Welcome to Bolgatanga! Life in the north is a bit different than Kumasi in every way, even the landscape. Before the alarm clock went off, God woke me up to talk about Janet. I was asking Him why she was such a hard woman. He told me “Her vessel is empty and yours is full. You need to fill her vessel with rivers of living water.’ When I got up, I took a gift set of lotions and the chocolate my son sent me in a prayer partner note and went looking for her. I told her I wanted to thank her for opening her guest house to our group. Her countenance changed. She read my nametag and said, “My mother’s name is Susan.” I told her my mother’s name is Janet, like her. She threw her arms around me and said, “We are sisters.” I was astounded. She asked me what our purpose was in Bolgatanga. I saw the open door and told her we were doing retreats and telling the ladies they are children of the Most High God which makes them royalty. Then I proceeded to present the full Gospel message to her telling her I would share this with the ladies. She said she thought it was a good message. We left her with much to ponder.
We had breakfast in the van as we drove to Maama Laadi’s Orphanage. We were all itching to get our hands on those children. The building was blue and white and so bright. As we pulled in, we noticed only a few children there and they were all older. Maama Laadi came out to greet us. We all had a great laugh because she was wearing a Jack Daniel’s T-shirt but had the countenance of an angel. She told us the children were all at school and wouldn’t be back until after lunch. I called Pastor Peter and he told me his children were there because he has a school. We loaded up and told the older girls we would be back.
We arrived and unloaded our tubs quickly at Pastor Peter’s school. We began pumping up our soccer balls and getting out the jump ropes and sidewalk chalk. We filled our arms and started down the path to the school. The children saw us immediately and they came running. It was so powerful. This was the moment many of the ladies had been waiting for since we arrived. They wanted to get their hands on some children.
We played outside for a long time and then we gathered all of the children in the common room and Kim, Kelli, Kellier, Gina and Margaret shined brighter than a 100 watt bulb as they presented the children’s program. I was so very proud of my GGs. They are amazing women of God with more talents than they know they possess.
After they taught about the walls of Jericho tumbling down, we gave each child a party horn and we went outside blowing them and marching around. It sounded like a massive pack of geese had overtaken Ghana.
We apologized to the teachers for leaving such a rowdy crowd and we piled in the van and headed to Maama Laadi’s for lunch. We didn’t know what to expect since I had never eaten there. It was a feast to behold. The flavors were a welcomed blessing to our mouths after nothing but chicken and rice for so long. We asked her to prepare the remainder of our meals for our stay.
She blessed us in so many ways. Her children were precious. They were kind and polite. They didn’t squabble with one another to get close to us or fight over the things we were handing out. We all felt like Maama Laadi was the Mother Theresa of Ghana.
After lunch we pulled out the soccer balls, jump ropes, and sidewalk chalk. The children were so filled with joy and excitement. When it was time for the teaching they quickly put the toys away and came inside. They were amazing listeners and participated as the GGs did their thing again. We hated to leave them, but we told them we would see them at dinner time.
From Maama Laadis’ place we traveled to Clemet’s Basket Shop. Clemet is a friend of the Mozleys. He has traveled by public transport to Kumasi to bring his baskets to teams for the Mozleys in years past. I first met him in 2003. We all had great fun picking and choosing baskets. I think we only left 2 in his shop, so we blessed him well.
We ventured back to Maama Laadis for a great dinner. It was yet another feast. She gave us a tour of the entire facility with all 40 children escorting us along the way. Music was playing in one of the rooms and we had a dance fest. It was so much fun. We told them we’d see them in the morning for breakfast and we were on our way…..tired, but a good tired. Everyone would sleep well tonight!