April Newsletter

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.- James 1:27

The children are always excited to see us when we arrive on Tuesday afternoon to work at the orphanage.

An aerial shot of the orphans enjoying their meal.

Julia is amazing with children. Here she is getting their attention before we teach the Bible lesson.

Enjoying his bowl of rice.

An empty pot means another job well done. They love the black rice at the bottom of the pot, they believe it's the best. I think some mom told them a lie in order to get them to eat burned rice and now they believe it.

Listening to a Bible story

Jesus did what? Sometimes, I talk too fast for our translators.

Every Tuesday we feed the children, share a Bible story and play games. This is story time.

Julia hard at work scooping rice.

Please mam, I want some more.

Don't worry their is enough for everyone

What you talkin about Willis?

A line of children ready to get their bowl of rice. Don't cut or you will have to go to the back!

Every Tuesday our cook Rebecca takes time out of her day to make jolloff rice and dried fish for the orphans to eat. We couldn't serve at the orphanage without her.

After eating and sharing a Bible story we always have time for a few games. Here we are playing, "All my baby rabbits come out and play."

They love it when I spin them around, however, Julia is waiting for the day when I puke.

I'm not quite sure why her tongue is orange.

We end our time doing the Jesus Hookie Pookie. Some people get into it more than others. (Shh. Don't tell Julia I put this picture on here).

A sign of a successful Tuesday; dirty dishes all over the kitchen.

 Story:

Julia and I are daily struck with the level of poverty for so many people in Northern Ghana. For the majority of children growing up in Nalerigu poverty and hunger are a way of life. Imagine if this was you:

Your parents saw your conception as both a blessing and a curse. They knew that in a few years there would be more hands to work, but also that you would put even more strain on the meager food supply.  After a risky home delivery on the dirt floor of the family hut, you were dried off with a dirty rag or an old newspaper; your parents never learned much about sanitation. When you were born, you were already malnourished. The little milk your mother was able to give you couldn’t do much to ensure your growth. Soon your mom had to resume her day job of cleaning streets with a hand-broom and washing other people’s clothes, because when she didn’t work, the family didn’t eat. So you were left in the care of an older sibling. As you started to crawl, you explored on your hands and knees the open sewer trenches running along the alley between neighboring huts. If you had any clothing at all, it was made from rags found in the nearby dump, which is where all the household treasures come from. If through strength and providence you survived the first few years of life, at the age of 5 or 6 you might be sold by your parents into bonded labor to help secure a little desperately needed money for the family. Otherwise, you probably joined your siblings sifting through garbage to find rags, plastic bottles, pieces of metal or anything else that could be sold for a few pennies to help the family survive. You may become a beggar or even a thief, desperately doing whatever you could just to eat.

This scenario is reality for children in Nalerigu. Julia and I have begun working with a feeding center in Nalerigu in order to provide a meal and love to twenty children. We provide a meal of rice and dry fish, share a Bible story, and play games with the children once a week. We go each week to minister to the children but when we leave they always end up ministering to us! 

Devotions:

An Idiots Guide to Eating in Nalerigu

FOR your city

Prayer Requests:

1) We are progressing in our understanding of Mamprulli. We are able to greet people in town and our able to carry-on short conversations passed greetings. It’s great to be progressing in language learning. As our time progresses, we are being handed more responsibilities which are distracting us from language learning, pray we would be diligent/determined to put in the hours necessary to learn Mamprulli. Pray we would have ears to hear and tongues to speak Mamprulli. Pray for T as he begins to learn Bible stories in Mamprulli in order to share with others.

2) On April 15^th we will have been in Africa for six months! God is good and is sustaining us. Every day He shows Himself faithful! At times it feels as if our time in Nalerigu is flying by, and other times it feels like we will never be at the end of our two years. Pray we would continue to adjust to life in Nalerigu. Pray we would continue to be humble and learn from others. Pray we would be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves in navigating culture. Pray we would have wisdom to navigate the culture and humility to laugh at ourselves when we make a mistake.

3) Four times out of the year, thirty pastors from Nalerigu and surrounding villages come to First Baptist Church of Nalerigu in order to take part in a School of Ministry. The school of ministry equips, encourages, and edifies Pastors to better shepherd their congregation. The school of ministry will be meeting April 20-24. Pray that the teachers would articulate the information in an understandable way. Pray that the Pastors would be encouraged and edified while attending the school.

4) Every Tuesday afternoon we serve at a feeding center. The leader of the feeding center is unmotivated and expects volunteers to do all of the work for him. Pray for us as we seek to minister to impoverished children. Pray for wisdom in knowing when to give money and when to withhold money in order to avoid dependency. Pray for the orphans, pray that God would show Himself strong on their behalf.

5) Julia and I daily share our faith with people in Nalerigu. Pray we would have boldness to proclaim the Gospel. Pray for wisdom as we seek to explain the Gospel in a culturally appropriate way. Pray for the salvation of the Mamprusi people. Pray God would take out the heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh.

Serving Him,

The Welchs