Vacation to Ghana

our cabin at the beach
the view from our room

Autumn riding the waves
Jolie enjoying the sand

Hi everyone! We are home from vacation. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the beach in Ghana! We didn't do anything exciting except resting our minds and enjoying the oceanview. As you can see Jon and Autumn enjoyed riding the waves at the beach. Jolie and I enjoyed digging in the sand! :) The resort was really nice and best of all we got to speak English all week!! But I have to tell you, I think Jon is forgetting English. For some reason he couldn't understand anything the people at the resort was saying, so I was his translator! :) We did enjoy our time off from french, and have felt so refreshed since returning. Before we left we was at a point that we wasn't able to understand or say much because we were exhausted, but we have came back and it seems like the rest was exactly what we needed.

While we was gone, the group that we have been storying at decided to change their meeting times from Tuesday to Sunday. They decided this time would be best for them, and also for people that they have been inviting. This is a step in the right direction! So, starting next Sunday we will be worshiping with these new believers. This will be an learning experience for all of us. Pray that this group will continue to grow in faith.

This morning we visited a church in the city with another missionary. It was a good service (we even had our own translator). But, we did have our first....we was pulled into the dancing line.... All of us, even Jon! Wish you could have seen Autumn's face when the guy pulled us out! Well, we made it around one time and then escaped back to our chairs! We try to tell them that these white people can't dance, but I think it amuses them! I was in front of Jon and Autumn, wish I could see how they was moving! ;) I think we all just clapped our hands and followed the line.

Well the summer is almost over and it will be time for the kids to get back to school. Autumn will be beginning her freshmen year. Wow, where has the time gone?? As you have been enjoying the hot weather :), we have been enjoying the cool season; but I hear that it will be ending around September. Can't say that I am ready for that heat again!

Thank you for the prayers!

Blessings,

Teresa

Upcoming trip to Ghana

Jolie's visa ;-)
Autumn, Louise & Jolie
Jon & Autumn

Sorry that it has been so long since we blogged! Nothing new and exciting has been happening in Abidjan. We are still in french classes and it is still raining! Sunday we are going to the beach in Ghana for 5 days. We are really excited to vacation in a English speaking country! 8 1/2 months of French and we are exhausted! (mentally and physically) We have hit a time where we can't seem to get caught up on rest and our brain is mush (when you are studying french in your dreams....it is bad ;-), so we decided that it is time to relax. After all the work just to get into Ghana, we are going to need a vacation from our vacation! First, we had to get visas to Ghana and then we needed updated visas to get back into Cote d'Ivoire. And since Autumn doesn't think we can go on vacation without the puppy....there was a vet visit for a certificate of health (we call it Jolie's visa;), buying a dog carrier and supplies and giving her a haircut. There was tons of paperwork for the vehicle, etc. We are very thankful for our missions office that completed alot of the paperwork for us! Now, if we can make through all the road stops then we are beach bound!

We are beginning to build some relationships in Abidjan. We still have the Tuesday afternoon storying group and it is going well. Jon has been doing a great job learning the stories in french, and I even took a week of telling the story last week! My story wasn't long...but you can only imagine how hard it is to memorize a Bible passage in another language! But this is greatly increasing our Biblical vocabulary. Above you can see a picture of Autumn and Louise. Louise is a friend of ours that makes some really great African meals! She loves Jolie and believe me Jolie is always waiting at the door for her! Most Africans are scared of dogs, and Louise was a little afraid of Jolie at first until she realized the most Jolie would do is lick her to death!

We had a great 4th of July! We attended a picnic at the US Embassy on Saturday. We met many other Americans, and lot of them was missionaries from other agencies. Autumn also met another teenage girl. They hung out for about 3 hours and I think Autumn is going to spend some time with her after we get back from our vacation. That is an answered prayer!

Prayer requests:

1. Our border crossings

2. health

3. and of course.....french!

Thank you for all the prayers!

Teresa