Last Blog from Ghana

14 Hours to go,  yikes what a scary thought!   We’re still we’re packing, so of course I’m blogging.  Actually the packing is almost done, or should I say one last time, is coming.  As I write this its 9:15pm and Suzanne is still working at Ashesi, and my guess will be until moments before we take off. 

We had our Last Supper at Papaye for their amazing fried chicken and either fried rice or chips (french fries).  Said way too many good-byes, and I feel numb.  The nice thing is Ashesi is keeping the house and five people move in soon, so we get to leave behind a lot of our furnishings, and stuff we care about, but not enough to put in storage or ship back.

Over the week-end we took our last family vacation, even though most of us were feeling sick. It was a wise decision to take those three days off and visit Lake Bosumtwe because we all got well.  It was a grand last visit to see our wonderful friends Andrew & Ju Jernigan who just had a baby boy last Saturday.  While on the trip, something terrible happened, we turned old.  All our kids are now teenagers, as Anna had her 13^th Birthday.

So we fly to Connecticut where we will stay with Suzanne’s mother Nelda, and her husband Charlie until July, then I’ll fly back to Austin to pick up a car and Grace.  Grace and I will meet the rest of the family in at DFW to go to Denton and tour the University of North Texas, where Grace will be in school next year as part of a residential high school called the Texas Academy of Math and Science (TAMS).  Fox will be returning to Ghana to finish high school and graduate from Lincoln Community School (LCS) with an International Baccalaureate degree.  Anna will be living with her parents in Georgetown and making more new friends like the wonderful ones she left in Ghana.  Her best friend Fanta, will be going to school in Toronto, so there is hope they will get to see each other.  Dress warm Fanta, and God Speed with all those crazy Canadian canucks!

Over the summer we will be attending Re-Entry Camp at MTI, thanks to the generous support of Foundation United Methodist Church, my old church.  They call it DAR (Debrief and Renewal) but what I’ve heard is its a really good idea for families returning from an intense experience to have some help with reentry.  

That said, Suzanne will resume teaching at Southwestern University, in the Math and Computer Science department, and the Bishop has appointed me to a new part-time position as Associate Pastor and Director of Music at Wellspring United Methodist Church, in Georgetown, Texas.   

Like those who have left before me, I still have many more blogs to write on Ghana, and maybe I’ll even post a few of them.  I want to say a special thank you to all who supported us these past two years to especially to Nelda & Charlie Nardone who forwarded our mail and sent us the comics, and were our launch and landing points when leaving and returning to the states.  To my dad Wes Buchele, who brought us to Ghana I the 60s, and helped us return in so many ways this time, to my sister Beth who came to my rescue in South Africa, and was the gifted healer.  To The Church at Horseshoe Bay, who’s financial support allowed us to pour more of our ourselves into ministry here than would have otherwise been possible, growing the kingdom in ways they will never see, at least this side of eternity. To our monthly contributors, the Thompsons, the Redus family, Ambra,  and the Belobrajdic’s,  your support allowed me to speak into the lives, or I should say sing into their lives of missionary kids here in Accra.  Their world is better because of you.  To Barb & Phil, your gift allowed us a year of Emergency Ambulance service, a service we only used once, but what a huge difference it made.  To all our supporters I don’t have time to name, thank you so much for believing in us, and especially to Hulda Burger, who said that even $5 dollars can make a difference here.  Hulda you were right, and thanks for trusting us!

Well, its time to get back to packing, take off is 12 hours away (and Suzanne did finally finish at Ashesi at 9:45pm).

Oh and one more thing, thanks for reading our blog! God Bless!