Cook and Conference (Retro-post)

(If you were keeping up with two weeks ago, please be informed that I failed to post an entry about the Women's Conference. I have just found this out, and so I ask that you accept my retro-knowledgeable upload. All that I knew of that time is posted below.)

"If you are in the world, and you don't give yourself to Christ, you have lost."
--Fati


That's Fati. I kinda surprised her with that pic, but she said I could post it.


We are making progress on the Nkwanta Leadership Empowerment Center. If you have clicked on the clouds, then you know what that is. We have the walls up on one side. Here are both sides, facing left, center, then right.




This week the Women's Conference is ongoing, as I mentioned Saturday. This morning the sessions began. Mrs. Avelyn taught them on the topic "A Sister's Love," saying that the love that women show each other strengthens, upholds, and uplifts through good times and bad. We also sang together, and encouraged each other through the song "I Need You to Survive," during which I watched the ladies say "I need you" in their mother tongues, to others of their people group. Then there were breakout sessions. I attended the session entitled "Relationship with God and Others," in which Miss Nishia about some of the stages of maturity in our relationship with God, and how growth in that relationship overflows into our relationships with other people.

You may be asking yourself (or me, telepathically) how I came to attend the Opening Session one Breakout Session of a conference designed to cater specifically to women. I see your question, so I suppose that means I need to address it. The answer is no mystery (well, I suppose it still is at this point, for you) nor misdeed.
Whereas my family is hosting the women from the United States, and
Whereas my mother is acting as Co-ordinator of the Conference, and
Whereas the women leading said Conference require the use of our transportation and my keyboard, and
Whereas I was needed to transport the keyboard, and
Whereas, once we arrived at the Conference site, I was consigned to audio assistance, therefore
Let It Be Resolved that I also attended the Opening Session one Breakout Session of a conference designed to cater specifically to women.

posted from Bloggeroid

Van Gogh's Inspiration

If, at the right time, you are just opening your eyes after a brief respite and happen to notice the sky as you recline, you might see clouds in a certain, well, cloudy formation similar to something our dear Vincent would have portrayed. Then your vision will clear and the mystical calling of the moment will have faded in to the background of other, louder voices.

Just as well, if you are just opening your eyes from said rest, and find yourself looking at a backdrop that allows it, you may see lines on your eyes. I do not mean problematic signs (at least, I mean not to mean them; I may need to consult a specialist, after all) but, rather, lines that may be the protective film of the eye. It will follow your gaze as you look from left to right and from top to bottom. The only way you can see the lines is if you retreat behind your eyeballs, to watch the world on the best IMAX screens created. When you catch the glimpse, you will nearly simultaneously miss your mark. Not to worry, if you are patient, and tolerant to see using your peripheral vision, then you will be just fine.

The Women's Conference ended Thursday. It was very warmly received by the ladies in the community! We got to Accra Friday, and we are all tired from the trip down, and (for the team) from the activities and traffic of Saturday. With that said, I rested all day and am still ready to crash right now. This, then, will be another shorter post. I did not intend for two short posts to be so near each other.

The team leaves Sunday evening, after which I will be ready to lapse into a mini coma. Monday we leave for Kumasi to get some repairs don to our car. It has been through a lot, but it is still holding on well. We may be back in Nkwanta by Friday.

Do remember to pray for the team's smooth flight back to the U. S., that they do not lose their baaggage. and that they don't forget what they have seen, heard, and learned during their time here.

posted from Bloggeroid

Painful Gratitude

Psalm 50:23
The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”

Sacrifice of thanksgiving. What does that look like?
Whatever it is, it's GIVING! Action is an essential characteristic of gratitude. If you're thankful and you know it, Do Something About It.

Today, we drove back to the house from Accra. My mom is hosting a women's conference beginning Monday, and the teachers are. coming from the U. S. A. That team of women (10 in all) arrived today at noon, and my bosses (still my in two senses) decided to make the normally 6 or so hour drive into 7 to 9 hours. The theme of the conference is Empowerment for Life and Godliness, taken from 2 Peter 1:3. It will last from Monday until Thursday, with sessions in the mornings and evenings.

Many women in the area lack the very concept of self-worth. Society has instilled within them a mindset of deserved, inherent subordination, such that many women here do not know to make a stand for their own identity. My mom, together with this team of women, will address that need with God's Word.

I'm writing this from my phone, stayed up way past my bedtime for the last two nights, and can already feel the pangs of incoherence at 6:15 p.m. With that, I bid you Adieu. Do pray for the lasting impact of the program, that God might be glorified in the lives of all who attend.

posted from Bloggeroid