Blessings in Bosomtwe & Beyond

The Artist, The Lover

Today again I am amazed at our artist, our creator – God – as I sit at the dining room table looking out over the meteor crater of Lake Bosomtwe on this cool morning. I do not take for granted these moments as they are quickly fading. Today I drive to Accra for a meeting tomorrow, and to ship some items from here (wedding albums and the like).

I was really comforted this morning in reading some thoughts from a high school classmate, Brad Willis, on his blog writings on God’s sovereignty. In addition the words of a hymn titled ‘Be Still, My Soul’ that I copy here, take a minute to read it.

1) Be still, my soul: the Lord is on your side;
bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
leave to your God to order and provide;
in every change he faithful will remain.
Be still my soul: your best, your heav'nly friend
through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

2) Be still, my soul: your God will undertake
to guide the future as he has the past.
Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake;
all now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
his voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

Finishing my fourth cup of strong Brazilian coffee with french toast to go tackle the day...I rest that ‘God will undertake to guide the future as He has the past’.  He has guided so wonderfully and I do rest in Him.  I do accept His great peace in this storm. It’s so indescribably how loving He is to us. I am so thankful to so many that have been emailing such caring notes to us!

"Let them boast in this alone: that they may truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who is just and righteous, whose love is unfailing, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken! Jeremiah 9:24 (NLT)

Prayer Request

Greetings from the Jernigan family in Ghana!

This is not the kind of update I was expecting to write you. And neither is an easy one to put in words.

In our last email we shared with you how construction at the clinic was moving so well, how blessed we were to host our dear Irish friends and how our family was adjusting to life back in the village.

Since then we received disturbing news concerning my medical license that compelled our family into a new twist. I say ‘twist’ because that is one of the words that can describe how Andrew and I have felt while going through a major transition phase that affects our presence in a country that we grew to love. We are carrying the peace that passes all understanding, but we would like to ask you for your prayers as our family gets ready to leave Ghana. The leaders of The Mission Society are aware of our situation and our status as missionaries remains unchanged.  We will be exploring our next steps with our leadership in the times ahead, and will be keeping you up to date. The Inpatient Care Centre will be completed soon, the wells for villages with no water are moving forward, and the new 4x4 ambulance arrives this month. It’s all a beautiful gift from God to the church and the people of the area. It has been a privilege to be agents of our Father’s love with you in the villages of Lake Bosomtwe.

Please stand with us, in faith:

•     for strength and safety in these next weeks,

•     for the necessary paperwork to come through without any delays, 

•     for Rebecca, our dear and precious intern, intercessor, Lucas’ teacher and friend as she relocates to the capital city (Accra), to minister with the Mozley family, colleagues with The Mission Society,

•     for our kids that are already so resilient, to be able to say healthy goodbyes looking forward to what is coming next

•     for the friends and patients around Lake Bosomtwe as they grieve our absence,

•     for the final stage of construction at the clinic to be finalized – for provision of the necessary funds and for encouragement for the workers on site,

•     for the Methodist Church Ghana to be able to find a doctor or nurse (that has a calling to serve the poor) to take over the work in Amakom

       and finally,

•     for the staff at the clinic as they continue without us the task of serving the community and sharing Christ’s love.

We apologize for the lack of details at this point, we will let you know more as we have a departure date set.

We love you with the love of Jesus and are grateful for you standing with us in prayer, in Him we have the victory,

Andrew, Ju, Lucas, Ana Luiza, and Nicolas

"Happy are those who fear the Lord.  Yes, happy are those who

delight in doing what he commands.  They do not fear bad news;

they confidently trust the Lord to care for them."

Psalm 112:1,7 (NLT)

If you feel led of the Lord to give an extra gift this month, please designate it: Jernigan Travel Fund to cover unexpected expenses. Send to The Mission Society, PO Box 922637, Norcross, GA 30092, or call 1-800-478-8963 to give by credit card by phone. Thank you for your continued support and prayers!

Friends showing love

It was truly moving as Juliana gave a wonderful message of love and hope to the staff and construction workers on Wednesday morning. They heard the news that we are leaving the work here and moving on.  Many cried, hugged us tightly, and grieved with deep, heart-felt sorrow.

The new building, ambulance entrance side showing in the picture, is now about 85% complete.  A LOT has been done in the last few days even so that this picture looks old.

We have seen God move in our time here.  Over three years in Ghana.  The workers on the project have been working hard and have participated in building a dream - from a small clinic to now a small hospital that will be a 30 bed capacity facility.

We praise God for the friendships made, and the partners that have given so generously to make it all happen.  Praise God! I still have a lot to do before we leave Ghana. The building will be moving rapidly forward to completion.  The money given for bore holes/wells for villages that don't have water has been transferred to the Ghana Water Project of The Mission Society, which is led by Mary Kay Jackson, based in Accra. Water is a wonderful gift that I really can't find words to describe the deep, life-changing impact that these gifts will do for all the families in these villages.  Thank you to so many people that give so willingly to help us in sharing the love of Jesus here in Ghana.  Thank you!

The project manager on the construction of the 'doctor bungalow', our house (pictured in the background behind Luiza), the new staff house, the rebuilt old doctor bungalow, the outpatient clinic, the office, and the new Inpatient Care Centre is Michael Bentum, who is shown here with Luiza.

Today I spent hours with him going over building progress, receipts, plans, task lists, and projections. Pray for him through this time especially as he is seeking God about his next step of where to live and work as he serves God in missions.

Wow, that was a LOT of patients

It was a super fast, and good visit of the Dunwoody UMC team here for four days of outreach. 

There were seventeen team members that did so much during their visit.  The doctors saw 839 patients (Saturday, Monday & Tuesday) which in turn kept the pharmacy overwhelmingly busy way past the closing time of the clinic each evening. The construction team members ended up working a lot of the time assisting so that the medical team could do their jobs, except for the electrical detail which assisted Michael in getting conduit and wiring in for most of the new Inpatient Care Centre.

On Sunday, we had a community service in Ankaase with all the churches meeting together.  Each had part of the s ervice, while Michael and I gave the message.  Wow, it was good.  God moved and spoke through us.  I praise God when we can be used of God.  Rebecca and Louise (pictured) had scripture readings in it - and did a great job! The service began at 11am and ended at 2pm. It was the first time for them to ever have a unified church service and afterwards they told us they would like to do it at least twice a year!  All for unity!

By 3pm we had eaten and were back to have an afternoon kid's camp in the village.  About 200 kids showed up and stayed through the rain before the team had to run to catch the boat back across to the hotel before the sun went down.  A long and good day.