Allison, and Marilyn

Chace and his friend Carson in the van ready to go!