Email: Nadine Wade

Dear Friends:

In our home in the town of Ho, we were blessed to have reliable running water. But I came to learn that, for a variety of reasons, water in the community is regularly shut off. Being without water was not a new occurrence for our Ghanaian neighbors, but it was new to me.

For the first day or two we were fine. We had the inconvenience of being more conservative with our water than usual, but we still had a supply we could use and surely, we thought, the water would be turned back on very soon.

As the next few days passed, the inconvenience grew to irritation. We were able to buy water for drinking but had very little for cooking, washing, or bathing.

The irritation then grew into a sense of urgency and dependence. Without clean water, people could get sick. Maybe the rains will come. Was that thunder in the distance? When will we have water again?

After 10 days, our water was turned back on. The Lord has used this event to help grow that same sense of desperation in my longing for Him, for living water.

I wrote in my journal:

May I drink from You and never be thirsty again. May I be cleaned, cleansed, refreshed, renewed.  I don’t want to live off of old water—may I know Your overflowing, everlasting spring each day.

My faith is still being shaped by this event.

I got sick. As the illness lingered for a number of weeks, my team and I decided it would be best for me to return to the United States and go to Ghana after treatment. At the end of January, we made the decision that I would not return to Ghana to finish the Young Adult Volunteer year. Full recovery will just take time, and we decided that it would be best to stay in the United States and spend the remaining months serving out my YAV placement at one of the national sites.

Although I am disappointed that my time in Ghana was shorter than planned, I am incredibly thankful for the months I got to spend there learning with and from the Ghanaians. Some of my favorite experiences include: spending the afternoons laughing, singing, sharing Scripture, and playing games with the street children in Ho; befriending neighbors and the staff at Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana headquarters; worshipping with Ghanaians and the rich music of the drums; the smells, colors, and hustle-bustle of the market; the never-know-what-to-expect adventure of tro-tro transportation; the sounds of an African morning; and most of all, serving with YAVs Meg and Kristy, German volunteers Jane and Simon, and the Hallead family (mission co-workers and our site coordinators).

Since coming home I have been challenged to slow down and recognize that my identity is in Christ, not in what I do or contribute. I’ve wrestled with knowing God’s call to Ghana, yet seeming to have been met by a closed door. I have taken comfort in the understanding that God cares more about how I am faithful to answer His charge in the Great Commission than He is about where that actually happens.

I have also become increasingly aware of my growing dissatisfaction with the injustice that God’s people face—it is not okay that children remain on the streets because they cannot pay the 30-dollar yearly school fees; it is not okay that there are still communities that do not have access to clean water, etc. The church has something to say to this, and as my call to ministry is shaped, I know that I want to continue to join with God in what He is doing in marginalized communities.

For the remainder of the YAV year, I will be living in Atlanta and working with a program called DOOR, Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection. DOOR serves as a bridge between urban ministry sites in Atlanta and youth/adult mission teams that come to the city to serve. I will be helping to plan mission trips for the groups that are coming to Atlanta this summer. As I continue to gain more energy, I hope to be able to work directly with some of the ministry sites as well. I’ve heard that Atlanta has a significant immigrant population from Ghana, so I am also excited to connect with that community!

As always, thank you for your support while in Ghana, since I’ve been home and as I prepare to begin again in a new placement. This YAV year has certainly been full of surprises. I look forward to now sharing Atlanta with you.

Blessings,

Nadine Wade