Guest Author: Lindsay Taylor
It is still hot! The high today was 102 with a heat index of 115. The electricity has been sporadic today. It has repeatedly dimmed, blinked, or gone out throughout the day. We have lost count of the instances.
Today was relatively calm compared to the busy schedule we’ve been keeping for the past week. We were able to sleep until about 7 AM, and had a leisurely morning around the compound. We were able to make breakfast and wash some laundry until the workers began to show up at 9. Zorash and Meri worked in the child center this morning with Steve while the rest of us tended to other tasks inside the house.
The task assigned to Jordan and me was payroll. We reviewed Kandie’s ledger packets for each of the workers and evangelists, where she records their monthly pay, taxes, and loans. We worked through each worker’s packet and counted out the salary using large stacks of Ghanaian currency, mostly 20s, 10s, and 5s. There are a total of 8 salaried employees, and it can be a bit painstaking counting out and tracking everything. Kandie doesn’t particularly enjoy this job, but Jordan and I quite enjoyed the work. Especially because it allowed us to sit in the air conditioned office/dining room for most of the morning. We completed payroll for April, May, and June.
After completing payroll, I joined Kandie and Charity in the kitchen to prepare lunch. We had nachos with fried yam chips, refried beans, and a lovely salsa with fresh mango and pineapple in it. After eating lunch, we quickly began to work on preparing for dinner, which consisted of country fried steak with mushroom gravy, white rice, steamed cauliflower, and beef heart.
We left for VBS at Kpamang around 3 PMwhen Timothy and Zorash arrived at the mission house. We asked Zorash to join us after the difficult time we had with the new interpreter, Lydia, yesterday. We were concerned about the heat and the fact that there is no shade at the church building in Kpamang, but we found some shade behind the building as the sun began to set, and the breeze made it much more bearable. Lydia was set to return again today to help us translate for the children, but she didn’t show up. Zorash speaks Dagboni, but we still needed someone to translate into Likpakpaaln. She identified another woman who was able to understand Dagboni well enough to interpret for us. As a result, the children were able to understand much better today. We did not get the name of the lady who helped us, but Kandie paid her for her valuable service and we asked her to come back to help us again tomorrow.
Yesterday when we arrived at Kpamang, we were first greeted by Steven, one of the church leaders. We noticed he had a bad limp and a bandage around his lower leg. We asked what happened. He told us he was walking in the river while fishing with a net, and a fish sliced his leg with its fin. His bandage yesterday was brown with dust, but today’s bandage appeared to be new. He said the 3 stitches in his leg were feeling better, and his limp was a bit better as well.
Faith has continued to deal with stomach issues today. She took some medicine shortly before we left for VBS, but it was not long into our drive when she told Steve to pull over. Her sickness was over as quickly as it hit her. She felt better, but decided to stay in the air-conditioned van during VBS.
We just finished our dinner. The heart was a new experience for me, but I think it’s now one of my favorites.
Please continue to pray for us and the work here in Ghana.
In His service,
Jordan and Lindsay Taylor
Charity and Faith Holladay
Steve and Kandie Taylor
P.S. Please keep our Aunt Shelly (Kandie’s sister-in-law) in your prayers. She is not doing well after her recent surgery. Her family covets your prayers.
