when I was showering this morning, that was the closest I had come to dancing up to that point-- beneath a trickle of cold water. After a wonderful breakfast of toast, steamed cabbage, and warm links of what looked and tasted rather like hot dogs as opposed to the sausage that we're more accustomed to at breakfast time. Regardless, it was absolutely fantastic;trying new things is a concept that has been absolutely intrinsic to this trip. On our way out, we waved good-bye to one of the little boys who lives at the guest house that we're spending our nights in. His name is "Papa," and it's been somewhat strange calling such a young boy that name, more of a title to us. He waved back as the van left the guest house behind.

On our adventures in the town (I refrain from calling it a village now because that word, when used to reference his home, seemed to strike one little boy as disrespectful, and he warned me of this): I can now, upon some reflection, say that it all seemed to smell like a U.S. civil war reenactment camp, on account of the myriad cooking fires. Anything burnable and dry was burned, and everything was dry and burnable. At the town limits by the road, there could be seen a sort of shrine looking thing. Low, white-washed concrete walls festooned with painted imagery of village elders, one with a spear and the other brandishing a rifle, and a tiger lunging forward with a porcupine caught in its toothy maw.

Walking down one of many winding, rust-colored and narrow paths towards the new school. Little boys and girls, all sporting shaved heads and ear-to-ear grins shouted "obruni, obruni!" as they tugged at our clothing. There was a grassy clearing between the left and right sides where we were greeted by a toothy, leather skinned old man with salt-and-pepper whiskers and a hot-pink mesh hat on. Her seemed to be dancing a sort of low to the ground free-form jig as he shook our hands and swept at our cheeks and necks with an off-white handkerchief. He tried to get us to dance with him and the others, but to no avail on my behalf. The most comfortable I was for a while was playing ball with the town boys-- mostly a volleyball-like game where we all tried to keep a small-sized plastic soccer ball up in the air for as long as possible. I was afraid for a bit that someone'd get smacked in the face, but all went well. There was quite a hooplah, drums and clapping evrywhere, and even a brass band, as well as a few efforts to get me to dance. I had to cave eventually.

After a good two hours of laughing and shouting and carrying on, the real ceremony began, as the delivery taxi with the chief's ceremonial umbrella finally arrived-- remember, we're living on Ghana time now.

From within the school building emerged the first umbrella, beneath it Ray-Anne ("Queen Mother") and Jay ("Nana Jay"). Ray-Anne and Jay were garbed in cream-colored wrap-around robes with gold ribbon interwoven into the fabric, coupled with gold necklaces, bracelets and anklets, as well as (according to Jay) very uncomfortable sandals accented with yet more of the glistening stuff. The same might be said of the Chief, but rather ten fold. The village proceeded to parade 2 miles up the road, government officials directing traffic to facilitate the festivities.

All is well!

Peg & Dorrie Thursday August 14, 2008

Today was one of the most difficult days of my mission experiences. Usually I am rebuilding someone’s life but today Dorrie and I had to throw it away. Our job today was to clean out an attic. When we went to investigate what needed to be done, we discovered that the attic was dark, small and was not big enough for all of us. I went outside as Dorrie and Jill started to throw items out the small attic window. I was stunned to see that the items were children’s toys, stuffed animals and baby clothes. At that time the only receptacle to put things in was a plastic box and two plastic bags. As I began to fill these bags Dorrie can down from upstairs with a pair of tiny patent leather white Easter shoes. We both started to cry because the realization hit us that we were tossing out precious items that were loved by little people and their parents and grandparents. We asked Peter to get us more plastic bags as we felt that these items should not be just tossed on the curb to be picked up and dumped in the garbage. He said to just take the box and turn it upside down on the pile. I looked at him and told him that I just couldn’t do it. Peter was seeing this as a job that needed to be done and when he realized that I was seeing all of these precious items that needed to handled with care, he understood and let Dorrie and me continue to pack away these precious items with care. It is okay to feel the way we did, to cry and become emotional. These experiences put our own life and problems into perspective. They also show us that God is here to always get us through. I will always remember this experience with sadness but I have become a stronger person because of it.

Zelma Wooten aka Oprah of New Orleans Thursday August 14, 2008

My morning began with my body being sick and welcoming a fantastic grits, homemade French toast, applesauce, fruit bowl, coffee, juices and wonderful hostesses from First UMC. We took our group pictures in red shirts with the United Methodists Iowa Theme and were given our daily assignments and retrieved applicable equipment. Well, I went back to bed to recover and get better for afternoon. I was suddenly awakened by Peter Royal to come and watch the children because one had cut her hand and the other children needed supervision. So I went to J. D.’s and began removing carpet staples with Ariel until we were finished.
Later that afternoon frustrations overflowed and then I was needed to comfort frightened children while the police got down to the gist of the story as to who beat up on whom and police pictures and stories were untangled. Children were left traumatized it seems one more time and I had begun to pray for peace and harmony. I hugged and prayed for ALL of the children and Dakota thanked me for caring for and about them. He was only 12 years old and I found out he had gone to a New Covenant church in the past and I recommended they get reconnected so that they could be prayer covered. Until we left I was distracting the children to calm them down. I told them to speak words of power over their lives and speak what you want. There is death and life in the power of the tongue.

New York Annual Conference Volunteers: Bringing hope to the heartland

The first team to Marion, Iowa is led by Pete Royal. Pete is a member of the Simsbury United Methodist Church in Connecticut. His sister Sue is a member of the host church First UMC Marion, Iowa. Pete and five dedicated volunteers have added the New York Annual Conference to the list of several other conferences who are here to work, serve, and bring back HOPE to the heartland.

This first mission team to Iowa have really demonstrated the Christian love and compassion toward JD and his wife Michelle. They have replaced three windows, removed carpet, cleaned up the yard, putting new doors, and doing electrical work. JD and Michelle have five children. They were displaced by the flood and are trying to put their family back together. With the help of our volunteers this family will be able to rebuild their new place and call it a home.

Over 5390 homes were damaged by the flood.
About 18,623 people were evacuated from homes which is approximately 15% of the population of Cedar Rapids
Several homeowners and displaced families are disparately looking for help to restore their houses and rebuild homes. Please keep all the affected families in your prayers and come to Iowa and help.



It is easy to volunteer because everything you will need is available. There are construction tools, construction materials, helmet, gloves, masks, and name tags. Breakfast and dinner are served by the host church (First UMC Marion.) The meals are prepared by members of the church. The best kept secret is that the food is sooooo good. Keep it a secret.
In this photo is Josh, a college student with a passion for mission.





Michael and Paul from Simsbury Connecticut are drilling in the door frame. They came with Peggy, Dorrie and Zelma. It took this team three days to get to Cedar Rapids from Connecticut. Their first flight from Newark, NJ schedule on Sunday 8/10 was canceled due to weather conditions. The second rescheduled flight on Monday from LaGuardia, NY also failed. The final attempt that brought them to Iowa was on the third day, Tuesday 8/12 from Bradley International airport Hartford CT.
In stead of giving up, this first team demonstrated the spirit of tenacity, persistence, patience, and passion for sharing God's love.

More volunteers are needed. There is work for everyone, no matter the level of skill. If Joseph can do it, you can do even better. Come and let's build hope.

Sign up for the next team in October or any other scheduled team. Go to the website at www.nyacdisaster.com or email
disaster@nyac.com

PLEASE !!! PLEASE !!! PLEASE !!! sign up for Iowa Mission