Ashton Davis's Archive

Home stretch!

21 Commentsby   |  07.10.11  |  Accra, Ghana, Uncategorized

Our team is now at the Village of Hope in Gomoa-Fettah! It is so good to be back and see the children. We arrived thursday, June 30th, in the evening! After we meet with Fred Asare that evening to let him know we made it safely, I could not wait to see the kids. When I walked into the Linary House I was welcomed with so many hugs and hellos! It is good to be back.

The kids were out of school the next day; friday, saturday, sunday, monday and tuesday for mid-terms! It was nice to be able to spend time with the kids those days. On tuesday, July 5,  we took our travel day, which also happened to be my birthday, to Kakum National Park and Elmina! 

We first went to Kakum National Park we went on the canopy walk! It was amazing, we went across many bridges that made a horseshoe shape. The bridges hung above the trees with boards as wide to walk only with one foot in front of the other!  The scenary was beauitful…

Fifteen minutes away we drove to Cape Coast and Elmina. At Elmina there is a slave castle, we took a historal tour. Our tour guide was animated and told us the history of the castle. What I enjoyed the most about this visit is that we had the opportunity to enter cells called, ‘the room of no return’, and we were able to walk out of the cells alive, when years ago no one would be able to leave alive or free. I felt like I was making histroy.  Our drive home was safe and I was able to spend the evening with the children on my birthday!

During my stay here at the Village of Hope, I try to process everything that is going on, to understand my enviroment the best I can. I have found it difficult to do so for two reasons.  One reason is because our enviroment in Ghana changes frequently, with different visitors and locations. Secondly, I also realized that I am still in the mix of everything and when I get to America I will be able to stand back and look at my time here. I have made several obeservations to keep me going in order to improve opportunities to minister. At times I m overwhelmed at the need here. I look at my self and feel that I have nothing to give because I am not a counselor, nurse or teacher and these are the things the kids need! How can I help? I know this may sound discouraging, but being here has increased my urgancy and excitement to complete my studies at ACU! The harvest is pentiful, but the labors are few, Luke 10:2 !!

I look forward to these next two weeks with expectancy in the Lord’s faithfulness, freedom and love!

Blessings

Nkwatia News

12 Commentsby   |  07.10.11  |  Accra, Ghana

Hello Family and Friends,

First I want to apoligize for this late posting, but I would like to inform all of you what we have been up to these past four weeks.

Nkwatia, the location we were at in the mountains, was a wonderful experiance.  Saying goodbye a week ago was a challenge. During our stay there I taught Jr. High science and math. Most of my time was with second grade. I taught second grade all subjects, except Twi and French. These kids were a hand full and full of personality! So everyday was a new adventure.

One day during the week at school the headmaster (principal) put on a soccer match for us. The teams were the staff and interns verses the school team! Guess who won! The children won with a score of 2:1!! We also had the opportunity to travel to a competition the school was is in. Various schools gathered to test their knowledge of the Ghananian goverment. We took 5th place, the children preformed well. Lastly, we took a day long excursion to the Lake Volta region. This is where many of the kids at the Village of Hope were resuced from chid slavery.It was an incrediable experiance to travel in one of the fishing boats across the lake and imagine what life was like for the young children.

That concludes our stay in Nkwatia!

One nugget of wisdom I took away from this experiance is to recive the Lord’s daily bread, taking one day at a time, reading His word and watching him work.

One day at a time!    

Blessings

Hello from Ghana!

11 Commentsby   |  06.18.11  |  Accra, Ghana

Hi family and friends!

I just wanted to update everyone on how it is going here in Africa! I am continully amazed at the fact that we are actually in Africa!

We are in a home in the mountains with three other Lipsomp students. Every morning of the week we travel to the school by a bus. Our experiance at the school thus far have been exciting, exhusting and thought provking. I can not wait to see the Lord is going to do here for the next two weeks before we travel back to Fettah!

I would like to share two stories with you, the first week here in Africa we lived at the orphange and had the choice to help at the school, nursery or clinic. Michelle and I felt God was leading us to help in the nusery. When we first got to the nursery room, I didn’t know my place becasue of the culture and language barrier. We began to play with the kids on the floor. One beauitful girl fell in to my lap peacefully. I felt God leading me to sing over her. I felt such a peace singing to her as the Lord gave me words for her about His love for her. I was so thankful to be able to communitcate His love for his children in this way.

The second story took place at the school we are now located at. The first day we arrived we went into all the schools to meet the teachers and students. In Ghana, every time you meet someone new they welcome you by saying “you are welcome”. I have heard this phrase several times during our stay here. However, one teacher told me this and looked me straight in the eyes. This phase took on a whole new meaning. I realized that they are welcoming me into every suffering of theres and every celebration. They trust me to minister with them. I found this to be very similar to the way our Father in heaven welcomes us in to every good thing he has and into His inheritance. He trusts you all and I to partner with Him as his beloved children.

I hope this enourages you all!

Love

Ashton Davis