2 Weeks Later

We have been home for a couple weeks now and have each returned to our day to day lives. Although separate we are still reflecting together and trying to be diligent in applying the lessons God has taught us.

If you haven't heard from one of us about the trip, please ask and we will gladly share with you about our experiences. We will show you some great pictures and tell you about the great people we were blessed to meet! For an extensive album of pictures, check out our facebook pages and you will see more than you asked for!

We ask for continued prayer for the church in Ghana and that they not fall away from our hearts.

Again, we extend our deepest appreciation of everybody who has supported us. Keep in touch as we are so glad to share life with all of you!

Check out the latest publication on Ghana Harvest to read more about out trip!

‘Fu a wala’ from Bawku!

We hope all is going well back home! There is very limited internet access so we wanted to do what we could to give you an update and let you all know we are safe. We finally made it to Bawku on Monday morning at 6am after a three day long trip that started Friday morning. We definitely underestimated the extensive travel that we were going to have to undergo, but it has been more than worth it.

On Monday we recovered from our trip and were introduced to our gracious hosts. Pastor Nicholas’ family is being very hospitable to us and our accommodations are far beyond what we were expecting. We have been spending a lot of time with James Salifu, Pastor’s son, Foster our very knowledgeable driver, and a few of the men of the church council such as Prosper the church chairman. We also were able to explore the community and meet the local landlord chief and bring him a gift.

On Tuesday we visited the paramount chief and his council. Although the language barrier put a strain on the communication, it went well and they welcomed us warmly. (We will even be returning on Friday for formal pictures with him) We visited the school that Prosper teaches at, met the Lutheran youth president, Jacob, and learned a lot about the Ghana education system. We got to see a church in one of the communities that had been partially built, but had fallen because of a storm. And to end a busy day we visited a local mosque where we had an interesting conversation with the Imam. We also explored the community more and bought cement for today’s construction.

Today was a day full of activity. Drew woke up with a stomach sickness, not to worry though, he is better this evening. The rest of us spent the day working on the construction site for the new church. We were able to help (although we might have been in the way sometimes) and we learned a lot about the construction methods in Ghana. Tomorrow we will be doing very similar activities, and God willing, Drew will be joining us in full health.

Again we want to thank you all for the prayers and encouragement! As we move forward please be praying for our team unity. It has been going well, but we all are seeking the Holy Spirits guidance in how to love and serve one another. Also, there is a pretty big Muslim population in this region, so please pray diligently for those people.

We were pretty wrecked after the long trip here! 

With our gracious hosts, the Salifus

We visited the Salifu's neighbor and had a great conversation

7 Hours away!

Good morning everybody and happy birthday to Kate!

We are in the final moments of preparation before we leave for the airport this morning. We just had an interesting night of adjusting to the Ghana schedule (which for us meant going to sleep at 6pm and waking up at 2am) and now we leave for the airport in a few hours.

We wanted to post one last time thanking everybody, sharing our schedule for the next two weeks, and giving up prayer requests.

First and foremost, we want to offer our sincere appreciation for everybody who has and continues to support us on this trip! We have received the blessing of many generous contributions; financial, prayer, supplies, hospitality, encouragement. We couldn't be going on this trip if it wasn't for all of these things, so please receive our gratitude with love and joy!

The schedule:
July 7 - Arrive in Accra, Ghana to meet our hosts
July 8 - Travel to Bawku, an all day bus trip!
July 9 - Met the community in Bawku
July 10 - Visit the paramount chief of Bawku as well as the church project sights for the chapel and wells.
July 11&12 - Construction on Bawku church at Kpalugu, getting dirty and doing work!
July 13 - Rest, visit the market, meet with church council members and provide programming and teaching lessons for youth.
July 14 - Visit Paga Crocodile pond
July 15 - Joint worship service at Zaiko chapel, baptisms, communion, and sermons. We will have the opportunity to give short speeches
July 16&17 - Travel back to Accra and get to know and pray for the city
July 18 - Travel back home

Prayer requests
-Please be praying for our travels, especially through Istanbul, Turkey where we have our layover before Ghana.
-Please be praying for the Ghana church, and that we can be fruitful in this journey however the Lord has prepared for us.
-Please pray for unity among our group. We are pretty tight knit, but it will only be by God's grace that we will experience unity and have peace of heart, body and mind

We will be bringing lots of shoes with us for the community in Bawku

We will also be bringing about 100 Ghana Bibles with us, please pray that both of these things make it to the people who need them in Ghana

4 Days until Ghana!

Early in the morning on Saturday, the four of us arrived in Wheaton, Illinois to begin our final preparations for the trip. We have been blessed to be hosted by Drew's family; his parents, Dave & Sandi, his sisters, Sarah and Becca, his grandparents, Don & Gayle, and his church, Family in Faith. We were joyful to finally meet Pastor Nicholas Salifu who will be our host in Ghana. 

We were commissioned by family in Faith, shared our mission with the congregation and youth group, and have started building a friendship with Pastor Nicholas. 

Over the next few days we will be doing final preparations. Prayerfully working out any final details and preparing our hearts and minds. Please enjoy these pictures taken over the last few days. 

The four of us with Pastor Nicholas sharing the mission with the congregation.

Pastor Nicholas telling Family in Faith about his ministry. 

Drew's Mother, Sandi, in a traditional African dress. 

Pastor Nicholas, Drew, Dan, and Zach working through details of the trip.

Pastor Steven Kaas of Family in Faith and Pastor Nicholas.

Pastor Nicholas with Drew's grandparents, Don & Gayle.

Pastor Nicholas with the four of us.

Sunday morning worship service, Pastor Nicholas shared his testimony and about our brothers and sisters in Ghana. 

Countdown: 19 days until Ghana!

We're on our last stretch!

As this week is coming around, we have all been hit with the reality of our trip and how soon it is coming! Next Friday, the 30th, we will be traveling back to Wheaton to finally meet Nicholas. That weekend we are blessed to introduce him along with reintroducing our trip to Family in Faith. Please pray for safe travels for the four of us as well as Nicholas.

Our visa's have arrived! Thank you for prayers of ease and speed. Having just a sticker makes our trip feel much more real!

Thank you all for your faithfulness and support. As always we pray for our preparation and for those in Ghana. These last few weeks we are also praying for rest along with preparation because there is still much to do.

A week full of blessings!

Looking back on this past week and looking ahead ( only 36 more days until Ghana! ) the four of us are getting increasingly excited and joyfully overwhelmed for our upcoming trip.

We all were able to get together for the first time since summer began in Wheaton for a time of fellowship and celebrations as well as Ghana preparations:
Family in Faith introduced us at both the early morning and regular service and we were able to expand on our trip in their adult bible study (pictures to come). We were able to introduce ourselves and the mission as well as looking at local maps, bibles and customs. Grandparents Sommerfeld also shared pictures and stories of their trip.
With everyone in Wheaton we also dropped off our first lump of checks for the church now being able to pay off our plane tickets and preparing money for next month. We had some issues with individual checks but we pray that they will be resolved easily and quickly.
Grandparents Sommerfeld had us all over for breakfast our last morning where they were able to continue to share wisdom and blessings for our trip along with multiple things to add to our checklist of things to remember.

Exciting news is that Nicholas has arrived in the U.S. where he will be studying in St. Louis this month. Nicholas sends "greetings in the precious name of Jesus, the Savior of the world!" and we are all so very excited to meet him the end of June.

We also have learned that money is being raised to send bibles for Ghana with a personal message from Dr. Ernestina Naadu Mills, the first lady for Bawku and surrounding villages.

Lot's of prayers are needed for these next upcoming weeks!

• Visa applications are being finished and will be sent so we pray that they are accepted and returned smoothly.
• We are finishing up with vaccinations so we pray that our bodies will accept them and will stay healthy.
• We are still continuing to fundraise for our trip, the four of us have committed to personally be responsible for $800 each so we pray for our faithfulness and ability.
• We pray that Nicholas' courses are going well and his heart and mind is being led by the Spirit. 
• As always we pray for the preparation of our hearts, minds and bodies as well as for those in Bawku.

Countdown: 51 Days until Ghana!

As we are coming into the last few months before our trip we are still praying for finances and trip details. Some details we are currently working on:

• Vaccinations
• Visa applications & passports
• Travel planning
• Budgeting

Currently we are in separate areas of the state but will soon be coming back together and will be able to pray, plan and prepare for our trip. As always we appreciate your support and can feel the blessings of prayers. We also are praying for our preparation of heart, mind and body as well as those in Bawku. We need to constantly seek God's wisdom and love and to remember to keep each other accountable.

Countdown: 81 days until Ghana!

As we continue having our eyes on Ghana, we've raised over 40% of our group budget, continue updating Nicholas Salifu, in communication with past and other local missionaries, researching Ghana and Bawku's culture, history and beliefs, and are consistently praying for Christ's will, heart, strength, and preparation.
We have been so blessed with support and have all our thanks on God and your faithful hearts with prayers, advice and finances. As we are working on getting the blog fully up and running we would love to hear your feedback, love and wisdom.

We can't thank you all enough for your support as we are beginning this adventure furthering Christ's Kingdom!

Coincidence? Jesus.

The blog is up!

I hope that this can be a place where friends and family can follow us on this journey as we plan for, pray for, and raise support for our trip to Ghana.

Drew has been doing a lot of work contacting the people in Ghana, working with his home church and his family, and working with the three of us. We are very grateful for the work he is doing and that everybody else is putting into this and it all seems to be working out.

As of right now we are in the baby stages of planning the trip and fundraising. I think we are all working on getting some letters out. We are trying to plan for an art auction and we will be keeping everybody updated with that. And we are going to be buying the plane tickets very soon!

Please keep praying for us and we are excited that you are following with us on this adventure!

Ghana flag:

~ Zach Sunderland