40 Days in Ghana - How cool is that?

So it worked out that I'm going to be in Ghana for exactly 40 days, starting on Tuesday and running through December 11th.  When I first realized that, I started thinking "crap, that sounds too much like a really bad romantic comedy which noone watched."  Leave it to my friend Adam to point out that there was spiritual significance there too.  This of course got me reading the Gospels, particularly the sections detailing the tempting of Jesus.  The three replies Jesus has for Satan are extremely instructive:

1. Man Shall not live by bread along, but by every word of God. - That's pretty intense...we can't survive without Christ, but he feeds us and works through us and even blesses us magnificently.  It's God, not us.
2. You shall worship the Lord your GOD, and Him only you shall serve - You can't have two masters...Ellen, an elderly woman at our church, gave me a little one eyed tube.  Basically, it's a decorated paper towel roll, but it conveys the simple idea that you can only look at one thing at a time.  I can look at God, or I can look at something else, but never both.
3. You shall not tempt the Lord your God - Looking back to Dt. 6:16, where this comes from, you find that this is a commandment for diligence...constantly striving to follow what God wants every day and continually trusting Him.  He's big powerful and mighty, but there's plenty of examples of how God likes it better when we just trust Him rather than forcing a sign of some sort.

Anyways, the big flight is tomorrow.  I'm somewhat excited, but more than anything at this point I'm just content, trusting in His will and humbled by the blessings yet to come.

Visa!

Got my visa in the mail the other day!  So excited...the last bit of paperwork is now totally resolved.  Now about all the other fun things that I have no idea what I'm in for...

Intro

Six years ago I went on a short term trip to Dakar, Senegal to spend some time with missionaries there.  We did some work around their compound, took in some touristy sites, and most importantly, saw the work that God was doing through his people there.  We saw aid clinics outside the city, orphan kids with scabies, villagers digging a ditch into the desert to run water to their collection of huts, and one of our team fell extremely ill, needing to be life-flighted out of the country.  These experiences have left an indelible imprint on me.  I went hoping to have a good time traveling, and much to my chagrin I ended up running into God. 

These experiences have been used to slowly transform me, moving from my eyes to my head, and creeping their way into my heart.  God has used these to marinate me, not merely adding flavor but also softening me on the inside, breaking me down.  Over the last six years my walk with Christ has continued to mature…from times when I walked away from Him to the last few years where I’ve been learning ever more about how little I actually know of God. 

My walk is now taking me to Accra, Ghana for 40 days, from Nov. 1 to Dec. 10.  I am trusting that the Spirit will continue to guide me during my time there, as I learn more about Christ and His ways, and explore the work He’s already doing there.  My plan is to spend most of my time in Accra working with 60+ orphan children, as well as traveling to an outlying village to see the work of the church of Pastor Samuel Owusu, my host.  Several people from Richmond have been helping Pastor Samuel raise money to support these children, now God’s now leading me there to serve them first-hand.  I want to hear and learn their testimonies of Christ, and look forward to sharing them with you.   I don’t know where all this is going, but I’m stepping out in faith and obedience to our Father in heaven.

I’m sending you this letter to ask for prayer and financial support.  Money raised will be put toward supporting the needs of these orphans, and will complement our recent fundraising efforts.  In addition, if you’d like to help with my airfare and travel expenses you are welcome to do so.  Please send me an email at joshsheldon@gmail.com to let me know how you can help....I'd love to know that this trip and the orphans are in your prayers!

Thanks and God Bless!
Josh