Thursday in Yipieligu by Jillian

During breakfast we talked about the importance of teamwork. In America we are so used to doing things for ourselves. In America it is a social norm to refuse help from others, revealing confidence in ourselves. Being in a different country, with different social norms, it is important to work as a team with our Ghanaian translators, as well. After breakfast the six of us (Jackie, Colton, Joseph, Tayler, Mrs. Read, and I) hopped in a van and headed down the long bumpy road to Yipieligu Village.
After arriving, we learned one hundred and fifty children attended primary school (K-4) in Yipieligu. We split the children up into three groups. Colton, Mohammad, Suyuhini, and I shared a story with one group. The story told about creation, the fall of man, Abraham, the prophet Isaiah, and then Jesus. More importantly, we stressed the need for this Savior named Jesus. Because Jesus died and rose to life again, we could have a good relationship with God despite our sinful nature. Tayler, Jackie, and Drusilla sang songs with one group of children. The kids were singing and dancing... I could tell how excited they were by how loud they were. I can just imagine children singing- or yelling ;) - "Hallelujah" being music to God's ears. Joseph and Peter played futbol outside. Yesterday when my group asked if any of the children had any questions, one raised his hand and said, "can we go play futbol?" Not the type of question we were looking for, but I was happy to hear they enjoyed it so much.
We drove back to Tarikpaa village, and we had lunch with our Ghanaian teammates. Right before lunch a phone rang and Peter (one of our translators) tapped me on the shoulder. "It's Uriah," he said. Uriah was one of my translators during hut-to-hut evangelism last year, and I was very excited to hear from him that he will be travelling back to Tarikpaa from school this Sunday to see our team. I have loved reconnecting with people from last year. I met a shy little boy named Isaiah last year who stole my heart. I saw him a couple days ago and gave him a picture of us that I took last year. As I gave it to him, I watched a smile creep on his face.
These kind of special relationships make coming back to Ghana so much sweeter.