Sunday afternoon was our first full day at the Village of Life, and I have to say, it was probably my favorite day of the trip. It was certainly one of unplanned madness, but ended up being so much fun. It was a day in which I went to sleep that night knowing that I had completely poured myself out every moment of the day. Here's a shot of the grounds, just to give you an idea. Bryan's House (boys) and Jantsen's House (girls) are the blue buildings up on the left. From the backside of the houses you can see Lake Volta in the distance. Then there are a few sun huts for cooking/shade areas. And then down on the right is the new schoolhouse with 3 classrooms.
We were blessed to participate in a worship service that morning with all the kids, house parents, and George's family. Let me tell ya, these people know how to worship. I've never participated in a service that was so unabashedly pure. We crammed in one of the school rooms and raised our voices until I was certain the roof was gonna pop off. And then we sang some more. I guess when you've lived in the lowest of lows, as these children have, you have so much joy and excitement that you can't help but praise God with every ounce of your being. And so they did.
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After lunch we painted t-shirts with the kids. This was one of the art projects that I was a bit skeptical about, but it went so well. Our crew really jumped right in helping the kids and trying to keep paint on shirts, not people. The idea was to use handprints as a tree trunk and then thumbprints for the leaves of the tree. They were all so unique and colorful. And many of the kids wore their shirts for the rest of the week. Here are a few shots of the painting:
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...and we just thought the World Cup was over! After church, George had announced that there would be a Ghana vs. USA futbol match at 4:30 and he was coaching. I was thinking a short game of pick-up, sub people in and out, just kick the ball around. Oh, no! They had jerseys! And quasi-referees (just like the World Cup!)! Anyway, here's the Ghanaian team, ready to go, though not the best picture. They didn't have time for such nonsense as picture-taking; they were ready to play. 
USA! USA! USA! Here is our team, Coach George, and a small barefoot child dribbling the ball right around me.
In conclusion, we did manage to win 3-2 in overtime (that's right!) after a slide-tackle play by Pastor Chris. We also had the help of our Ghanaian goalie, Gameli. But don't think we didn't get 'schooled' overall. Team USA was not used to a playing field of rocks, tall grass and small ravines. Or the 2 hour game time! It would be so cool to get to take these kids to a REAL full-sized field one day...
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