Since we got married the dream of going to Ghana has become a lot more realistic. People have asked us what our plans are and what we are hoping to do with the dream. Honestly, we haven’t really had an answer until last month.
Shawn’s last trip in Ghana
The back story for those of you who don’t know. A handful of years ago, Shawn felt the Lord call him to overseas ministry that had something to do with “Christian Education, Medical Outreach, and Discipleship.” Within the past couple of years, Shawn has visited Ghana twice, equipped himself to be used by God and gained a heart for the people of Ghana.
After we got married, the search began for an organization to come alongside in Ghana. The organizations, that we knew of, didn’t seem to fit quite right. The organization that we had both gone over there with before, didn’t really do much with Education.
The right step for us would be to pray about this. So, we began to pray about it off and on over the next two months. During this time I didn’t really feel like praying because the reality of actually going to Ghana was really scary for me. Honestly, I didn’t want to talk to God about it, because I didn’t want to hear what he had to say.
One day, Shawn was looking into other organizations and heard of an opportunity to meet with a man named Kingspride Hammond. King runs a ministry called Alabaster Project, located in Northern Ghana. The Alabaster Project is currently involved in compassion care ministry through dental, eye, and medical outreach programs.
Realizing that we were going to be meeting up with this new organization in a week, I thought it would be about time to finally, genuinely seek the Lord on the decision. The day came in February when we were able to meet with King. I had felt the Lord speaking to me all through the day. He reminded me of his sovereignty in all situations, and that he will not leave us out to dry once we get in Ghana, because he is faithful.
That evening we sat down with King and his wife and he asked what was on our hearts. Shawn began to explain his desire to be in an administrative role with an organization that does Christian Education, Medical Outreach, and Discipleship. When King heard this, he said, “Shawn! We have been praying for an administrator for the past two years! It has been on our newsletters for years!” King began to describe the position that needed to be filled and it lined up with everything Shawn wanted to do.
A school that I visited in Ghana in 2012
King then turned to me and asked the same question. So I told him about my passion for education and teaching, but was sad because it didn’t seem like their ministry had much to do with education. King listened intently while I was talking, and as I finished King paused and took a breath before he said, “Sarah…The Lord told us to build a school with the money we have. We have no teachers or students yet, but out of faith we obeyed and built a school.” King continued to tell us that the week before they had met with a woman who has a desire to sponsor Alabaster Project in developing the school program!
More conversation happened that night, and as we left our meeting we felt the Lord leading us to go and visit them in May. It was such an exciting night for us and it looks like the Lord is pulling everything together really quickly, and we are looking forward to where he leads us next.
McHargue Message 