Family Visit

Discovery 2006 officially winds up:Last night was it; we took Kathryn (our last Discoverer to leave Ghana) to the airport and wondered at the change in security measures from just days ago....until I went on-line this morning and read about the latest terrorist threat. Wow. Kathryn, although an experienced traveler, should have a memorable trip (she's on British Air, going through the UK to get home.) But tightened security was not the only thing we saw at the airport; we also got to see Samuel Issah Alhassan, a Discovery alumni from 2002 featured in a recent prayer letter, as he was leaving for Norway. Samuel has been accepted at a University there to complete a two year masters degree in Linguistics. We are so excited and happy for him; he had come to see us a couple of days ago, but we never expected to actually see him at the airport the day of his departure. It was such a blessing from God!

Another memorable experience; I wanted to share with you an except from John's journal, because it talks about an answer to our (and your) prayers. (What follows below takes place in the capital city of Ghana on Monday August 7th):

"This morning, I was awakened by an expected phone call from our final remaining Discoverer who left her village assignment yesterday at 4pm by public bus to Accra,,, I had agreed to pick her up when she arrived; (I had hoped her bus would be slower and maybe not arrive till 6am or so) anyway the phone rang at just past 3am... so I walked thru the DARKNESS with barking dogs and bats to the main road... I looked both ways on the main road, and all I could see was complete darkness... no cars in sight... BUT the first car that drove by was a taxi which stopped for me; and I ended up negotiating a fair price to take me to the bus station and back home with Kathryn... and we returned back at our guest house in a record 40 minutes! It is amazing how fast we could cross the capital city with practically no traffic. Shevawn was still awake and praying;-) when I arrived home... we both went back to sleep eventually and now we're sitting here with Kathryn beginning her debrief and eating lunch. Another safe adventure under our belts! Thanks for praying for us!!!"

And here are some additional prayer requests as we close:

Please pray for us to begin to get back into some normal daily healthy living patterns (especially regarding rest and exercise, as we still both feel pressure to do a lot of work on the computer before we leave here.)
For our returning Discoverers; for the often difficult process of re-entry. And that their vision and commitment to serve God in the ways He is leading them to will remain hot and they will be committed to follow through on whatever and however He leads them.
For John and I as we manage the Accra Guest House from Aug 12th through 19th. (There is an unplanned gap of time between the return of the AGH manager and the volunteer who came to replace her during her time away, so GILLBT has asked us to fill in during that time.)

Thanks, as always, for your prayers that strengthen, enable and encourage us!

In His love; Shevawn & John