Giving away things can be complex in our context. Sometimes things aren’t really that useful to the way things are done in this culture. Other times it’s tough to be fair because giving to some people also means others are excluded and this can cause tensions which we usually don’t find out about until later. I miss the days of dropping off items at Good Will or having a garage sale with friends.

So what do I do with my stuff? I keep a box of things to give away (mostly extra book and outgrown clothing/shoes).  And then when that box has grown to 4 or 5 boxes and it’s in my way, I divide it out and give it away, knowing that it won’t be fair but it has to go. I’ve seriously been thinking about bagging it up and leaving it along the roadside. It would be a jackpot for someone to find. However, something even better has come up this time.

Our church is collecting clothing to replace some of what was destroyed in the fighting in the town nearby where houses were burned (straw roofs were lit, people ran for their lives as these roofs quickly burned and collapsed, and their possessions were destroyed). This excites me. First of all, the Komba church is taking action regarding a real need in our area. They’re doing this by collecting clothing. Secondly, it has reduced my 4 boxes of give-aways to just 1. Most of it is shoes and clothing, but I wish I could see the face of the person who receives the purple hippo backpack that we’re no longer using.

We’ve been studying the human body this year in science. One activity was studying the muscle, ligament, bones and joints on a pig leg (the meat I ordered from market, the kind that comes with the skin and foot attached). A bonus was that we could also clearly see blood in a vein (or was it an artery?) and move it along its route. We recently received a pig liver as a gift for greeting at a funeral. I’ve never made liver before, but we examined it before I attempted to cook it into something edible. My kids really didn’t have any prejudice against it going into the experience, but they made comments like, “It’s spongy” and “It’s chewy like bone marrow” (they aren’t ones to waste good bone marrow). Overall it was a unique experience.

For Annaka and Aili, I made life-size paper dolls by tracing around them. Now we’ve attached organs underneath their clothing as we studied them. They’re hanging in the living room and really add a nice touch to the decor.

Now you might think that Isaac is a bit young to get into the action, but he chose his own area of interest. I found him chewing on a spleen. No, not the kind that comes from the butcher. He had a spleen from a foam puzzle of the human body. I heard myself saying, “Isaac, take that spleen out of your mouth.” Then I had to laugh. It’s not something you say everyday or any day at that.

Presently our days are FULL. That’s how it is here. But add the fact that we are now preparing for furlough (contacting churches and groups for speaking, collecting photos and video for our DVD presentation, packing up things in our house for a 6 mo. absence, deciding what to take back, planning presentations…) AND Nathan is overseeing the rooms that are being renovated in Gbintiri for an apartment AND planning ahead for the work that the translators will do in his absence–we’re practically having heart pains. At the same time we are wild with excitement to get to the U.S. Please keep us in your prayers in this final month of preparation before we leave our village home. We feel like we’re cramming elephant size activities into a tuna can.

Dear Prayer Partners,

Grace and PEACE to you. Recently a situation in a town nearby regarding a chieftancy issue came to a full boil and erupted. Houses were burned and people had to flee in the night.
While we are geographically close to the town where these problems took place, we feel safe as the situation involves clans other than the one related to our town of Nasuan. Our Ghanaian friends have been keeping us updated, and we have taken safety precautions, particularly in our travel since the town lies between us and Gbintiri where Nathan works.

Church leaders met together to actively pursue and help those involved pursue peace in this matter.

We are asking that you pray for these churches as they take on this courageous role—that they will have wisdom, good communication and discernment, and be able to act on their call to be peacemakers. The people here do not see this act of violence as a mere physical event that took place, but they are very aware of the spiritual implications that this type of thing has in their lives. Even though most are not Christians, they would be able to tell you that this struggle is not merely against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces in the heavenly realms. Please commit this situation to faithful prayer.

May God’s peace and forgiveness abound,
The Esalas

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year!

As we leave 2009 and enter into 2010, we thought we might offer you a little summary of what has happened in the past year in regards to the Komba Bible Translation, Literacy and Scripture Engagement effort.  For most of our 6 plus years in Ghana we have not been able to show measurable progress.  But this year the project is beginning to show signs of accomplishing what many have intended for it.  Our prayer continues to be that all these activities will be used by the Holy Spirit to further His work and our Father’s will and reigning kingdom among us.

Highlights from 2009:

• 30% of the New Testament (NT) translation is completed
• 30 community based Komba literacy classes and 900 learners
• Printed the Gospel of Luke and are in processing of distributing copies
• Our leading churches are already using it each week as we follow the Year C lectionary readings!
• A Memo of Understanding signed with Bible Society of Ghana with plans to complete the NT by 2012
• Another successful year of local community support raising towards literacy classes (around 200 communities gave tangible support towards the project and also some gifts from the Ghanaian local government structures)

Some Future plans for 2010

• We plan to finish another 30% of the NT.
• We hope to open another 40 community based literacy classes (1200 new learners).
• We plan to do some developing and recording of Scripture Songs in Komba.

Grace and mercy to you all through our Present Lord Jesus Christ,

On Nov 28th KOLIBITRAP (Komba Literacy and Bible Translation Project) invited all Komba chiefs for the 2009 fundraising and Komba literacy promotion day. This year over 200 communities were represented and most of them made contributions to help KOLIBITRAP. The meeting was honored by the Deputy Northern Regional Minister of Ghana who came and led the way by giving a gift from the regional government towards Komba literacy. Two other local governments (districts) gave gifts also.

What all goes into organizing a Literacy Day in Northern Ghana? Read the rest of this entry »

The Boston Globe recently published this article citing research which indicates ‘microloans’ (less than $100 loans to individuals in the developing world) though good are not all they are cracked up to be (such as the key to end global poverty!)

I recently found a website called www.gotell.org.  I used it to help me take our last two Sunday gospel reading from Mark 10:17-31 and perform it orally for a sermon.  You click on Lections and it lists the various readings for the common lectionary. Most other lectionary including the LCMS series are fairly similar.  The great thing I found was the gospel broken down and formatted in oral episodes. There is a commentary on how to perform the text orally including voice intonations and things like that.  It is done by an excellent New Testament scholar Dr. Tom Boomershine.  You can also listen to audio performances.

• Praise God that Sarah finally recovered from a tough case of malaria, followed by a bout with an abominable abdominal condition.
• Praise that the books of Mark and Luke are ready to be reviewed by the consultant.
• Praise God for Chrstina’s time with our family and for her willingness to help the Federwitz family.
• Pray for us as we being to make more formalized plans for furlough in 2010.
• Pray for Greg Meier, the new LBT intern in Ghana, who will be working in the Komba area. Pray that he will adjust to village life and find good language learning partners, major goals of these early months.

Christina Riddle has moved down the road 45 minutes to David and Valerie Federwitz’s home. She will be lending a hand to that busy household, making our transition without her a little easier since we still see her occasionally. Pray that this situation will go well for her that God will continue to guide her paths as she considers what He has in store for her after Ghana.