We're almost ready!

Hello everyone!

We are pleased to report that we were finally able to replace out computer! I’ll (Kate) try to catch you up on what’s happened since we’ve last blogged. We have so much news, I hardly know where to start!

We have been living in the Yellow House (the Eight Oaks home) for almost two weeks now, and we are loving every minute! It is the PERFECT house in so many ways! We have the most helpful, caring Ghanaian neighbors possible (our hosts)-they have even offered to sleep here when we are out of town so the “thieves” do not come again.  They are wonderful. The house itself is very spacious and comfortable, and is really starting to look like a home!  We are very excited to have eight little girls running around here and making use of every square inch! 

Our bamboo furniture finally arrived yesterday! We’ve been very busy moving all the beds, tables, chairs, benches, etc. to their proper places (bamboo is surprisingly heavy and doesn’t come apart!). Pictures to come soon :)

Since I’ve last blogged, we have found the staff for the Eight Oaks home. We couldn’t be more excited about them! They are a mother daughter team: Helen (the mother), and Mercy (the daughter) who is 22 and wants to be a nurse :). Helen will be coming to the house every day and leaving in the evenings, and Mercy will live here full time. They will be helping us with household duties; mainly cooking and cleaning, but will also spend a lot of time interacting with the girls. Our hope is that Helen will act as another mother for the girls, while Mercy will fill the older sister role. We are very thankful to have such wonderful women to help us care for the girls!

An update on the girls:

We will be leaving for Lake Volta on Sunday, November 3^rd! It is a very long trip, but we would like to take Mercy and our host, Bernard, with us. They will both have a lot of interaction with the girls, and it’s important that they are able to see where they are coming from. Also, it will likely be the first time these girls see white people and they may be very scared of us! We will be so glad to have some Ghanaian friends along to help communicate with and comfort them. While on the lake, we will meet each of the girls for the first time early on in the week, and wait in a nearby town while the paperwork is completed. We will then come home to Akatsi with all eight of our precious girls!!! We are very excited and can not believe that the long awaited rescue is only weeks away!

We very much appreciate all of your prayers, and wanted to give a few specific requests:

Please pray:

-For the girls and for all the children on Lake Volta. Pray especially for these eight-that God would prepare their hearts for the rescue and calm their fears.

-For a safe and smooth travel week (especially on the way back with all the girls!)

-That God would continue to guide and direct our paths. He is so good-it’s amazing to see how smoothly things have gone so far.

-For wisdom and for continued health.

Much love to you all-you are missed!

Kate and Landon

When it rains here, it pours!

Our courtyard!

 

Here, they are weaving Kente cloth, which is traditionally worn only on special occasions or if you are a person of great rank. It is a very intricate process and takes several weeks to finish one cloth!

His progress so far. Please take note of the chicken :)

Trying some delicious coconut water!