So I've decided to break up the week in some short segments, just to give you an idea of our journey. (When I say 'short', you know I don't really mean it. Consider yourself warned.) This will by no means be all-inclusive, so if you have further questions, just holler. But here are the highlights you can look forward to: team and Ghanaian culture, the US vs. Ghana futbol rematch, VBS/camp activities, Lake Volta, and a post with my favorite photos from the week.

Before jumping in, I have to give a shout-out to my sweet family for surprising me in Dallas when we returned on Friday. It was a huge blessing to come home to their love and support... and some really good food. Love you guys!

**********************

Alright, here we go... If you've ever been to camp, on a mission trip, international excursion, etc., you know that the people you travel with can make or break the experience. That said, I could not have dreamed up a better team to travel to Ghana with. It helped to already know 2/3 of the crew going in, but there wasn't a single person out of the 12 that I was ready to get some space from. Everyone was so gracious, selfless, flexible... We laughed together (A LOT), cried together, and ate strange food together. Below is a shot of Joanne, Levi and myself getting ready to feast on a whole Tilapia, scales and all. I hate fish, but it was actually quite good.

Not only did we have 10 hour plane rides both ways, we had 10 hour dirt road bus rides too. This was the part of the journey that I was perhaps dreading the most, but it went really smoothly. We had a great driver and everyone had positive attitudes about being wall to wall in the bus for so long. Here we are crammed in and ready to go after arriving in Accra. Apparently the Fields were working out "tips for the boys" and didn't make the photo, but this is everyone else!

We spent a night in Tema, outside of Accra, and then traveled up to Kete Krachi for the week. I can certainly say that it was well worth the drive, one that I hope to make many more times. The scenery was beautiful along the way... trees, mountains, lots of green, and lots of goats. Here's a shot out the back of the bus. (This part was on the paved portion of the road.)

This was our first view of Lake Volta. Quite beautiful.


On Ghanaian culture:
*TIme: Ghanaian time is drastically different from American time, go figure. This was a constant battle for us, but also a good exercise is letting go of control and scheduling. It was oftentimes nice to just bounce from place to place and not worry about time.
*Beauty: African people are truly beautiful. I've always thought that, but seeing it in person really impressed that on me. Most everyone we met (except for the lady who yelled at me for taking her picture!), especially up in Krachi, waved and smiled at us. They are very welcoming and giving people as a whole.
*Strength: Everything, and I do mean everything, is carried on the head in Ghana. Vegetables, furniture, water buckets, wares to sell, large bundles of sticks, concrete blocks, laundry... I bet just about anything you can imagine, we saw being carried on someone's head – even young children followed suit. Pretty awesome balancing and strength. These people work hard, barefeet and all.
*Icons: Ghanaians love Obama. Whether his face is a good thing to promote or not, you can find it on food packages, school book covers, shirts, etc. Makes me wonder what other bits of American culture are present in various places around the world.
*Community: The Ghanaians up in Krachi (and the kids at Village of Life) know what it means to live in community with each other. I could write a separate post just on this, but the people there really live out the concept of sharing what they have and being responsible for one another. Very cool to see that in action.

Alright, there's long and then there's loooooong. Here are the girls and the boys from our team to wrap up. So blessed by each one of them!

Levi, Jeremy, Michael, Chris & Marcus


Rachel, Kristy, Joanne, Stacey, Angela, me, Allison

Well, we are home. Friday was the big day of return for the 12 of us, and for me, it was bittersweet. My body was certainly ready to be back, but my heart is still very much in a remote village in West Africa. I have every belief that it will be there for quite some time, and I could not be more excited about that. I've been on quite a few mission trips/camps and experienced those 'mountaintop' moments. I know that 'spiritual high' feeling, and while part of me is feeling some of that, the majority of me knows that this journey has put to shame anything that would dare compete. When you touch a 7 year old child in slavery and have to leave him there, there's no way your life can ever be the same. Shame on me if that is ever just a 'spiritual high' moment. So, there's a lot to process, and I feel like I have yet to even begin. However, I'd hate to leave you hanging, so below are a few thoughts that I shared at Heritage this morning. Check the Heritage site later this week to listen to the entire thing, as well as thoughts from Allison, Chris and Stacey.

***********************

The kids made countless art projects this last week. I certainly got a lot of joy watching the kids craft and create things of their very own, all so unique. The kids just loved all of it, whether they were 7 or 18, whether they could say their colors in English, or couldn’t speak a word of our language. We cut and glued construction paper, painted paper and t-shirts, made beaded jewelry and colored in coloring books. Art is one of those things that translates across culture, and I was so excited to get to share that with the kids. It was humbling to watch the children learn new things. One little boy who had never seen watercolors before couldn’t get the paint on his paper. He tried to scrape it out with just the brush to no avail. When I showed him how to add the water, he looked up at me with this priceless smile, in awe of how the water made his picture come to life.


On the last day of camp, we had two art stations: the watercolor pictures and a yarn wrapping art, which I've heard called God’s Eyes or Dreamcatchers. Based on the previous days, I figured most of the kids would want to paint, but they all immediately went straight for the yarn and popsicle sticks and started working. This was one project they didn’t need to be taught. I was a little surprised, as I thought that would be a new craft to them, but figured they’d probably seen a lot of weaving and clothes making in the villages. A few minutes later, it occurred to me that the kids were so adept at this art because they had mended countless fishing nets in the past. At 8 and 10 years old, they were experts with string and tying and knots. It was a speechless moment for me. It struck me that these children were having the chance, many for the very first time, to turn their skills from slavery into something beautiful and colorful, something that brought them great joy instead of pain.



It was humbling to be a part of that joy and to be able to share those things with the children. That moment was one in which I really saw justice and mercy come to life. Transformations are taking place in the lives of these children. He is redeeming them and filling their futures with new life and hope. To participate in and witness that was indescribable. Our God has called me in a powerful way this week to live a life full of justice and mercy wherever I go. It’s hard to believe that he would choose me, and all of us, to partner with Him in that. But I’m grateful and excited to see what that will mean for my life.

To close, a few verses from Isaiah 42: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations… In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged til he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope. This is what God the Lords says – he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those that walk on it: I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord… I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”

I truly believe, more than ever, that God does not forsake His people, especially His very special children halfway across the world on a lake in Ghana, West Africa.

***********************

Check back for more stories and thoughts from the trip. I assure you there are enough to fill a book. I'm frantically editing pictures and working on other various things (like finding work!), so thanks for being patient and for all your support and prayers for this trip!

I woke up with nervous excitement today.

I'll refrain from breaking out in song Annie-style, but 24 hours from now I'll be checking my pack in at DFW and going through security on my way to Ghana with 11 friends. Woohoo! It's hard to believe the trip is finally here after so much preparation and discussion and waiting (on my part)...

I have high hopes for this trip. Not high hopes for my experience, although I know it will be grand and adventurous (I am, after all, a Nickson), but high hopes for the way God is going to use our team to influence the people we encounter, to love the children we meet. Our team is diverse, coming from Dallas, College Station, Orange, and even Missouri. I know most of the group, with a few exceptions, and cannot wait to share these experiences with them. In case you like names, here's our crew: myself, Chris, Stacey, Rachel, Allison, Marcus, Michael, Angela, Kristi, Levi, Jeremy, and Joanne. Please remember us all in your prayers this next week.

As expected with such a trip, there are numerous things that we simply cannot prepare for until we arrive. One of those things is the level of English that the children will be able to speak in Kete Krachi. Most of them haven't had much schooling, if any, at this point so I have a feeling that we'll be doing a lot of 'showing' rather than 'speaking'. The best part about this is that God's love translates from culture to culture, regardless of any language barrier. (Insert cheesy cliche here.) But we chose our themes for the week based on that fundamental truth, desiring to share God's love with these precious kids above anything else. Here are the verses we chose, in giant floor puzzle form. This puzzle will be one of our Free Time art activities, and I'm pretty excited about it. Also, this image is pre-puzzle piece cutting, so yes, there are more than 6 pieces!

Honestly, I'm pretty excited about the 2 foot tall lion. :)

Here's some good reading material for you while I'm gone. It's an
article about Congolese women and their running efforts to support each other. Written by Runner's World and very powerful. I guess running also translates cross-culture pretty well. That being the case, I should be in good shape in Ghana!

Well, that's all I've got this morning. Our flight leaves DFW at 11:45 tomorrow morning and returns at 10:45ish on the morning of the 30th. Ghana time is 5 hours ahead of Texas, so you can know what part of the day it is for us there. Thanks for all the prayers, encouragement, and support of this journey. I promise to return with more pictures than I know what to do with!

I'm sure I've posted this before, but I just really like this verse...
"Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."

Be blessed this week!

On Sunday, my friend Kathleen and I went to this cool park up in Plano to hang out and take random photos. We also discovered a secret recipe for chocolate chip cookies that don't flatten pancake-style as soon as they come out of the oven. Gold mine. Maybe I'll share the secret if you ask me really nicely. Here's a quick recap of the afternoon.

My pal Vaughn helped us bake... by taking a nap. His brother Felix was too good to have his picture taken:

Here is a park shot for my little buddies in Abilene who like to visit the playground.

And here is an old mail train.

And here is my beautiful friend Kathleen. We have matching cameras. And matching backpacks.

And here is a nice gazebo, as gazebos go.

And that's the end of the tour.

Enjoyed some good conversation Wednesday night in our discussion of Francis Chan's Crazy Love. We talked about Jeremiah 1:4-5 and how God chose Jeremiah to be a prophet before he was even born, which evokes the myriad of evasive questions about God's plan and purpose for our lives. "Does God have a plan for each one of us?" "How do I know God's will for my life?" "If God already knows what I'm going to do with my life, does he know what shirt I should wear to dinner tonight?" "And what about that whole predestination bit?" You get the picture...

I've certainly spent my fair share of time contemplating this jumble of ideas, but some thoughts were presented and discussed the other night that really helped me understand this whole "plan and purpose" debacle a bit better.

I think that God does have a plan for us, but it's not how we think of plans. We see tangible plans, like daily lists and events, where we might be in 5 or 10 years, where we will live, who we will share life with. But I think God's plan is more like this: He desires us to do whatever it is that will use the talents that He gave us to their full potential so that He will be glorified. Somewhat obvious, but I know there are times when I get wrapped up in the future and really wanting to find God's will for my life and getting frustrated when I can't figure out what that is. I need to think bigger picture...

So in regards to our friend Jeremiah... Maybe God didn't think 'Jeremiah will be a prophet as his "career", Paul will be a tentmaker/missionary, Susie will be a stay-at-home Mom, John will be a construction worker', etc. Maybe He thought, 'I already know Jeremiah will be a prophet because that's the role I created for him that will allow him to reach his full potential with the gifts I've given him. And if Jeremiah is truly seeking Me, then he'll find that role and play it out for My glory'. So then maybe God knows that Susie will be a stay-at-home Mom because that is the role in which Susie is at her absolute best and is able to glorify Him most...

I don't think God has planned every detail of my life (although yes, He knows it all). I think He has planned, and hopes, for me to do whatever it is that will fully utilize my talents to bring Him the most glory possible in the spec of time that I exist on this earth. He doesn't care whether I'm an artist, a business executive, or drive a trash truck. He just cares that I seek to use my talents to their full potential for His glory during my brief existence. As I'm typing this, I feel like that's sorta a 'no-brainer', but seems to shed a different light on the subject for me this week. Maybe instead of trying to figure out "what to do with my life", I should be looking at the talents I have and searching for the role that will use all of those to their full potential. Yes?

Finally, Allison shared a good thought that has stuck with me these last few days as well: "Wherever you are, be there. Be fully present."

Stop back by for one more post before departure time!

Blur. That's what the last week has been...

Drove to De Leon on Friday to hang out with my friend Emily. She lives in the cutest country house (complete with rocking chairs on the front porch) on 50 acres of beautiful land with her grandfather and sweet little dog. Emily is an amazing artist and encouraging friend; it was a huge blessing to get to spend a peaceful day in great conversation with her. Here's a shot of the De Leon area as I was leaving. Love it. Miss the countryside.



On to Abilene from there on Saturday. World Cup consolation match, swimming pool with the kids, watermelon salsa and chicken fried rice for dinner. Sunday church, steak, salads, and blackberry tea for lunch. World Cup final (disappointing...) and a mango snow cone. Lots of playtime with Wyatt and Emmerson. Home on Monday. Surprisingly, didn't take a single picture. However, here are the beautiful roses that Emily got for Mom and I. So sweet.



Monday night was the kick-off of a running group at The Bridge, so Allison and I headed over there to check it out. Pretty cool, certainly could use a little organization, but that's coming from me so may not be relevant. There were about 25 of us total, including residents and volunteers, and we got to meet several new friends. Run On is sponsoring the group right now, donating shoes and running clothes to the residents. At some point, the group will be working in conjunction with Back on My Feet. Very cool and excited to see where the program goes.

Then a few days of catching up on work and other items and here we are less than one week out from the big trip. Time is flying, and I know if will even more in this last week. My room looks like this at the moment:



I figure as long as there's a path to my bed, I'll be good! Really excited about all the art projects and other activities we have planned. Thanks to everyone who donated items and supplies to us; the kids will love it all!




By Sunday, all the art supplies will be packed in their respective tubs and ready to make the trip, with my pack soon to follow!