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Dear Friends & Family,

I have the opportunity to travel, again, to Ghana, Africa this summer for a two-week medical mission trip with several others from my home congregation. It will be another rewarding experience for me in many ways. I am looking forward to working with the brethren once again throughout Ghana. I am writing you to ask for your support spiritually through your prayers. I am also seeking financial support if you and/or your congregation are able to help.

Several Christians will travel on a mission trip to the less traveled northern region Ghana for up to two weeks in the summer of 2013. The purpose of the trip is to strengthen the congregation of the Lord’s church that was established as a result of our trips from 2004 - 2008. During these campaigns, three new churches were established; some 400 souls were added to the Lord’s church. During the 2008 campaign a gospel meeting was held, with over 24 congregations being represented. In between campaigns two church buildings were erected for the newly established congregations. In addition thousands have been treated in the medical clinics conducted by the mission travelers and sponsored by the Church of Christ Medical Clinic in Yendi.

The mission team will be led by Ted Wheeler, who is based at a congregation meeting at Venice, Florida. Ted began mission work in Ghana in 1980 with his first trip. Since then, he has spent five years in residence there, and has made annual trips since. He has been instrumental in establishing a number of congregations throughout Ghana, and has also worked with the National Bible Institute in the city of Accra. To learn more about the past and ongoing mission efforts in Ghana, visit Ted’s website at http://ghanamissions.com.

Our approximate expenses are $4000 per person. This helps cover immunizations, airfare, ground travel expenses, meals and accommodations. Any financial help is greatly appreciated. Upon my return I will report our mission’s successes and experiences to everyone that has provided support spiritually and/or financially.

Financial Contributions should be sent to:

Cary Church of Christ

6640 Tryon Road

Cary, North Carolina 27518

Please write in the memo:Ghana Missions–Laura M. Brown

Thank you in advance for your support through prayer and I hope to hear from you soon if you or your congregation will be able to assist with financial support. Take care and may God continue to bless each and every one of you.

“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Mark 16:15

In Christian love,

Laura M. Brown

Lord, please give me Patience. Help me to be patient with my grandmother who has dementia. Help me to be caring and loving. Father, I pray for wisdom and guidance. I need your words to fill my thoughts and my mind. Please help me to speak with words of love and understanding to everyone. I need to be more understanding how I affect others with my words. Father, I need to be more responsible. Help me to get my priorities straight and get things done that I need to. Be with Anthony. Help guide him in his career. Give him wisdom. Help him to be more positive and look to you more. Help me with that as well. Help us to have a Christ centered relationship. Give me a caring and kind heart. Help me to show your love through my actions. You know what is on my heart. I speak to you daily. Be with me, Lord. Protect me and watch over me. Protect and watch over my family and my boyfriend. I love you. Thank you for your son’s sacrifice. I am not deserving of your grace, yet I ask for it. I am not deserving of your forgiveness for my sins, yet again, I ask you for it. I want to live my life for you, all for you. Be with me, Lord. Amen. 

Sunday April 22nd, 2012

Woke up early sunday morning to get ready for church, meeting Aunt DJ, and heading back home to Houston. Anthony met us at the hotel again and had breakfast with us. We went to Lakeside Church of Christ, in Mansfield, which was right across the street from the hotel. I really liked it. It reminded Anthony and I of Downtown COC back in Searcy, Arkansas. We only could stay til after communion. We had to check out of the hotel and drive almost an hour to go meet Aunt DJ for lunch.

We met her at David Beards Catfish and Seafood Restaurant. Anthony was excited because he loves Catfish. I got the chicken fried steak. And the hushpuppies were AMAZING. So light and crispy but not hard. Homemade with jalepenos in them. YUM. It was great getting to catch up with Aunt DJ. I know Ammu enjoyed seeing her younger sister. 

After lunch we went to Aunt DJ’s house. She’s collected lots of little house things for me and also gave me a brand new pub table set and 4 new chairs for the dining room. Also beautiful new drapes for the dining room and living room. Aunt DJ and Anthony took the pub table apart and then we all played Tetris to see how much we could fit into the back of the expedition. We fit everything inside except for one chair. DJ will come down for memorial day weekend and bring that with her. 

Ammu, Anthony and I left DJ’s and headed back to Mansfield to drop Anthony back off at his car so he could go to work. Ammu and I then made the 5 hour trip back to Houston. 

Saturday April 21st, 2012

Ammu and I woke up at 7:30am to start getting ready for Jennifer’s wedding. We both needed showers and to eat. Anthony came to the hotel at about 8am and had breakfast with us. He was already dressed and ready for the wedding. Sometimes I envy the fact that all they have to do is take a 5 minute shower, dry off, dress & they’re good to go. I however, took 2 and a half hours getting ready…. 

Well in the process of getting ready Ammu came to me asking if she could use my brush because she left hers at home. And we learned she’d also left her shampoo…and conditioner, body wash, deodorant, tooth paste and tooth brush. I loaned her everything. Except I told her I would not loan her my tooth brush. I let her know that the front desk has extra for cases like these. She went down stairs to ask for one. She finally came back upstairs and asked, “Laura, is this our remote? I picked it up off the counter and I was wondering how our remote got downstairs..” Oh boy… I laughed & replied, “No Ammu, our remotes up here. That belongs to the front desk.” I joked around telling her there were some things I wanted from the store that she could just go “pick up” like she did the remote. She returned it downstairs and told them that her granddaughter was calling her a shop lifter haha. They laughed and told her thank you for returning it. 

We finally finished getting ready and headed out to Target to get a gift bag & card. On the way there my GPS on my phone stopped working. That was our ONLY way to get to the wedding. Great. Anthony and my mom discussed how we were going to get there while I ran into Target to get the gift bag and card. Mama sent the directions and I found GPS on Ammu’s phone. We subscribed to it for 2 weeks for 5 dollars. We NEEDED it.

We made it to the Chapel! It was absolutely beautiful.

The Wedding was REALLY small and very simple. Only Family and close friends. The Ceremony wasn’t too long and was nice. After the ceremony we all grabbed butterflies and bubbles to release while Jennifer and Bryan left the church. I’d never heard of a Butterfly release at weddings. Very unique. They were frozen in paper and warmed up so that they’d fly away. Well Ammu didn’t know what was in the little triangular folded up paper and squeezed it. Well that butterfly got squished. I choose bubbles on the other hand. I don’t like Butterflies very much. 

After the wedding we drove over to K Star Ranch for the Reception. The appetizers were different cheeses, crackers, chips, and chilled grilled veggies. There was iced tea, water, bud light and sangria for drinks. Dinner was served after the first dance. It was SO good. We had Porked chops with a mushroom sauce, gourmet mac n cheese, loaded mashed potatoes, salad, and more grilled veggies. There was a candy bar with lots of chocolate and fruit flavored things. 

Anthony took me to the dance floor and danced with me to a few slow songs. We felt very texan dancing the two-step :) I love dancing with him. It’s so romantic and I can’t help but smile when we do. I also danced the Cupid Shuffle with Jennifer and a couple other girls. None of the boys would dance! Lame. Ammu was getting restless so I told her we would leave as soon as they cut the cake. We got a few pictures in the photo booth they had there with funny glasses and hats. It was a nice and simple wedding. It was good getting to see Jennifer. And I know Ammu loved getting to see the rest of the family. 

After the wedding Ammu stayed at the hotel to talk to Poppy, relax & rest. Anthony took me to the movie theatre and we watched 21st Jump Street. Hilarious movie. We were dying laughing. We also downed a whole large popcorn drenched in movie theatre butter. :) After the movie we came back to the hotel and relaxed in the hot tub. It wasn’t really that hot… but we turned the jets on and basically turned into 6 year olds trying to plug all the jets with our arms and feet :) 

I had a fabulous 2 year anniversary. We didnt celebrate much since we’re both budgeted. But we still had a wonderful day. Went to the wedding, had dinner and cake, Sangria, danced alone on the dance floor, went to the movies, and relaxed. 

Friday, April 20th

Ammu and I slept in on accident a little this morning. But we finally made it on the road. We had a nice drive. We hit a little bit of rain but it didn’t set us behind very much. Dahlilah came with us! Ammu just loves Dahlilah. Bringing her gives her a sort of comfort. 

Anthony met us at the La Quinta Inn that we’re staying at and helped us unpack. I was SO happy to see him. I haven’t seen him in a month and haven’t talked to him in a week due to technical issues. After we unloaded the car into the hotel room we went to Cracker Barrel to eat. One of Ammu’s favorite restaurants and a major family tradition. 

I love watching Ammu and Anthony interact with each other. He is so kind and sweet to her. And it warms my heart to see someone I love being cared for. Ammu thinks Anthony’s just the sweetest boy ever :)

After lunch we came back to the hotel and Ammu got to relax. Anthony and I went to the hotels pool downstairs and relaxed in the hot tub for a while. It was so wonderful getting to sit back and enjoy just being near him. I’ve missed him and hearing his daily stories and listening to him talk about his life. 

After a while it was time for him to go to work so off he went and I stayed behind to get a shower and clean up. Ammu and I decided on Olive Garden for dinner but my GPS obviously had other plans. We ended up going to Chili’s instead. Ammu isn’t sure if she’s ever been there or not, but she loved it. :) 

We have retired for the evening. We spent about an hour and a half talking to Mama & Poppy. We didn’t bring the wedding invitation so we needed to find out the address and time of the festivities tomorrow. Ammu, while on the phone with poppy who was looking for the invitation back home in Houston, said, “I think I may need to run home and get that…” I replied, “We’re 4 and a half hours away…” Ammu responded, “Oh…”
I don’t think I’ve laughed this hard all month. I just had to call mom and let her know. Ammu was crying she was laughing so hard. This is one of my favorite things and memories is when she laughs so hard it brings her to tears. She deserves to laugh this way. Well, We have a busy busy day scheduled for tomorrow. Jennifer’s wedding and mine and Anthony’s 2 year.