So after visiting a PCP, ENT, Infectious disease Dr., and a Tropical disease Dr. we are still in the dark about what is causing my enlarged lymph nodes and fatigue. We do know that it is not:
Cancer – Lymphoma
Tuberculosis
Malaria
Parasites
Aids
Cat Scratch
Sleeping sickness
Mono
EBV
Fungal
… and others.
I have had a biopsy, lots of blood drawn, and frankly I am quite sick of going to the Dr.’s. The next step is to have the largest lymph node removed so they can cut it up into many pieces and determine what exactly the problem is. I am hoping it will go away, or at least shrink in size within the next month so we do not have to do this.
Most of you know that our five-year commitment to be missionaries in Ghana was going to be finished in June. Brett did a 30 day fast in August to ask God to show him clearly where He wanted us to be. God answered Brett and directed us to go back to Faith Baptist Church in Wildomar, California. Pastored by Pastor Bruce Goddard.
For some reason God wanted us back early. I sure do not know the reason yet; and, most likely will never know the reason. And that is O.K. with me. It was very hard to leave Ghana, harder than I could have ever expected. Judson asked yesterday when we are going to go back. That broke my heart. I didn’t know what to tell him. Brett and I would love to go back at some point when finances allow us.
Pastor Speer is now doing most of the administrative work in the school that Brett started and several other staff men are helping. Please pray for him as this is a big task added to his already very busy schedule.
Believe it our not we have been freezing the past month and a half! We have definitely adapted to the African climate so anything under 70 degrees makes me want to put a winter coat on. It is finally starting to warm up which makes “normal people” sad; but, our family is happy =). I am actually looking forward to tomorrow which is supposed to be in the 90’s.
We are currently living with Brett’s parents. Brett’s mom is a great help with the children and I don’t have to hire a babysitter to take a nap =). We just love the church here. The people have been such a blessing overloading us with gifts and prayers. The preaching as been practical and convicting!
Many people ask us if we miss Africa. Both Brett and my response is the same. We do NOT miss the inconveniences of living in the 3rd world country be we desperately miss the people. We miss both the people we served with and the people we served. I miss the soul winning there and the hungry spirit for the gospel, the desire of the people to learn the things of God.
We do not know what God has planned for our future; but, we continue to trust Him to lead us wherever He sees fit. We would love to go to another mission field, or back to Africa one day; but, knowing this is where God wants us to be now is priceless and a fact that is very comforting to me. I already feel like I have been put on the shelf somehow. I just need to get busy serving where I am. It takes time.
Thank you all for your prayers and your continued verbal support of our family. Another chapter of our life has been finished; however, we are looking forward to this next chapter! May it be as delightful and rewarding as the last.
When I was a freshman in college I made a sign for my wall that read, “I want to live my life in such a way that when I tell God, ‘I Love you!’ He replies,’“I know!’” I had such a desire to know God and serve Him in a special way. I remember Dr. Schaap preaching a sermon that year about suffering. He preached about how people who suffer know God more. He is more real to them. He tried to explain that there is just a special connection that conspires when we, His children, suffer. After the message I made another sign and I put it above my bed. I was on the bottom of a set of bunk beds and I stuck the sign in between the spring boards. The sign read, “I want to suffer so I can know You more.” Well God’s timing has proved to be a little bit different than my timing in this situation. When I was in college I was single, independent, and much more willing to sacrifice. Now I am married to the man of my dreams and have three amazing kids. Not single, not even a little independent, and not nearly as willing to sacrifice; however, God has answered my prayer in His time and has allowed suffering to come into my life.
For about 4-5 months I have had an enlarged lymph node on the side of my neck. I have been sick often since having children and I dismissed the problem when an EMT specialist felt the lump and said I had nothing to worry about. Three weeks ago I got strep throat. It was then that I noticed the mass again and it was obviously bigger and harder. Most of you know I am a hypochondriac already so I don’t need too many symptoms to worry like crazy! On Tuesday Brett brought me to go get a sonogram to check it out. The technician measured the mass at about 2.6 centimeters and suggested we get a biopsy. We contacted Dr. Siemer, a doctor on FBMI’s staff. He asked a plethora of questions and instructed us to get a CBC blood test with differentials. The blood test indicated that I do not have an infection. With that information and several other pieces of information regarding the node Dr. Seimer has suggested we go back to America to have more testing done.
Suffering has come! Dr. Schaap was right. God has been abundantly real in my life and I feel like I know Him more. Reading the Bible (especially the Psalms) has been more refreshing than it ever has before. Praying is not a duty but a pleasure and desire. Noticing Him being involved in every area of my life has been overwhelming. The intricate ways he has weaved together the past 3 days of events have been awe provoking. My God is real. He loves ME! He is interested in my life and my emotions.
Here are some ways God has placed His comforting arms around my family just this morning:
Pastor Speer’s message was about suffering and was exactly what Brett and I needed.
A class member, who Brett married, but has since started drinking and was even put in jail for beating his wife because of his drinking, came back to church THIS MORNING!
A teenager that I have given my heart to but has somehow gone wayward came back to church THIS MORNING. She hugged my neck, wept on my shoulder, and apologized profusely.
A faithful lady in our Sunday school class who likes Brett a little TOOO much was NOT There THIS MORNING.=)
A man and a woman I have been trying to play matchmaker with told me THIS MORNING that they were going to start dating. =)
Jackson was solemn this morning. I thought it was because he was seeing his mom and dad cry a lot. When I asked him what was wrong he replied back, “I am sad because we are leaving!” That meant the world to me.
We are planning on coming home this week. Still working out some flight details. We are trusting God in this situation for we KNOW He is in control. We covet your prayers. My dad is going to anoint me with oil when we get to the States. We will stay in New Jersey for a day or two so I can see my family, and then head out to California to get some tests done. We love you all and appreciate you holding us up in your prayers since we have been here. We are packing up our things with the concern that we might not ever return. It has been emotionally draining on Brett and I to have to say good-bye to people we have poured our hearts into. Please continue to pray for us. For healing, wisdom, and strength!
Love you all!
Brett, Jennifer, Jackson, and Judson Beil
(written by Jennifer)
PICTURESI know some of you are not on
Facebook; so, I wanted to make a way for you to be able to view the last few
months of our lives in pictures. Hope you enjoy =)
ANEED Bro. Collins Adjei, a former
member of our Sunday school class, has started a church in Adwafo. He has been
there for over a year now. Unfortunately, since he has started his church he
has not had enough income from this new church to put his 7 children in school.
His children’s names are: Collins Jr. (19 yrs.), Blessing (17 yrs.), Emmanuel
(16 yrs.), Glory (15 yrs.), Stephen (13 yrs.), Lovely (7 yrs.) and Justina (4
yrs.). We told him we would put his families need on our website. So here it
is. It costs approximately $90 to go to school for a year. If anyone of you are
interested in supporting one of his children through school this year we will
make sure to get the money to him. You can donate directly through this website
(click the PayPal button on the top). Please indicate which child you want to
support. Thank you for considering this opportunity.
This has been the most intense two months of our Ghana experience!
As most of you know we returned back to Ghana in April with our “miracle baby,” Blake Mensah* Beil. To be completely honest this was our hardest time to go back to Ghana. With our fragile new born baby and just plain selfishness we wanted to stay home with all the comforts provided for us in America.
After our first few weeks back Brett and I made a conscience decision to make this year our best year ever. With newness of spirit* and mind excited about what our last year on the mission field had in store we began the month of May.
On Saturday, I went out with one of my friends for her birthday lunch to a place Brett and I often frequent on our date nights. I came home so proud of myself for eating pizza that I did not care for,* as I was bragging to Brett about how “great” of a friend I was I started feeling a bit ill. After two hours of severe stomach pains I began vomiting uncontrollably. Brett told me afterwards that I vomited between 10-15 times within the next two hours. When I finally gave up hope of feeling better and felt like I was going to die I asked Brett to bring me to the hospital where I knew there would be no doctor until Monday. This was at about midnight. They admitted me quickly and started “fishing” into my vein on the top of my left hand to start an infusion followed by a shot in my lower back. I lasted about 1 hour without vomiting and started demanding the nurses to let me go. The room had no air conditioner. Blake was crying because it was so hot and I had barely enough fluids to attempt to feed him. I was miserable and wanted to get out of there. I started crying and then noticed that the fluid from the infusion had dripped dry and my blood was starting to go the opposite way up the IV tube. I started throwing an all out temper tantrum. I blame it completely on the meds they gave me which made me jittery and anxious =)! I started kicking the wall and crying. Brett talked to the nurses and they agreed to let me go. As Brett was checking out in the front I was trying to make it by myself to the truck and began throwing up again. At that point I didn’t care I just wanted to get out of that hospital! We made it home at about 2:00 AM and I finally got some sleep. I was weak for the next 2 days but I recovered. Praise the Lord.*
Brett caught a nasty cough on the plane on our way back to Ghana. He was struggling with it for about 5 weeks. He got a nasty sickness on top of that where he could hardly function. He missed church on a Sunday night and had to call off for the first time since he became Headmaster of the school the next Monday. We went to the hospital to have the doctor check out his lungs and he seemed to be O.K. The doctor gave him some medicine which was disgusting to even smell yet alone swallow.* It seemed to help and he has been in good health since.
Two weeks ago Judson began to spike a fever in the night. We waited a day to see what the fever would do. The next night Judson was extremely hot to the touch and started shaking with the chills. We started him on Malaria medication. This is the 3rd time he has had malaria so we call him the professional malaria fighter for our family.
A few days after Judson recovered Jackson started getting a fever. They sleep in bunk beds with the same mosquito net over them so I think that the mosquito bit both of them one night. We started Jackson on the Malaria medicine the next day and they both recovered nicely.
It seems like the very moment our family decided we were going to finish out our term strong the Devil decided he was going to throw the fiery dart of bad health in our direction. Thanks be to God, who has already defeated our enemy, that HE allows us to personally claim victory over Satan in our lives.
Last Sunday we found out that one of our faithful class members, Johnson Oppong, died. On Tuesday Brett visited the family and discovered that Johnson committed suicide and his 11-year-old daughter was the one who came home from school and found him hanging from a rope. This was devastating to us! Brett had the opportunity of being in charge of the funeral and it was definitely a time of great mourning as he left behind a widow and 5 girls. We thank God that Brett was able to witness to Johnson about 8 months ago and he sweetly accepted Christ as His Saviour! What a relief to KNOW that you were obedient to His great command to preach the gospel.
Before Brett visited Johnson’s family on Tuesday he felt burdened to witness to our neighbors who live directly across the street from us. After about an hour and a half Noah and Charles accepted Christ as their Saviour. Yesterday Noah and Charles came to church with us in the morning and followed the Lord in believer’s baptism.
During Sunday morning church Jackson asked Brett if he could get baptized too. Brett said that he wanted to talk to him about it first and if he still wanted to he could get baptized that night. After much discussion in the afternoon Jackson decided he wanted to obey God and make Jesus happy and get baptized. He told me he wanted everyone in the church to know that he got saved. He was a bit scared but overcame his fear so that he could make Jesus happy. Brett had the opportunity to baptize him last night. Jackson was quite proud of himself. Brett also baptized a convert of his from about 2 years ago named Louis. Louis told him he got baptized in the Catholic church years ago but that was before he got saved. He felt convicted about it and asked Brett if he would baptize him. Of course Brett obliged.
Today our family went to go visit Johnson’s widow and children. We brought them some rice, oil, fish, washing powder, and tomato paste* provided by our Sunday School class along with an offering our church gave. I had the chance to witness to the family that was there and 9 family members received Christ including Johnson’s wife, two children, three sisters and one brother. If I could only capture the joy they were expressing when they realized that Johnson was in Heaven. Here in Ghana if you commit suicide it is the unpardonable sin. His widow, Adowa, was convinced he was burning in Hell. It was one of my favorite soul winning experiences of all time. The renewal of spirit was obvious and the joy of the Lord was evident. How refreshing!
Needless to say the month of sickness was worth it! Thank you Lord for the service you allow us to have in Ghana.
We miss you all tons! Hope this update was a blessing to you!
Brett, Jennifer, Jackson, Judson, and Blake Beil
* Means third born son in twi.
* Much due to the amazing truths found in the book “Reclaiming Surrendered Ground” by Jim Logan, which I encourage EVER believer to read.
* For those who do not know – I am a VERY picky eater and seldom eat ANYTHING I do not like.
* “It is extremely difficult to accurately convey the severity of Jenn’s sickness as well as the state
of healthcare in Ghana. Just know that anyone in the States should be VERY thankful for the healthcare that is available.” – Brett
* No grape or bubblegum flavored cough syrup here!
* These are some common cooking ingredients and are traditionally used to bring as gifts for
various occasions.
It
is only 8 more days until we fly to New Jersey for our 3 month leave of absence
to have our third boy. We have finally decided on a name: Blake Mensah Beil.
Mensah means third born male in Twi (the language spoken here in Kumasi).
The
last month has been very busy and eventful.
1. 1. Our friend,
Nathaniel Lutes, from Faith Baptist Church in Wildomar, California came out to
visit us in the beginning of the month. He brought TONS of presents for all of
us. Some were from church members, others from family members, and the rest
from him. It was great to have another person to fellowship with for two weeks.
He has been a great encouragement to our family and was a perfect guest. To
view misc pictures of Nathaniel’s visit please press here. To visit ministry related pictures of Nano's visit please press here.
2. 2. I hosted the
January ladies meeting this past month. I chose a luau theme. To view pictures
of this event please press here.
3. 3. The extreme highlight of my month was having my dad come to visit
us for a few days. It was really an act of the Lord how it worked out for him
to come. Here is the story: Dad had a man named Dr. John Nelms come to his
church a few months ago. Jon Nelms is the founder of Final Frontiers. Their mission
statement since their beginning in1986 has been:"Through the funding
of national and native preachers, we endeavor to effectively advance the Gospel
where it has never been preached before." In
early January Dr. Nelms emailed my dad and another preacher inviting them to go
on an upcoming trip he was taking to Ghana. My dad was very interested! To make
a long story short Straightway Baptist Church (where my dad is a pastor)
offered to pay a large amount of the expenses of the trip and my dad was able
to spend some great quality time with us. The first day he was in Ghana he had
to walk 1 hour to get to an internet café that had no air conditioning. He
spent 3 days in Ghana before arriving in Kumasi. Needless to say he got the
real African experience. Usually when people come to visit we try to take such
good care of them in our facilities and vehicles that they “Don’t think living
in Africa would be too bad.”! As soon as dad got off the airplane in Kumasi he
told us how much he respects us and how much more he will pray for us! That was
refreshing =). While he was here with us he preached an African funeral for one
of our Sunday school class members who recently passed away, he taught our
Together Forever Sunday school class, and preached Sunday night church. He was
a huge blessing to our family. Jackson and Judson still pray for him at the
dinner table and can’t wait to see grandpa in about a week. To view pictures of
his trip please click here.
4. 4. Fundamental
Baptist Academy is going strong. Brett has been extremely busy trying to get
everything organized for when we leave. They had a picture day in January. To view
these pictures please press here.
5. 5. We had our
annual team valentine banquet on Monday the 7th of February. Didn’t feel
so pretty being 8 months prego; but, thoroughly enjoyed the time I got to spend
together with Brett and the other couples. To view pictures of this event
please click here.
Travel
Plans
Ghana
to New JerseyFebruary
17th
New
Jersey to California March 1st
California
to New JerseyApril 19th
New
Jersery to GhanaMay
17th
We love you all and cant wait to see most of you soon =)
Thursday night is our date night, which means it is my
favorite night of the week! I only have a few minutes to write this update
before we go out so here is my best attempt to give you a brief overview of
December.
1. In Ghana the day before Christmas break is called “Our Day.”
Traditionally, on this day the Ghanaian children bring in their favorite meal
and participate in what we would call a pot-luck lunch. Brett tried to fuse
their traditions with ours and made a fun filled Christmas program for the kids
to enjoy.
First, Brett conducted chapel where everyone sang Christmas
hymns. After the singing Brett had Gideon Akans narrate the Christmas story
from Luke chapter 2 while several students acted out the parts of Mary, Joseph,
the Wise Men, ect. Chapel ended with Brett praying for lunch after which we
headed up to the “canteen” area.
Next we enjoyed lunch.
After a hearty lunch Brett led the students in a series of
games which included charades, musical chairs, tug-of-war, and more.
All in all, I think the kids really enjoyed their day! To
see pictures of the FBA Christmas party press here.
2. Brett has been really spoiled with fantastic helpers in his
school so he decided to have all of his staff over to our house for a little
Christmas party. Every staff member was encouraged to bring a date.
Rhoda, my helper in the house, prepared fried rice and
chicken for our meal. After dinner we played some games and Brett expressed how
thankful he was for each and every member of his staff. We gave all of them a
2011 planner as a small gift of our gratitude for them.
On a side note, during our “Christmas Bingo Game” Brett had
to describe several of the pictures to the Ghanaians including but not limited
to: Snowman, mistletoe, elf, and reindeer.
To view pictures of the FBA staff Christmas party click
here.
3. This was our 4th Christmas in Africa and for me
the best one yet. Not only did Brett spoil me to death with presents but both
the boys were old enough to really enjoy Christmas morning.
On Christmas Eve we went to a school within walking distance
of our house and just played. We tried to play basketball but the hoops were
long gone and the backboards were falling down. Then we came home to cool off
by enjoying the slip-and-slide. It was about 95 degrees on Christmas so the
slip-and-slide was very appropriate to play with. After dinner the boys got to
open their gift from Great Grandpa and Grandma Campbell. They sent us some
money to get some gifts and we found fantastic super hero pajamas at a local
hotel. They put on their outfits in time to be able to Skype with both sets of
grandparents. We really enjoyed getting to chat with them and open a few
presents they sent us and ones we sent them. Very thankful for 21st
century technology which allows us to communicate so well with loved ones back
home.
Christmas morning Brett read Luke 2 and had the boys act out
the parts of Mary and Joseph. Judson was Mary (with a ball in his tummy) and Jackson
was Joseph. We video recorded most of the morning to capture these priceless
memories. Then we opened presents, had breakfast, played some games and started
getting ready for the team get-together.
The entire team met at the Carter’s house for lunch, gift exchange,
games, and fellowship.
To view pictures of the Beil’s Christmas press here.
4. The day after Christmas Ghanaians celebrate Boxing Day.
Traditionally this is a day where the Ghanaians enjoy a big meal. Since Boxing
Day was on Sunday we decided to treat our class to large meal. We had a lady
prepare enough groundnut (peanut) stew and rice balls for the class and we
enjoyed a delicious meal together during our class hour. When you look at the
pictures it might not look that appetizing to you but it really is tasty – by
far my favorite meal here! (Side note: Brett got really sick from this dish
about a year ago and cannot even smell it without gagging so it was a sacrifice
for him to withstand the sight and smell for his class!)
After the meal Brett taught his lesson and then we handed
out gifts to all our class members. We went through our whole house looking for
things we just don’t need any more. Most of the items were clothes and
decorations. Each class member received 2-3 items and they were more than
thankful. To think our “trash” is their “treasure” is humbling.
5. This past week under the direction of Pastor Speer, Brett
started a new soul winning time on Tuesday Evenings. We are very excited about
this new opportunity to reach our class members and new people. Brett was
encouraged by the number of people actually home when he went out visiting on
Tuesday. He got to witness to one of our class member’s son who understood
English well. Brett was able to lead to him to Christ without a translator;
which he said was very refreshing.
My new year’s resolution for this site is to keep you more updated
with our converts and disciples. This past month I got to witness to Rachel,
one of our college student’s sisters. She got saved and then came the following
Sunday to get baptized. While I was witnessing to Rachel, Brett got to win 4
people to the Lord. One of which is a mother who brought her 6 month old twins
to church last week. I will try to remember to bring my camera so you can put a
face to the names.
I updated our convert pictures page, to view it please press
here.
Hey, everyone! Jenn has been asking me to write an update
for awhile now. She’s finally getting her wish!
As I am writing this we are sitting on a bus with the entire
team. We are traveling to the capital city, Accra, to do some Christmas
shopping. The bus ride is a six hour trip and right now we are on about a three
hour bumpy stretch where the road is basically non-existent. So, if anything is
misspelled I will blame it on the rough ride!
Going to Accra is like going to another country. The roads
are much better, there are some nice restaurants, and they have a mall! Last
time we were in Accra Jackson looked out the window of the car and asked,
“Mommy, are we in America?” (To view pictures of our Accra trip please press
here.)
Yesterday we had Harvest Day at church. This is a time at
the end of the year that Ghanaians traditionally bring a large offering to
thank God for another year of protection and provision. Some people gave a
month’s salary! It was amazing to see Ghanaians sacrifice and give. I was most
impressed with Grace Serwaah. Grace is a lady from our Sunday school class and
is over 60 years old. She has been very sick and in the hospital this past
year. She struggles day by day just to get food to eat. On Sunday she brought
an offering of four oranges! Oranges are about five cents each. It reminded me
of the widow and her two mites. It was a great sacrifice by someone with very
little and convicted me to always be willing to give even when I think I don’t have anything to give.
(To view pictures of our harvest day please press here.)
Fundamental Baptist Academy has occupied a lot of my time
the last few months! Running a school is not easy. Dad made it look easy! The
Ghanaian children have caught on to the ACE curriculum really fast and have
exceeded my expectations. I was worried how the Ghanaian and American children
would interact with each other, but they have gotten along very well and are
making new friends. It is amazing how thirsty the Ghanaian children are to
learn. I have to force some of the older students to take a break. Otherwise,
they would work all day! I’m sure my teachers wished I was like that. (Pictures
coming soon.)
On thanksgiving morning I told the boys how we came to have
a thanksgiving holiday. I used one of their toy boats as the Mayflower. (To
view our family thanksgiving, please press here.) After this we went to a team
thanksgiving feast. This is my favorite get-together because the food is always
so good. I definitely ate too much. (To view our team thanksgiving, please
press here.) On Friday several of the American men got together with some Ghanaian church members to play flag football. (To view pictures please press here.)
The Decembers ladies meeting was held at the 6-flat. They
had a progressive dinner in 4 of the ladies homes; including our own. To see
pictures of this event please press here.
Jennifer got a nasty nose infection this month. We went to
the doctor and he gave us some anti-viral cream and a antibiotic to get rid of
it.
For Jennifer’s birthday she wanted to get her hair done. I
had 4 hair dressing girls come to the house to do her hair. To view pictures
press here.
Another gift I gave Jennifer for her birthday was an 3D
ultrasound. (Costs about 20 USD) To view pictures of our third boy please press
here.
For pictures of us decorating for Christmas please press
here.
For pictures of our family Christmas photo shoot please
press here.
For pictures of our adventure to the zoo please press here.
Please
enjoy the pictures. Jenn does a great job of making sure we always have
the camera ready so those of you who are interested are able to see a
little bit of our lives in Africa. It has been a busy couple of months,
but we count it a privilege that God has allowed us to serve in Ghana.
God has been so good to us. I am daily reminded of his love for me and
my family. Many of you are an instrument God uses to pour out His love
on us. Thank you, words cannot express how much that means to us.
Another busy month here in Ghana, I would like to highlight
my favorite four events.
1. 1. Our church started five new churches this past
Sunday, October 31st making a total of 7 churches our ministry has
started since inception. 3 of these 7 churches are pastored by people who were
members of our Together Forever Sunday school class. Brother Collins Adgyei,
Brett’s first Sunday school translator is pastoring a church in Adwafo running over
100 every Sunday. He has been there full-time for about 2 months now. Bro.
George Menyon was one of the new pastors starting a church on Sunday along with
our most recent translator, Gyasi Boateng. It has been very encouraging to see
the growth in these people and to have some small part in the amazing ministry
going on here in Ghana.
These 5 churches that have been started are
in areas that many of our church members live. They were taking busses and tro-tros
to commute to church every Sunday. They will now have a church in their own
village or town to attend. Because of this fact, we decided to have a going
away party for all of our class members that we would be losing. Brett called
it “The Last Supper!” If you would like to see pictures of this event click
here.
2. 2. While out shopping one Friday night Jackson
spotted a pumpkin on the side of the road near the store we were entering. We
had never seen a pumpkin here in Ghana so we were very excited. We bought it
for 8 GHC (6 USD) and carved it. I love how God shows us his love in such
special ways. If you would like to see
pictures of the pumpkin carving please press here.
1. 3. Brett’s birthday was the 25th of this
month. I have been crazy sick since we found out we were expecting and I did
not have time to go out and go shopping for things to make Brett’s birthday
special. SOOOOOO …. We improvised.
Jackson, Judson and I made confetti to throw at Brett when he came through the
door from work. Then we led Brett out to the porch where we decorated “Happy
Birthday” signs for him and prepared a simple picnic. We made a coupon book for
him which included gifts from all of us. Judson’s gift was to sing Happy Birthday to daddy which
he did very well! Jackson’s gift was a coupon stating he would buy daddy a bag
full of candy from the candy store when we went back to America. My gift was a coupon
for a romantic dinner and 1 night get-away when we go back to have baby #3. This
is something he requested =). If you would like to see pictures of Brett’s
birthday press here.
4. 4. On Monday our team had a “Harvest Day” get-together.
It was loads of fun and we enjoyed dressing up. Judson was a fire fighter and
Brett was an arsonist. Jackson was a policeman and I was a criminal. If you
would like to see pictures of the night press here.
I read this quote online this morning and really enjoyed it
so I will sign off with this.
“There is so
much good in the worst of us, And so much bad in the best of us, That it hardly becomes any of us To talk about the rest of us."
Today was the opening day of Fundamental Baptist Academy where Brett is the Headmaster (Principal).
First, Brett addressed all of the parents and students and told them that he has been waiting for this day for 3 years and a few other words.
Then, we had the ribbon cutting ceremony. After that,all of the students and parents entered the school room (Learning Center) for the first time.
There will be 10 American students and 24 Ghanaian students this year.
After the students found their seats and got acclimated to the room we went upstairs to a college classroom. Brett then thanked all of the people who made the school possible and introduced Bro. Speer who then gave the parents and students "The Charge".
It was a great and memorable day.
To view more pictures please go to our ministries pictures page under October pictures.
Greetings from Ghana! I have been encouraged to write an
update today and agree it has been about time, so here goes.
BRETT
Brett is doing well. We just finished up our 4th
Annual African Pastors’ School. Brett was in charge of all of the media, PA, PowerPoint
presentations, ect. There were a few minor PA problems because of power
fluctuation, rain trickling into PA booth, and equipment failures but all in
all he did a fantastic job. He was on the Pastors’ School committee so he had
tons of responsibilities and has been VERY busy the last few weeks!
About two weeks before Pastors’ School some sort of chief died in our town. The one week
funeral was held at our next door neighbor’s house. Every morning Brett and I
would wake up to loud nasty music that played until sundown. Finally, the last
night of the funeral the music played ALL NIGHT LONG!! At 4:30 in the morning
Brett had had enough and went over to the funeral where there were only 3
people sitting in chairs. He had some kind words with the DJ who eventually
lowered the music ever so slightly and explained to Brett that this is African
culture! All that to say, Brett was waking up that week with some pretty nasty
anxiety attacks in his heart. It must have been from all of the stress and the
awful music. As soon as the funeral ended so did his attacks. I am very
grateful for that!
Brett is going to be the “Headmaster” (Principal) of
Fundamental Baptist Academy which is starting in a week and a half. He has not
had much time to focus on the school since Pastors’ School has monopolized much
of his schedule. The school will start with 30 students. 10 are American and
the rest are Ghanaian church members. He has already done diagnostic tests for
all of the students who are enrolled and is anxious to get the school off the
ground. Ghanaian education is very different so the first couple of weeks are
going to be interesting for the Ghanaian students to adjust to an American
curriculum. Even though education is not up to American standards here, it is
very important to the people. The children have a desire to learn, and parents
will sacrifice large percentages of their income to put their kids in “good”
schools.
Jennifer
As most of you know I am expecting. I am due March 20th.
(The day before Pastors’ School in Hammond) We find out in 2 weeks if it will
be a boy or girl. Brett, Jackson, Judson, and I are all hoping for a girl, but
won’t be terribly disappointed if it is a boy. This pregnancy has been the
worst yet. I was terribly sick for many weeks. I am just now getting over the
extreme nausea and exhaustion. Expecting a baby while sick in Africa is not
fun. The atrocious smells, the bumpy roads and the heat have all taken their
tolls. This song best describes the feelings I have had the past few months.
“I long
to walk in Eden with trees and blooms and where the air is sweet. To spend my
days in sunshine, beside the brook – where You will meet with me. But I have
heard you calling and in obedience I go, to another garden whose history I’ve
known.
Lord,
for now its Gethsemane, now that’s where your bringing me to a place whose
agony you’ve known. So because your will is clear. I trust you and I’ll stay
right here. If Eden calls tomorrow then those pathways I will roam. But for now
Gethsemane is home. So strengthen and sustain me, I will face whatever comes. I
know Eden is waiting when this night is done.
I won’t
compare my sufferings with all the pain I know that you endure. Yet you have
used this garden to teach me how – surrender makes me Yours. Where you walk
with me and talk with me and you tell me I am your own!
Lord, for now its Gethsemane, for now that’s
where Your bringing me to a place whose agony You’ve known. So because your
will is clear. I trust you and I’ll stay right here. If Eden calls tomorrow
then those pathways I will roam. But for now Gethsemane is home.”
Thank the Lord I am now feeling somewhat back to normal and
have begun to make Ghana my Eden once again. Please continue to pray for a safe
pregnancy and delivery for this our third child.
JACKSON
Jackson is now 4 years old. He has grown up to be quite the
obedient boy, if I do say so myself! =) He has a desire to please mommy and
daddy and deep disappointment when he lets us down. Running is his favorite
activity, talking takes a close second place. He loves when we read to him and
tell him stories. His now learning how to write his name and is out of the
church nursery.
On September 11, 2010 Jackson accepted Jesus Christ as his
personal Saviour. He came to me while I was in the kitchen and said, “Mommy, I
love God and I want to be with Him in Heaven.” I then witnessed to him and he
got saved! We continue to ask him questions and remind him of his decision
often. Brett took him to get baptized the following Sunday. Jackson was SO
EXCITED that he got to obey God and get baptized UNTIL he saw 500 people
staring at him and the water he was supposed to get dunked into. Poor guy! He
ended up screaming and told daddy he wants to wait. So, we are going to wait
until he is good and ready and WANTS to get baptized again!
Jackson LOVES Bro. Schaap! After every service of Pastors’
school Jackson was the first one to run up to him and give him hugs. Sooooo
cute!
When we were in American Jackson told me that he liked
America better than Ghana because America is beautiful. The other day Jackson
told me he liked Ghana better than America because America is too cold! Hahaha…
he is in for a treat when we go back in February!
Judson
Judson is my stubborn baby! He has the best personality and
makes the funniest faces. Right now he is in the stealing food stage. After he
steals and eats something he has the evidence all over his face and hands. Not
a good thief, that’s for sure! He is starting to talk in sentences and loves
his big brother! He loves babies and always wants to kiss my tummy and say, “I
love you” to the baby! His love language is quality time so he follows me
around the house every where I am just to be with mommy. He just started riding
his tricycle all by himself! He loves to eat meat and eggs! He has my spirit of
fear which Brett is trying to drive out of him. He did not like the beach water
very much and is scared to death of Jackson’s fake animal toys. Poor guy – he
got that from me.
We are all healthy and doing well! We look forward to hearing
from any of you who care to drop us a line. We covet your prayers! Thanks for
reading and being interested in our lives.. Brett, Jennifer, Jackson, Judson and Baby Beil brettbeil20@gmail.com jennbeil11@gmail.com
Hey everybody, seems like forever since we have last updated this site. I guess that’s because it has been forever =). So much has happened over the last few months:
OUR FAMILY
•We bought a 1994 Mitsubishi Pajero with a Nissan engine in it for $8,000. (I know that seems like a lot of money for a vehicle, but for here that’s a steal considering a new Toyota SUV costs $80,000)
Our Truck
•We took a short 2 week trip to America in March/April. We were able to go to California and New Jersey and successfully surprised both grandmothers with our visit. They had NO idea we were coming. It was so refreshing to see family even though it was for a short time.
Us with Brett's Family
Us with My Family
•Brett has started teaching at the college 2 full days each week. This is a good thing because he really likes teaching. He teaches “Fundamental Man”, “Church Leadership”, and “Evangelistic Song Leading”. This is his favorite class seeing that he is not a music major and didn’t even take this class in college =). He still has all of his church duties so it has been difficult to balance all of his work responsibilities.
Brett pounding FuFu - a local dish composed of plantains and kasava root.
•I am now teaching “Christian Womanhood” at Hyles-Anderson College of West Africa. I teach one hour on Tuesday and Thursday. I enjoy teaching very much and have missed not being able to teach. I have also started writing the new Ghana Team updates and working in the office some. I HATE being away from the boys so I try to do as much of the work as I can during their nap time so I do not have to be away from them.
Me with two of my College Girls
•Jackson can currently count up to 14. He also knows his birthday is in August and he will turn 3 then. Ghanaians have also learned that in order to win Jacksons friendship a little bribe of a piece of candy will do just fine.
Jackson climbing up a tree
•Judson turned ONE on May 15th. He now has 3 teeth and just took his first couple of steps on Wednesday.
Judson Riding his Bike (Thank you Grandma Guarneri)
OUR MINISTRIES
•Brett is still preaching Children’s Church. We are averaging 250-300 four to seven year olds per week. One of the boys recently had a birthday and his mother brought a birthday cake for him to share with his class. This posed a problem because the cake was a 10 inch round cake. We ended up cutting the cake into less than bite sized pieces and “most” children got some.
•
Our children’s choir just sang, “I Just Want to Thank you Lord.” It took almost 3 months to teach them this song because it has so many words. Brett was worried about how they would do, but they ended up singing the best they have ever sung. I really wish you could hear them sing! Next time I will try to take a video.
Brett Leading our Children's Choir
•Our Adult Sunday school class is seeing great growth. Brett had been praying for 4 months to break 50 in our class. We had a spring program and the first 3 weeks we didn’t get close to breaking 50, but the last week we had 59. Praise the Lord! Since that time we have had over 50 for five out of six weeks. It is great to see the growth of the individual Sunday School class members. There is one man in particular in whom we have seen amazing growth. His name is Mr. Agyemang. Here are a few testaments of his growth:
oHe got married to the woman he has been living with for over 20 years.
oShe then started coming to class
oThey both started attending Men’s and Women’s Fellowship
oThey both started attending our Sunday Evening Service
oAnd they recently started attending Reformers Unanimous
Brett and Jackson with Mr. and Mrs. Agyemang
Amen and Amen. Well, hopefully that somewhat catches you up to speed with us. If you have any questions or comments please post on our wall! This website is for you, so please let us know what YOU want to know =).
My sincerest apologies for failing to post an update last week. As I am sure you can understand it has been extremely hectic these past two weeks. I finally sat down for what felt like the first time in a long time on Christmas Eve.
Accra Trip
Pastor Mike set up a trip for the whole team to travel to Accra on December 14-16th. Accra is about 150 miles away. It usually takes about 5-6 hours to travel there from Kumasi. Unfortunately our bus broke down 4 times on the way down so it took 16 hours to finally arrive at our guest house. I was joking to Brett, “We should have just flown to America to go Christmas shopping for the time it took to get here.” It was about 90 degrees that day so when we were broken down we could not stay on the bus for long without sweating to death. As a result, the men started playing football on the 1 lane road. (they would take a pause as a car would fly by at about 50-60 miles an hour.) The ladies sat down on the side of the road and watched the kids while the men played. This picture was taken at our first brake down.
Accra is so much more developed than Kumasi. Brett said he felt like he was in another country while we were there. They have a mall and several grocery stores that carry American food. The prices are exorbitant but it is still nice to be able to shop for decent products. I bought Brett an electric razor, a soccer jersey, a hat and some other small things. Brett got me a crock pot =), a skillet, a jean skirt and a blouse. Our team had a great time. It was nice to “get away” for a little while. The trip back was shorter; we only broke down two times for a total travel time of 9 hours. On one of our brake downs we boarded another bus to take us a few miles down the road to a restaurant. This bus was on its way to Kumasi to get repaired. It had NO WINSHIELD. GhanaGhanaGhana!!
Soulwinning
Brett and I have been visiting prospective married couples on different bus routes for our class. Last Saturday I witnessed to a lady for a solid half hour fervently trying to convince her it is only through Jesus Christ and not ourselves we can have remission of sins. Finally she bowed her head and accepted Christ as her personal Saviour and the only way to heaven. She came to church on Sunday and brought 7 of her children. Many of them also got saved and baptized. Amen and Amen.
Christmas Party
Michael and Brooke Williams hosted a Christmas party at their house on the 23rd. We all drew names at Thanksgiving so we can purchase a present for specific people for Christmas. We had a great time of fun and fellowship. Again, I am so thankful for our team and the strength and stability it brings to our family.
Christmas
We had some extra money this Christmas from support and savings through the year so we decided to help some of our people feel extra loved on Christmas.
On Sunday we gave all of our Sunday school attendees a gift. We gave perfume and a scarf to all of the women and a shoe shiner and coke to all of the men. We also gave a small gift to all of our children in primary church.
On Tuesday we joined the Osgood’s and the youth group on a caroling trip to a local orphanage. We went through all of Jackson and Judson’s old toys and ended up with a bundle of gifts to give to the children. They were all very appreciative.
On Christmas Eve we passed out gifts to six of our church families that we have personally invested in the most. These six families yielded 24 children to also provide for. Amen and Amen.
On Christmas Day Brett dressed up as Santa Clause (they call him Father Christmas here) and handed out gifts to all of the college students and their children!
We have always been taught “it is more blessed to give then to receive” but not until this year did we realize that absolute truth of these words. God is SO good to us. Next year Brett mentioned setting up a way for people from the states to donate so they can participate in making a huge difference for a Ghanaian family on Christmas. $20 can buy great gifts for a family of 7.
Our family had a big Christmas this year as well. Jackson and Judson may live in Africa but they are still spoiled to death by family back home. This makes me happy =)!
Brett of course is the best husband in the world. He surprised me and bought me an I-touch from America. It came in on Christmas Eve. He is so good to me – I am so unworthy of his gifts and love; and, so thankful for him at the same time.
BIG THANK YOU TO - Mom and Dad Beil, Mom and Dad Guarneri, Lisa, Lauren, Jessica, Daniel, BIL Ilir, Kari and Pat, Jon, Aunt Janeen, Grandma and Grandpa Campbell, Grandma and Grandpa Beil, and Brother Pardo and the Young at Heart Class – FOR ALL OF THE AWESOME GIFTS YOU SENT!!
The Ghana 2008 Presidential elections were held this past Sunday. I would love to report to you that the better party won, but they didn’t. Actually no one won yet. The ballots were all in by yesterday. (it took 3 full days for a final announcement, you can tell by the pictures the system is very high-tech) The electoral commission announced that there will be a run off. In Ghana you have to win the election by 50% plus 1 vote. The NPP (New Patriotic Party – the one we are routing for) received 49.13% and the NDC (National Democratic Congress – this party makes us nervous) got 47.92%. So as you can see it was a close race. There were 8 names on the ballot so for the run off there will only be 2 names. Please pray for God’s will to be done. From what we are “told” when the NDC was in power 8 years ago there was a lot of innocent blood shed. Josh Smith preached an awesome sermon Sunday Night entitled “Vote for Jesus!” I never saw a congregation so excited about the things of God. I would compare it to how the crowd reacts at First Baptist Church of Hammond during an amazing choir special during Pastors’ School. It was an exciting message about God being in control. Services were really low on Sunday morning. Brett and I were saying to each other that it was a record Sunday (but not in the happy direction). The revote will be on Sunday the 28th of December. So we are praying fervently for that!
The Menyon Family
I though you would be interested in learning some of the testimonies of our Sunday School couples.
George and Irene Menyon were born and raised in Liberia. They had many hardships growing up in a hostile country. George lost the function in his right eye by being hit by a ricochet bullet while he was trying to get cover. Irene lost her sister and her brother in law in the war. The Menyon family luckily escaped and was sent by the U.N. to a refugee camp in Ghana. While at the refugee camp George heard about Hyles-Anderson College of West Africa and brought his wife and 3 of his 5 children with him. He is currently studying to be a preacher and wants to eventually go back to his home country of Liberia to start a church. He is the song director of our Sunday school class. It is impossible to relay to you the spirit this couple has. You would never know they have endured so many problems. Amen and Amen!
Health Update!
GOD IS SO GOOD! Pastor Mike Williams and his wife Brooke returned from America on Monday of this week. Pastor Mike is back to 100% and Brooke is just about there too! All of the tests came back fine and we are so glad to have them back. Mrs. Carter has also received good results from her heart tests so she is planning on coming back some time next week. As far as I know everyone is fully recovered from Malaria. Now our team is ALL healthy for the upcoming Christmas season! GOD IS GOOD – ALL THE TIME.
Saturday Soul winning.
Brett got to witness to a man who is the husband of a faithful lady from our tro-tro route who has 6 children. This man is never home because he works 7 days a week at the railroad yard. He just happened to be home this past Saturday. He gladly received the gospel. Amen and Amen. Brett also witnessed to another man who attended the Assembly of God church and a young boy that was with him. They also got saved. I had nursery again this Saturday. I am currently on the Nursery Schedule every other week – I would much rather be out soul winning, I have to often remind myself by staying in the nursery I am allowing multiple people to go out and witness.
We had our annual thanksgiving feast this year at Lawrence Williams house. The food was delicious and the fellowship was grand.
Omar Lewis was in charge of games and he did a great job organizing lots of fun activities. Here is a brief review of everything we played. First, we had an egg toss. Brett and I tied for first with Lindsey and Charles Osgood.
Next, we had a sack race. The girls went about 20 yards then turned around to tag their spouses who would hop 20 yards and back for the finish. This was my first sack race ever so I did not do so well. Brett was so supportive of my failure because he is not competitive at all (please note the sarcasm). He came back for us but the gap was too large so I don’t even know what place we came in.
Next, we played a relay race, which included running and spinning around a baseball bat.
After that we played several games of volleyball, which ended our outdoor activities. We came back inside for dessert and board games.
We really had a great time. I am so thankful for our team. I cannot imagine how it would be around the holiday season without other Americans there to support you. We got to talk and see both of our families over the internet in the evening. I must admit that I did get a little homesick. This is one area Brett really is super supportive to me in. I am really thankful for how he treats me. It is just something about seeing my family all together with out me there that makes me feel a little bit sad. My dad having no clue I was feeling sad wrote me an encouraging email that read, “It may feel uncomfortable living away from your family for the Holidays, but you have SO much to be thankful for. God will bless you abundantly as you are PERFECTLY CONTENT in His will. That is the goal (James 1:2-4). You are not missing anything in the middle of God’s will. You are GETTING EVERYTHING. Rejoice in the LORD and have the best THANKSGIVING ever with your family, church and ministry. “ Amen and Amen
The Zoo
Brett had off work on Friday so we took Jackson and Judson to the zoo. It was fun of course. Jackson loves the zoo. The only negative to the experience was when Jackson woke up the next two nights screaming "Monkey, Monkey's in my bed." I am afraid he received his fear genes from his mom! As I am writing this Judson is crying and Jackson just told him, "don't cry baby their are no monkey's." Hahaha
Saturday Soul Winning:
Since we had such a busy week with thanksgiving that we ended up visiting our class members on Saturday. I got a chance to witness to a lady named Monica. She gladly accepted the gospel and got saved. Amen and Amen. She was hesitant to take a picture with me because she said it was “bad luck” to take picture when you are expecting. I assured her my camera would not harm the baby so she agreed. Brett also led a woman to the Lord as we were visiting our class members.
Sunday School
We had about 25 adults attend our Sunday School class this week. I did remember to bring my camera, but the batteries went dead after the first shot which I took before class even started. At least you can get the general idea of the layout. We are located in the balcony of the church.
This week we played “The Newlywed Game” with 3 couples. I thought you would enjoy reading their answers.
Question 1
How many siblings does your husband have? Wife 1 Wife 2 Wife 3 7 10 4 Husband 1 Husband 2 Husband 3 6 9 4
Question 2
What do you call your husband for a nickname?
Wife 1 Wife 2 Wife 3 My Lord My Brother Pastor Husband 1 Husband 2 Husband 3 My Lord My Brother Pastor
So I guess you can see the Ghanaian marriage relationship is a little different then ours.
Jenn’s Birthday Bash:
Thank you to everyone for your Birthday wishes =) I had an awesome birthday yesterday. We found this Lebanese Club that has a tennis court on it so we invited the Lewis, Osgood, and Smith family to play with us. We had a lot of fun.
We then had a little party with the team at our house. We played the “Newlywed Game”. The Lewis family won. We then played “Couch” or “The Name Game”. The boys won 2 times.Last we played "how well do you know Jennifer." Rachel Smith won!
I think the highlight of my day is when I received an email from my sisters, BIL and mom singing happy birthday to me in their own “special” way. All in all I had a fabulous birthday.
Our Sunday school class is not seeing an increase in numbers but it is seeing an increase in married couples. Our first week we had about 40 but I did not see one husband and wife sitting together. This past week we had about 25 in our class; however, we had about 7 couples sitting by each other. Amen and amen. I will try to remember to bring my camera to church on Sunday to let you all see our set up.
We went to eat last night at Richard and Rosemary Frimpong's house. They are a couple from our church. Richard is the man that went to Pastor's School in Hammond, Indiana last year. We ate chicken, boiled yam, and cabbage stew. Brett really enjoyed it. I am not so adventurous when it comes to eating, I did like the chicken! =)
Dr. Kalapp came for a visit to deal with specifics with the land we recently bought. He came in on Thursday and left on Tuesday. We were able to have him over for
lunch on Sunday. We really love the Kalapps. It was refreshing to have him over.
Brett brought me and the kids to the new property for the first time yesterday. It is 10 acres of land with two schools already built on it. They are going to start to clear the land soon. HOW EXCITING!!
Brett spent an hour with two adult women trying to make them understand that salvation is not by works but by the blood of Jesus Christ. Eventually it clicked and they got saved. I had nursery on Saturday and was not able to go out soul winning. BLAH!
Judson is starting to sit on his own now! He can also stand when holding on to something. He is just growing too fast.
Jackson is doing well with the potty. He has his occasional accident during the night, but other than that he is doing very well. We have started using flash cards to help him learn his alphabet. He really enjoys it.
My new goal for this site is to update it every Tuesday so that when I do update it I do not have 100 things to choose to write about.
Here are some major points of interest that have happened over the last 2 months.
1. Our new Sunday school class has officially started. It is named the Together Forever married adult class. On our first week we had 40 people in attendance. Amen and Amen. Brett and I really enjoy our class. At first we though we were not qualified to teach a married couples class; although, we do have the best marriage ever. But a wise man, dad Beil, told us it is not the experience that matters it is the TRUTH that matters. Brett still preaches for the primary church hour and I have nursery at that time.
2. Many of you have already heard about the school blitz set up by Charles Osgood. Overall 29 teams of our church members preached in 289 different school services to 103,918 students and 94,341 of them got saved. Praise the Lord! Brett had the privilege to preach in 11 of those services to 3,920 students and 3,644 of them got saved! What a truly amazing and humbling experience! We will surely remember that week for the rest of our lives. Amen and Amen.
3. The Stubblefield family has returned to America for a two month vacation leaving Brett in charge of immigration work for the team. It has not been a particularly fun experience to deal with Ghanaians that have the power to kick you out of the country. Needless to say they are not the most helpful or polite people here in Ghana. Our visa price went from $100 a year to $300 a year. I am sure you can see how this adds up when you are dealing over 50 people. This has also been a lesson in patience for Brett. He has compared it to a DMV only about 100 times worse. But I must say he is doing a fabulous job – no one has been kicked out yet. =)
4. Our team had a harvest day get together where we all dressed up. The winner for our family was Jackson by far. He just seemed to have all the right facial expressions for his “bad boy” look.
5. Please pray for the health of our team. It seems we have dodged the bullet for the last year and a half, but now we are being shot by a machine gun. In the past 2 months 6 team members (including myself) have contracted malaria. Michael and Brooke Williams are both having health problems and had to return to the states to have tests preformed. We just heard today that Mrs. Virginia Carter will also be returning to America for health tests. Heather Close is concerned she has neurological problems because of her symptoms and family history. Please pray! It is hard to tell whether God is testing us or if the Devil is fighting us. We have had some major victories as far as the school blitz and the purchasing of land is concerned. All we can ask for is to pray for our health, strength and perseverance.
6. Our family is doing GREAT! Jackson has shown a noticeable difference in his behavior since we have been listening to Pastor and Mrs. Goddard’s child rearing tapes! (Thank you to the Ruth and Esther Sunday school class for purchasing them for us =)) I do not know how he will react when he finally gets to see the Goddard’s again because I think he has associated their voices with spankings. Hahaha.
Judson is moving around like crazy. He is really an active child – always wants to move and talk and play. It is just amazing to me how different our two boys are.
Rachel Smith cut my hair a few days ago. You can not really see the whole cut from this picture but I think she did a really good jo
I am still convinced that God loves me the most. He has given me the most wonderful Husband whom I do not deserve, the most handsome and best children and the most awesome opportunity to serve in Ghana!
We love you and miss you so much. Thank you all for your words of encouragement. AND – if you are going to be in the Princeton Area on November 23rd you are invited to my Dad’s Church for thank you Sunday!!! Clarion Palmer Inn, 3499 Route 1 South, Princeton, NJ 08540.
I guess it has been a little while since this site has been updated, huh? Surprisingly having two children, one potty training and one in diapers, does not give me as much extra time as I used to have.
We are back in Ghana! Praise the Lord. After 3 months, a new baby boy, 13 flights, and 50 extra pounds between the both of us we safely arrived in Kumasi a little over 7 weeks ago. Our trip to America was amazing. We loved to be able to be with our family, eat our food and fellowship with our friends.
EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER I thought some of you might be interested in the different emotions we felt during the last 5 months so I will do my best to relay them to you.
The last few weeks before we left to go to the USA Brett and I were so homesick. We talked about food every night and just fantasized about being "home."
I went back 2 weeks before Brett did and I stayed with my family in Princeton New Jersey. I must admit when I first got home those first couple of weeks I thought, “I never want to go back to Africa. I love my family and do not want to leave them again.” Remember I was 9 months pregnant and although I don’t think I am that emotional I still have my moments =). I went soul winning with dad’s church and that was somewhat depressing. Princeton is a hard area any way but compared to Kumasi they might as well have all been atheist.
When Brett arrived in the USA we flew to Indiana where he would work for First Baptist Church of Hammond. It was COLD those first few weeks there. (I prefer the hot to the cold but it was refreshing for Brett to have to wear a winter coat.) It was nice to catch up with old friends in Indiana and our brothers and sisters (Caleb, Kari, Nathan and Daniel) were there because school had not yet let out. We also got to visit Brett’s grandparents and Aunt Janeen in Peoria. The best part of Indiana was obviously the birth of Judson – what an amazing labor and delivery. Another thing Brett and I enjoyed about being in Indiana was Pastor Schaap. I don’t know if he just got better or we have been gone for a long time but he was amazing. We looked forward to every service with anticipation. It was really nice to be at First Baptist Church.
Next we went to California to visit Brett’s family and to be in Kari’s wedding. We always have a great time there. Because of the wedding a lot of Brett’s extended family was in town so Jackson had 3 grandmas and grandpas under one roof.
Then back to New Jersey. We flew to Tennessee for a one-night stay to go to Caleb’s wedding then again back to New Jersey. Finally we made it back to Ghana on July 22nd.
Somewhere in between Indiana and California Brett and I started to get homesick for GHANA. Not only did we want to lay in our own bed, not live out of a suitcase, and get back into a routine but we also wanted to feel like we were being USED again. We missed our people, our Sunday school class, our tro-tro route, and soul winning. It was a very pleasant and encouraging emotion to feel the pull to go back to our mission field.
One big regret I have is being a bit withdrawn from my family and loved ones. I think I was subconsciously putting up a wall of defense so that it would not hurt as much when we had to leave. We probably will not be back to the U.S. for another 2 years so that was weighing on my emotions. Needless to say, building up that wall did not make it any easier to say good-bye. Lesson learned – next time I will enjoy every second I have with the ones I love not thinking about tomorrow.
My sister Lauren came back with us to Ghana. That was great. It was so awesome to have someone to experience what you experience everyday. The first day she got here we had no power and within the first few days we killed 7 of the giant roaches in our house. WELCOME TO GHANA. When she left – everything hit me at once. There was one solid day of grief that I experienced. Brett was really encouraging to me and I am so thankful for him. After that day of crying and sadness everything has been going great. It is great to be “home” in Ghana, West Africa.
He is FINALLY here! Judson Louis Beil was born at 3:34 AM on May 15, 2008 (one day after my estimated due date). He weighed 8 pounds and 6 ounces and was 20 inches long. I know this sounds like an oxymoron but I had the best labor ever! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! for all of your prayers � they were surly answered. After Jackson was born I contemplated not having any more kids because the labor and delivery was so intense; but, now I think we might have a few more. I feel GREAT! Brett has to keep telling me to slow down because I just want to go out and have fun.
I took Judson to the doctor today. He has gained a full pound in the last two weeks and has grown 2 inches. Hopefully he will grow better than Jackson did the first year. Last night he slept 5 and � hours straight. Praise the Lord! I think he is a pretty content baby once he is fed and changed. We surly are blessed.
Ok � let me try to update you.
After an 11+ hour flight Jackson and I (35 weeks expecting) arrived in New Jersey April 8th. Jackson slept the first 5 hours of the flight and was well behaved for the rest of the flight. Thanks again for your prayers! We got to spend 2 weeks with my family in New Jersey. It was so refreshing to be home with them, go to Dad�s growing church and just relax and fellowship. My family loved Jackson. They were so good with them. He really had a great time. Mom ended up buying him 3 basketball hoops and countless balls. Needless to say he played from morning until evening.
Brett came in April 22nd and got to stay in New Jersey for a few days. We flew to Indiana on April 26th and that is where we are now. Brett works for FBMI at the First Baptist Church of Hammond from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. His family came in for Kari and Caleb�s graduation. They were here from May 20th to May 27th. It was great to have them in town. It gave me people to talk to when Brett was at work. Mom Beil was a tremendous help with Judson � I was so thankful to have them in town.
We will be going to California from June 21st to July 5th and then we will fly to New Jersey and stay there until Caleb�s wedding on July 19th and then back to Ghana on July 22nd.
I will try to answer some the questions people have been asking us since we have been back.
1. Is it weird to be back in America? No!! I think since America and Ghana are such different places we don�t compare the two.
2. Do you miss Ghana? YES!! Especially the Ghanaian people. The Ghanaians are so kind to us and everyone wants to say hi and talk. We are lucky to get a nod when we are walking around here.
3. Is it hard to go soul winning in America? IT IS DIFFERENT. My first week home I was door knocking with my sister Lauren. It was my turn to talk and an Indian lady came to the door. I was chatty with her and then asked her if she believed in the Bible to which she responded no. In Ghana EVERYONE (even the Muslims) believe in the Bible so that was a challenge. I would certainly have to brush up on my apologetics if we were going to come back here.
4. Have you enjoyed American food since you have been back? HAHAHAHA!!! Well let�s just say I gained 27 pounds in the 5 weeks before I gave birth and Brett is nearing 20. American food is so good � and SO bad for you!
5. If you have any questions you would like to have answered PLEASE do not hesitate to ask. I will do my best to post again when I am in California with the response to all of the questions I get. Please either post them on the wall or email me at jennbeil11@gmail.com
We love you all and can�t wait to see most of you when we will be in California and New Jersey.God is SO good to us. I am convinced that He loves us the most. We are so blessed to have so many people praying for us and thinking about us. We certainly feel loved beyond all measure. We LOVE you!
Wow � it has been awhile. We sincerely apologize for not updating the site sooner. These last few months have been a blur. I will try to do my best to update you on all of the time that I have missed.
1. New Years
We had a watch night service at church that was very highly attended and enjoyed. Brett and I made some new years resolutions, which included reading the Bible through according to the yearly plan that was handed out at church. We are both enjoying reading the same passages every day. Jackson is starting to get more and more attentive as I try to read to him at least 1 chapter a day. This morning he sat on the couch with me and listened intently to Deuteronomy chapter 4. GOOD BOY!!! Brett and I obviously have always read our Bibles daily but we have never read the same passages before. I really enjoy it � we ask each other a lot of �what do you think this means??� and quiz each other at night to see who retained more information. Because we had the watch night service the team did not get together for our usual holiday celebrations.
2. Pastors� School
Pastors� school is still a daze for me. It was a very exciting, encouraging, and tiring week. It was really nice to see and fellowship with the American group. Bro. Keith Cowling and his wife, Michelle, came and we got to spend a lot of time with them. We really love them and it was nice to talk to people we really enjoy spending time with. It was a great experience to get to talk awhile with Mr. Schaap, Pastor Schaap�s dad. He is a really nice down to earth man and it turns out he knew Brett�s great grandfather pretty well. The delegates really spoiled us with a lot of junk food. We actually just ran out of most of the things that they brought us. The highlight of Pastors� School was the last night of the conference. Dr. Schaap preached an amazing heart-moving message and gave an open invitation. I would say 75% of the crowd went forward; but, the greatness of the invitation was that nobody wanted to leave. Dr. Schaap started speaking again to see if the people would go back to their seats, but they just continued praying. After a few more minutes Dr. Kalapp went up, but he couldn�t close out the conference so everyone just continued praying. Dr. Schaap lay prostrate on the platform as the Ghanaians were praying on the alter � some you could hear praying audibly. It was incredibly moving. The greatest invitation I have ever been in that is for sure. There is no doubt in my mind that a number of the Ghanaians would have prayed throughout the night if Dr. Kalapp did not finally end it. All in all Pastors� school was a tremendous success, and much worth the hard work that went into it.
3. Jackson
Jackson seems to be going through the terrible two�s a little early. It must be that Beil stubbornness that I have often heard about. We are trying to nip it in the bud early and he is doing A LOT better. Having Jackson has definitely been a humbling experience. I remember when Brett and I were first married we would go out and see bratty kids act up at restaurants and say to each other, "our children will NEVER act like that!" To my dismay � you don�t have to teach them to do bad, they learn that all by themselves. My hope and prayer is that by the time we go back to America he will be a perfect little boy and we will not be embarrassed in the least bit. But I am not holding my breath. He is saying many new words now: Please, thank you, Amen, bath, hot, bye bye, ect. He is still the cutest boy ever in the world and I am excited to see how he reacts to his new little brother.
4. Brett
Brett is staying plenty busy with all of the maintenance at the church and compound. The dry season is now over which means violent storms and winds. As a result of the high winds the 5 tents that are up at the church get shredded almost daily. This has been a thorn in Brett�s side but he gets it done. He is preaching at church this Wednesday night. I am always so excited when he preaches. He got down to less than 200 pounds this month. That was when he was sick with a stomach virus that was passed throughout the team. His bus route is doing well. He has seen many of the parents of our riders saved and in some cases whole families come to Christ. That has been a great encouragement to him. Please pray for one of our riders named Pascalin. She is five years old and comes with her 3 year old sister and mother faithfully to church. Two weeks ago she was hit by a motorcycle that was passing a taxi. Her mom saw the accident and said she flew several yards when she got hit. She broke her leg and scratched up her eye pretty bad. She is still in the hospital. Brett and I are actually heading over there tonight to go bring her some goodies.
5. Jennifer
Not much new with me except my bulging belly. I was pretty sick 3 times in this pregnancy, which has made my weight gain very minimal. Especially compared to my weight gain with Jackson. I had only gained about 6 pounds by my 6th month and that was starting to make me nervous, but all the junk food that the pastors� school delegates brought us did the trick and now I have gained a healthy 15 pounds. As long as I don�t go crazy now I think I will be ok. This is the hottest season in Ghana, which has made pregnancy not so fun. We are almost decided on a name but I cannot disclose it until I get the final OK from Brett.
6. Our traveling plans
I am going home with Jackson on April 8th to spend 2 weeks with my family. (I am really nervous about the flight � it is 11 hours long and I will be by myself with Jackson � please pray for us.) Brett will come in April 22nd and we will drive together to Indiana where Brett will work for the First Baptist Church of Hammond and I will have our second son. Then we move onto California for Kari Beil�s wedding, back to New Jersey to visit with my family again and then to Tennessee for Caleb Beil�s wedding. Sounds busy huh � WE ARE SO EXCITED TO SEE EVERYONE!!
Well I guess that is all for now. Please sign our wall!! We love to hear from you.
It is hard to believe it is the holiday season already. Since the weather has been getting hotter here and not colder it is even harder to believe. The Ghanaians claim to �celebrate� the Christmas holiday, but we have not seen much evidence of that so far. I guess buying a tree, lights, and d�cor would just be an extra expense that they can not afford. We get very excited when we hear Christmas music playing around town, although it does not happen too often. We are almost done Christmas shopping. We are looking forward to starting our own family traditions this year. On Christmas Eve we are getting together with some of the younger couples to play games, watch �It�s a Wonderful Life� and eat. On Christmas we are going to spend the morning as a family and then for the evening the whole team is getting together for a gift exchange, white elephant exchange, food, and fellowship. We will certainly miss our families over the holidays but having a team here will certainly help.
Thank you for all of the birthday and anniversary greetings. Brett spoiled me on both days like he always does. I think our anniversary was the hardest day I have had since being here in Ghana. Thinking of our wedding, honeymoon, and previous anniversary trips to Chicago had me longing for home and some sort of luxury. Brett got to get away from work for a day, and we went to a local hotel and had a nice time of relaxation.
The Kalapp�s just came back yesterday. It is nice to have them back. We have missed them. Pastor School is only 5 short weeks away and from what everyone says about last year it is going to be a crazy, busy five weeks of preparation and work. I am sure it will be worth it all when Dr. Schaap and the rest of the group come. Brett and I are looking forward to seeing everybody.
It has taken me a solid 18 weeks but I am finally 100% back to normal now with a raging appetite! I am 19 weeks tomorrow and have only gained 3 pounds so far but with 21 weeks to go there is no telling what can happen � Please pray =). Brett has lost another 10 pounds since it has gotten so hot. His size 36 pants are barley staying up on his waist and he is on the last whole in most of his belts. Jackson on the other hand is growing nicely. After he eats he has the roundest, cutest, full belly in the world. He LOVES to eat so that�s good.
We have still not gotten used to the �bugs� in our house (or at least I haven�t). I think we have at least 100 colonies of ants living somewhere in between our kitchen and our bathrooms. Even after the whole bathroom is bleached from top to bottom they will still be scavenging around for food. Jackson seems to be allergic to them. When he gets an ant bite it swells to the size of silver dollar.
The church has continued to grow steadily. Last week their was 977 in church. Not bad for a one year old church. Our Sunday school class had 272 children in it last Sunday and that is not uncommon. They can be a handful sometimes. Our tro-tro route is also doing well. Brett has had the opportunity to witness too many of the riders families and it has been very encouraging for him to start to see changes in many of the riders lives. I saw 3 Muslim ladies saved today. I am praying they will come to church tomorrow. Well I guess I better sign off for now. Thanks to Mom and Dad Beil, Mom and Dad Guarneri, Mrs. Goddard and her Sunday school class, Grandma and Grandpa Campbell, Katye Mccoy and Jessica Guarneri for their thoughtfulness on our birthdays and Christmas. We love all of you and miss you more
Amen and Amen! Yesterday was First Baptist Church of Kumasi, Ghana�s 1st anniversary Sunday. We decided to try and break our previous big day record of 2,200 we had on Rice Sunday last January. Well, we had 3,042 in attendance with 795 people saved and 175 people baptized! WOW! Our class alone (4-7 year olds) had 746 officially but I would estimate we had over 800 � as you could understand it was hard to count all the children. Our class was located on the right ally of the church under NO tent. Brett and Josh both got sun burned and both lost their voice. I was surprised at the control we had for most of the service. The kids seemed to be pretty well entertained. Passing out the promotion was a different story as you could probably imagine it would be to pass out toothbrushes and tooth paste to so many children. Our tro-tro route had 249 people on it with about 40 adult riders. Brett and Josh worked really hard from 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning until 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening to promote. Our route is less than 3 months old. We filled 7 tro-tros (14 passenger capacity) with about 35 people in each. The Bus Ministry had over 1,850 on the buses. It is such a wonderful feeling to get such a large reward for all of your labor. All in all it was certainly an amazing and very tiring day. We thank God for such a great day and for allowing us to be a part of it.
I finally got my ultra sound and I am currently 10 � weeks expecting and due May 14th. This is perfect timing for Kari�s and Caleb's weddings, so we are very thankful to God for that. I am not showing at all yet, in fact I have lost about 10 pounds since we found out about the new baby. I lost the same amount with Jackson so I am not worried. My morning sickness is getting better and better. Praise the Lord! I am hoping to get my energy back here within the next 2 weeks.
Jackson is walking like crazy now. It is hard to believe how big he is getting. He is a very good boy. Last week he was starting to get a little attitude and I was very impressed with the patience and consistency Brett had in disciplining him. I did not realize how hard it would be to hear him cry for such a long period of time. I am glad Brett has been strong as I am gaining strength in that area.
Brett is celebrating his 23rd birthday on October 25th. I am throwing him a surprise birthday party with all the team members and some Ghanaians. Shhhhhh! Don�t tell.
Brett and I have both lost 20+ pounds since we have been here. We feel very healthy and energized. Since there is not a lot of snack food we are forced to eat fruits and vegetables; hopefully we will maintain this healthy life style indefinitely. I have started working in the office for 2 hours a day doing secretarial and financial work. I work during Jackson�s naptime so it works out well. I enjoy the feeling of getting things accomplished and being involved. Brett is currently the head of maintenance at the church and our compound. His job has kept him very busy. especially the 5 Sunday school tents at the church. Dr. Kalapp has commented several times to me how good Brett is doing and what a great asset he is to the team.
Thank you to everybody for your prayers for us. We are privileged to have so many friends and family praying for us.
Thank you to our supporting churches. Your support is a great help and makes a huge difference.
Thank you to Kari Beil and Daniel Guarneri for sending packages. I never thought Reese�s, Skittles, Jelly Bellies, tortillas, and olives could taste so good!
Well I guess that is all for now. I will leave with you some pictures to enjoy. We miss you all and look forward to seeing everybody in the next few months.
Picture 1 - Brett and Jackson at the Zoo Picture 2 - Jennifer and Jackson at Home Picture 3 - Jackson enjoying the Pool Picture 4 - Huge, Nasty, Flying, Disgusting Roach Brett killed in the Kitchen
It sure has been an eventful month! The new team members (The Tuttons, the Ogles, the Closes, and the Nortons) are leaving America today to join us. They should be arriving in Accra tomorrow and Kumasi by Wednesday or Thursday. I personally am very excited about them coming. I know two of the couples fairly well, and I am sure they will love it here and be a great asset to the team.
Because of the new team members coming and God continuing to do amazing things, it seems like the Devil has been working overtime this month.
1. Mrs. Stubblefield got Malaria (She was in the hospital for 2 days and is still not completely recovered.)
2. Brett and two other men killed a Green Mamba inside our gated compound (more specifically outside the wall of our bedroom). Green Mambas are one of the most deadly snakes in the world.(see picture below)
3. A key woman in the church who had a stroke about 3 months ago finally came back to church last week. Brett helped her make her way to her seat and soon after she sat down she had another stroke. They took her to the hospital, but she passed away yesterday.
4. Last week it rained hard all Saturday night and Sunday morning until about 11:00 AM. Since most people walk to church or take a taxi our attendance was very low.
BUT, God has continued to bless the team and specifically our family. We are all safe, we are all happy, and we are all well. And..... I AM EXPECTING OUR SECOND CHILD. This was a planned pregnancy and Brett and I could not be happier. We are planning on coming home to America to have the baby. We think in the next month or two the Kalapps will make a detailed policy for delivering in the States, so as soon as we know those details we will be sure to let you know. Brett and I are going to go to the doctor today to get an ultrasound to know just how far along I am. An ultrasound only costs 6 dollars. Amen and Amen. Jackson is doing very well. He seems like he is growing and doing new things everyday.
Well I guess that is all for now. Thanks again for posting on our wall - WE LOVE TO HEAR FROM BACK HOME!!
We love you and miss you all SO MUCH!!
P.S. Please pray for Jennifer she has started to have the normal sickness associated with expecting a child, but on top of that she has also had some sort of stomach sickness the past five days. Although she would not say anything to anyone she has been in a lot of pain the last few days. So please pray for her. --Brett
Thank you SO much for writing on our wall - it is a true highlight of our day when we read those posts together!
Great news - we now have internet at our home; kind of (we have to go on our back porch outside to connect to the office which is about 50 yards and 4 concrete walls away). We are so excited to be able to catch you up on our happenings and be more connected with back home.
A lot has happened since the last time we posted . . . here is brief update.
1.We have started a tro-tro route. (I would describe a tro-tro as one of those old Volkswagen van type things – it seats 14 passengers) Our route is in Asawase. I would say 60 percent of the people there are some sort of Christian denomination and the other 40 percent are Muslim. Our first week we had 42 in attendance (37 of them rode in the 14 passenger tro-tro). Our second week we had 72 in attendance with 39 first time visitors and 15 of them got baptized. Last week we had 63 in attendance and we are still waiting to find out how many of them got baptized. This morning we went to the soul winning meeting at the church in Kumasi and 10 teenage boys were there from Asawase to learn how to win their families and friends to the Lord. We really enjoy the tro-tro route – we are averaging about 10 adults a week – and it has been a privilege to be able to go to the children’s and teenagers houses and win their families to the Lord.
2.Last week (August 16th – 17th) was our first Vacation Bible School. Brett was heavily involved with the preparation, planning, and execution of the school. The morning sessions (from 9:00 – 11:00) were for children 4-11 yrs old and the afternoon sessions (from 1:00-3:00) were for the teenagers 12-17. I was the coordinator for the 4-5 year olds in the morning and taught the 15 year olds in the afternoon. The funniest part of Bible School was when the Devil (Caleb Stubblefield) came climbing down from the balcony for one of the skits. (I must admit it was pretty scary!) Anyway, all of the 4-11 year olds got so scared they tried to stampede out of the auditorium towards the one main exit. You can only imagine how it looked when Brett and some of the other workers were trying to hold 100+ kids away from the door. All in all it was a great experience – there was a total of 1600 in attendance for the 2 days with 514 saved and 149 baptized. Amen and Amen!
3. God has blessed the church tremendously since we have been here. When we first arrived there was a big push to try to get 600 people for Sunday morning (We had been running around 550), and just last week we had 815 with no special promotion. He has also blessed our Sunday school Primary Church services. When we first got here we had around 130 4-7 year olds and last week we had 219! Praise the Lord. I will make sure to take a picture of our class tomorrow so you can see! And once we get our internet in the actual house I will post some video as well.
Well, I guess that is all for now. It just started raining out so I better get inside. We love and miss everyone so much.
P.S. Thank you to Kari, Mom and Dad Beil, Mom and Dad Guarneri, Aunt Janeen, Grandpa and Grandma Campbell, Danny and Esther Wruck, and WMS Ghana circle for the letters and packages you have sent us. You don’t know what a blessing it is to hear or get anything from home.
Time
has flown. We can't believe we have been here for over a month
now. We hope you will enjoy the picture we have posted. It took us
an hour just to get that one picture uploaded - we will try to post
some more next time we get a chance.
So here is a breakdown of a typical week.
Monday -
Monday
is everyone on the teams day off. Jennifer goes grocery shopping every
other week. Getting groceries is a half a day project because you have
to go to at least 3 (usually 6) stores to get your produce, meat, and
miscellaneous items. On a non-shopping week we go into Adum. (Adum is a
downtown area where you can find most anything - but knowing where to
go to get a specific item is still going to take some time.) It
is a Ghanaian version of Wal-Mart except it is many separate shops
about 10 city blocks wide and it only has about half of the
products! On Monday evening we play soccer with some of the other
team members and the Ghanaian teenagers and local kids. There is a
soccer field right outside of our house (we will try to post a picture
of it next time - the field is all dirt - so that takes some getting
used to.) The field is considered to be very nice for Kumasi, in fact
several semi-pro teams play there.
Tuesday-
Tuesday
begins Brett's work week. Currently he is in charge of all of the
maintenance for our compound and the outside of the church.Things are
not put together very well at all here in Ghana. The Ghanaians don't
necisserily fix things how they are supposed to be fixed, they just
work on them until they work that day - so there are usually
pleanty of things to fix. He is also a teacher at the Bible
institute which meets every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday before
church (his schedule for teaching varies every week.) Jennifer has been
catching up on some data entry work - she is recording the names
of the souls saved every week. (It was backlogged from
January - so this takes up most of her free time.)
Wednesday-
Same
happenings as Tuesday except Wednesday night church. All of
the Assistant Pastors have been on a rotating schedule for the
Wednesday night service. Brett got to preach 2 weeks ago - the title of
his message was "What will your Legacy Be" (He did and amazing job -
can you tell who is writing this letter? hahaha) The
Wednesday night service usually runs about 160.
Thursday -
Every
couple has a date night on one night of the week. We have chosen
Thursday as our date night. Since there are other mothers on the team
we just take turns with babysitting so that saves on money. There are
quite a few nice restaurants in the area. Most of the restaurants are
connected to hotels. The prices here are quite silly. You will pay the
same price for Filet Minon as you would for ground beef (Brett
certainly does not mind this).
Friday -
Another typical work day
Saturday-
We
get to go soulwinning every Saturday morning. We usually go to a place
called the racecourse. It is obvious that the people there do not see
many white people because if we start talking to a few people, crowds
start to surround us. This is both a blessing and a curse because we
want everyone to hear a FULL presentation of the Gospel. We have had to
tell people to wait till we finished with one group so that we could
start over and talk to them personally. The people here are very
religious, but it has been engrained in them since they were children
that the only way to get to heaven is through good works. So we really
try to be thorough when we go through the salvation plan and really
emphasize that JESUS is the only way. A very high percentage of the
people we talk to get saved and are very happy that we took time to
teach them from the Bible
Sunday-
Brett starts his morning off going to the church with the other men to put up the tents for the Sunday Schools.
Since
Josh and Rachel have gone back to America to have their child we have
taken over their Sunday School class and Junior Church. The class has
children 4-7 years old (with a few 2-3 year old brother and
sisters) This past week we had 166 children. It is quite an
adventure. We really enjoy the kids. We usually get home around one
o'clock and then leave about four o'clock to make it back for Sunday
night church which starts at 4:30.
So that is a typical week for us....
Jackson is growing very fast. Please pray for him - he is teething, and also has had a high fever the past 2 days.
We love everyone and miss you very much!! Please contact us - we would love to hear from you..
We
made it!! After a 32 hour, 4 leg trip we are finally here. Traveling
was pretty hard on jackson - since all of the flights we were on were
all packed he had to sit on our laps every time we were in the air. But
Praise the Lord for international air travel. We were sitting next an
eighty year old missionary on the flight from Germany to Nigeria to
Accra. He told us when he first came to Ghana he had to take a boat and
it took 6 weeks to get there and all of his luggage was ruined by a
hurricane. So we couldn't complain. Thanks for your prayers for a safe
arrival. As soon as we got off the plane we could feel the humidity -
we are told that it is 75-100 percent humidity at all times. Brett has
been sweating since he got here. The people were SO nice in the airport
(a lot nicer than the Germans). The Stubblefields came to pick us up.
We were very relived to see them. They have been very kind to us and
have taken us under their wings these last few days. Currently we are
in Accra (the capital city about 150 miles south of Kumasi) staying in
a hostel type place owned by a couple of Christian missionaries. Since
our visa will expire in 60 days we need to get our paperwork done as
soon as possible. That is why we are still here. Brett went with Bro.
Stubblefield and NANA (the king of Kumasi - who is also a member of the
First Baptist Church of Kumasi) to the government office to get some of
the paperwork taken care of, and to also get a physical. We plan to
head to Kumasi first thing tomorrow morning (it is a six hour trip by
car.) The people here are amazing - so kind. I will be sure to post
some pictures as soon as i can. The woman carry so much weight on their
heads with such incredible balance. It is hard not to stare at them.
When we drive down the road their are hundreds of little outside shops
lining the roads, with merchants coming up to cars. The stubblefields
told us not to look at them or point because if you do then they will
walk along the car for blocks just holding up their product. I made the
mistake at pointing at a soccer ball and I had a teenage boy follow our
car for awhile. I think I could best compare it to China Town in NYC -
just 210398 times bigger and more aggressive. The Ghanaians think that
all of the White people are rich so they mark up their prices when they
try to sell to us. But you can barter them down pretty easy. I guess
that is all for now. Since we are staying in this hostel we have a very
good internet connection. From what I am told where we will live in
Kumasi the internet is 10 times slower than dial up so I don't know
when I will be able to update you all again. We would love to hear from
you! We love you all and miss you very much.
Hello,
and welcome to the beginnings of our web site. Brett and I have been
very busy trying to get everything organized so that we will be able to
leave June 20th. We are currently in the process of selling our
trailer, two vehicles and Brett's business. I will try to keep you
updated on our status as well as inform you of the new occurrences and
happenings in our lives. Jackson is keeping us plenty busy... he is
babbling and moving around like crazy. Brett is trying to get as much
work as he can in before we have to sell and start traveling. We will
be in California from May 9th to 15th and we will be in New Jersey from
June 8th to the 14th. Please post on our wall. We would love to hear
from you.
brettbeil20@gmail.com
jennbeil11@gmail.com
0246-961679