Flying over long distances in crowded, cramped aircraft, I appreciate the grace moments when quite unexpectedly I have been upgraded to a spacious “Business Class” seat, or been offered a seat exchange so a nice man can sit with his lovely wife which moves them both to “Coach” and me to comfort,  and also when we had our request in Amsterdam for leg room for my very tall husband on our flight back to the US answered by seats, not in the emergency row, but in the “First Class” cabin.  Unexpected grace.

I also see grace in the colors and artistic designs and attention to detail my Father used when He created the world.  As we have recently discovered more and more, the universe is a big place with billions of stars and unknown galaxies ablaze with glory and light and color, awesome in their splendor!  Until the moment they were “discovered”, only God and His angels had seen the beauty of His creation. Yet, He created this earth with all of its wonders and hues to share with us!

 As I sat on a strip of sandy beach between a river and the Atlantic Ocean, watching the small white and black bird hover six feet above the river before suddenly darting down to dip its beak into the sun dappled water, its tail slightly bent up in a manner I had never seen before, then darting back up to its observation position, I marveled at a creation so precise that even through brightly reflected water, it could still see its food from such a distance!  Moreover, I marveled at the grace allowed to me; having the opportunity to see the rainbow sherbet sky as the sun set beyond the bird, hearing the gentle wash of waves rushing to the beach behind me, feeling the cooling breeze touch my face…that the Creator of all that is painted this for me to enjoy…unexplainable grace.

When I am tired and grouchy and my family loves me anyway…grace.  When I am down and discouraged and God sends a little child to touch my heart, or a grateful person to warm my soul, showing me His plan and purpose for this moment…grace.  When I leave home, flying out of the country when so many assignments are not yet completed, but they need to be before I return, and my grown daughter takes the burden on as though all the responsibility is with her and her heart is weighed down by concerns she may let me or Point Hope’s children down and her family (perhaps begrudgingly) allows her to work too many hours in a day…grace abounds.  When this same daughter is discouraged and her sister assures her she is doing a great job and that their mother is very proud of her, that her work is more than acceptable, indeed, that it is appreciated more than words can express and any other thoughts are just lies Satan is trying to sell…amazing grace.

It is always grace moments and their memories that sustain me when “ungrace” (to quote Mr. Yancey) happens.  The woman who is ungrateful and rude because she doesn’t receive immediate attention at our office when Point Hope is trying our best to pay her six children’s school fees, but there is a protocol to follow…ungrace.  The woman who used the money Point Hope gave her to pay for her disabled son’s school, only for us to find she left him at home and paid for her healthy daughter’s tuition, then refused to produce a receipt and instead accused us of stealing money from her…ungrace.  A car I allowed to merge in ahead of me on the freeway later cut me off and wouldn’t allow me to change lanes…ungrace.  When I jump to conclusions and judge a situation and the people involved without seeing them through God’s eyes…ugly ungrace. When a small child’s dress is hanging to her waist and left tied there as she tries to pull a portion of the material up to cover her bare chest and all it will take is two minutes and a safety pin to run the cloth through the dress loops, tie a bow and “presto!” she is fully dressed and can run and play, but the safety pin wasn’t produced until pressured and the child is berated for wearing such a garment in the first place…unconceivable ungrace. 

So, what is so amazing about grace…it is that it so often comes when we deserve it least; in fact, we never deserve true grace. We live our lives struggling to forgive others while demanding that we be forgiven and granted grace; we are in the middle of an ungrateful, ungracious, ungraced world with which we often side, at the same time we are working to prove we can be worthy of His grace.  That’s the beauty of God, we can never be worthy, but He wants to grant His grace anyway.  As Yancy says, “…grace does not depend on what we have done for God but rather what God has done for us.” We get what we don’t deserve.  We don’t get what we do deserve.  That’s God. 

So when it is my turn to dispense some grace, I shouldn’t be so stingy.  There is not only so much grace to go around that if I use it all today there will be none for tomorrow!  I should remember, as C.S. Lewis said, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”  I need to be a grace extender.  To offer unexpected words of encouragement, to share what I have with someone who doesn’t, to thank the people who bless me, to seek to serve.  Because there is not just one most amazing thing about grace, there is an amazing God who created grace; I live in His grace daily.  Others who don’t know Him should see His grace reflected in me and they should be running to Him, not running away from Him because of me and an ungrace attitude. 

No worries, a refreshing shower and I will go forth and do great things!  One, two, three…minutes go by and the slow trickle of cold water stops completely and I hope I got the last of the shampoo out of my hair.  I do have electricity, however, so I plugged in my stateside phone to charge for the day…just in case my luck holds and I run out of minutes (again) on the cell phone we purchased here in Ghana.   Am I crazy, you ask? Am I not concerned the phone will self-destruct with the power surge sure to occur in the course of the outlet blowing out (reminiscent of a certain friend’s hairdryer on the last trip)?  Ah-hah!  Need you have further evidence?  I have a hope that springs eternal!

It is not so difficult to have this hope.  The inner joy reflected in bright smiles amidst hardship I see every day around me here at the camp, in the streets, everywhere, it is contagious and uplifting.  So when I go downstairs and ask if the entire hotel is out of water or if it is just my room and I am told they just started the pump for the water, but they are very sorry I wasn’t able to finish my shower, Patience is so sincere as she informs me with a very sweet smile.  Just as sincerely sorry as she is about the fact that after they sprayed my room for mosquitoes yesterday, they left the windows open to “air it out”, not considering they were also allowing mosquitoes in—aha, this explains the swarm I found when I arrived back yesterday evening.

Mr. Chris delivered his lecture to the hotel reception about proper protocol with guests and how they shouldn’t wait to pump the water until after it runs dry and no, do not open windows when the mosquitoes are breeding in the grass just outside the windows, and we drive back out to the camp.  First order of business for the day was teaching volunteer Amy how to batik—designing patterns and dying cloth.   The Sierra Leonean and Liberian women Point Hope has trained in this skill take her under their wing and I start documenting via photograph when I feel a sharp pain in my left palm.  Has the camera pinched me?  No, some unknown relative of a flattened mosquito or spider has taken its revenge and the welt is immediate and growing; perhaps also related to the monster that just left a red mark on my right shin which is now grown to almost the size of a dime in the last 5 minutes.  But I hardly notice because Amy is as fascinated by this craft and as charmed by the ladies as I am and a couple of hours fly away for both of us. 

Amy went to help at the clinic, she is a pre-med student, and I stayed to take more pictures as the material for tooth fairy pillows is stamped and dyed.  (See http://www.sorrisidecor.com/ and look for the Buduburam pillow!) In between trips to a fantastic, newly constructed computer lab training center, the maternity ward, the batik center and the PointHope Ghana office, the rest of the day passed as quickly as the first half. On to dinner with friends to have Octopus in Fried Rice at an infamous hotel where I was stuck in the loo for over 45 minutes (the lock hasn’t been fixed, by the way—just removed, so I had to hold the stall door closed as I completed my business), then set up a taxi for a trip into Accra tomorrow (where I will meet Chris at the courthouse while he tries yet again to get a travel visa for a recently adopted child whose parents await him in the U.S.) and home-again-home-again jiggity-jig!

I entered my room which smelled of insect repellant spray, saw no mosquitoes and turned on the air conditioner, no problem. I went into the washroom and pulled up the sink faucet handle to dispense water, problem.  No water.  I went back downstairs and asked how long it takes to pump water to the second floor, as they had started pumping this morning.  The nice young man behind the counter said he would check.  In no time at all he called my room, “The pump is on, the water should reach your room shortly.”  I asked if he were sure, because they had told me the same thing this morning.  He said “the water has made it to some of the hotel, so it should reach your room soon.”  I thanked him, hung up the phone and swatted a mosquito.  It kind of hurt the bug bite on my left palm, but I’ll get through it.

Am I insane?  Nope!  Because the air conditioner does work, the refrigerator is chilling my bottled water, I do have windows that close (most of the way), my belly is full and I will only be here a few weeks.  There are children and their families at the settlement and in the homes between the hotel and the settlement and beyond who do not have cool air, running water or refrigerated bottled water, no windows or bug spray to keep the mosquitoes at bay (many don’t have mosquito nets to sleep under, either), scant food supplies and they have nowhere else to go, they are never done “roughing it.”  Yet I see trust, joy, and the love of God in them.   They inspire me.  I want to be a part of the plan God has for them to become self-sufficient, educated, healthy, and moving confidently into their future.  Yes, there are children who need help elsewhere in the world, even in the U.S.  I’m hearing His plan there also and will be working toward the goals He has for us.  But at this very moment?  As my mother used to say, “bloom where you are planted” and right now I’m transplanted in blooming Ghana.

Oh wait…nine…the itch in my left index finger’s knuckle tells me I messed up the count…ten, eleven, twelve…those are definitely from the batik zone, thirteen… If you hear a faucet dripping, it’s not mine, there’s still no water.  Thing is…I know I’m blessed!

Felicia walked into the PointHope Ghana office in Buduburam determined to see the National Director as part of her campaign to continue her education. She is 20 years old and it is the day before school reopens for the third term of high school in a village called New Abirem in the Central Region of Ghana. After this term, she goes to the final year where she needs three more terms to complete her senior high school. But her mother is not well; she had a buruli ulcer that ate away the flesh of her hand and had to undergo amputation. This means this single mother of three can no longer work to support her children and to pay their fees.

Felicia is the oldest of three children her single mother has to take care of. She does not know the father except that he left her and the mother when she was three years old. The man who fathered the two brothers is also at large. The mother is now living with the sister (Felicia’s aunt) in Amasaman, near Accra with her two sons (Felicia’s brothers), Abraham (15) and Kojo Adu (13). Felicia spends her holidays from boarding school with a friend in Kasoa, 7 kilometers from Buduburam.

The National Director walked into the PointHope Ghana office to find Felicia already waiting. He asked, “Are you waiting to see me?’ and she answered “yes”. “Are you one of those whose school fees we are paying?” and the answer was “no”. After settling down, Felicia is called in to the Director’s office and she tells her story.

Her mother is seriously sick and is no longer able to pay her fees. Felicia is, however, determined and desperate to continue schooling. She has contacted every available person she thought could be of help, but found no help. Finally, she is walking by the entrance to Buduburam refugee settlement and she finds the signboard reading “POINTHOPE”. She didn’t see it as “POINTHOPE”, but she read it as “Point of Hope”. She thinks, if this is the point of hope, then this is my last point of hope. Felicia follows the signs to the office and tells her story, hoping this will be her point of hope. “There is no other person to help me realize my dream of completing high school and even going further than Point of Hope”, she managed to utter amid tears.

Point Hope believes in being the voice of forgotten children. We believe in education and in supporting young people who will go on to be a point of hope for others. Felicia found her Point of Hope; we paid her school fees in addition to giving her some school materials and clothing.

With the fees paid, Felicia can go back to boarding school (New Abiram/Afosu Senior High School) where her board and lodging can be taken care of. As an adolescent, however, she needs other supplies to survive in boarding school. But because she was determined, she says “I am even ready to go on empty stomach, once my school fees have been paid”. This she says, in spite of the fact that boarding school food is not enough to cater for her and she needs toiletries and other supplies to make the 12 to 14 weeks she has to spend in school.

The following recommendation is made about Felicia on her terminal report form:
Attendance (52 out of 56); Conduct (Very calm and respectful);
Attitude (Very active, regular and punctual); Interest (Reading)

****This article submitted by: Mr. Chris Amuzu-Addo, National Director, PointHope Ghana

POINT HOPE has brought this young Ghanaian girl into our family and is paying for her education, in addition to helping her with other necessities. If you would like to help support us in this effort to bring education and success to dedicated and determined young students, please click here.

Mary got into contact with PointHope Ghana when her daughter, Eyram, (in Ewe, the name means “He has blessed me”) developed a hernia and needed surgery. Point Hope paid the health bills of Eyram until she had the surgery and recovered fully. After the operation, Mary asked for training so she could set up some small business to enable her to be able to cater for herself and her child. During interaction with the National Director of PointHope Ghana, it was discovered that Mary had a little shop where she sold sewing materials, embroidery, school uniform materials, etc. but she did not have the needed capital to stock her little shop. PointHope Ghana decided to set Mary up by supporting her to fill her shop with the needed materials she could sell. An amount of 250 Ghana cedis ($177) was spent as initial capital to fill her shop with goods.

Before the end of the week, Mary was back in Accra buying goods to replenish what Point Hope had purchased for her. Since then, she goes to market twice a week to buy goods for the shop. The total cost of items at her shop now stands at GH¢ 700.00 ($496). She says she is able to make about GH¢ 80.00 ($56.70) during festive days and between GH¢20- GH¢40 ($14-$28) on ordinary days.

As to what keeps the business growing, Mary was quick to assert that it is her good relationship with her customers.

Regarding the challenges she currently faces, Mary said one of them was that customers sometimes order items from her, but after she has bought or made them, they fail to pick them up. When this happens, she tends to lose money, as a lot of money and resources go into the production of such items.

Her other challenge is other competitors who, because they are able to deal in large quantities, are able to sell their products at comparatively cheaper prices than hers. This sometimes causes Mary to lose a few of her customers to such ‘big’ shops.

All in all, she is really grateful to Point Hope for restoring her joy again! Mary has even been able to make enough money that she is able to cater for her sister who lives with her as well as her child. She is really happy and grateful to Point Hope for the assistance. She added that she is determined to expand the business, so she saves GH¢3.00 ($2.14) daily to increase her capital base. She adds happily that she pays her taxes to the government, which not all businesses on the camp do presently; very shortly businesses who don’t pay taxes will be closed, so it is good that she is already in the practice.

****This article submitted by: Mr. Chris Amuzu-Addo, National Director, PointHope Ghana

POINT HOPE has given a helping hand up to Mary, who has founded a successful business and continues to thrive because of her own hard work and inner strength. If you would like to help support us in this effort to offer a helping hand up, not a hand out,