Our mailing address:

Kyler & Lyndee Lum
4H Ghana / AgriCorps
P.O. Box 2561
Koforidua, E/R
Ghana
+233 0 533 237 115

- Church Update -

For the last few weeks, we have been attending a nearby church, the Odumase church of Christ. Kyler has begun teaching Bible lessons and helping with the church service there. Worship, sermons and Bible studies are conducted in a mixture of English and the local Krobo language. We pray that, with time, we will feel more and more connected at this church and will be able to deepen our relationships with the members there.

In addition, both Kyler and I have been recruited to lead some of the morning devotionals and Sunday night lessons for the students at the school. Over 500 of the students that attend are boarding students, which means they rarely see their families or people outside of the school. We pray that we can provide an example of love and kindness in an otherwise strict environment.

Very proud of this man and the message of love he spreads.

#GhanaLife #GodisGreat #proudwife

(sorry for blurry photos)

I recently submitted a paper to my advisor at Colorado State University as part of an internship program I completed. Here is an excerpt I thought I'd share with you all:

 "Upon arriving in Ghana, I had prepared myself for the differences and similarities I would see between the agriculture practices I am familiar with back in the United States and the practices used in this West African country. However, I quickly found that no amount of studying can compare to a first-hand experience. It was humbling to realize how diverse agriculture is across the planet and how much I have yet to learn.

The first and most obvious difference I noticed was the climate, and therefore, the crops grown. A year-long growing season and high amounts of rainfall allow for crops such as cocoa, banana, plantain, mango, cocoyam, sugarcane, pineapple and cassava, all with which I am very unfamiliar. By physically seeing and touching these plants and speaking with the Ghanaians who produced them, I was able to learn things like: how to tell a banana tree from a plantain tree (they look very similar), how to propagate new cassava plants rather than plant them from seed, cocoa seeds must ferment before being dried and roasted, there is both an edible variety of cocoyam and an ornamental variety of cocoyam, fast-growing plantain trees are intercropped with cocoa seedlings to provide shade, and it takes a full year from planting a pineapple to the first harvest.

I also noticed how different the farming practices are in this country due to the low income levels of the farmers. Although I had expected this coming in, it was eye-opening to actually witness someone using a cutlass to slowly remove weeds on a large field or to see goats and chickens running free, literally everywhere, because fencing is too expensive or to watch a tro-tro (large van used for public transportation) drive by, filled to the top with cassava roots, because very few people have vehicles, much less a truck to transport produce. This made me realize that many of the “solutions” I had for the problems of African farmers were not solutions at all if they depended on a resource they could not easily obtain.

Finally, I have realized that despite language barriers and geographical differences, when you meet a person who is dedicated to their work in agriculture, that passion is universal. Farmers in Ghana care about their crops and livestock and worry about weather, pests, yields and the market, just like in the United States. Agriculture educators search for new, innovative information to pass on to their students, just like in the United States. Students studying agriculture at senior high schools or universities in Ghana have decided to spend their lives working in the industry that feeds the world, just like students in the United States.

 In conclusion, I would like to encourage any student, who is given the opportunity, to venture outside their familiar, comfort zone - experience, first-hand, a culture or practice different than your own. You will quickly notice the differences, and you will come to recognize the similarities. My guess is that you will walk away from the experience with a greater appreciation for your home and a greater understanding of the diversity of our world; I know I have."

Lyndee

Update

The Last Few Weeks

Hello everyone! I hope that everyone back in the States are doing very well. The last few weeks have been very busy. I have been in Accra working with the Agape House New Testament Church. I also went on a mission trip to Wa, in the Upper West Region, with the Preacher's Apprentices at Agape. The mission trip to Wa was very humbling. I went to 3 different villages in the Upper West Region, Kalkapoor, Chaang and Siriyiri. While I was there, we gave out a ton of clothes to the parents and especially the kids, dug bore holes for some of the villages and most of all, got to tell people about Jesus that have never heard before. It is unbelievable how God works in the heart of people that have never heard the story of Christ. God just keeps amazing me how he can use my messed up life to give Him Glory. Along with Lyndee, The theme of my time in Ghana has been I am not in CONTROL, but through my struggles I have come to realize the God is COMPLETELY IN CONTROL.

We are excited to be settling in our home in Odumasi Krobo and we will continue to update you all about our experiences!

Your brother in Christ,

Kyler

 

Some of my Brother and Sisters in the Preacher's Apprentice Program 

My Brothers Prince Henry and Michael

I spent August 28, 2015 riding a trotro on a highway with seriously deep potholes, surrounded by tropical rainforest, passing roadside vendors and women balancing impressively large loads on their heads, on my way to Koforidua, Ghana, Africa.

I spent August 28, 2005 (exactly 10 years ago) in Flagler, Colorado, United States, becoming a baptized believer of Jesus Christ.

The transformation that has taken place in my life during those 10 years is one that can only be attributed to a God who redeems and loves. I cannot remember my exact perception of God on the day I was baptized, but I know that as each season of my life passes, I gain new understanding of who God is. Every relationship, adventure, hard time, good time, excitement and frustration I experience grants me another glimpse of God at work in my life. My prayer is that I never stop trying to know God better. I could live a million years and never come close to realizing the depth of His love for me – but as long as I am striving to do just that, my life will be better for it.

Lately, the theme of life’s lessons has been clear: I am not in control!

This lesson started before we ever arrived in Ghana. Kyler and I assumed that we would know our village placement many months before we actually did. We also had a last-minute change of plans for Kyler’s living/working situation during our first month in Ghana (while I was training).

There was more than one instance when our frustration over this bubbled up to the surface and we ended up having some I-am-mad-at-the-situation-but-not-at-you arguments. Thankfully, we were able to see the big picture and decided, together, that it did not matter if we knew exactly where or when we were going. What mattered was that we put our trust in a God who works for the good of those who love him [Romans 8:28]. One of my favorite sayings is “grow wherever you are planted,” and that is exactly what we intend to do.

Since we’ve been in Ghana, we’ve also come to realize that we are not in control of…

…the electricity. Sometimes it is on…sometimes it is off. When the lights go out, you just gotta bust out the headlamp and candles and pretend like you’re camping!

…plumping. Sometimes, the person a few houses down doesn’t pay their water bill, therefore all running water is shut off. This must be viewed as an opportunity for a free cross-fit-style workout that involves carrying buckets of water up the hill to the house. (Note: do not try to carry the buckets full of water on your head like you see all the Ghanaians doing… this will only result in sadness.)

…transportation.  Trotros (basically large vans) are a common way of getting around. Some trotros, especially long-distance ones, are actually pretty nice. Most trotros, however, are a bit dusty, quite crowded and have Ghanaian pop music blasting through the speakers. Once you embrace the excitement of a trotro ride and accept that personal space is really not that important, you will have a good time - the unpredictability is half the fun. Your trotro may break down in the middle of a round-about, causing you to hop out and catch another trotro. You may go to shut the sliding door of your trotro, only to have the door fall completely off. Whatever the case, always be prepared to laugh it off.

…the amount of pepe (hot pepper) that comes on your food. Ghanaians like their food spicy! That being said, the food is actually pretty great here. I've eaten a lot of chicken and jollof rice and I’ve tried many of the local dishes including fufu (a dough made with cassava and plantain served with spicy soup), banku (basically fermented corn dough), redred (slightly spicy beans and red sauce…my personal favorite) and lots and lots of fish (mostly tilapia, cooked whole and put on your plate).

At the end of the day, I appreciate how out-of-control my life is. If it were all up to me, I’d probably be in the same, old, comfort zone I was in 10 years ago. The moments when we give up control are the ones in which adventures start. I could not have possibly imagined the paths that led me to this point in my life, but thankfully I have a God who did and who continues to do so.

Love from Ghana,

Lyndee

We have been given our village placement!

Odumase Krobo, Ghana

 

We will be living for 11 months in Odumase Krobo, a town in the Eastern region of Ghana, in between the capitol city of Accra and the southern end of Lake Volta. Kyler will be teaching English to community members using FriendSpeak curriculum and connecting with local churches to discover how we can best serve our community. Lyndee will be teaching an agriculture class at a senior high school and helping lead the local 4-H club.