We Made It Back

We're back everyone!! It was a little crazy getting back, but we made it. Our flight out of Ghana was an hour and a half late. Our flight to Nashville was delayed and we sat on the runway for 90 minutes until we took off. Kraig split off from us in New York to catch his train ride home to Pennyslvania. Randy split from the group also to catch his plane to Atlanta and then to Birmingham, Alabama. All this to say, the Nashville based group made it home around 12:00 AM. Once again, I want to thank all of you for your participation in this blog. I hope that you enjoyed reading it and feeling like you were in Ghana with us. Thank you again for your wonderful support and prayers. The Lord has done amazing things during our trip and I was thrilled to share them with you all when they happened. This is Parker signing off until next time...

Lord Bless,

Parker Rosenberger

*If you would like to learn more about Standing With Hope and the work we are doing in Ghana, West Africa, simply click on the title of this blog, "We Made It Back," or go to standingwithhope.com

Our Last Day

Well everyone, our trip is now over. Today was a very successfull day. We finished legs for several patients and the rest will be done next week by James and Kodi (head clinic workers). Randy fitted a little girl, above the knee amputee, and she walked for the first time. Kraig fitted an older woman who was also able to walk for the first time. Randy and Kraig both fitted an bilateral above the knee amputee, who was able to walk again in his life. We all then began to tidy things up in the clinic. Curtains were finished and inventory was organized. After all the patients had been discharged, we had a communion service with all the clinic workers. It was an incredibly moving time. After the service, we said all of our goodbyes, sheded many tears, and said our "can't wait till next times." Later that afternoon, some of us went back to the market for a little last minute shopping. I thank you all for your wonderful support. Without you, this trip would not have been a possibility. The Lord has done incredible things over the past two weeks. I can't wait to get home and start telling everyone how things went and showing the hundreds of pictures and videos. An entire other type of work begins when we get back. Dad and Mom have numerous engagements to help spread the news about this year's trip and Standing With Hope. Other team members will be engaging in other forms of publicity for Standing With Hope throughout the Summer and rest of the year also. Our plane leaves very early in the morning and the next time I'll be talking to you all, we'll all be back in the United States. Thank you once again for your support, thoughts, comments, and prayers. I'm glad everyone has enjoyed the blog. I appologize for not having more team members write blogs, but honestly, they were too nervous and scared to do it. Anyways, there are people Standing With Hope because of you all!! Thanks again for your wonderful support and I'll talk to you all tomorrow to let you know we all made it home safely.

Lord Bless,

William Parker Rosenberger

A Day in the Jungles and a visit to the Slave Castle

Today was quite an amazing day. Like I said yesterday, the team split up. Dad, Mom, Grayson, Kraig, and Randy went to the clinic to work on more legs and patients. Papa, Drew, Mamie, Olivia, Alfred, and myself took a break from the clinic and went into the jungles and then to the coast to see one of West Africa’s many slave castles. This allowed for some more working room in the clinic. So, from what the team members, who stayed behind told me, work at the clinic went very well. I’m going to tell you all about our venture into the jungles and to the coast. First of all, we drove three and a half hours to get to the canopy walk in the jungles. We finally arrived and we found several Europeans with a pet monkey. The monkey immediately came over and jumped up on Papa and we instantly took numerous pictures. Next, we made the rough hike up to the canopy walk and then prepared to go 120 to 150 feet above the jungle floor. It was truly a remarkable experience and it’s really too hard to put into words or capture in a picture. However, every team member enjoyed climbing through the tops of the trees and its one memory that will last us for the rest of our lives. Next, we drove about an hour to the coast where we visited the castle Elima. Elima is a castle the Portuguese built as a trading post and warehouse for trade in West Africa. When the Portuguese realized they could buy, trade, and sell the African people themselves, they converted the castle into a slave castle. This tour around the castle was quite hard to see. They had the chains and clips, which were actually used, on display in a little museum inside the castle. We went into all the dungeons and cells where hundreds of God’s people were beaten, abused, shipped off around the world, and many were killed. The Elima castle was incredibly moving and also an experience the team members will never forget. After the castle tour, we all ventured back to Accra to meet up with the rest of the team. Tomorrow is our last day of work and we are going to wrap things up at the clinic and say our goodbyes. We leave early Sunday morning and we are all very sad as the day approaches. Thanks again for your comments, thoughts, and prayers. Talk to you all tomorrow!!!


Lord Bless,


Parker


*If you would like to learn more about Standing With Hope and the work we are doing in Ghana, West Africa, simply click on the title of this blog, “A Day in the Jungles and a visit to the Slave Castle,” or go to standingwithhope.com

Two More Hard Days of Work

Hello everyone!! I hope everything is going well. The past two days have been a little rough for us. Yesterday, we worked crazily. We all love it when the power doesn’t work at the clinic…just kidding. The power always seems to go out right before we leave. Kraig and Randy had to teach everyone how to make a leg by hand. Well, the same thing happened again today, but we were fitting all the patients who were beginning to come in for their legs this time. Honestly, I don’t remember an exact thing I was particular doing. Everyone had numerous different tasks they were trying to complete…all at the same time. The power finally came back on and we were able to work quickly and effectively. Mom continued to lead small seminars to all the patients on how to take care of their new legs and themselves, while handing our Life and Limb bags. Dad, Kraig, and Randy ran around fitting patients while giving our Life and Limb bags also. Mamie, Papa, Grayson, and I worked on getting legs ready for the patients. Drew wasn’t feeling well and stayed at the hotel today to rest. With the power on, we were able to make wonderful progress and people went leaping and praising the Lord for the first times in their lives. It was a hard day, but a very good day. Tomorrow, the team is going to split up. Papa, Drew, Mamie, Grayson, Olivia, and I are going to the jungles to do a canopy walk and then to the coast to see a beautiful castle; we are going to take a break from work and go see some more of Ghana. Dad, Mom, Kraig, and Randy are going to the clinic to finish the final legs. All of us will work a half day Saturday for our final time at the clinic; then it’s time to leave on Sunday. Our trip is winding down, but the Lord still has many wonderful things in store for us all before we leave. Thanks again for your wonderful comments, thoughts, and prayers. Talk to ya tomorrow!!

Lord Bless,

Parker

*If you would like to learn more about Standing With Hope and the work we are doing in Ghana, West Africa, click on the title of this blog, "Two More Hard Days of Work," or simply go to standingwithhope.com

A Tough Day at Work

Today has been a pretty amazing day. I hope you all enjoyed Randy’s words yesterday. This entry will be from me again. We started out aiming to have a majority of the laminating of casts done today. It didn’t happen exactly how we wanted it to though. First of all, power was down at the clinic, but thankfully, thanks to Drew Killingsworth and Navarre Lumber and Supply in Navarre, Florida, we had a generator to help run some equipment. Remember, I said “some” equipment. The only thing we ran, or could run off the generator, was the “not-so-good” vacuum pump, used for laminating, and a casting saw. We had to sand the completed sockets by hand, remove plaster by hand, and so on and so forth. The group was split up for most of the day. Kraig and Jim Parker were riding around town looking for a vacuum pump. Their mission was a success and they finally returned to the clinic around 2:00 in the afternoon. Jim Parker and our friend Flavio Suoza purchased the machine for Standing With Hope and the clinic. We all thank them for their unbelievable contribution, because we will now be able to finish our lamination process. Meanwhile however, work continued to go very slowly. The clinic workers didn’t quite understand that we could all work together and get things done much faster. Drew finally gave up and took a seat. Instantly when Drew did, the Lord moved in the workers and things began to happen. They began working together with us, which some of them were not doing before, and things were beginning to move very quickly. We laminated 10 or 12 casts in around 2 hours, compared to laminating 3 in about 4 hours. Before we knew it, the time had come for us to go. Tonight at dinner, Drew led the devotional and he wanted everyone to share what they took from the day and trip so far. Everyone has their own unique story from today, but I want to share mine to you all. The majority of the team left around 3:45 this afternoon. Dad felt it necessary to let everyone go a little early, since we had such a stressful and rewarding day. However, Dad, Kraig, and myself stayed behind to finish placing a leg on a young man. This young man was 24 years old and lost his leg 14 years ago when he got an infection in his foot. We fitted his foot with his new tennis shoes and placed the leg on. He stood up and for the first time, in 14 years, he saw two feet below him. A huge smile came from his face. Meanwhile, Dad, Kraig, and I have tears rolling down our faces. There was nobody else in the clinic and this boy had sat there, patiently, all day. He then began to put his trousers back on, since they’ve been off for the fitting process, and then was able to see two pant legs full of his legs. He was now a whole man. We gave him his Life and Limb bag, prayed with him and sent the young man on his way. He took up his old crutch, placed it under his arm, like a bag, and walked out of the clinic and into the first day of the rest of his life. Dad, Kraig, and I were left in awe and were speechless. What a day. Thank you for all your comments, support, and prayers. Talk to ya tomorrow!!


Lord Bless,

Parker

*If you would like to learn more about Standing With Hope and the work we are doing in Ghana, West Africa, simply click on the title of this blog, “A Tough Day at Work,” or simply go to standingwithhope.com

A Message from Randy Roberson

Hey guys…today’s blog is going to be a little different. This week, I’m going to have some of our team members write the entries. Today’s is Randy Roberson. I hope that you enjoy his moving and meaningful words, and may the Lord bless you through his message. Randy lives in Birmingham, Alabama and is one of our prosthetists on our team. He continues his prosthetics in Birmingham, along with being a pastor at a local church. I hope you enjoy his words…..

From Randy Roberson,

We faced the day with anticipation and concern, knowing that when we got to the clinic, we would face a table full of unmodified casts. A cast is a mold of the amputee’s limb that has to be shaped by hand to capture all the nuances of the patient’s limb. This is a painstaking operation that requires a lot of “hands on” adjustments. Sure enough…where do we start? One by one, we systematically worked on the huge mountain of work. The day went on and the temperature began to steadily climb.

The cast modifying wasn’t all we had to do. There were people to see, legs to finish, “Randy, is this one ready?” “Randy, is this how you do it?” “Is this leg correct?” School was back in session.

All of a sudden, I noticed that all the casts were done and one by one, they were being taken through the laminating process…I stopped to count; 45, 46, 47…Wow!! When you laminate a leg, you set up the cast and you cover it with a hard resin shell, which the patient will wear. I was overwhelmed at how much we did.

I looked and realized that each cast represented a human being that God has created and God had placed each one of them in front of us so that we could help them. By the talents God gave us, He uses us to help change their lives, and because the Gospel is given with each leg, possibly an eternal change.

At the end of the day, we watched a nine year old child walk again…it was worth all the hard work.

Thank You Lord!!

Randy



*If you would like to learn more about Standing With Hope and the work we are doing in Ghana, West Africa, click on the title of this blog, “A Message from Randy Roberson” or simply go to standingwithhope.com

June 22nd...A Wonderful Day of Worshipping and Memorable Experiences

Wow!! It has been a very full and exciting day. Everyone woke up at about 7:00 A.M. this morning and got ready for church. We went to a church that Mr. Kodi’s church planted. The church was called, “La Nativity Presbyterian Church” and was absolutely wonderful. Mom sang and the church absolutely loved it. The congregation understood some English, but when Mom started singing “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” the entire congregation broke down. Later on in the service, Mr. Randy preached very well and received good feedback from the people. La Nativity Presbyterian Church definitely has the presence of the Lord surrounding it, and each one of the team members could feel it deeply. Leaving the church, we all went out to the La Palm resort for lunch. This is a very nice resort and we thought it would be nice to take Mr. Kodi, his wife, Mr. Sammy (our driver Ghana Health Services gave to us while we are here), Mr. Flavio (a man we met at the hotel from Brazil, who is helping bring more electricity and power to Ghana and who is getting some supplies for us to use at the clinic), and the rest of our team for a nice Sunday lunch. Lunch was wonderful and it was nice to have a full stomach. Next, the team split up because 5 of us wanted to go to a Ghana Football (Soccer) game. Dad, Grayson, Drew, Mamie, and I were able to get tickets. The Ghana Olympic Football team has been staying in our hotel for several days and I was able to get these tickets from one of the coaches. The game was so much fun and a “once in a lifetime” experience. This weekend has been so nice to just relax and recharge for our upcoming week. Tomorrow, we begin handing out legs and people start walking for the first time in their lives. This coming week is when people will begin Standing With Hope!! Talk to ya tomorrow and thank you again for all your wonderful support and prayers!!


Lord Bless,

Parker


*If you would like to learn more about Standing With Hope and the work we are doing in Ghana, West Africa, click on the title of this blog, “June 22nd…A Wonderful Day of Worshipping and Memorable Experiences” or simply go to standingwithhope.com