Although
not mandated to leave, Lay Mission-Helpers (LMH) recommended that we
missionaries return temporarily to the United States until the Covid-19
pandemic is under control. It was fairly easy for me to make the decision to
return. I feel I am healthy, but I am over 60 years young and at a higher risk
than others.
Am I
happy to be here? Not really. I unexpectedly had to leave my home. I left a
life in which I was comfortable. As
strange as it may seem to most of you, I will miss hand washing my clothes,
bucket bathing, and eating my favorite Ghanaian meal with my hand. I will miss
the look on vendors’ faces when I speak to them in Gonja, the language of the
largest tribe in my home town of Damongo. I will miss the security guard at the
Secretariat where I work struggling to teach me the language (I blame being 61
as the reason for my slow learning).
Though
my son’s will always take care of me, you could say I am technically homeless.
I sold my home and gave away nearly everything I owned before leaving for
mission. Right now I am living with my oldest son in Greensburg, PA. Once out
of quarantine I will visit my youngest son in Pittsburgh, PA and at some point
fly to Colorado to spend time with my son in Boulder. I have friends that say I
am not homeless, for as long as they have a home I have a home.
One
might ask: “Does not having a permanent home scare you?” The answer is a definite
NO! If I do not make it back to Ghana, I will find a mission house in the U.S.
in which to live while I continue to serve God’s people.
God
has called me to mission and that is what I am meant to do. Every day I end my
prayers by saying:
JESUS, I TRUST IN
YOU!
