Back Home!

After 34 hours of travel, we arrived back in Chicago safe and healthy. We have now been home for more than a week and have finally recovered from jet lag.

One thing we didn’t expect to experience when we got home was reverse culture shock. Here are a few of the things that we noticed:

1. Grocery shopping – The variety of food products available in grocery stores in the US is amazing. You can choose from six types of apples, a dozen brands of toilet paper, an entire aisle of cereal, and much, much more!

2. Water – It is great to turn on the faucet and not worry about the quality of the water. We didn’t have problems with access to water while we were in Ghana, but we saw a lot of people drawing water from community wells and from rivers. The availability of clean water is a challenge throughout Africa and much of the developing world. There is a great Christian organization focused on training, equipping and consulting nationals to develop sustainable, participatory water systems. If you’re interested, we’d encourage you to check out Living Water International at http://www.water.cc.

3. Restaurants – In Chicago we can find restaurants with food from almost any country in the world. The US is such a diverse country and we are blessed with the ability to enjoy food from other cultures. This is truly amazing! (However, the first thing we wanted to eat when we got home was a cheeseburger.)

4. Church – We were excited to return to our church, the First Presbyterian Church of Evanston, but the one-hour service seems so short! We really got used to and enjoyed the 3-4 hour services in Ghana, especially the fun worship bands.

Most of all, we miss the good friends we made during our trip to Ghana. Their kindness, hospitality and faith have inspired us to become better people. We are excited to stay in touch and continue to help them however we can. We have challenged ourselves to never forget the invaluable lessons this experience taught us and we dedicate ourselves to a life of mission in the U.S. and around the world.

Since returning we have been catching up with friends and family. It has been wonderful seeing our friends in Chicago and telling them about our experience in Ghana. They have been eager to hear about our adventures and see our photos. Here are links to our online photo albums:

Accra: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031921&id=1161645550&l=af0bc8a3b3
Cape Coast: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032684&id=1161645550&l=a0d59526b5

We are now in the process of moving closer to downtown. We had to find a new place when we returned, and we prayed that God would give us a sign for the place where we are meant to live. We saw almost 20 places in three days, and then went to a duplex in Wicker Park. The place was perfect! As we were leaving, we noticed a sign on the front fence that said “Evans Properties”. We immediately started laughing and said “looks like God literally gave us a sign”. We are moving on Sept. 3 before we go back to work on Sept. 8.

We will post blogs occasionally as we continue our work with GHAFES and begin speaking with graduate-level student groups. Please post your comments – we love hearing from you!

Leaving Ghana

It is hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of our mission trip in Ghana! The three weeks here have gone quickly.

We had our last meeting with GHAFES today, and walked them through steps for strategic planning. At the end of the meeting they said that they are feeling more confident about being able to work through the process, and this made us really happy. We have agreed to play an advisory role through the remainder of the year to help them complete their strategic plan. We’ll maintain communication with them via email and Skype as needed. Tomorrow we are meeting with Femi Adeleye, the Associate General Secretary of IFES, to present the results of our work. We prepared recommendations on how IFES can roll out similar training modules in communications, fundraising, and strategic planning to other national movements around the world. We’ll also share our recommendations on building an internal IFES website for national movements to share best practices, and a couple other projects.

Our experience in Ghana has been amazing! A few people have asked us whether we have been impacted more or made more of an impact by this trip. While we pray that we have made a lasting impact through our work with GHAFES, this experience has enabled us to learn about a new culture, meet new friends, strengthen our marriage, reflect and deepen our faith, and use our skills to help a non-profit Christian organization. There is no doubt that this trip has changed us forever!

We will always remember the outstanding hospitality that everyone here has shown us. We really hope that they will visit us so we can repay the favor one day.

While praying the other day, God put “7-7-7” in Loralynne’s mind. She looked in the Bible for the 7th book, chapter and verse, and found the following:

“I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.” (1 Corinthians 7:7)

We feel that this verse has helped solidify the purpose of our trip. While God called us to serve

in Africa, we realize that it is not for everyone. However, God gives everyone their own gifts and each person has to decipher these gifts and how to use them. As we return to Chicago, we will continue praying that God will guide and show us how to continue our mission work.

We are eager to return to Chicago and tell our friends, family, church members, and Kellogg colleagues about this experience. We will continue updating the blog as we give these presentations and make decisions about future mission projects.

Thank you all for your support and words of encouragement throughout this process. Please pray that the GHAFES team is successful with their strategic planning, that we have safe travels back home, and that God guides us with ongoing mission work.

Culture Shock

Like all international travel, there is bound to be some culture shock. To prepare for our trip we read several books and spoke with other people that had traveled to Ghana, but we have still encountered several cultural shocks that we think you will find to be humorous.

• Traffic – the traffic in Accra is unlike anything we have ever seen before. The average commute to work is 2 hours! Naturally, people try to beat the traffic, so people off-road on the shoulders of the road. It is really funny to see buses of people bouncing down the side of the road.
  
  
• Street vendors – Since people are stuck in traffic for so long, vendors sell various goods to people in their cars. You can buy apples, pillows, toothbrushes, toilet paper, and even puppies. You can get a lot of your weekly shopping done while in traffic!
  
  




• Store names – The Christian faith is very strong in Ghana and they use different Biblical sayings to name their stores and also on the back of their cars. Some of the names are hilarious, such as “Try Jesus Passport Photos” (there was a sign with a picture of Jesus in a passport) and “Lord, Remember Me When I am Dead Beauty Salon”.
  
  
• Eating with our hands - The main local dish is Fufu, a corn and casava paste, in a soup with meat (chicken, goat, fish). Traditionally, you eat it with your right hand, which takes practice - especially when the soup is really hot! We are still amateurs at this, but we are learning.
  
  


• Street signs – Only the main streets have names, but none of the streets have signs and roadmaps don’t exist. So when people give directions they use different markers, but if you are not from Accra then it is really hard to understand what they are talking about. One of our hosts received directions that were “Go to Tema, then go over 4 humps, take a right, a left and a left.” Invariably, we have to ask people on the street for directions, and it can take a while time to find someone’s house. Also, it is possible for roads to change overnight if someone decides to build a house in the middle of the road – yes, it happens!
  
  
• Things not working – We have learned that just because something exists doesn’t mean it works. You have to ask if it works. For instance, if a hotel says that it has AC, you should ask if the AC works. They may very well have an AC, but not necessarily a working one.
  
  
• Wrong number – People in Ghana are very friendly! There have been a few cases in which our host has received a wrong number phone call, but rather than hanging up the person on the line will ask our host how he is doing and engage in conversation.
  
  
• Animals everywhere - It is really common for people to let their goats, chickens and cows to graze in public space. We asked one of our hosts how people keep track of their animals and know which ones belong to them. He told us that some time people will mark the animals, but mostly people just know their animals.
  

While some cultural differences can be frustrating, they are mostly just funny. We have learned to roll with things and follow the lead of our host. When in Rome…

Making an Impact!

Thanks for your thoughtful comments! We are encouraged by your thoughts, questions and prayers. This has been an incredible experience for us and it means a lot to be able to share it with you.

To answer Pat’s question, we have been inspired by the joyful personalities, incredible hospitality, and dedication of the GHAFES team. They work incredibly hard and we are amazed at the impact they can make with very modest resources. It is clear that they are fueled by a genuine, all-encompassing love of God and desire to make the world a better place.

Our sessions with GHAFES staff on Friday proved very successful. We built on Thursday’s sessions on strategic positioning with discussions on communications, fundraising, and alumni tracking principles and tactics. For communications, Sam outlined several basic principles, including:

• Rule of Three - you should give three information “gifts” before asking for anything
  
• 360-Degree Touch - the practice of examining how your target “consumes” information and then identifying the most effective communication methods to use with your target
  
• Message Overload - the need to streamline our message content and volume, and to consider “what’s in it for them”.

We split the staff into three groups to identify how these principles apply to students, younger alumni and older alumni. They really enjoyed mapping the communications methods, and it was a good learning experience for us because we learned that university students in Ghana don’t use email like students in the US. Rather, they rely on text messages and poster boards around campus.

Then Loralynne led an interactive session on fundraising to identify how GHAFES can move from “fundraising” – asking for money – to “friend-raising” – developing relationships, cultivating interest and inspiring trust as a more organic process to grow support. She led the group through some different approaches to fundraising, and they staff then broke into three groups to brainstorm fundraising strategies specific to the three stakeholder groups. Throughout the session we tried to emphasis that it is important to remember that people contribute in different manners – money, time, prayers, in kind goods, and to ask people for the type of giving that is going to work for them. It is also crucial to recognize people for their contributions, especially the people that have been supporting GHAFES for decades.


The last hour on Friday was an open discussion on how GHAFES is collecting and updating alumni contact information. We first mapped the current process flow and identified key problem areas. Then, we split into three groups, and asked each group to identify three major challenges and two potential solutions for each challenge. As we reconvened it was exciting to see agreement on the major challenges as well as resolution on solutions to those challenges. We proved them with the idea to develop an Alumni-in-Training program to meet with the final year students at each campus, directly gather their contact information, give them information on benefits of being GHAFES alumni, and articulate the importance of alumni to GHAFES. They seemed interested in this idea!

We concluded our sessions with GHAFES by passing out a one-page strategic communications plan template, and helping them fill-in the information based on the outputs from all our sessions. It was powerful to see the lights go on in their eyes as they understood how it all comes together!

On Saturday we attended an all-day strategic planning offsite with senior GHAFES leaders and the Chairman of the GHAFES Board of Trustees. The chairman, a very successful entrepreneur, is an energetic visionary and was thrilled with the output of our sessions this week. We and the GHAFES leaders firmly believe that God has called us here and aligned us all to accomplish something together. Perhaps the most powerful moment was when the Chairman asked how they would communicate the value GHAFES delivers. The General Secretary volunteered that GHAFES is about developing the next generation of Christian leaders with integrity, who will change Ghana and the world. Our hearts burst to hear him say this because it was a direct result of our sessions! Wow! That got everyone excited and kicked off a discussion about further strategic planning that lasted late into the night.

So our work is far from done! We agreed to advise GHAFES leaders as they develop the organization’s first comprehensive strategic plan. And we are developing recommendations to present to the Associate General Secretary of IFES next week to roll out a similar process in the other 153 IFES national movements around the world. We are not sure how far God wants us to take this, but are prayerful to discern His will for us.

This has been such an amazing experience! It is incredibly rewarding to use skills and techniques we learned in the classroom and the workplace to help a non-profit organization we believe in, and we have developed an even deeper appreciation for GHAFES’ mission. Developing Christian leaders with integrity who will be change agents in Ghana and Africa to overcome corruption and encourage progress is a powerful proposition. GHAFES alumni are some of the most successful leaders in Ghana, including businesspeople, government officials and pastors.

We strongly believe that if we can help GHAFES and other IFES national movements instill Christian values and leadership skills in students, we can be part of something much bigger than ourselves - we can truly help change the world. The Chairman said something that really hit us and we encourage you to think about this: God blesses us with wealth and opportunities not to improve our standard of living, but to improve our standard of giving. And it is through our faith in God that we are able to succeed.

How are you using the many blessings that God has given you – money, education, talents, connections, etc – and your faith to make a difference and give to others?

Us with the GHAFES team

Day One of GHAFES Sessions

After several days of preparation, today we were excited to have our first consulting sessions with the Ghana Fellowship of Evangelical Students (GHAFES) organization. Rev. Emmanuel Alijah, General Secretary for GHAFES, picked us up this morning and drove us to the GHAFES office in downtown Accra. When we arrived at the office, all of the staff were having a morning devotional session, so we joined them for the last few minutes. There is something really comforting about having daily prayer and Bible Study before work each day!

Rev. Alijah asked us to advise GHAFES staff on communications, fundraising and tracking alumni. The sessions we facilitated today focused on helping GHAFES staff analyze their stakeholder groups and develop positioning statements for each group. As a group we brainstormed the stakeholder groups’ needs by adopting their perspectives, rather than the perspective of GHAFES staff. We then discussed how GHAFES might expand its ministry to meet some relatively unmet needs of their key stakeholders. It was the first time the majority of participants had done this type of analysis, so it was a new experience for them. The sessions were very interactive and we shared a lot of new thoughts and ideas. By the end of the day, we had drafts of positioning statements for three key stakeholder groups: students, young alumni (under 40), and older alumni (40+).

It was a highly successful day and we are eager to build on these stakeholder positioning statements tomorrow when we talk about strategies for communications, fundraising, and tracking of alumni.

Rev. Alijah (end of table) addressing the staff

Sam facilitating a session

Trip to Cape Coast

First, thank you to everyone that sent us notes of concern. We are okay! We apologize for not updating the blog for the past seven days. We have been in Cape Coast without Internet access. Here is an update on our recent activities.

On Friday we traveled to Cape Coast with Femi, Dave and Isaac. Femi was very kind to take us on the 3-hours journey! Isaac, Training Secretary for the Ghana Fellowship of Evangelical Students (GHAFES), graduated from the University of Ghana, Cape Coast (UCC) and was a wonderful guide for the weekend! Isaac has been very involved in GHAFES for the past six years, so we were able to learn a lot more about the organization which will inform our projects.

On our way to Cape Coast the five of us stopped at Kakum National Park, where we hiked the canopy walk and saw some monkeys. Despite his acrophobia, Sam was able to handle the 40 meter high rope bridges without incident! Once we arrived in Cape Coast we met with a group of GHAFES alumni at the home of a retired UCC professor and long-time time friend of Dave. These alumni have one of the few active groups in Ghana, so this was a terrific opportunity to pick their brains about what they feel are some secrets to success and best practices that could be replicated across other campus groups. Not to mention that Auntie Agnes prepared a delicious dinner!

(Monkey in Kakum National Park)

(Sam on canopy walk)

On Friday evening we bid adieu to our mission advisor, Dave Ivaska. He had to return to the US on Saturday to attend an InterVarsity conference. We are so grateful to Dave for all his work in helping lay the foundation for this trip and for accompanying us for the first week! We appreciate Dave making introductions for us and preparing our daily devotional, which we continue to follow each morning. And, as anyone who knows Dave will tell you, he’s quite a joker! We’ll miss his [sometimes corny] jokes. And yes, Dave, we’re compiling a quote board!

Saturday was amazing! Isaac took us to see the Elmina and Cape Coast slave castles. (President Obama visited the Cape Coast castle during his visit.) The Elmina castle is the oldest European building in Africa (built in 1482) and the largest of the slave castles in Ghana. Visiting the castles was difficult, but an important cultural experience. We were appalled to learn that slavery was practiced for more than 400 years and that an estimated 25 million Africans were captured into slavery. Of those 25 million, half died between marching from their village to the slave castles to then getting on the slave boats en route to the US, Brazil, the Caribbean or Europe. Walking through the “Door of No Return” was very powerful.

(At the Cape Coast Castle)

("Door of No Return" at the Elmina Castle)

Another thing that shocked us was that the Europeans built churches on top of slave dungeons in both castles. In fact, the Cape Coast castle has a trap door outside the church to view the slave dungeons. How can someone feel justified in worshiping God and then turn around and commit such crimes against humanity? It was really a difficult pill to swallow.

Saturday was also Sam’s BIG 3-0 birthday!! We concluded the day with a nice, quiet dinner overlooking the Atlantic coast. (It’s strange to view the Atlantic and know you’re facing South, not East or West!)

On Sunday we attended worship services at the University Interdenominational Church with Isaac on the UCC campus. What an experience! The service lasted from 8:00 am to noon, during which time we had worship and communion, saw the presentation of a couple that got married the day before, transitioned student leadership of the campus ministry program, and did fundraising for a new Christian magazine. Wow! It was definitely a powerful, joyful experience and a real blessing. One thing that we realized is that their weekly church service is more like a congregational meeting. It includes the traditional worship aspects, but also includes a lot of church business. After the service we met with the pastor, who was interested in learning more about why we’re here. (Interestingly, our Ghanaian friends are just as intrigued by our calling to come to Africa as our American friends!)

(Wedding Party)

Yesterday we traveled back to Accra by bus with Isaac. We were a little nervous about traveling by bus because the schedule was not fixed and traffic can be really crazy, but thankfully it went very smoothly. Once we returned to Accra, we met with Reverend Emmanuel Alijiah in his office to share our experiences over the weekend and discuss our progress on our projects for GHAFES. He had some good feedback and builds on our project, which we’re excited to unveil this week!

Last night Isaac took us to meet with a fellowship of pre-med students at the University of Ghana. They are in the midst of final exams and were holding a prayer meeting. It was definitely a new experience, with about 30 students praying out loud at once in several different languages. Hearing so many simultaneous prayers really drives home God’s omnipresence. The student leaders asked us to give brief testimonials about why we’re here. Seeing their reactions reminds us that just the fact that we came all this way to be with them is powerful to them. I hope our presence and appreciation for their culture encourages them. They’ve encouraged us!

We spent today working on our projects and will take tomorrow to put the finishing touches on our lesson plan for Thursday and Friday. This Thursday and Friday we are facilitating five 90-minute interactive sessions with 12 GHAFES staff members. Within the over-arching goal of “Building Sustainable Support,” GHAFES’ General Secretary asked us to help them develop a communications plan and methods to better track alumni. So we are building five sessions: three sessions around segmentation (targeting and positioning GHAFES for students, recent alumni and older alumni), a session on principles of effective communication, a session on fundraising principles, and a session on tracking alumni. Through these exercises, we hope to align GHAFES staff around an annual communications plan with specific tactics to follow-up on.

This is a pilot project. If it is successful, there is a possibility that we could create a more extensive training guide for IFES to conduct with other national movements. (And perhaps we could even be involved on an annual basis.) Femi and the GHAFES staff seemed to be really excited about this so far, so we pray that the sessions are a hit!

Getting Down to Work and Touring Accra

Yesterday was our first day meeting with Femi Adeleye, IFES General Secretary for Partnership and Collaboration and our host in Ghana. His office is conveniently located in the guest house where we are staying, so it was very easy to wake up, eat breakfast, and meet in his office. (Considering how insane Accra traffic is, this proximity is a huge blessing.)
The focus of our meeting was to discuss Femi’s position, which is new to IFES, and how we can be of the greatest assistance during the next three weeks. Through our conversation with him, we honed in on two key projects:

1. Provide recommendations on best practices in building sustainable support through examining other organizations as well as national movements within IFES.
   




2. 
   
   Provide recommendations on how IFES can develop an internal web page for sharing best-practices, templates, and other documents to support external outreach and partnership-building.

It was a highly productive meeting and we are excited to have set expectations and deliverables!

In addition, we are going to work with Affy, Femi’s wife, on a project she is doing with HIV/AIDS education in Ghana. We had lunch with Affy and Bernice, the HIV/AIDS educator with GHAFES (Ghana Fellowship of Evangelical Students) and learned that it is difficult to do HIV/AIDS education in Ghana because the government refuses to acknowledge that there is a problem. Of the African countries, Ghana has one of the lowest percentages of people with HIV/AIDS, but in order to maintain this track, more education needs to be done.

We had dinner in the home of T.B. Dankwa, one of the first IFES Regional Directors in Africa, and met the current General Secretary for GHAFES. It was a pleasant evening with a traditional Ghanaian dinner of jollof rice, baked chicken, beef in a spicy tomato sauce, fried plantains, and salad (which we couldn’t eat since it consisted of uncooked vegetables . . . how we long for salad!) We talked about the challenges and opportunities that GHAFES and IFES have faced during the years as well as the changes they are currently experiencing. One key difficulty is that when GHAFES first started at the University of Ghana there were only a handful of Christian organizations on campus and 10-20K students. Now there are 40 Christian organizations and 40,000 students. There is a lot of competition for the involvement and financial commitment of students. GHAFES has seen a plateau in the number of student members and local contributors – despite the growth in the student population. This is something they are trying to figure out.

(Back: T.B., Femi, Sam, Emmanuel, and Virginia (T.B.'s wife)

Front: Kemi, Affy, Dave, Loralynne)

Today we met with the nine GHAFES team members located in Accra. We started with a nice devotional service led by Dave Ivaska, our mission mentor and member of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship staff in Chicago (He has been instrumental in helping plan our trip and came to Ghana with us for the first week to make introductions). They asked us to share our testimonial about our faith and what we are planning to do in Ghana. It was really moving to tell them about our experiences and see how interested they are in why we have decided to make this trip to Ghana.

After the devotional, Emmanuel, the GHAFES General Secretary, gave us a tour around Accra. Our first stop was a fabric/clothing store so we could get Ghanaian attire. Loralynne found a traditional dress in an orange material, Sam found a shirt with the map of Ghana and the words “Yes We Can”, and we bought black/white materials to have a dress and shirt made so we can attend a funeral. (Funerals are huge public celebrations/all day parties in Ghana and we would like to attend one before we leave to have this cultural experience.) We then went shopping along the street and were quickly surrounded by persistent salesmen selling everything from African masks to limes. We ultimately had to buy a bracelet with the Ghana flag and Sam’s name because the salesman wouldn’t let us close the door to the car without buying it.

We ate lunch at a traditional Ghana restaurant. Sam had fufu (paste made from ground plantain and cassava) with chicken in a peanut soup, and Loralynne had waayke (black bean and rice mixture) with chicken. It was really good!

We then experienced the traffic of downtown Accra. Thankfully, Emmanuel was driving, because it took serious guts to cut into traffic and at times drive on the shoulder of the roads in order to get around the city. We will never complain about Chicago streets and traffic again! Most of the roads aren’t wide enough for two cars to pass, so drivers essentially play “chicken” all the time. There are very few traffic lights, so you have to yield to the bigger vehicle. Oh, and we were stopped by a herd of cattle casually crossing the road! (Not renting a car = good idea.)

We drove by the Parliament and Supreme Court buildings, visited Independence Square where all of the big national events are held, saw the red sand beach, and toured the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. Kwame Nkrumah led Ghana to independence from England in 1957 and was elected the first president of the country. He was ultimately overthrown by the military and kicked out of the country, but then brought back posthumously to be buried in his home country. The memorial (see picture below) is designed to look like a tree trunk that was cut off (like his presidency and dream for a united Africa). The statue shows Nkrumah pointing forward to encourage progress. The statues in the fountain are of trumpeters used by tribes to announce when a great leader is coming as well as his death, and they are kneeling to show respect.

Independence Square

Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park

Trumpeters

In honor of Obama's visit to Accra, there are billboards everywhere with pictures of President Obamas and President John Atta Mills, President of Ghana, and the word "Akwaaba" which means "Welcome" in Twi. There are more pictures of Obama in Accra than we saw in Chicago during his Presidential campaign!

It was a very insightful day and we greatly appreciate that Emmanuel took the time to show us around Accra and share his culture with us!

**One special note: if you’re following this, we’d love to hear your thoughts and questions. Please feel free to type a comment on the blog. We hope this can become more of a dialog than a monologue!

Making Connections

(NOTE: We were hoping to post this last night, but we had problems with the Internet.)

Our first day in Ghana was terrific! Everyone is so friendly and we are learning so much already. Fortunately it was a Sunday, so we were able to spend the day connecting with our hosts, Femi and Affy Adeleye, through worship and fellowship. We began the day with an "English breakfast," consisting of oatmeal, eggs, toast, beans in tomato sauce, fruit and cold sausages. Dave taught us our first lesson in cross-cultural mission: don't expect anything to work! He got his hopes up about having toast, only to find that the toaster was not working. Sam helped complete the circuit until the manager was able to fix it. :)

(Sam trying to fix the toaster)

At 9:00 am Affy led a Bible study, during which we discussed the life of Joseph. We focused on how Joseph's father, Jacob, reacts when Joseph's brothers take Joseph's coat and dipped it in blood to fake his death. Rather than trusting in God's grace, Jacob mourns his son, suggesting that God has destroyed all his dreams. Affy used this as a springboard to discuss the importance of perseverance. This was a very interesting conversation, since a couple women in the group are without child. (In Ghana, having children is so integral to society that those who do not bear children are somewhat cast out.) Hearing their testimonies of perseverance through faith really made an impression on us.

At 10:00 am about 30 kids and 30 adults gathered for an interdenominational worship service. Everyone was wearing their Sunday best. It was inspiring to see so many people whose circumstances are quite different from our own express such joy and faith. We were both quite moved. An Australian missionary gave the sermon, which we found to be quite appropriate. It focused on how we can be active members of a church community rather than mere appendages (“seat warmers”). Later, we reflected on what this message means for us and how we can use our spiritual gifts to help others.

After church we enjoyed lunch at the home of Femi and Affy Adeleye. They live in a nice house about 30 minutes from the guest house. (Interestingly, Bob Marley's wife has a home and studio on the way! Rasta!) With the help of their children, Kemi and Emmanuel, Affy prepared a delicious lunch of chicken, a spicy beef soup, banku, and plantains. It was great to chat with the Adeleyes to learn more about their family and history. Both are from Nigeria but have lived all over the world doing ministry. Kemi is almost 16 and Emmanuel is 12 and both attend boarding school in Kenya. They also have two older sons in the US. Remi just graduated from Eastern University in Philadelphia and is looking for a job in marketing/advertising. Phillip is at Illinois Wesleyan University studying accounting and will be doing an internship with Deloitte in Chicago. We look forward to connecting with both when we return.

(Sam, Loralynne, Affy, Femi, and Dave)

We concluded our first day with a quiet dinner at the guest house with Dave. It was so nice to have a quiet evening devoid of all the distractions we normally embrace – mainly television. This trip is a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with each other and focus on strengthening our marriage. Of course we are excited to begin working with Femi tomorrow and pray for good communication to identify projects that will deliver value to him over the next three weeks.

We arrived!

We arrived safely in Accra, Ghana last night!

We had a layover in Amsterdam on our way here. So, we took the train to downtown Amsterdam, walked around, saw several beautiful churches, and went to the Anne Frank museum. We would love to go back to Amsterdam again to see the Van Gogh and Rembrant museums.

The guest house where we are staying is located an hour north of Accra. Femi, our host, met us at the airport with his son, Emmanuel, and drove us to the guest house. It is a very nice guest house with individual bathrooms, air conditioning, and WiFi.

We need to go to church now. Will write more later!

17 hours...

We are in the final hours of preparation for our mission trip to Ghana!

Loralynne's last day of work was yesterday. We spent today running errands, spraying insect repellent on our clothes, and praying that everything would fit in two medium-sized suitcases. Miraculously, thanks to the help of "Space Maker" bags, we were able to fit everything we will need and our bags are officially packed!

We had a very nice dinner with Robert and Malissa Albright tonight. We are sad that they are not going with us, but we are very happy that things have worked out with his job and they are moving to Boston. We are going to do a Bible devotional study on "partnership in ministry" from Paul's letter to the Philippians together while we are in Africa and share our thoughts via email. It will be a very nice way for us to stay connected despite the distance!

Despite the months of planning, it still hasn't completely sunk in that we are going to Africa - in fact we'll be there on Saturday! We're sure that as soon as we get on the plane that reality will hit us.

Our flight leaves at 4:15 pm Central tomorrow. We fly direct from Chicago to Amsterdam overnight. Then we have a 6 hour layover in Amsterdam (we hope to go into the city for lunch). We ultimately arrive in Accra, Ghana at 6:50 pm GMT. Femi is going to meet us at the airport and drive us to Hephzibah Guest House where we'll be staying.

We will let you know when we arrive in Ghana. Please pray that we have safe travels and may God guide us with what we will be doing.

Dinner at Auntie Grace's

(Nas, Susan, Vasi, Sam, Loralynne, Dipo)

On Friday night we had the pleasure of dining at a Ghanaian restaurant in Chicago with rising second year Kellogg students Nas (a Ghanaian and President of the Africa Business Club at Kellogg), Vasi (a Liberian), Dipo (a Nigerian and VP of Finance for the Africa Business Club), and Susan (a Chicagoan and President of the Black Management Association at Kellogg). We enjoyed getting to know Nas, Vasi, Dipo and Susan and understanding their perspectives on Africa.

Now this was not our first fore into Ghanaian cuisine. While our friend Nana’s wakye is far superior to Auntie Grace’s, we tried some other traditional Ghanaian dishes that were quite good. In particular, Sam was excited about a dish consisting of chicken in a spicy peanut butter soup and Loralynne enjoyed the Fufu. The only dish we were not wild about was a mashed okra dish, mostly due to the slimy texture. (It was like eating Slimer from Ghostbusters.)


The food was delicious and the company was a lot of fun. But eating with only our hands – and only our right hands at that – will certainly take some getting used to!

Skype Call with Femi

With graduation behind us, our attention is focused squarely on our mission trip. It’s hard to believe that we will be departing for Accra in 16 days!

On Sunday we had the pleasure of having a Skype call with Femi Adeleye, IFES Associate General Secretary and our host for this mission trip. It was wonderful to interact directly with Femi. We feel blessed to work with someone so dedicated to making this a successful trip and, from what Dave and Sally Ivaska tell us, such a generous host. Femi has already put a lot of thought into our trip, with regard to projects, contacts and accommodations...and even recommendations of places to visit during our free time. (We hope to see the castles in Elmina and Cape Coast, two of the largest slave-holding sites in the world during the colonial era. While visiting these places will be hard, we feel it is very important.)

Our call was also helpful in building a better mutual understanding of how we can interact with Femi and his IFES colleagues, and how we can provide value. Based on our conversation, there seem to be several major projects where we can have an impact, such as understanding how national Christian movements in Africa can track and engage university graduates for community, fundraising and evangelism. We also look forward to helping Femi’s wife, Affy, with her HIV/AIDS work. And we hope to uncover ways in which Kellogg students can work with IFES in the future, through mission trips around the world and/or through independent study and pro bono consulting projects during the school year. Sam is meeting with Kellogg faculty before our trip to understand the school’s requirements for student projects. We pray that the impact of this trip is much bigger than the two of us.

Our call on Sunday drove home the importance of us being flexible and thinking creatively about ways we can add value. We need to practice humility, listen carefully and plug in where we can. This could prove difficult for two over-achieving, “Type A+” Americans, but it is absolutely critical...and will be a great life lesson for us.

Of course, Loralynne has developed a very elaborate packing list for us. (No, it’s not color-coded yet, but I’m sure it will be soon!) Dave and Sally have been very helpful with recommendations and generous. They let us borrow some very cool African dresses and shirts as well as two medium-sized suitcases we know will serve us well.

One month and counting!

In four weeks we will be on a plane to Accra, Ghana!

The next few week we will definitely be busy as we wrap up things in Evanston and prepare for our trip. We went to the travel clinic this morning to get our Yellow Fever and Polio booster shots. The nurses at the travel clinic feel obliged to tell you the absolute worst case possibilities. Such as not wearing flip-flops near bodies of water because parasites will burrow into your skin and turn into worms that will come out of other orfices. GROSS!! Thanks for the warning!

Sam's graduation from Kellogg School of Management is on Saturday - we can't believe it is here already! Our parents and Loralynne's brother are arriving in Chicago today and we have a full schedule during the next three days. It is very bittersweet to graduate and see a lot of our friends move to other cities, but now we have friends around the world that we can go visit.

Loralynne is transitioning from being fulltime at her job to becoming an independent event planner. Her company has agreed to contract her to plan their ongoing events when we return from Africa. This is an answer to prayers, but also a stressful transition - not to mention that she is planning their activities at the largest annual industry conference which ends two days before we leave.

We have a lot of very exciting things happening in the next few weeks. Thank you to everyone for your ongoing prayers and words of encouragement. We really appreciate it!

Building Bridges

We have been doing a lot of reflection on the purpose and goals for our mission trip, and in the past week we benefited from the wisdom, insight and inspiration of two incredible people.

• We have been taking a Managerial Leadership class together at Kellogg, and last week was the last class. The topic of the last class was the importance of asking questions, especially the ones that people tend to avoid, and not always rushing to answer the questions. Prof. Buck asked us to think about our “living questions”, the ones we can’t answer but rather have to continue living until the answer appears.
  
  This immediately triggered in our minds the question “Why Africa?” Several people have asked us this question, and it is something we can’t answer. For some reason we feel called to Africa, and hope to begin discovering the answer when we are in Ghana.
  Also, there is nothing we love more than answers and solving problems. We are both highly task oriented and love checking things off our to-do lists. One thing we don’t do well is ask inquisitive questions in order to understand the perspectives and stories of others. Thankfully, this is not a dawning realization for us, but rather something we have been trying to improve. It is going to be critical in Ghana to ask questions in order to learn about how they think, feel, behave, react, etc to various situations.
  

• During church on Sunday, Rev. Dophus Weary, a pastor in Mendenhall, Mississippi, gave the sermon and summarized the goal of our mission trip perfectly. He said, “We are all called to build bridges between religions, races, economic statuses, and intellectual levels. We need to build a bridge to Jesus, a bridge between each other, a bridge between our family, and a bridge between people from different races.”
  
  We have a lot of bridges to build – between us and Femi (the IFES Associate General Secretary for Partnership and Collaboration); between Kellogg and IFES (to start an annual mission trip); potentially between English-speaking and French-speaking IFES organizations (if we pursue a short trip to Cote d’Ivoire); and between Americans and Africans.
  
  While this can definitely been seen as a daunting and scary task, it is important to remember that God calls us to love our neighbors as Jesus loved us, and anyone God brings into our lives is our neighbor. We are all connected by the blood of Jesus Christ!
  

Now when people ask what we are going to do in Ghana we reply with “ask questions and build bridges”. This usually leads to a look of confusion that enables us to explain further. It also provides the focus we needed for our trip.

One final thought from Rev. Weary to ponder, “Give a person a fish and they can feed for a day. Teach a person how to fish, and they can feed for life. What if a person knows how to fish, but doesn’t have a place to fish?”

Professor Buck and Reverend Weary, thank you for your sincere words, wisdom, and inspiration!

Dinner with Kellogg Students from Ghana...

We had dinner last night with two Kellogg students from Ghana - Nana Banful and Abdul-Nasser Alidu (Nas). We really wanted to speak with them about Ghana before our trip, and ideally enjoy some traditional Ghanaian food. Nana graciously made two delicious dishes - wakye, a combination of rice, beans, and coconut milk, and a beef stew that had incredible flavor with a little bit of kick. We are now really excited about trying more Ghanaian foods, but Nana warned us that her food is better than most!

We had a wonderful evening of fellowship with eating and sharing stories. Nana and Nas told us about their families, places to visit in Ghana, and different foods to try when we are there.

One of the most interesting and funny stories was about Malaria. In the US there is a scary and deadly perception about Malaria (which can be fatal if not treated), but in Ghana, Malaria is as common as the flu (and has similar symptoms). Nas told us that when he first arrived at Kellogg he wasn't feeling very well and went to the Northwestern clinic. He told the doctor that he thought he may have Malaria. The startled doctor asked Nas if he had ever had Malaria, and Nas casually replied that he has had Malaria several times. The doctor (now very freaked) asked Nas when the last time was that he had Malaria, and Nas told him that it had been a few months. The doctor really didn't know how to respond to this, but he gave Nas the required medicine.

Nana and Nas are so fun and friendly. We're excited to meet more Ghanaians and experience their culture firsthand! They told us about a good Ghanaian restaurant in downtown Chicago called "Auntie Grace". We are going to schedule a date to visit it together. Can't wait!

Loralynne and Nana

Sam and Nas

It's official...

We purchased our airline tickets to Accra, Ghana today!! We will be leaving from Chicago on July 17 and returning on August 14. The excitement is definitely building!!

A lot of updates...

Sorry for taking so long to update our blog! We have a lot of new developments to share!

With a mere 5 weeks of business school remaining, our thoughts are increasingly turning to Ghana and the terrific mission opportunity that awaits us. We continue planning for our trip and will purchase our plane tickets early next week! We’re working on remaining “to-do’s,” like getting our Yellow Fever shots and heavy duty insect repellant, and figuring out what clothes we need to bring.

We’re also trying to learn as much as we can about Ghana through reading several books and hosting two Ghanaian business school students for dinner at our home next week. They’re going to make a traditional Ghanaian dish called fufu , a porridge made from boiled cassava and unripe plantains. We have heard it’s delicious! This will be such a great opportunity to get a first-hand perspective on Ghana and hopefully make some contacts before we travel.

Some disappointing news: Unfortunately, Rob and Malissa Albright will not be joining us. Like so many of our business school friends, Rob and Malissa’s job situation is uncertain, so traveling to Africa is not a possibility. While we are saddened to not have their company, we absolutely understand and will keep them in our prayers. We also know that this trip is just a first step and that there will be future opportunities for us to do mission work together.

Some exciting news: We are very blessed to have our Intervarsity mission advisor, Dave Ivaska, join us for the first week of our trip. Dave has worked closely with our sponsors, Femi and Affi, and will be a huge help in smoothing our transition. Dave is also a chaplain at Northwestern University and we look forward to his continued spiritual guidance. We enjoyed a great dinner at Dave's home a couple weeks ago and began working through our mission workbook. There were some very helpful exercises around embracing cultural differences and practicing patience that we’re trying to take to heart.

We greatly appreciate your ongoing support and contributions! We have received $5,716 in contributions to date. This leaves us with $2,284 to raise during the next nine weeks. Please let us know if you are interested in contributing toward this mission opportunity.

Preparing for Culture Shock...

It's obvious that Ghana is different from the United States, - DUH! As we prepare for this trip, we are beginning to realize that the small, every day things we take for granted may be the biggest difference. To learn more about Ghana we have been reading the book "Culture Smart: Ghana". It has been an eye-opening book, and here are a few of the things we have learned so far -

1. The left hand is traditionally used to wipe yourself. Therefore it is not acceptable to use your left hand to eat, drink, give anything, or accept anything. Along the same line, toilet paper is not readily available in public restrooms. (Note to self: Tie left hand behind back and bring own toilet paper.)
2. Attire and appearance are very important to Ghanaians, but there are criteria - females should only wear loose fitting skirts that hit below the knee(no pants or shorts), men should wear "smart" closed toe shoes and loose fitting cotton pants. (Note to self: Loralynne gets a pass to shop at Old Navy and Gap to buy new skirts.)
3. Older people are highly respected and regarded as the embodiment of experience, wisdom, and traditional lore. Funerals are more celebrated than weddings, and the older the person, the larger the party. (Note to self: Retire in Ghana.)
4. It is not proper to cross your legs so the sole of your shoe is pointing toward someone. (Note to self: Keep feet on the ground.)
5. Water from the faucet is only for washing, and drinking water must be filtered and bottled. However, water for washing your hands is not always available. (Note to self: Always carry wet wipes or antibacterial gel.)
6. Don't sing in the shower. (Sorry Sam!)

There is no doubt that we are going to experience culture shock unlike anything we have experienced before, but that is one of the key reasons for this trip. We want to understand a culture unlike our own and work within that culture on projects that will benefit students in Ghana. This trip is not about us - it is about the people in Ghana.

An Amazing Blessing!

Considering the high cost for this trip ($8,000 for airfare and 3 weeks of lodging), we were advised to raise funds to help cover some of the costs. Asking for money is not easy or something either of us enjoy. And the current economic downturn makes it even harder to ask friends and family to contribute. During a discussion with our mission adviser, he helped us see that giving is a great way for those who believe in mission but cannot travel to Africa to be a part of this trip and the good work we hope to do in Ghana.

To date, we have received $3,500 from friends and family, and a $1,000 mission grant from our church (First Presbyterian Church of Evanston)! This puts us at more than 50% of our fundraising goal! We are so humbled and thankful for all of these contributions! We have been absolutely amazed at the outpouring of support we have experienced. What an amazing blessing to be surrounded by such generous and supportive people!

Most of all, we ask that friends and family pray for us, that we may be focused and effective to do God’s work and make a difference, and stay safe in the process. We are excited to embark on this adventure, and we’ll be carrying so many of you in our hearts.

Vaccinations

While it is important to always be current on your vaccinations, it is amazing the number of shots required for foreign travel - especially to Africa! Thankfully, the Center for Disease Control has a great Web site where you can see news about current global health risks, information on recommended/required vaccinations per country, and resources for illness/injury while abroad.

For our mission trip to Ghana, it is recommended that we have the following vaccinations:

• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Typhoid
• Yellow Fever - proof of vaccination is required to enter the country
• Polio booster

We went to the doctor on Tuesday to talk about getting these shots and get health clearance to travel. Thankfully, we have both had the Hepatitis B series and Sam had the Hepatitis A and Typhoid vaccines last year when he went to China. In the end, Loralynne received a Hepatitis A shot and a prescription for an oral version of the Typhoid vaccination. We have to go to a special travel clinic to get the Yellow Fever and Polio booster shots. The doctor also prescribed malaria and Cipro pills.

Overall, we are in good health and are glad to check this "to do" item off our planning list.

Going to Ghana...

Welcome to our Ghana mission blog!

Sam is graduating from the Kellogg School of Management in June 2009 and starts work with PepsiCo Chicago in September 2009. With a few months between graduation and work, we have decided to plan a multi-week mission trip. God has truly blessed our lives and we would like to share His blessings with others. Following several conversations with our church missions director and Kellogg Intervarsity director about how and where we could contribute the most, we were invited by the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) to work with them in Ghana. At first we were a little apprehensive about going to Ghana, but after doing some research, we are now really excited!!

We are working to finalize our projects, which may include:

• developing a training program on HIV to help Christian students lead a campus education effort,


• designing a partner-building program for IFES to increase fundraising and support for evangelism across Africa, and


• building a strategy for a self-sustainable microfinance operation in Ghana.

Our friends Robert and Malissa, another couple at Kellogg, have been planning to do a mission trip after graduation as well, so we approached them about going to Ghana with us. They jumped at the opportunity to join us and we are so excited to work with them!

A few weeks ago we had dinner with Daniel Bourdanne, IFES General Secretary, and Deborah Lake, Head of IFES Advancement, during their visit from headquarters in Oxford to Chicago. It was wonderful meeting them and learning more about IFES's global initiatives.

We are in the full swing of planning for the trip. We have reserved our flight to Accra, are reading several books about Ghana, and have scheduled monthly meetings with our mission mentors. This week we have appointments to get blood tests to find out our blood types and confirm whether we need Hep A/B booster shots. And we have to get malaria pills?!

It is all a little overwhelming, but also exciting! Stay tuned . . .

Sam, Loralynne, Daniel Bourdanne (General Secretary of IFES),
Malissa Albright, Deborah Lake (Director of Development for IFES), and Robert Albright