Doryumu Outreach Then and Now

When I first came to Ghana, actually the second week that I was in the country, City of Refuge did their first medical outreach. I remember driving into Doryumu...then it seemed like such a foreign place. I was nervous about the day as my job was entertaining the children we were expecting to come in. We had crafts planned for about 50 kids. That day, we had over 200 kids show up. The nurses and doctors that came saw far less than what we saw outside.

The whole day, we danced and sang and practiced the ABC's and colored pictures and tried to control the chaos. And in the end, we were exhausted and I wondered how it would ever work to move to this rowdy community.

Today, CORM hosted a medical assessment in  Doryumu, under the same trees where we held it so long ago!  This time, I felt so different. It is now my community of Doryumu, not some place I felt disconnected from and overwhelmed by. I knew the faces. I can see so much more after being here for so long. And while today had moments of overwhelming chaos and moments of exhaustion...it also had moments of beauty and grace and it was good and rich.

When you see your kids laying hands on the sick, praying for the love of Jesus to be made perfect in them...that is the beauty of days like today.

And when our kids and staff stand up in front of a waiting audience to tell the about Jesus and his sacrifice for us on the cross...that is the grace.

And then, this...the love of missionaries who simply come to serve. Every person, no matter how small, was given time and touch and love.

And in four years, I have only grown more in love with these people and this culture. 

How much can change in just those few years!