We had the privilege this weekend to attend an African church in Arlington. What a joyful time we had. It gave our family a great taste for what will come for Aidan and me. Julia, of course, made new friends and asked to go back. We all enjoyed the energetic worship full of praises and dancing and beautiful clothes. Sophie said, “Mom, you need to bring back a Ghanian dress. I want to wear it to homecoming!”

Aidan said, “I liked that the worship and preaching was so loud. I can’t wait to go to Ghana!”

The pastor spoke about calling, about standing before God one day and giving an account, about being empowered for the ministry God has for us. This was encouraging for me to hear, in light of our time in France. It made me realize that God is not finished with our family, that we need to continue to lay our lives down for the Kingdom, no matter how that looks.

Our going-to-Ghana team stretched across the front of the church while members of the congregation stood in front of us and prayed for us. They prayed for release and health and freedom and safety, while praises were sung in the background. Afterward, our team to Ghana was treated to a wonderful lunch. What a blessing!

As we were leaving, Patrick thanked one of the elders for a wonderful time. Then he said, “This is my son Aidan. He helped raised funds to dig a well in Northern Ghana.” He told a little of Aidan’s story.

The man, smiling, shook Aidan’s hand. He said, “Well, perhaps you will be a chief someday, since you are providing water for a village.”

I don’t know if Aidan realizes what a cool thing he’s doing. But it’s my prayer that the Lord will use this trip to build him into a man who takes care of the needs of others. It’s a rare quality these days, particularly in young boys. Be assured, he’s a typical boy, playing computer games and hanging out with friends. But he also has a dream that Africans have clean drinking water.

His grandparents sent him some money this week. In the envelope was a card that told him to bring the money with him and then see what kind of need he could fill. He was thrilled. The thought of being able to pray and see what God would do got him really excited. He can’t wait to see how God will direct him to bless someone else or a community with that money. He wrote a beautiful thank you note to his grandparents, truly heartfelt.

We haven’t heard much new about the well project other than to find out there may be a different option available if they can’t locate water. That could be that they would pipeline in the water from an existing well farther away. This could actually be very beneficial, meaning it would give the village 3 or 4 places to get water rather than one. We don’t know if this will happen or not, but we’ll keep you posted.

Thank you for all your prayers and support. We’re about 88%, needing about 750.00 dollars to pay for the rest of our trip. We are humbled and thankful.