Africa Update #7: What if maybe God...

So it has been something I’ve had on my mind for a few days (as have my other teammates): Plans for the next two weeks (the remainder of our stay in Ghana). We know we’ll be in Ghana (obviously) and we are attending a conference this next weekend, but that is really it (although some things have materialized in the past 8 hours since I originally wrote this note). There really are no plans set in stone and most of us are wondering why we are still here, myself included (we could have originally left on July 31st but chose to stay until August 15th thinking there were plans made for us already). Some days I am okay with being here even though I have no idea what we are doing. Other days I am the complete opposite and homesick and wondering why I am here. Some days I am the typical American thinking that it COST me so much money to come so why not stay two extra weeks with people I may possibly never see again but then I might start treating it as if it were a vacation which we were told not to do and then I feel somewhat convicted for doing this because I am here to do God’s work, not just to relax and be in Africa because apparently missions trips can’t be fun……. Pfffft right. It is great and I’m blessed to be here and it is more fun than I can explain!!!

Then I started thinking as I do way too often. What if God wants me here for some other reason? What if God wants me here, not just to do his work for others, but what if me being here with “nothing to do” is for him to do his work in me? I am a strong believer that everything happens for a reason and that I‘m not still here just by chance but that God really wants me here even if I don’t know why. Proverbs 16:4 says “The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.” God makes things happen for his purpose, even if our future holds no apparent plans or we don’t know what will happen and we are questioning why we are still here. I know I miss my friends and family and to me, if there are no plans and we are “wasting our time” being here, God must truly know why we are still here. Proverbs 16 verses 1-3 and verse 9 talk about how we plan our ways or how we think something would be a better idea, such as going home now instead of staying two more weeks just because we don’t seem to have any set plans. But what if God has a plan for me being here two more weeks?

When you are homesick for familiarity it is difficult to trust this, at least for me anyways (this is when my mind goes off on its own). I have said my support system (the main one outside of my family of course) is in Manhattan Kansas. I will confess this is part, if not most, of the reason I am staying there at least another year. There are other things keeping me there as well of course and I feel like it is where God wants me to be. I lean on my support system. I grow through them. Throughout this trip I’ve had to learn to survive without my outlets in those people, or even my iPod or guitar for that matter. So back to my point (sorry if this is completely obvious to some of you). Maybe God wants me here these next two weeks to work on ME, so that I realize MY need for him in MY life and not necessarily other peoples’ need for him in THEIR lives. Maybe God wants me here the next two weeks to keep me focused on him. Maybe he wants to use this to refine my heart, mind, body, soul, and attitude to what he wants it to be so that when I return back to Manhattan I don’t fall back to the outlets that I have in my support system of friends.

It is difficult being here not knowing what lies ahead. It is difficult being over 6000 miles away from the people I love, from a struggling friend, from the comfort of my own home, from my family, from the hugs and smiles so familiar to me. Maybe God is showing me that really all I need is him; that when all of the familiar is gone or unavailable he remains the same. Maybe God is showing me that I can survive without my support system, whether that be 6000 miles or 6 blocks away. The friends I have now may not always be around right? Maybe that is why God has me here for two more weeks. Maybe now I will stop guessing as to why God has me here. Maybe now I will stop complaining about being here and when I’m homesick, being stared at by every person in every car that passes (maybe this is God breaking my want for attention?), eating things I don’t particularly like, and everything is creepily unfamiliar, maybe I will remember God IS here, that he is with me wherever I go like he says in Joshua 1:9. God is to be my comfort and maybe it took a month of being over 6000 miles outside of my comfort zone in a ridiculously unfamiliar place for me to realize all I just said (which is kind of sad if that is the truth now that I think about it).

So now the next two weeks I HAVE to wait on God, whether I like it or not. I don’t know what I’m doing here other than God wants me here, regardless of how I feel about being here. Proverbs 3:5-6 says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Right now, as frustrating as it may be to me, God will use the next two weeks, maybe not necessarily use us in other peoples’ lives the way we think he will (going out to villages and directly talking to people), but maybe God is using this for us in our own lives, even if we are bored with his way. Maybe he wants us to just spend time with the people who have taken care of us the past three weeks and maybe he is teaching us to rely on him and look for his provision in everything we do, not just the things we had originally planned to do for him. Pray that we keep a positive attitude the next two weeks and lean on Christ right now since we don’t know what will be happening in the near future. I have faith that God will provide, even if it isn’t the way we plan for him to provide. He always works it out for the better if we trust him. Sorry if I don’t make much sense sometimes and if it seems like I’m a rambling mad woman. I promise I have not been brain-washed or gone crazy in Ghana…… the people here are far too nice to do anything of the sort and I will very much miss them when the next two weeks are over. Thanks for putting up with my lengthy notes!!!! I love you all and thank you very much for all of your prayer and support!!!

Maybe God has us here, not to impact others, but so that HE can impact US.

In Christ,

Sharina Marie Schaller

Africa Update #6: Rambling thoughts on wealth and privilege… and conviction‏

So I’m not sure if this just hit me or if today is the first day that I’ve gotten the chance to really just sit and think about it, but I have definitely been convicted of some things since being in Africa. Thus far Africa has been what I have expected it to be but at the same time it has been far from any expectations, if that makes sense. Things I have expected: the villages with poor people, the beautiful children crowding around the camera in the villages, the smiles and hugs and holding hands with the Ghanaians (big and small mind you) everywhere; a struggle for some (what we would consider a struggle for us but is actually everyday life for them), Jesus and hearts for him, and my homesickness. The things I didn’t so much expect: 25% of Ghana’s population living in Accra and causing the traffic to be the way it is (I get motion sickness pretty much every time I get in a vehicle here I think), Jesus being everywhere (I know he is everywhere but everywhere I go I have been shown a heart for him), and feeling spoiled.

I never expected to feel somewhat spoiled while I’m in Africa but sitting here thinking about it, I am BLESSED. Not just in the sense of living on campus in a house with cement walls, windows, and ceiling fans, but I’m very much blessed in the setting and family God has placed me with in Africa. I feel the need to tell you more about my lovely family here in Ghana. We live with Dr. Joseph Kwasi Nimako-Boateng and his awesome wife Akua. They have a beautiful two year old son named Nana and he could quite possibly be the smartest child I have ever been around (I mean really, what two year old knows how to PROPERLY run a DVD player and TV by himself? The patience may not be there, but the knowledge of “how to” is). This family is amazing and they have made Briana (my roommate from Cincinnati) and me feel welcome here from day one. Kwasi is a dentist and he disciples many of the young men around us. We seem to gain (or just meet) a different brother every night. They have an open house for my brothers in Christ. Not only have they given for Briana and me (and I’m sure sacrificed more than we most likely know), I’ve watched them provide a house for others, a place of discussion for others, and food for these young men, all the while keeping a heart for Christ. And as I sit here thinking, this hasn’t just happened to me here but the giving has also happened in the villages.

These giving hearts surround me, it seems, some through knowing Christ, others without knowing Christ. Example one: the villages. No matter where we went, generally we always had a placed to sit, a warm smile, and a welcoming handshake to greet us. People were willing to share their lives with us so that we would pray with them, but I never heard any of them ask for more than prayer for blessings from God (either they didn’t say it or the translators forgot to translate that part for us). Whether they expected more from us, I don’t know, but they never asked for more than prayer when we were sitting there talking to them. It was humbling….. and still is. It is also difficult to explain or put these feelings and emotions into words.

Example two: this house. I really do feel kind of spoiled which sometimes causes me to feel guilty for feeling this tremendously blessed. This family has catered to my every need, especially the “watching what I eat because I am diabetic” need (Kwasi’s father is also diabetic so that helps. To make the stay more comfortable for the both of us I’ve had to force myself into the habit of testing my blood sugar two times a day… it also helps me talk Kwasi into letting me have ice cream every now and then… lol). They have served us in every way possible: shelter, food, running water, and the love in their hearts for Christ. I feel that I am learning from them, I can only hope they are learning from me as well.

We were discussing school and bills one night with them. I’d have to agree with Kwasi that paying bills while going through school is not fair. It isn’t done here. This shows the difference in this way of life. School is a privilege. Here in Ghana you DO NOT work while you are in school, nor do you pay bills for that matter. When you are finished you do what is called your “National Service” for a year, in which you work for the government. After that year, then you find a job. Cars are luxuries here. Yes the traffic is CRAZY and it would seem that everybody and their dog had a car here, but not everybody does. Some people would KILL to have the luxury of a car. One of my teammates couldn’t believe that we would own more than one car per family (I happened to fail to mention how many car my family owns if you include the vehicles of my siblings and me). Air conditioning is a luxury we take for granted a lot of times. Before I left home, the AC in my house didn’t work. Here, some people can’t even grasp the concept of air conditioning but it isn’t because they are dumb or ignorant; it is just because they have never been privileged enough to have it (kind of like the Americans when we found out that ice cream came in individually wrapped little bags here). Ice cubes… I miss them. Some people don’t know about refrigerators with ice cube makers and dispensers in the door.

Food: I cannot say that I am underfed. In all actuality, I wouldn’t be surprised if I gain a few pounds while I’m here. However, we are spoiled in the U.S. Not just the amount that we are allowed to eat, whenever we want to eat it, but also that we can afford to eat out and have such a variety of foods available to us. Akua and I were discussing food one afternoon. We were discussing how many carbs Ghanaians eat every single meal and how many vegetables they don’t eat. Just another point of me being blessed: she went to the market and bought us green beans, carrots, and corn on the cob so that I could have the vegetables I needed in my diet.

One thing I’ve gotten fairly good at: not complaining about food. I will admit, some things I had to pray my way through (fufu being the main one and the first week here when we ate a lot of fish… at least I can say I’ve deboned a fish now). There are some things I couldn’t eat due to the sugar and carb amounts in the food (not always a bad thing). At first I did complain about a lot of things. I complained until I saw firsthand the starving children in Africa who don’t get at least one home cooked meal a day. I saw them gather by the door and the window and watch my team and me eat things that we complained about eating, didn’t want to eat, or didn’t eat at all; not because we COULDN’T eat them but because we just didn’t want to. I think of when I was little (or I just think of my youngest brother). Mom would have to practically SHOVE some foods down our throats at the end of our meal, threatening that we wouldn’t get dessert and we needed to finish because “there are poor starving children in Africa”. Yes my dear friends, it is true; there are starving children here.

I was asked how I could eat some of the things we have eaten and I say that I pray my way through it. I’m not ashamed to say it. I pray and God puts a picture of those children in my head and then I forget about complaining and I eat because I’m thankful I’m being fed. I think of when I first got here how I’d actually pick certain things out of my food and not eat them just because I didn’t want to eat them. Now I think about how that not only might look to the person who cooked the meal, but also about how selfish I’m being… and then the children. After one of the meals in the village I was standing outside when we handed over the plates that weren’t emptied to the children. It was like a mob and it was gut wrenching. After another meal, a little girl and her friend were standing by the door (the little girl many of you have seen in my profile picture on facebook……. The really ridiculously cute one that I love even more after this instance and this is where she really melted my very heart and soul). Auntie invited her onto the “porch” so that other children wouldn’t mob her when we gave her food and steal it from her. Then Auntie gave her the plate. The thing that happened next breaks my heart in a magnificent way. The little girl would NOT eat the food until she found her younger friend with whom she would share the meal with. This little girl waited until we let her friend in by her to sit and share in this meal that was leftover from one of us who complained about it and didn’t eat want to eat it (I know this because it was my meal).

That picture hits me every time I sit to eat and it is something that I may not want to have. A selfless little child sharing her food with her friend, which is all it takes. How selfish are we? How much influence does our wealth and privilege have on us and our selfishness? I am convicted of my selfishness as I sit here and write this. We have had so many conversations of the first place I’m going to eat when I get back (Jimmy Johns) or the first meal I want mom to make when I return home (roast beef, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob with chocolate angel food and chocolate pudding for dessert). Another question: how WASTEFUL are we? Not just in our food and our meals, but what about waste in money and time?

Money and clothes have been yet another conviction of mine. I feel guilty for the fact that I bought a ton of clothes before coming here, specifically for this trip mind you. I went home to clean out my closet so I could bring clothes to give away. I brought only four shirts of my own… only four shirts I originally intended to give away. Money went towards clothes that I didn’t need. I don’t tithe (I very well might start after this). Right now, if I knew a way to get the money (from the tithe I MIGHT start doing) to the poor starving children without it falling into the hands of somebody who would misuse it and not get it to the poor starving children, I would do it. But right now, what is my main focus? Me!! My thought process is focused on the fact that I can’t afford to pay rent or bills next month without closing my savings account and then I would still be overdrawn. Then I am convicted, not just because I am looking at people who can’t afford to HAVE bills to be paid and who have no money and rely on us to do spring cleaning in our closets so that they MIGHT get a new used shirt and pair of shorts, but because I’m rich compared to them, wasting my money on unnecessaries. The biggest thing though, I’m worrying and not trusting God, nor am I giving back to him what is rightfully his.

I just finished reading the book “Blue like Jazz” and there is a small section in the book where Miller discusses tithing. It hit me and has been nagging at my heart since I’ve read it. God is the one who blesses us with means to live and with wealth and privilege. Shouldn’t we give to him what is rightfully his? Shouldn’t we learn how to BE rich instead of how to GET rich? To these people, we are already rich whether we believe it or not and are struggling with bills and paying rent. I have a college education, a car, the ability to pay rent and a phone bill even if it doesn’t always seem possible. God always provides. I also get to pick and choose what I want to make to eat everyday and if I’m too lazy I can pay to have somebody else make it for me. There is this awesome series called “How to Be Rich” that is done by Craig Groeschel, pastor of Lifechurch.tv. He does a great job of explaining how to BE rich, not how to get rich. I think I might just watch that as soon as I get home and hopefully this time I’ll have a different perspective other than “I don’t have money so God can’t expect me to tithe”. I have a paycheck which is more than want a lot of people here have.

Sorry for this long note of what most of you may consider nonsense. I just felt the need to share my rambling wandering thoughts with you!! If you read this far, please pray for these things, not just in my own life but in yours as well. Thanks friends and I love you and miss you!!!

In Christ,
Sharina Marie Schaller

Africa Update #5

Hello friends!!! I hope you are all doing well. I just wanted to send out another short update to you. It has been quite a week for us here in Ghana. Last Thursday we left for camp for the weekend. It was a long and exhausting weekend, with me not feeling well one of the days and another of the group coming down with malaria (first time this trip so we are still doing well). Yesterday (Tuesday) we took a very long trip to Cape Coast. We had the opportunity to visit the National park there and walk on rope bridges in the rain forest that were suspended over 80 feet in the air. It was AMAZING!!!!! We also visited the castle there that they used for slaves before shipping them to America. It was difficult to think of when we looked through the windows.

Over the weekend while we were still at camp, there was a lot of reflecting on our journeys to Ghana. Many of us originally planned to be here while others took different routes than expected. Some people planned on coming but were not able to make the journey while others planned on being in a different country other than Ghana but ended up here. I was asked to speak one of the evenings about the trip thus far (mainly the trip to the villages) so I decided to write a poem about our team. So many different paths were taken. I thought I would share it with you.



Perfect Imperfection
Ghana Gold 2009
By: Sharina Schaller
7/26/2009

We are imperfect people
From an imperfect place.
Brought together in imperfect ways
But through God's loving grace.

Who is the one who's perfect?
Who created everything?
The author of the book of life
Whose praises we do sing?

Who is the perfecter of our faith?
Who wrote out all life's plans?
Who lays the journey before us
Then guides us with his hands?

He is God our creator,
To his promises we cling.
He is author of our lives,
It's of his grace we sing.

Through his gentle guidance
This journey came about.
It is through God's will and love
That we met here, no doubt.

Different paths were taken,
Some unexpectedly,
Holding to expectant faith
God made us wait and see.

Now that we've come together
To serve with all our heart,
God has blessed us with each other,
He'll bind us when we part.



I hope you enjoyed it!!! I will keep you posted on more!!!

In Christ,
Sharina Marie Schaller

P.S. Please pray for safe travel. Half of the team will return back to the U.S. Thursday night and Friday (July 30th and 31st) while 6 of us will remain in Ghana until August 15th. Pray for safe travel for the first half as well as health for all of us as we near the end of this trip.

Africa Update #4

So I realized there was a lot that I left unsaid in my last note. I wasn’t really sure how to say some things or even put the trip to Nkum into words. It is difficult to explain even now as I have spent the past 8 hours reflecting and sorting through my thoughts. I thought about many things from how those who are least fortunate seem to not worry as much as those of us who, in comparison to them, have everything and worry about everything…. to how much I am thankful for everything that I do have, including my family and friends. Hopefully this note will not be as long as the previous, sorry if it is.

The day that I had the opportunity to travel to the villages around Nkum, this is when the thinking became difficult. You see people with hardly anything: few clothes, little or no food or clean water, no health care, poor shelter, diseases that in America could be cured, and starvation. My first thought was, how can they live off of so little? A second thought, and somewhat frustration (hopefully justified), is why doesn’t anybody help these people? We have SO much……. we are rich (yes myself included who can’t afford to pay bills upon returning to the U.S.) we are rich compared to these people. We have shelter, cloths, running water, food (how many meals do we eat in a day?). We have healthcare. I’m diabetic and have a place to go to get checked on and medication to help keep me healthy. These people have absolutely nothing. We have family, some of them no longer do. The first village I went to, a lady had 4 or 5 little children with her, some of them hers but others were not. She asked us to pray for her and these children, for they were always ill and she had lost some children of her own already. Even through all the pain and suffering, the children touched my heart. As my team member Dan stated a few times, they are the definition of a bundle of joy. The laughter from playing peek-a-boo or just turning and with a smile waving to them….. laughter was always present.

The evening we walked around Nkum was possibly the most uncomfortable of the evening, as many of the adults just stared as us, no smiles included. (Michael kindly stated we should all have shirts on that say “Stare at me longer, I might do a trick”). I was able to witness somebody accepting Christ as their Savior. I also witnessed a man who didn’t know what to believe because there were so many different teachings being spread, especially those not from the Bible. We sat and talked for possibly 45 minutes trying to convince him that the Bible was the truth. His question to us: if what we say is true, why are there so many different churches, so many different teachings, so many different beliefs in a “god” but still so much sin? Let that sit for a while.

My reflections on the final day for the past week: I have seen a people with very little to give that would give all that they had. We saw the definition of a “servant heart”. We were treated by those willing to serve, who had been called to serve. We had clean water every day to bath with. We had 3 HUGE meals a day. We had shelter that kept us dry when it rained. I saw a man with severe elephantiasis (swelling of a limb) in his leg. The house he was at had a few wood plants as the siding and some straw and branches as the roof. This man with so little came and gave Dan (my teammate) and myself a Coco bean plant. Somebody with so little gave more than what he could probably afford to give. A memory that will probably never leave me (other than the one previously mentioned) was the older girl and the young deaf man that stayed in the building we were in while in Nkum. Both helped fetch water and prepare every meal……. And chase away the children every night when we wanted to go to sleep. Both of them gave of their time and energy to make us feel so welcomed and never once did I hear them complain. Philippians 2:14 -15 “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe”. That is the verse that comes to mind when I think of those two children of God.

SO, now is the part of the note when I list my thankful and my random thoughts and SOME humor as to the things I take for granted on a daily basis. At one point while in the village of Nkum, the electricity went out. Even in a poor village in the African jungle we took it for granted that we would have electricity. We take food for granted. We even PAY people to make us food and take it for granted how well and how much we eat. I saw people who are malnourished, who don’t know if they will be able to feed their families even one meal a day. I’ve seen people who don’t have running water or electricity, who don’t know the luxury of it; therefore they don’t take it all for granted. It blows my mind how they are able to live the way that they do.

One thing I really appreciate is how nice and hospitable Ghanaians are towards EVERYBODY. It was explained to me by the young man who works for my host father, Ghanaians KNOW there are people who have more and make more money or have less and make less money. BUT what they also know is that all people are created equal under God. Everybody deserves respect and friendliness. Everybody was created equal, therefore they should be treated equally (something the majority of us need to learn at times). If they don’t treat somebody as an equal, they at least treat them better as they do themselves. Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

My thankfuls: my family and my friends. I think of the lady who has lost part of her family. I have seen and experienced the loss of family. I have seen two outcomes of losing family: run from God or run to God. When things head south, do we turn our backs and say it is too difficult, I don’t want to do it anymore, or do we run to him and ask him to restore us? Nobody said it would be easy. 1 Peter 4:12-13 “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”

Small thankfuls or things I take for granted: My music, whether that be my iPod or my guitar. I never realized how much music was a part of my time spent with God, whether that is Christian music during quiet time or when I’m frustrated, or my guitar and being able to sing to Jesus. Another thing: traffic. NEVER again will you hear me complain about the traffic in Manhattan. You have NO idea what a traffic jam is until you try to travel through Accra Ghana in the middle of the day. First 5 places to visit upon returning to the U.S.: Jimmy John’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Early Edition, Chipotle, and somewhere with great pizza. Last thing: Walmart-one stop shop and nobody reaching in my car window trying to sell me something.

Hope you enjoyed my rambling thoughts from the past week of surviving without running water, a cold bucket bath in a cement room with a flashlight, and not having a toilet that flushes.

I miss you all!!!!

Love,
Sharina Marie

P.S. This will be the last thing posted until Monday. Pray for us as the team will be assisting with a camp from Friday through Sunday (similar to Main Event or a regional Navigators conference)

Africa Update #3

Hello all!!! I hope that this past week has been swell for you. Sorry it has taken me so long to send out an email. I just returned from a village called Nkum in the middle of Ghana. We spent the past 5 days there, walking from village to village teaching people about Jesus (I should have worked out more before I came here because it was a workout........ and I only did one day of walking!!!!). Just a couple of first impressions and thoughts.

Accra Ghana:
-I have an amazing host family: Kwesi and Akua Nimako-Boateng and their 2 year old son Nana (who is adorable, Rachel don't be jealous)
-Accra is more industrialized than I'd ever have thought Africa could be....... typical stereotypes we have.
-Traffic is RIDICULOUS!!!! (Whitney Neely can now vouch for that as she has gotten to experience some of it) It took us 2 hours to work our way through Accra on our way to Nkum....... and it wasn't even rush hour. American drivers would not survive. THEY would be running into other drivers and I'm not quite sure what the point in the speed limit, seatbelts, and the lines in the middle of the roads are. I have never experienced anything like this type of traffic jam and it would take a LOT of searching even in the US to find one like it.
-There are Obama posters EVERYWHERE. AND the Palace here is SO much cooler than the Whitehouse but I could get fined for taking a picture of it.
-Street vending is CRAZY!!! Basically it is what you could call a drive-thru mall.
-We got the opportunity to drive by the embassy............ the U.S. likes to flex its muscles in comparison to other nations.
-My team is amazing. We have gotten along so well thus far (even through some of us being ill). My roommate....... awesome. I feel like I have known her for more than a week. One of the boys shares the strange obsession for peanut butter that I have, only I would never just dip my hand in a PB jar. AND some of you know one of the members that is on the team from STP 06 I believe. It was great to talk to him about friends that we have in common.

As for the trip to Nkum. These thoughts are difficult to search through at this point in time. I can elaborate on them more when the trip is over or when I have had a day or two to just think through them and meditate on everything that I've seen thus far. I will, however, give you a general break-down of what the days have kind of looked like so far. 5 days, I'll go 1 by 1.

Day 1: The day started out with me not feeling well. My head hurt really bad and I couldn't eat anything without getting sick to my stomach. In the end, I had to stay behind as the others trekked through the jungle to tell others about Christ and his salvation. I was definitely upset and spent about an hour crying because I wanted to go so badly but I didn't have the strength or endurance to do so. I needed rest so that I could go the next day (needless to say I don't get to tell a story of how I walked through an African river in the jungle in a skirt carrying nothing but a 1.5 Liter bottle of water and a Bible....... I wore jeans when I went and had a backpack). We had the chance to spend time with some of the children of Nkum. They are adorable and love white people........ and the camera. The host said the kids used to be really scared of whites but have grown to love them (we found out later it was for specific reasons..... but if you put yourself in their place, it is understandable). They do have a love for life. I pray that they learn to love Christ in the same way they love the camera and life. The weather (temperature wise) isn't that bad..... like low 80s. The humidity is ridiculous and I never seem to stop sweating. The food....... I've never tried so many new things in my life and I had to pray my way through some of the meals so far. I've eaten more fish and rice in the past week than I have in my entire life. The food is also horrendously greasey (like more so than cheddar bites from sonic or any other american food I've ever eaten). Chickens and goats EVERYWHERE but I can only take pictures for you Amber. Sorry dear. The Ghana Navigators team has been outstanding, making sure that I have everything to cover my diabetes, such as food to eat, water to drink, and enough rest to make it through the day. 2 words: bucket baths. More difficult than it sounds. I also feel like I bathed in bug spray at least 2 times a day. Pretty sure the smell of 40% DEET bug spray is forever engraved into my senses.

Day 2 in Nkum: This is a day difficult to speak of that I will need to reflect on more. I saw the real Africa today. The pictures of the poor starving kids who live in mud huts and hardly have any clothes....... what they do have is torn almost to shreds. It breaks my heart. Yet, even with so little, they are more than willing to give. God has worked wonders and shown himself in some of the villagers who offered us food and coco beans........ which are crazy sweet by the way. The images will never go away. They were so happy to see somebody willing to come and talk to them. Somebody who wasn't just there to site-see but somebody who cared genuinely about their lives and souls.

Day 3 in Nkum: Church....... I got to help with Sunday school :) and then took the day off. ALSO, So many unexpecteds, I think I'm going to make a list.
-walked through an african jungle to tell people about Jesus.
-never expected to see a laptop with 2 large zenith speakers and the internet in the middle of a jungle in a mud hut
-learn phrases in a 2nd language
-eat things I can't pronounce or have no clue what it even is
-food that we would NEVER image eating with our fingers............ it's finger food to Ghanaians.
-Carrie Underwood on the radio.
-the electricity went out one of the evenings (funny the things you take for granted even in Africa)
-bucket baths....... no need to say more.
-I've eaten fish...... right off the bone.
-Coco beans and sugarcane....... I've tried it fresh

Day 4 in Nkum: the list continues. It is also the day of the "crusade" which is hard to talk about or describe so this will come later as well.
-Involved in a crusade
-more passion and faith in Christ than I've ever seen anywhere....... I can't even begin to explain.
-Spaghetti with fish in the sauce....... eaten with a spoon. It can be done.
-I can say I've done the electric slide in front of a crowd of African crowd......... in the middle of the night...... in the middle of the jungle.

Day 5: the journey back to Accra was long and the roads are bumpy. We made it home, although myself and 3 others have not felt well at all.

I plan to send out pictures at a later date but obviously do not want to bog down my host's computer with all of these. Keep praying. It is getting difficult already and there are 4 weeks to go. Part of this could be because of the lack of luxury and just flat out not feeling well some of the days. Thank you all and God bless!

~Sharina Marie Schaller

Africa #1

As the Day Draws Near

So this is the first of hopefully many messages I plan to write for you all in regards to my trip to Africa. It is now beginning to sink in that I am leaving in less than two weeks (July 13). Needless to say, this will be the journey of a lifetime. I am very much excited to go but also on edge with life right now. Therefore, I would like to ask for your prayer in a few areas (and guidance, verses, passages, or advice if you have any).
The first prayer request would be for my nerves. The closer my team and I come to leaving, the more nervous, anxious, and scared I become. I will admit I am scared out of my mind right now. I have never done anything like this before AND I have NEVER been so far out of my comfort zone in my life. I am so anxious to go because I know that God will use this trip as a major part of my journey with Him. At the same time, I am also nervous about how I communicate with others. We know that I love to write (if you don’t know that already, you will find out soon enough). We also know that there are times that my friends can’t get me to shut up. Although this is true, when it comes to “deep” conversations, I sometimes don’t quite know how to express myself, or at least I feel like I don’t (not even through writing). Pray that I find a niche in communication. I am also nervous about the food, not necessarily that it won’t be good, but more of concerns as to what I can and cannot eat (for those of you who don’t know, I am diabetic/hyperglycemic as of New Year’s 09).
The second area is in the team’s preparation. There are many of us who have never met or even talked before. Pray that we mesh well and build our relationship focused on Christ. Many of us have never been on missions trips like this before and this will be a very new (and probably slightly uncomfortable) experience. The thought of not having any idea of what to expect scares me. In a way that is a good thing because it makes it difficult to set expectations which means it would be difficult to be disappointed when an expectation isn’t met because there is no expectation to be met (make sense?). A friend and I sat and talked about this trip the other day and how scared I am to go because I have no idea what to expect. A few points were made and this is now what I think: If we KNOW what will happen, we have control over our life and if we have control there would be no need for God. Makes sense right? If we have an IDEA of what to expect, most (if not all) of us would try to TAKE control of the steering wheel and therefore would push God into the passenger’s seat (this has never ended well for me). If we have no idea what is going on, the only option is to trust God and let Him lead. He has yet to fail us. If I’m going to work for Christ, I can trust that He will continue to care for me the way He has done so many times before.
The third request is my mindset. I do this thing where I get really excited and worried at the same time. Ends up I usually end up putting myself down and psyching myself out. I am extremely excited to go but I am worried because I feel so inadequate and unprepared. I worry about what I will say, how will I say it, will I KNOW what to say and when to say it. This is possibly the area I need to learn to trust the most in. I always think that I should know what to say. I overanalyze EVERYTHING and rethink everything over multiple times. BUT Luke 12:11-12 says “do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” Pray that I lean on the truth and trust that God will provide for me even when it seems like it would be impossible. Pray also that I am consistent in God’s Word and in seeking Him in everything and that I cling to Him and His truth.
The final area to pray for (for now anyways) is for our travel. Pray that we are kept safe in our travel and that those of us who have never flown before find it exciting. I’ve never been on an airplane, nor did I ever want to fly (my parents can vouch for that.) I’m pretty much extremely afraid to fly. Pray for safe travel and that God calms my nerves.
I’ve learned a lot about myself just “preparing” to go. I’ve learned more about God and trusting His will for me. The time leading up to this trip has been amazing but also a rough one as many challenges have popped up in regards to financial, health, work, and relational concerns. God has provided for me regardless of the situation. Although I have questioned it many times since deciding to go to Africa, I believe that it is what God wants. He has provided for the trip financially, prayerfully, and in many other ways. I trust that He will continue to provide for me in those areas while there as well as when I return.
Thank you all for all of your prayers and your support as the team and I prepare to embark on this journey. I look forward to sharing all that God will reveal to me while in Ghana. I am unsure of how often I will be able to write but I am hoping at least once every week or so (if not you will be flooded with messages from me when I return). Thank you all again and God Bless!

In Christ,
Sharina Marie Schaller

As the Day Draws Near
By: Sharina Marie Schaller
6/29/2009

As we prepare to go,
God I pray you hear,
The requests for our safety,
Placed in your loving care.
Through all the nerves and worry,
You are always there.
Through seeking you in all,
To us you will draw near.
With you as our provider,
Nothing shall we fear.
Let us follow you,
Guide us as we prepare.
In your name I pray. Amen.