Accra

24 hours in Ghana is a like a lifetime of fun, beauty, joy, spirit-filled wonderful ness...I already know there will be tears leaving this amazing place with these beautiful people...


I feel something is coming...I have got words from Father that I am desperate to share with these guys but already I am learning so much from them, especially the Ghanaians - they have a strong, deep connection with Father and it overspills with enthusiasm to all around


I really feel that Father is going to show me more of Himself - I already feel as if He has - I don't want a "mission trip high" where I come and experience this and go back excited for a few days and then it fades like a cheap fake tan...I want something that deeply and eternally changes me.


At Accra airport after no immigration or customs problems, we were greeted by several of the team. As we left the airport, the haggling, bartering and people desperate to push your cart in return for some cedi (ghanaian currency) reminded me of Jamaica this summer and the desperation of peole to make money - for some i imagine their fulltime job is loitering, hopign to get a few lucky breaks from wealthy tourists or locals.


As we arrived at the guest house (where all 20 apprentices, directors and support staff have been and will continue to stay for training) i was impressed that they all came down to greet us despite our late arrival - some were even in pyjamas.


A culture, it seems, has already been set, of honouring your leaders, and I already feel a great sense of appreciation that we are here, when I feel appreciative of this honour to be with them.


Over a late dinner some of the team gave their first impressions.


1. I LOVED their hearts and willingness to share. 
2. It is evident that Ghana is a prayer-drive, spirit-filled environment - some of the team wake at 2am or 4am to pray together (the Ghanaian team members only - the "foreigners" are getting over their jetlag/getting used to such passion at all times of day).


Warned that church would be three hours long, four and a half hours into the service I was still dancing away, making notes, taking pictures, clapping my hands, excited and enthralled by the dancing in the aisles in celebration of giving offering or just sheer joy, the amazing professionalism and skill of the worship team, as well as their willingness to go with the flow of the spirit, the passion of the pastor as they introduced the Pais teams on stage...wow...I don't understand why every church in the world doesn't worship like this when we claim to believe in the same God as these people.


Tomorrow sees Steve, Gail and I each deliver our first sessions...EXCITED to get going and just pour into the beautiful team!!


Thanks to God for:

• Picked up the right "Gail" (Gail is joining us from Accrington in England - 40-year-old married mother of one, never been to Africa, doesn't know that much about Pais, ex-school teacher, saw Paul advertise that he wanted someone to help with Pais:Ghana training and responded after her trip to Mozambique was cancelled, dead excited, a real asset to the team!!)
• Safe arrival
• Baggage all came
• The team is AMAZING
• Fantastic time in church today - Harvest Chapel International, a new partner church in Accra - EXTREMELY welcoming and excited to have Pais
• Great unity/cohesion with the team

Things to pray for:

• Safety & health, for us and the new apprentices acclimatizing to Ghana
• Unity amongst the team
• Excellence, clarity & energy in the teaching of our seminars
• Support for Mawunyo
• Inspiring 1st year apprentices to rise up early on and commit to staying for more than a year on Pais in Ghana
• Great talks with Mawunyo and Royalhouse Chapel International pastors about future plans
• Seeing more of God
• Openness to whatever Father would speak to us about

Thanks so much to all the supporters who gave financially to make this possibility - believe me your money isn't being wasted!!

Wish you could be here...but pray that my notes will open your eyes to see more than just these words. 

HUGS

LOVE YOU ALL!!

Good

Whenever you go through difficult times you need to do two things to claim the "positivity" that is in those situations:

1. Think about/meditate on/read positive things
2. Be around positive people

A few weeks ago when we were at Oak Hills Church in "San Tan" (as I affectionately renamed San Antonio) they sang my favourite song, "Lord you are good" - its one of those happy clappy black church songs that gets your feet stomping and butt shaking in a way that is borderline inappropriate for church!!

So i got thinking about God's goodness, which was really hard to see following "Gladney-Gate", and decided to read a Bible verse everyday talking about God being good.

In Psalm 143 it talks about God's spirit being good, but that is not what struck me this morning.

"I remember the days of old;

I meditate on all Your works;

I muse on the work of your hand"

So I got thinking about my "days of old"...

• Teaching "Shakedown Dance" in a broken community where these beautiful but struggling kids would come and we would shake and body pop and I would talk about self-esteem and Father's love...and dancing IN TIME with the music...
• Time at Keele University spent talking with my friends...how I went to uni finding it hard to trust anyone, but especially girls, not believing I would really bond with girls and then leaving with more "sisters" that you could shake a stick at...and we frequently did in K2!!
• My prayer wall, where anyone at any time could give me a request and I would seek Father for them...and the amount of non-christian friends who used my service...
• Writing, journalling for hours and reading book after book...
• Being outdoors playing rounders, BBQ's...
• That desire in me to have a job where "everyday was something different", swearing i would "never be stuck in an office"...
• When Ruth told me on the second day of uni, that I was the first Christian she had ever met (besides some weird Jehovah's Witnesses) and the realisation that there was a purpose for my life and people that Father God would put in my path that I HAD to speak truth and love into...

And then I though about "all Your [God's] works"...

• Healing me from an unhealthy dependence on boys - helping me to see you as my Father...
• Kaream's birth uniting our family...
• Luke getting saved after a year of praying and hanging out and letting him crash at our apartment because his housematers were mentalists...
• Convo's with Yat, Roger, Fran, Nick, Ed...sometimes about ER...sometimes about needing to borrow the iron...sometimes about the love of God...
• Missions week on Keele Campus where people came for free lunch but left hearing your word...
• The amazing man Kaream is today...
• The softening of my mum's heart...
• Restoring my confidence in myself, in who you made me to be...
• The impact of Pais - lives being changed ETERNALLY...
• Bringing Steve & I together (after that ROUGH first year in different countries) and the heart we have together for the Kingdom and for families...

I could go on and on...there are so many...such a realisation that no time is ever as bad as you think it is...

So do I feel like I have a clearer picture of what the "next step" is for my life??

Nope. 

Do i wish I did??

Kinda.

But in the meantime Steve is getting lots of nice cooked dinners, the laundry is getting done quicker, I'm less grouchy and I'm exploring my creative side (stop asking - no cushion cover orders are being taken!!)

But am I secure in the fact that Father God has a clear path for me, and actually this tangled mess of craziness of life at the moment is the exact part of the path that I'm supposed to be on

To some it may look as if I am by the side of the road, disorientated, raggedy clothed, with my thumb out, desperate for a ride. 

But to Father I am driving in a car, with the top down; wind in my hair with no idea where the Sat Nav is taking me, but pretty content and enjoying the journey. 

This path is good. 

Faith

I had a humbling moment today.

Despite phoning up numerous times and asking supposedly all the right questions, things always go wrong.

When I arrived to check in Kaream after his 5-week stay with us in America, we were told that although he was given two free checked bags leaving Heathrow, he was only entitled to one free checked bag leaving DFW.

We waited 45 minutes to speak to a manager who basically said that a mistake had been made (by the check in agent at LHR, the agent at KIN who told us that bags on international flights were free, and the AA agent we spoke to on the phone the night before Kaream flew who all told us the same thing) and that we would have to pay – there was no other option.

I was already emotional at the thought of Kaream leaving…tears fell down my face in the gap while we waited to speak to the manager…as we walked away with the bag we hoped to check (weighing around 30lbs which Kaream had struggled even to get down the apartment stairs, let alone haul around the airport or even put in the overhead bin) my head raced through the worst case scenarios…“If they can’t even give consistent information on baggage, then how will they look after him?!”…“They lost his release form on the way here, these people are obviously incompetent, how can I be at peace with entrusting him to them?”

And then Kaream spoke to me:

“Seb, lets sing that song that we did at Pais Foundational Training”

And there in the middle of the airport we sang:

Our God is greater, Our God is stronger

God you are higher, than any other

Our God is healer, awesome in power

Our God, Our God

And if our God is with us

Then who could ever stop us?

And if our God is with us

Then what can stand against?

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking “I really hope Kaream’s voice better than yours Sebrina?”

‘Fraid not.

But we worshipped regardless.

When we got to the Boarding Gate, I went to do the final check in for Kaream and to let them know that he would need assistance placing his bag in the overhead locker as his suitcase was heavy.

The agent offered to to check the bag…for free.

Kaream turned to me and said:

“See – I told you God would work it out!”

I really struggle in my faith sometimes when times get hard.

Sometimes I feel as if everything is stacked against me and bad things that go wrong in my life only happen to me.

But everyone poops.

Thus crap is everywhere.

Life is constantly going to be throwing us curveballs and hardballs.

Life will often feel like that scene in Dodgeball when Patches O’Houlihan is throwing wrenches at the team to get them fit.

But good happens, because God has happened.

This is a promise I struggle with, but I have to hold on to.

“If God is for us, then who can be against us?”

So I cried at the gate watching my brother leave, knowing that I won’t see him until Christmas…

…and again at the currency exchange when although the sign said closing was 10pm, at 9:30 the woman had stopped serving…

…and again at the exit to the airport as 2 hrs 59 mins costs you $4 but 3 hrs 4 mins costs you $6…

…and again when I got back to my empty lonely apartment as my husband faithfully serves Pais…

…and again when I felt as if I had nothing to live for as I don’t have a job and I don’t know where Father is leading me…

But God is for me, He isn’t against me.

And I’m clinging to that promise at the moment. 

Adventure

There is never a dull moment in the Miller Household...
...And there is never a still moment when you are looking to follow Father God.

Our latest random journey takes us to...GHANA!!

In September 2008, Pais set up its first African nation in Accra, Ghana. The first team has three people, last year's team rose to ten; hopefully this years team will have more. The previous teams have seen incredible fruit, working in eight local schools, teaching hundreds weekly and bringing many into relationships with Father. They have also done outreaches, in partnership with the local church, into the nieighbouring poorer villages to bring supplies, medical aid and practically meet other needs.

The nation is led by Mawunyo Debrah, who was on Pais:USA 07/08 in Arlington at the same church as us. We both got to know her extremely well – she is a hardcore prayer warrior, often staying up through the night to pray for her teams, and is so faithful in all that she does. Though she has worked hard, the one area she has struggled in is long-term leadership to come alongside her. This upcoming year, everyone on the team will be new to Pais:Ghana, with only one person having done Pais previously (another familiar face – Carmen, who was on the team Steve led 08/09!). 

Previously, all of the Ghanaian missionaries had to travel to the UK to complete their Foundational Training. With such a large cost, this training excluded many of the apprentices from receiving the much needed training. This year, she has taken the bold step to provide the Foundational Training in Ghana, for her new teams. However, that is a large undertaking for her to complete by herself. 

Mawunyo’s need is simple – she needs help organizing and running Foundational Training.

With both of our experience on Pais, and with Steve’s specific expertise in running conferences and training apprentices, we both jumped at the opportunity to go out and practically help. 


Our need is simple - we need prayer and financial support. 


The rundown of our trip is as follows:

• Travel dates: September 3rd-September 15th, 2010 (yes, in less than a month's time!!)
• Trip cost: $4,300/£2,700 (this includes flight, visa, yellow fever vaccinations, malaria tablets, and a contingency fund - all food, transport, accommodation and activities are provided by Pais:Ghana)
• Role: Before - helping the planning of the conference (this has already begun)
• Role: During - delivering Pais training and supporting Mawunyo and the apprentices. 

We need to book our flights by Friday August 13th so that we can apply for our visas in time.

If you can help financially support us please contact us by email (sebrinamiller@gmail.com or stevemiller@paisproject.com) and let us know how much you are able to donate (so we can keep track of our current balance) and how you would like to pay (cash, US check, UK check, paypal or direct bank deposit for both our US & UK banks)

We know this is a very last-minute thing, but we really feel this is what God is calling us to do. For those of you who don’t know, Sebrina recently resigned from her role on Pais. She was offered a job with an adoption agency, but after three weeks of planning, visa issues meant that she was unable to take the role. This was extremely upsetting to us both, but we trusted that God was in control. Had the job gone ahead, we would not have both been able to do this trip, so we are seeing the blessing despite the storm. We are really excited for the impact that we can make on the teams and the blessing that we will be to Mawunyo. Please keep us and Pais:Ghana in our prayers.

Looking forward to hearing from you – please email us your thoughts and encouragements!!

Steve & Sebrina

Loss

One of my training sessions for Gladney was on “Grief and Loss” exploring how the different parts of the adoption circle (birth mothers, adoptees, adoptive parents) deal with the various grief and loss they experience…well seems like that training is going to come in handy.

I lost the job.

I got a call today saying they really wanted me for the position, but its not going to work out because of visa issues. For those of you who understand visa stuff, the requirements for the H-1B visa (the normal type of working visa) says:

You are coming to the US to perform services in a specialty occupation with a college (university) degree.

I have a degree, but because the Gladney position doesn’t require a degree (but prefers it) and previous people have worked the same position without a degree, they cannot petition for the visa as it isn’t seen, according to immigration, as a “specialty occupation”.

I cried hard after that phone conversation.

Yes. I cried.

It is so weird to lose something you never started in the first place, but filling out all the paperwork, doing the reading, meeting some of the women, having a tour of the facility…my heart was there, my heart was in the role.

And it just got taken away.

But I KNOW Father God is working in this.

I really felt like I needed to read the first bits of the story of Job. He was described as a “blameless & upright man…who feared God an shunned evil” but God allowed Satan to bring sadness into his life to show that Job would not stop praising God. Job said these words (which Steve had comically put by our shower in the last house):

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

I have NO idea why Father God has chosen to take this thing away from me.

But I do know he works all things for the good of those who love Him.

I don’t know what the next step is, I don’t know if I will still try and pursue some volunteer position with Gladney (part of me would really like to), I just don’t know anything other than I’m really sad, hurt and upset that I have lost this opportunity.

And I guess this is where the poop hits the fan, and your faith really gets tested; are these just songs I sings and nice words in a book, or do I really believe in the things God says?

Do I really believe that good will come out of this situation?

Do I really believe God is on my side and is working this craziness out and going to something more amazing than I can imagine?

Yes.

But it just hurts a lot right now. 

Era

Sometimes there’s just a restlessness, a gut feeling you can’t shake that seems to say its time to move on but you don’t really know what is next so you don’t understand the feeling, and question whether its just you being silly or God on the move (or possibly indigestion).

After four years serving in roles for both Pais:USA and Pais:Global, my (full-time) journey with The Pais Project is over. I will still be involved in random ways in the ministry, Steve will still be serving with them so it’s a given I will help out, but my last official day was June 25th. 

After seeking God and hearing him speak in several ways (some weird!) I realized it was time to step out, but was absolutely petrified. Father had talked to me about “broad paths” and “wide spaces” and “open places” but I didn’t know how anything would work out: visa, finances, transport…but sometimes you have to jump anyways. 

And Father God, as always, has been faithful and supplied.

I decided that I would use my time in England and Jamaica to think through what was the next step, and come back and look up jobs. We downsized to an apartment saving a significant amount of money, to prepare ourselves for the potentially financially-tight months ahead (as if the past four years haven’t been like that anyway!). But before we even left, a friend mentioned a job and I was asked to send in my resume (for which I needed to write one first…). I was asked to come in for an interview at 10am on the day our flight for England left at 4pm, and got on to the plane thinking “that was a good experience but I don’t expect much to come from it”. Fastforward to the day we arrive back, and I get a call saying the job is mine if I want it. 

Overwhelmed is not the word.

So I am (soon to be) the Weekday House Parent at the Gladney Center for Adoption, serving birth mothers who are staying in the dorms as they prepare to place their child for adoption. With space on campus for up to 30 prenant women, who will range in aged from early teens to early/mid forties, my job title states my role as:

Providing a comfortable, harmonious climate for day-to-day living, attempting to be a substitute parent and a positive role model for the young women.

I am petrified, not least as I do my preliminary reading of “What to Expect when you’re Expecting” (I am second in command if a girl goes into labour!), I am overwhelmed that Father is giving me this opportunity to be hands-on with these vulnerable young women who are going through what can only be described as one of the most beautiful yet painful things in the world – spending nine months caring for a baby, to then bless another family with that life. 

There are so many prayer points:
– Visa change over as quickly as possible so I can start working
– A car (preferably cute and small with good gas mileage for my 25 min drive to/from work)
– Training/Reading in advance of the role

Amidst these concerns I am reminded of one of my favourite lines in the bible that says we should be “careless in the care of God”. I am also reminded that these things are small change, little speed bumps to traverse, compared to the more weightier matter of reaching these women, supporting them, being an advocate for them, and helping them through this period of life.

And bringing them the hope and love of a Father who cares for them.

I am nervous, excited, overwhelmed, worried, scared, apprehensive..

But I’m passionate about people. I’m passionate about being a person who brings change for the better into people’s lives.

There are people, I believe, who will never simply walk to an event at a church or just make friends with a Christian because of a fear of judgement.

And these are the people I feel it is my job to seek out and find. To go to their places. To meet them where they are at.

And so I jump into this next stage, this new era, wholeheartedly, knowing that if Father God worked all these crazy situations together and got me this job without me even trying or seeking it out, then there must be a great reason that He wants me there. 

Boomtown.

Jemi

My cousin’s baby has finally arrived with the name:

Oluwajemi

Called “Jemi” for short, her Nigerian name means ‘God has answered me’.

And the truth is, He has.

For Femi and Jordelle, as with any other parent, all you desire is for your child to be healthy. They didn’t care whether it was a girl or a boy, they just wanted “it” to be well.

God answered that. 

And that's a huge thing. 

But Father God answers the small things as well. 

I remember the phone conversation with Jordelle in early December last year. With her first sentence she told me that she was pregnant. 

With her second sentence, she asked Steve and I to be god-parents. 

Knowing our always tight and hectic summer schedule, and with the baby's due date right at the end of the week we planned to be in England, we prayed that Father would have her born on time and we'd get to see her. 

Halfway through our week in England, and four days earlier than expected, we got news that Jordelle had gone into labour. 

A painful and agonizing 24 hours later (for which I have an increases amount of respect for my new heroes - all mothers who endure labour), Jemi was born. 

God answered our prayer. 

It was small, it was selfish, but God answered it anyway, giving us four days to spend with our beautiful god-daughter before we left.

He answered the huge. He answers the small. 

And then there's the random. 

In 2 King 6, a group of prophets led by Elisha, are cutting down trees, when one of their axes falls into the water. 

Axe gone right?

Elisha, probably uttering a silent prayer, instructs one of the men (also most likely uttering a silent prayer) to show him where the axe fell into the water, then throws a stick which makes the iron axe float to the surface. 

God answered their prayer. 

Father God deeply cares about the huge, small and random asks we have. 

The school paper. The ill relative. The football game. The work conference. The household budget. The mourning family. The new relationship. The bullied child. 

Let us not be as abusive and flippant to treat Him like a ethereal vending machine, who chugs out a delightful treat in return for a rusty coin of hurried meaningless words. 

But let's not be too scared to open our hearts to converse with Father God of the universe, who despite the awesome role of being in charge of all creation, answers our prayers. 

What will you ask Him for today??

Jordelle and Femi's words back to Father are revealed in the meaning of Jemi's middle name 'Feyishara'?

"Take this as yours."