Wiedemann May 2020

“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands” (Psalm 90:17).

Greetings from Ghana!

Warning: there will be a quiz at the end of this newsletter so read carefully.

“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us”

The notes in my Bible indicated that “favor” can also be the word “beauty.” The picture above is of our oldest girls when they accompanied me to church before the lockdown. Please pray that their outward beauty will be surpassed by their inward loveliness.

Not long after my initial arrival in Ghana (May 2005), I had the privilege of accompanying the Orphan Care Administrator to pick up baby Moses and bring him to his new Rafiki home. His mother had died giving birth and the father was not able to care for him. I still remember how tiny he was, the rag he wore for a diaper and his big brown eyes. I prayed fervently as I cradled him in my hands like a precious book. I wondered if this fragile and frail baby would survive. The favor of our Lord was upon Moses and the tiny babe began to thrive. He grew into a chubby toddler and was a contemplative youngster.

Moses in 2007

“Establish the work of our hands”

Moses is now in Junior High School and enjoys reading. He recently finished Eric Metaxas’ Seven Men. Moses has a tender heart and a helpful spirit.

Moses’ current school picture

Each day during our break, when most of the resident children were visiting their family villages, he would voluntarily come and work in my yard. He would water the plants, weed, tear down termite hills, and sweep the walkway. Soon Azumah was also coming to my yard to help. She is in grade six and always made sure the bird bath was clean. I was delighted that they decided on their own to help.

Each evening I walk to the gate and feed the “stray” cats. Pets are not common here; in fact, it is not uncommon for cats and dogs to be used as food. Hence, Moses and Azumah were hesitant to join me. Moses indicated he did not like cats and was frightened by them. However, they both decided to come and soon began to develop a new understanding of “having dominion over God’s creation.” In fact, now Moses makes sure the food is “smushed” because the brother cat does not have strong teeth!

This evening ritual has now expanded to a nightly walk around the Village and Francesca has decided to “be among.” What a lovely time of interesting questions, laughter, and conversations of God’s amazing love. The Holy Spirit is softening hearts, opening minds and changing behavior. Over the weeks we have had many conversations, and I am witnessing God’s Word at Work.

You can see the physical transformation of Moses, and I can witness to the spiritual growth of all three. Please pray for their spiritual transformation to continue.

Francesca, Azumah, and Moses

One evening we were finishing our walk and a beautiful lightening storm was on display. We all marveled at God’s power and the fact that we could capture the flashes with my camera!


Ghana closed schools in mid-March. Our teachers are doing their best to reach and teach the day students. This sweet request came from Teacher Maritha. You will notice they use the word “please” often:

Please good afternoon ma’am. Please I make video calls with my students when I’m having morning cycle (the one we do before Bible), teaching Bible or reviewing something we did last term. I want my students to enjoy the short time I will be having with them every morning. Please can I have the lyrics to the hymns below when you make some time? Please a parent heard me singing these hymns with the child and she asked for the lyrics. I don’t know if you can help me get it.

1. Tell Me The Story Of Jesus

2. Sing Them Over Again To Me Wonderful Words Of Life

I am so thankful for technology to allow our teachers to do Distance Learning with the day students. What a wonderful witness to the entire family! Yes, establish the work of our hands!

Now it is quiz time. Do you notice the connection between the scripture verse and the first orphan I was blessed to receive? Correct. Moses, the man of God, wrote Psalm 90! Life in the wilderness requires God’s own favor to be with us as our source of true joy and satisfaction. We trust that because He establishes the works of our hands, they will have eternal significance.

Thank you for your partnership in the work here. We are in strange times, but they are not unknown to God. I am grateful for your steadfast faithfulness dear friends.

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