More on the same theme

Sometimes in my life I "hear" the same theme or words from the Lord in different ways over time. Last night and again this morning the truth that the Lord is my anchor is running through my mind. I don't know if it is directly for this time in life or for the future or both but when I see it happening I try to focus on it and listen. My last post talked about the Lord never failing or forsaking me. Today the words of a song by Selah keep swirling in my head and it makes me consider who or what I am holding on to. Perhaps this theme is being impressed on me b/c of the transient nature of people in my community here. In May my friend, Erin, will be returning to the UK to continue her work with Alpha there. She has been the "nurse" who has taken care of Margaret and me while we were sick - even to spending the night so we had someone to call to if we needed something. That's quite a friend. In June my dear roommate, Margaret, will complete her two years here and return back to the states. This is the nature of missionary life. People come and go all the time. Even as a missionary kid I knew this. One of the good by-products is that you learn to develop friendships quickly and deeply. You don't waste time, generally, with superficialities b/c you know that your time together is probably limited. The hard part is that you develop close friends and then they leave. The hardest part is to stay open to friendships and the inevitable parting b/c the temptation is to close off so as not to get hurt when someone leaves. Maybe these thoughts are in my mind to prepare me for the upcoming farewells. Maybe they are here for challenges I am facing now. I don't know for sure and despite what you read here I am doing ok. I am just sharing what the Lord seems to be impressing on me. The words from the song are below and they remind me of who to hold on to no matter what phase of life I am in.

"You gotta hold to His hand
God's unchanging hand
You gotta hold to His hand
God's unchanging hand
You gotta build your hopes on things eternal
My God will never let you down."

The line "God's unchanging hand" is the one that strikes me most. People will change. Feelings will change. People come and go. But God never changes. And He "will never let (me) down."

Lamentations 3:21-23: "This I recall to my mind, -Therefore I have hope. The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness."

Praise the Lord for His steadfast and unchanging love. This gives me hope no matter what is going on. God is always here and He is faithful. Hold on to that unchanging hand!

Back to Christmas for a moment

I have been sick in bed the last few days but finally today I am mostly in the upright position although still rather weak. It is one of those days where I am too well to be in bed all day but too sick to be of much good. Strange stage of healing but one I always go through. So because I am a bit better I decided to look at the DVD that my mom took of the family this past Christmas. It is really nice. I am amazed at how big my niece and nephews have gotten. That is one of the hard things of being away - missing them growing up and not being there to see it. Not seeing the piano recitals, the football and baseball games, etc. It isn't easy to miss 3 years of their lives. But I am thankful for modern technology and for a mother who loves computers and putting together DVDs so that I can see the changes. One of the special moments was hearing my dad read Luke 2 as he does every year. At our house here in Ghana I had one of my friends read it for me and it was nice but it wasn't my dad. It is one of the few Christmas traditions in our family and I will try to keep it each year that I am here.

It was a lot of fun to see on the DVD when the kids opened the gifts from me that my parents had carried back. Lots of red, green and yellow in the house that day. My one nephew Oliver just loves flags and it was great to see him waving the Ghana flag for all he was worth. He would have done well at the Africa Cup of Nations. (Ghana has won all three games played so far. Go Black Stars.)

This stage of getting better gives me time to think and reflect which is good to a point. The morning started off not so good as I was missing home, evaluating friendships and relationships, pondering on why God sent me to Ghana and if I am doing all he wants me to, etc. etc. Surprisingly watching the video helped to give me perspective. I don't know how exactly but maybe it was the reminder that even though I am not there, I am not forgotten. Hearing my name mentioned, hearing the kids say "thank you Aunt Suzanne" and knowing that the video was being made primarily with me in mind seemed to really ease the pangs of being away. You might be surprised to know how easy it is for me to think that I am forgotten. A tool of the devil I believe to get me down and focused on the wrong thing but it does happen. It is nice to have email, skype, cell phones, etc. to keep me connected with those I cherish but there is someone more important who never forgets me and that is where I need to keep my focus. I am reminded of a couple of verse in Deuteronomy that I used in my prayer letters way back when I first knew I was going to Ghana but I haven't looked at them in awhile. Watching the DVD was a good reminder.

Deuteronomy 31:6, 8: "Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you." "And the Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear, or be dismayed."

I must remember that the Lord cannot fail or forsake me. I am His child and He is always with me. Even when I am missing home or am feeling forgotten or am feeling alone, He never forgets me and is always with me. He is the only one who can do that and never fail. Thank you Lord for always being with me. You are Emmanuel - God with us.

More thoughts from my devotional calendar

These two devotional days really struck me recently. I think about how often I look to the things of earth to make me happy or bring me peace and joy but they don't. I know I need frequent reminders to help me get my focus off the stuff of earth and onto the glory of God and His kingdom.

From January 10: Jesus told His disciples: "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matt. 6:33). The "things" he spoke of were the basic needs of life: food, drink, clothes, shelter. He told us not to make these things the chief goal of our lives, but to "seek...the kingdom." There, if we will take it, is the secret of happiness: "Seek first the kingdom of God..." How do we do this? By submitting ourselves without reserve to Jesus Christ as King of our lives every day. This is the path of true happiness.

From January 15: How often have you found what you were looking for in life, only to realize it didn't bring you the satisfaction you though it would? It is life's ultimate frustration - thinking we will find fulfillment in the things of this world. But they can never bring lasting happiness. As one bumper sticker I saw expressed it, "All I want is a little more than I have now."... Try putting Christ first and watch how your life is turned around. You will discover that He alone is the source of the love, peace, and joy you have been searching for.

Going to the Africa Cup of Nations: Ghana vs. Guinea

L-R: Mariah, me, Jane, Sherri, Auntie Ruby and Jules.

We all dressed up in our Ghana garb and headed to the stadium in downtown Accra for the opening ceremonies and first game of the Africa Cup of Nations. It was absolutely fantastic and not just because Ghana won 2-1. Go Black Stars!! The dancing and costumes at the opening ceremony were beautiful and they had representations from all 10 tribes in Ghana. The choreography was amazing and there was a group of young boys doing acrobatic stunts that were just great. The whole thing was very well done.



In the midst of the people of Ghana - cheering on their national team. It was one of the best things that I have done here so far.
Front-back: me, Mariah, Jane, Jules, Auntie Ruby and Sherri








Just getting into the excitement of the games and national Ghana fever. It was very odd to be the object of photographs by Ghanaians. We are usually the ones taking pictures, but there were many who were so happy to see us dressed up and supporting their team and country that we got our pictures taken many times. It was fun.








The crowd in the street, all headed to the stadium for the opening ceremony and game. The atmosphere was electric and full of horns, whistles, shouting and singing. It was impossible to not enjoy it and join in.

Cheering the team on to victory! I hope to get to another game over the next three weeks that the tournament is played. Even going to see games with teams from other African countries would be really neat.






All pictures of the game but one courtesy of Mariah's camera:)

One last picture of the beautiful ocean

This is still on the Atlantic side. If we drove a short distance we were technically then looking at the Indian Ocean. Really it is all one and its absolutely beautiful to me no matter what we call it.

HCJB Global partners in Cape Town

Our radio partner, CCFm, in Cape Town, South Africa.












LIVE on the air. How scary is that? :) Actually it was a lot of fun and maybe I will get to do it again someday.












Rachel - Living Hope small group leader for those with chronic diseases.






















The men's ward at Living Hope Community Center.

from my daily calendar

A wonderful friend sent me a desk calendar with thoughts from Billy Graham for each day. I was a bit behind with being gone for a couple of weeks and all but now I am caught up. I think I may share from it from time to time as what is written is very encouraging and turns my thoughts toward the Lord where they should be. I hope it encourages you as well.

From today (1/16): People deeply in love find absolute bliss simply being in each other's presence. In the same way, simply being in the presence of God brings us great joy. It happens as we listen to Him speak in his Word; it happens as we pray. But it also happens as we simply enjoy His presence- meditating on His goodness, delighting in the beauty of His creation, rejoicing in the life of a new baby or the surprise of an unexpected blessing...Someday we will be in His presence forever; the Bible says, "God Himself will be with them" (Rev. 21:3)...In the meantime, delight in His presence right now, for He is with you every hour of the day.

From 1/2: When hard times come we easily get discouraged. But behind the clouds God is still present, and can even use them to water our souls with unexpected blessings. Longfellow once wrote: "Be still, sad heart, and cease repining; behind the clouds is the sun still shining." As God's people wandered in the wilderness, He declared, "Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud" (Ex. 19:9). Each of us experiences clouds in life- sometimes slight, but sometimes dark and frightening. Whatever clouds you face today, ask Jesus, the light of the world, to help you look behind the cloud to see his glory and His plans for you.

And finally, from 1/4: When David Livingstone returned to his native Scotland after sixteen difficult years as a missionary and explorer in Africa, his body was emaciated by...fevers that had coursed through his veins during the years...His left arm hung useless by his side, the result of being mangled by a lion. Speaking to the students at Glasgow University, he said, "Shall I tell you what sustained me during the hardship and loneliness of my exile? It was Christ's promise, 'Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age'" (Mt. 28:20)....No matter what trials we face, Christ never leaves us...Keep that promise before you today- and always.

You can see there is a theme that focuses on the presence of Christ in our lives and in every day. I know I needed the reminders, perhaps you did also. Thank you Lord for being with me in every part of every day.

lesson from South Africa

The primary purpose for my recent trip to South Africa was for a regional spiritual life conference (SLC). The purpose for the SLC is to have time away from work and ministry to receive teaching, de-stress, and focus on where we are with the Lord. The teacher for our SLC was Ron Cline who is a pastor and counselor and former HCJB president. The focus of his teaching sessions was "things they don't prepare you for before going to the field". They were really good sessions. I will share with you the two that struck me the most. The first session was about the idea of playing second fiddle. Of not being the "star" in the ministry, being looked past to someone else and feeling like your part is insignificant. Wow what a way to start a spiritual life conference, huh? But you know it was a great place to start b/c I think no matter where we are in life or ministry we all struggle with this at some point. I know I do. The Biblical character that we looked at was John the Baptist and how his life and his ministry meant nothing except to pave the way and point to Jesus. He only came as a witness for Christ. This is what every Christian is called to do no matter where we live or serve the Lord. We are to focus everything on Christ and not call attention to ourselves at all. But this is hard b/c we crave attention as human beings and especially if someone else is getting it and we aren't. I find myself often having conversations with God about where my significance comes from (Him alone) and asking for Him to help me decrease so that He increases. It is almost a daily struggle and I am glad that Ron addressed it right off. As a follower of Christ, I play second fiddle. We are all second fiddles to Him. Jeremiah 9:23-24 "thus says the Lord, 'Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things', declares the Lord."

The second session that really impacted me was on ambiguity. Not just ambiguity in going to the mission field but ambiguity in the Christian life in general. The Bible passage we looked at in this session was Luke 9:57-62. I won't write it out but will focus on the key verses. In verse 58 we see that we as followers of Christ are not promised special things - we may not even have a place to lay our head. In verse 60 Jesus tells us to go and proclaim the kingdom of God but he doesn't specifically tell us how. And from verse 62 we see that God doesn't share his agenda or what his plan is but we are to follow step by step. Ron really emphasized the ambiguity of what God calls us to and how things so often don't make sense from our perspective. But we are to focus on the fact that God is almighty and sovereign and he knows what he is about. In the light of this not knowing and that our paths with the Lord often lead us through suffering, Ron asked us all to go and think about a very key question...."Why do I follow Christ"? A simple but tough question that I don't ask myself very often. It was good to sit and think about it especially when living in a new culture and dealing with all that is involved with that. I will just write what I wrote in my journal that day -rough cut and all.

I John 4:9-10 - "By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." He loved me, He loves me - I am overwhelmed by how much He loves me. Look at what He gave up to be born a mere man, to live on this fallen earth, to see the world He created be so ruined, to follow through on an awful death - simply to provide a way for me to be with Him. Matthew 26:53 - "Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" Jesus could have called for help (regarding the cross) but didn't.. He went all the way b/c of His love for me. When I get real glimpses of His love and it penetrates my heart - that while I was still a sinner and knowing that I will still fail Him - He came to love me and save me....How could I not follow Him?

The SLC was very good and meaningful. It was helpful to acknowledge these things, to look at them head on and to see where I am in dealing with them. I thank God for the opportunity to go to South Africa. Not just for the beauty and the rest, etc. but for these teachings and for time to reflect on who God is and why I follow Him. His unconditional, perfect love compels me to follow him no matter how faltering and feeble my attempts may be. "Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting." (Ps. 105:1)

Some pictures from my recent trip to Cape Town, South Africa

The Sub-Saharan Africa Team: in front- Mike and Heather Tacheny with Sydney and Sam. Kyle Sonius in the very front.
Back (L-R): TJ Sonius, Joseph Kebbie, Barb Cline, me, Ron Cline, Michelle Sonius, Lee Sonius, Jessica McMillan, and Susie Pile.

not pictured: Dee Walker and family














Our conference leaders - Ron and Barb Cline. They have served with HCJB Global for over 30 years. Their experience, wisdom and care for us was wonderful and encouraging.










The "girls": (L-R) Heather, me, Susie, Jessica, Michelle and Barb

Top floor of radio partner, CCFm.














Team Malawi: Drs Mike and Heather Tacheny with Sydney and Sam and Jessica McMillan, RN

On top of Table Mountain











Yes, a real McDonald's in Cape Town. It was fun to go but I have to admit that twice was more than enough. They still make a good chocolate shake though.

Tip of Mount Kilimanjaro as we fly out from Nairobi, Kenya to Johannesburg, South Africa.













Amazing sunsets over God's Atlantic Ocean.













St. James Beach, Cape Town












Overlooking Cape Town from on top of Table Mountain.

A few moments of the Amazing Race

About two weeks ago my teammates and I began our trip to South Africa from Accra. We didn't realize at the time that we had entered an episode of the Amazing Race but apparently we did. Before I tell you the details let me just say that in spite of varying challenges all our luggage arrived at the same airport at the same time we did and we were safe in every place we went. Praise the Lord.

At the airport in Accra, I stepped up to the counter to check in only to find that I was not in the system. So Lee came up to see if he and his family were in there since all our tickets were booked together. None of the Sonius' were in there either. After a short discussion Lee and I (and TJ) are sent to the KLM office to figure out what is wrong. Michelle and Kyle stayed with the luggage. The short story is that even though we paid for the tickets somehow they had never been entered into the system and so our entire bookings for the trip had been cancelled. Not a good way to start a trip. The agent in the office had to take all five of us and rebook the whole trip. Fortunately there were still seats on the flight we were trying to get on that night. But it did change things on the back end of the trip. While the agent is taking quite a bit of time to change our tickets, Lee and I are trying to remain calm and polite as the time for take off draws closer and closer. The check in desk has called the agent at least twice to see if we are done and on our way. Finally with about 15 minutes or so to take off, we have the tickets in hand and start running for the plane. Literally running - for a few hundred meters (the office was in a building a bit removed from the actual terminal). They quickly check us in and an agent has to escort us through the rest of the process as the plane is being held for us. I believe this is the first time in my life that a plane has waited for me. We really did feel like we were on the amazing race as we were all running up the ramp and getting into our seats. It was kind of them to wait for us. And yes all our luggage made it. We were quite impressed and a bit surprised. The rest of this trip to South Africa was very smooth.

Another episode of running for transportation was at the train station in Cape Town. We took a bus from the waterfront to the train station to catch the train to St. James. The train we need leaves at 5:06 and at 5:03 we are still waiting for the cashier to give us our tickets. Again we are running through the terminal. This time though we had 11 of us and 3 were children, 7 and under. We hopped on the train - realized we were in the wrong part of it- ran to the correct part and sat down. The bell rang and the doors closed about 20 seconds after we were seated.

Our final dose of the Race was on the way home from South Africa. We flew from Johannesburg to Nairobi and had a few hours layover there. Finally we are sent out from the terminal to board our plane. For those who haven't flown in Africa, most of the time you go down stairs from the terminal, walk on the tarmac a bit and then up the stairs into the plane. Most places do not have the nice tubes between the plane and terminal. So we are down on the tarmac, following our Kenya Airway agent to the plane...or not the plane. Lee and Michelle are inside already when we all are told this is not the right plane. So we traipse across the tarmac to another plane...or not the plane. This time we are told on the ground that this plane isn't going to Accra. The agent we are following decides to go investigate so here we stand - a large crowd of people- waiting on the tarmac to find out where to go. The third time really is a charm b/c we walk to the third plane and it is the one going to Accra. Thank you! If you don't know what the tarmac is it is the part of the airport where the planes sit, luggage carts scoot about and all sorts of other vehicles run around. This is where we are walking back and forth between planes. I found it quite hysterical. Aviation officials in the US would have a coronary if they saw all these people wandering around between planes.

I found a few things different in just how people are put on the planes. In the states we are boarded by rows or groups so it is fairly organized. In African airports you board by however you get into the queue. If that means pushing or cutting in front of people - well there it is. It is important to get on early to have a place for your carry-on. And then in the US we board at one door. On the Kenya air flight we boarded at the front and at the back of the plane. In many ways it is a good thing b/c it helps people get on faster. The problem was that there wasn't anyone watching which rows were going where so people with seats at the back of the plane went in the front door and people with seats at the front went in the back door. Needless to say, it was very challenging to move around and pass each other in the tiny aisle that planes have but somehow it was done. It looked like an intersection in Accra with everyone jammed in from all sides and no one can move:)

These are just the funny traveling moments. The trip as a whole was really wonderful. Cape Town is amazingly beautiful and the time with my teammates from around the region was great. I will write more on the specifics of what we did and saw when I have some pictures ready to post with it.

Back from South Africa

I have just returned from two weeks in Cape Town, South Africa. As soon as I get back in the swing of things I will write a bit on what it was like there and also post pictures of the beauty I saw. Flying internationally in Africa is very interesting and I will tell you of our "Amazing Race" type travels soon.