My life about 3 weeks ago

So, I have been putting this off but I'm going to start trying to explain what happened each day in Ghana on our project trip. Most of this commentary is coming from my journal so I hope I can remember everything that I need to.

Day 0 - 5/31
We left for Ghana. First, I rode with a few people from Colorado Springs to Denver then flew to Atlanta. We met most of our team in Atlanta, except for 2 people, and flew from there to Accra, Ghana. That whole process took about a day.

Day 1 - 6/1
We landed safely in Ghana. Accra, the city we flew into, is the capital of Ghana. From the airport we went straight to our hotel we'd be in for the night in two 15 passenger vans. It was such an initial culture change. When we got there I thought it was intense actually, but by the end of the trip I was comfortable. Ghana is very safe, something I didn't realize at the time but ended up learning. I was tired from the plane ride so I spent some time resting in the hotel then threw the frisbee around some. When we were all together that night it was really cool to think about how, with a group as big as ours (14 people), that literally thousands of people could have spoken the same prayer for us. Also, it was pretty overwhelming to see the physical poverty there. Little did I know, Accra was the much better developed area of the country.

Day 2 - 6/2
In the morning a group of us went to the market and bought a guitar for the ministry. The fun part is that we got to play it all week until we finally gave it to them at the end of the week. After John and Greg got back from the radio station that morning, we all rode to Aflao. Aflao is in the southeast corner of the country, right by the Togo border. It was crazy to see how many people were along the side of the road selling stuff and carrying things on their heads. Seeing that made me realize even more how little the people there live on. When we got to the hotel, we unloaded then went to see the king. Yeah, the king. It was pretty crazy. We spent the rest of the night getting to know each other and sharing testimonies and life stories.

Pictures are up

I just posted my pictures from the trip. Here's links to my albums on Facebook. They are Ghana - Part 1 and Ghana - Part 2. Part 1 has more pictures from Aflao, where our team was most of the week and where the project site was. Part 2 has the last 4 days after most of the team members went home. Four of us stayed those extra days so we could have meetings with ministries and design professionals in the country. We also did some fun tours and sightseeing things at the end. More details to come.

Still not feeling the best and trying to recover physically from the trip. It's been super encouraging though since I've been back to talk with people back home. Thanks to Scot Irwin for calling me today. Cool to hear about what's going on in my friends' and mentors' lives. Just another reminder of how big God is.

Later.

Back from Ghana

It has been way too long. So much has happened since my last blog post. School ended, I started my internship, and spent 2 weeks in Africa. Hopefully I can fill in some of the gaps. That's my goal at least. I'll try to post updates and pictures as I go about what happened each day from my journal while I was in Ghana. Also, I'll try to add some of what else is going on since I've been back.

Yesterday I got back from Ghana and now I'm back in Colorado Springs at the eMi office. It was about a 24 hour total trip to get back to Colorado Springs from Accra, Ghana (the capital city). Everyone on the team made it back home safely other than a few stomach sicknesses. Ha. It was an amazing trip and I'm going to miss the country and people I met the past few weeks. I'm glad to be back though.

It would be an understatement to say that I learned a lot over the course of the 15 days we were there. Hopefully I'll be able to share some of my stories with you.

Sooooo close!!

SUMMER!!!!!! I'm so glad to be done with the semester!! I just finished my last final this morning and EMI is only about 2 weeks away. The closer it gets the more excited I think I'm going to get too. Can't wait for Ghana!!

My support information keeps coming in and I'm only about $800 away from my goal of $5,000 at this point. It'll be a busy next few weeks preparing for my trip and time at EMI. If anyone has any good books that I should read over the summer let me know. I'm hoping to do a lot of reading this summer.

Most importantly, I could definitely use some prayers. Prayers that God would use me this summer in Colorado and in Ghana and that He would be glorified. That's the biggest thing, that He will be glorified. Also, prayers that I would prepare myself well in the next few weeks for my trip. I want my heart to be ready and in the right place.

That's about it. I'll be updating this more probably once my internship actually starts.

Support Information

I've raised $650 of support so far! That's awesome!! Thank you if you've already donated. But if you haven't given anything, I still need to raise about $4,350 more. My end goal is $5,000 and you can't imagine what it means to me when I see your name on Friday afternoon that you gave $50 or $100 toward my internship this summer. I need your help though.

Some details:

• Probably the easiest way to donate is to go online to https://emisecure.org/donate.html and donate on EMI's website OR you can fill out and return the response card I mailed out to some of you.
• At least half of my support needs to be raised by May 31st when I leave for Ghana and the rest of it can continue to come in throughout my internship but the earlier it comes in the better.

No amount you could give is too small and in the end the money's not going to me anyways, it's going to the Lord. I appreciate your giving so much more than you could imagine.

Thank you,
Nick

Ghana!!

Guys, I'm going to Ghana!! My plane tickets are in the process of being bought! That makes me so happy. I'll be there for my project trip as an intern for EMI. The trip is from May 31-June 15. Pray for the trip. Pray that God will use us and open up our hearts to be servants to the people in Aflao, Ghana.

God can do huge things in a short amount of time. I can only imagine the impact that He wants to and can make through our time there.

It's so close! Below is a link to the project page.

http://emiworld.org/projects/projectprofile_5540.php

So excited.

Over the past couple of weeks I've been able to spend a lot of time talking with friends and mentors about my summer and I am getting more and more excited everyday. It's been exciting to think about just how much the Lord wants to do in my life this summer. He's going to do some huge things!

I've been able to spend a lot of time outside lately and just take in the beauty of creation, which is one of the things I'm looking forward to most this summer in Colorado Springs.

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."
-Romans 1:20

Also, I'm thankful for the encouragement I've gotten so far from friends and families in the church. So good.