Bismark

O-kay.....last but not least on my posts from our trip to Africa! This was seriously probably my favorite part of the trip and it came on our very last day in country. We had the amazing opportunity to meet Bismark. Bismark is the kid that our teenagers (along with us) sponsor in Ghana through Compassion International. After meeting Bismark.....I now want to travel to Ethiopia to meet Mohammed (the kid that Chris and I sponsor by ourselves) through World Vision. These few hours were seriously life changing! Sponsorship is now WAY MORE than just sending a check every month. It's about changing the lives of an entire family and hopefully affecting generations to come.

Our last day in country was spent in Accra (the capital city of Ghana). Our flight did not leave until 10:00 that night. Bismark and his family live just outside of Accra. So, several weeks before our trip we contacted Compassion to see if it would be possible to arrange a meeting. We were so excited that it worked out for that day!!! We met the Compassion workers at the Compassion project where the kids come every Saturday for 2 meals, games, and different educational programs. Jonathan (Bismark's dad) met us at the project as well. I instantly loved this guy.....he could not wipe the smile off of his face. He was so appreciative and so humble. It was really great to meet him.From the project we went to Bismark's school. I was very impressed with this school. He is in a really great school with great teachers and administration. We were so blessed to meet all these people and see how much they care for the kids. It's our sponsorship money that helps Bismark's family send him to school here. This is where we met Bismark and his 3 sisters for the first time!!After we were introduced to Bismark.....he had to go eat lunch so we went to his sisters' classrooms. In Abigail's class they were talking about slavery. Nice, huh? And, we got to point out on the map where we live. Here are Bismark's 3 sisters. You can't see Abigail in this picture (she is the oldest). The smallest girl is Georgette and then Valentina is the middle girl (and yes....she was born on Valentine's day)!!!Georgette ready to leave school!
The kids were excited to get to leave school early to take us to their house. At their home we met the rest of the family -mom and baby brother, Joel. This family loves each other so much!We exchanged gifts with the family. Before we left we took pictures of all the teenagers and put them in an album to give to Bismark and the teens all signed a "football" for Bismark to have. And, we discovered that he is in fact a really good "football" player. He was very proud of this! We also gave the family a bag full of goodies including a new Bible, toothpaste and toothbrushes, stickers, lotion, coloring book and crayons, bubbles, and gum. I think there were a few more things too but I forget. They were so happy with so little. And, they gave us gifts too. We were totally not expecting anything and were very humbled when they gave us jewelry made in Accra and the compassion workers gave us some wood carvings.

We also got to see where Bismark sleeps. And, yep....our sponsorship money helped provide this mosquito net to protect him from Malaria.Bismark's family with 5 kids live in this tiny house with 3 rooms: the small kitchen on the screened in porch, a living room, and 1 bedroom. All the kids sleep in the bedroom: Bismark and Joel in the bed and the girls on the floor while the parents sleep in the living room. They have almost nothing. Yet, they were so happy. They were so joyful. I could see Jesus in them. I felt like I was most definitely in the presence of God in these few hours spent with Bismark and his family. I could go on and on about this experience but really my words are so inadequate.

It was so difficult to leave this family but we were so thrilled to leave them outside playing with the new football.
Bismark's family is now a part of our family. They are real people living real lives across the ocean. Who knows if we will ever have the chance to see them again on this side of Heaven.....but we will meet them again. And, THAT is awesome. It was great to share this with the teenagers including some video. I definitely think Bismark has become more real to them too. Hopefully we can take some teens one day on this trip and they can meet Bismark for themselves. Can you imagine that impact??

If you don't sponsor a child through Compassion International or World Vision.....I encourage you to do so! You will be totally blessed and two families will be changed forever!!!