August Newsletter 2

If you want to go fast; go alone. If you want to go further go together.-African Proverb

Fellow Laborers,        

 We have switched gears these past two weeks. We have switched from focusing on where we stand with God as an individual and as an organization; to focusing on where we are going and who the people our we are engaging with the Gospel. We have had sessions on Anthropology, Worldview, Animism, How to learn languages, as well as assigned reading every night. We are mentally engaged from sun-up to sun-down. In the midst of our study God has been enlarging our hearts for Ghana and the Mamprusi people. If you would like to read about Ghana, the tribes we will be working with (Mamprusi), or their primary belief system (Animism), please follow these links…

Fast Facts on Ghana

Fast Facts on Mamprusi

Fast Facts on Animism

            The class which has impacted the both of us was on language learning. In the session we were able to pick up practical tips for learning a language as well as understanding the main reason for learning another language. The main reason why Julia and I will give the majority of our time to learning Mampruli is that we desire to share with the Mamprusi tribe that God speaks their language. God values the Mamprusi tribe and we show that value by speaking to them in their native language or mother tongue.

Praises:

• We have made it through our first two days of shots. Julia has received six (five on one day), and I have had four. We made it through without crying too hard! We learned that the total cost for the both of us to receive all our shots is $3,400 and we don’t have to pay a dime. We are thankful for Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the thousands of churches which give every year so that we could receive all our shots.
• We have mailed off our Visa applications to the Burkina Faso and Ghana embassy.
• We have remained connected to Jesus growing in our relationship with Him. In our quiet time we have begun utilizing SPECKA questions (if you’d like to know send me an email and I will explain) which help us dive into a text.
• We had sessions on church planting found throughout the Book of Acts as well as a focus on T4T (Training for Trainers). God is growing our heart for church planting. We are excited and eagerly anticipating planting a church in Ghana which will remain after we leave.
• We have learned from the field that we will be driving a Jeep (not a Wrangler) in Ghana. We are excited to go off road and maybe teach the Africans how to do a little muddin.
• We have been able to serve our quad mates by babysitting in order to give the couples with kids a night out.

Prayer Requests:

1.             Please pray for our health. Sickness is spreading around training and two individuals in our quad have caught the flu. Please pray that we will remain healthy for the rest of training.
2.            Please pray that we would redeem the time at training. We have been here four weeks and the classes are beginning to become a chore. Please pray that we would not just make it through but rather we would focus, learn, and not complain.
3.             Please pray that our VISA paperwork would be processed and approved by Burkina Faso and Ghana.
4.             Please pray that we would retain all of the information we are learning about Ghana and our people group.
5.             Please pray that God would erase negative thoughts in our mind when it comes to language learning. Please pray that we would begin to trust God for our language and cultural acquisition.

Finally, I have been challenged these past two weeks from Revelation 12:11. If you would like to read my devotion please follow this link…Am I willing to die?

Thank you for your prayers and support. You are a valuable member of our team. We would be unable to accomplish all that we desire if it wasn’t for your faithful prayer. Thank you!

Serving Him,

The Welchs