The Ugly, The Bad, and The Good

“Please know that I’m not fundamentally discouraged, just on the surface; but it’s the surface at which we tend to look until we remember to dig more deeply, isn’t it? ;)”

This line ended an email I recently sent to some dear friends who pray for me every day, and I thought I would share it with all of you because several have emailed me comments (along the lines of “It looks from your blog as though you're having a great time!”) that make me realize that maybe I’m not presenting a balanced perspective that includes all the hard aspects of being here. I’ll share just a few of the items with which I’ve struggled over the last couple of weeks: not to complain or to minimize the many, many blessings God has poured out on me, but to remind all of us that I need lots of prayer – as do other missionaries!

* Physical exhaustion
* Misunderstandings with Ghanaians due to cultural differences
* Inexplicable depression at times, unusual for me to whom God’s given a naturally positive personality
* Loneliness
* A very weird arm rash. It first resembled an insect bite; but the swelling and pain spread rapidly, and I was feverishly rooting through the medical supplies I’ve brought to see what might be appropriate treatment when God brought the novel idea to my mind, “I should pray about this.” As soon as I prayed, the rash stopped spreading, and soon vanished. The next day the same symptoms began on the other arm; I remembered to pray much sooner, and experienced the same instant cessation. As I didn’t see any bugs or spiders either day, and hadn’t eaten anything different – and as prayer immediately stopped the symptoms – I have no explanation other than the fact that I was under spiritual attack.

Again, these are just a few examples of some recent challenges…which have been good for me in many, many ways. And again, just to provide balance and remind you that in the scheme of things I have nothing about which to complain, here’s an excerpt from another email I sent my family earlier this week:

“Missionaries have been coming to Africa for centuries, dying from malaria and yellow fever and getting bitten by tsetse flies (which I don’t think actually live in THIS part of Africa) and having to eat grubs and termites and monkey and dodging lions and crocodiles and hippos and cannibals and facing who knows what other challenges…and I get to waltz in and have a room and bathroom and office all to myself, all equipped with electricity and fans and running water and mosquito screens, and I get served huge portions of the tastiest food (I can definitely tell I’m gaining weight! At this rate, I might be a trifle pudgy when I get home ;) ), and I wonder why I should be so very, very blessed.”

And just to end this post on a happy note, here’s a visual of some of that tastiest food I’ve been enjoying recently. Don’t forget that all fresh fruits and vegetables are of a different variety from and far more flavorful than what is available in the States. Mmm, mmm! And don't forget that I still need prayer – honest! =D

Breakfast: Creamy hot chocolate; oatmeal with milk powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, fresh bananas; tangerines that are very orange on the inside; egg topped with fresh avocado; fresh papaya

Supper: yam; plantain; cocoa-yam-leaf stew (which is incredibly good!); fresh avocado; flaky white fish