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

Our 5th and 6th Day of Work...June 20th and 21st

Hey everyone!! I hope all is well. Sorry about not posting our Friday report, but I thought I might combine Friday's and Saturday's together. Friday went very well. It was kind of quiet because we modified casts all day and began laminating them. However, that night we went to Frankie's, which is an "American" restaurant and watched Soccer (Football). Today, some of us got up early and worked for half the day. We then went touring around Accra and finally ventured to the marketplace. The marketplace is always a ton of fun, and we all came away with funny stories and wonderful memories. We'll be going back to the marketplace later this week. Tomorrow, we'll be going to one of the clinic worker's church. Mr. Randy will be preaching and Mom is going to sing. Next, we are all going to go out for Sunday lunch and then 5 of us are going to a Ghana soccer game. I know this blog entry is a little short, but tomorrows will have some really good stuff in it. Also, the picture I have posted with this blog is of the monkey we saw at the marketplace. Thanks again for your comments, prayers, and support. 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, you can click on the title of this blog, "Our 5th and 6th Day of Work...June 20th and 21st," or simply go to standingwithhope.com

Our 4th Day of Work...June 19th

What’s up everyone!! I hope that your day went well. Ours was extremely tiring. First of all, I am enjoying all of your comments, but for some reason, I'm not being able to post them. So, hopefully I will be able to post your comments soon; if not, please don't be too upset. We arrived at the clinic to find the Ghanaian press there to do a press conference with everyone. They interviewed Dad and Dr. Kodi, while examining how the clinic works. After that, we needed to attend to the numerous patients, who had been waiting since early that morning. After today, we have casted 54 people for legs. Everyone worked and worked today until they were absolutely exhausted. Today was the first day to give out legs. Dad and Papa handed out Life and Limb bags and prayed for the patients as they got ready to leave the clinic. For those of you who don’t know, Life and Limb bags are bags filled with supplies to help maintain and take care of the prosthetic leg. It also includes a sheet of laminated paper that explains how to take care of the leg and the other side explains why they got this leg….which is because of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Along with the Life and Limb bag, we give a Bible to each patient. Our first above the knee amputee walked out of the clinic today and the event was quite moving. On the other side, we are all a little sad to see one of our prosthetist leave…Jim McElhiney. Mr. Jim was only able to come for one week and the work he did was quite amazing. There are numerous individuals that will be walking next week because of Mr. Jim and the people who supported his trip. Jim also trained James, clinic worker, extensively during his time here. Right before we left the clinic, James and Kodi said their goodbyes to Jim. James began to cry saying, “I miss Jim, I love him.” Thank you Mr. Jim for all your work and we can’t wait to see how the Lord uses your wonderful work the rest of this week and next. 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, click on the title of this blog, "Our 4th Day of Work...June 19th," or simply go to standingwithhope.com

Our 2nd and 3rd Day of Work...June 17th and 18th

Hello again everyone!!! I hope that your week is going well. We have had a full two days, and I have lots to tell you. Tuesday, we casted numerous individuals for legs and Randy began work on the Above Knee amputees for this year’s trip. Jim Mac continued training James (one of the clinic’s prosthetic technicians) on casting legs and recognizing bone structures, while I filmed. Kraig plowed away at fitting individuals with legs and making adjustments on old patients. Papa (Jim Parker) and Drew continued to build many shelves, benches, and other furniture for the clinic, while Mamie and myself organized and did anything and everything that needed to be done. Mom continued to run errands, with my help, and Olivia wasn’t feeling very well and stayed at the hotel for the day. Dad kept supervising and making sure things were running smoothly. It was wonderful to see the clinic begin to take a new shape and color. Mom, Olivia, when she felt better, Alfred, and I went shopping for yellow paint, curtains, and fans for the clinic. The clinic finally has a beautiful new coat of paint, new ceiling fans, and pretty curtains. Drew and Papa have finished many shelves and benches, and many people have been fitted for legs and will receive them next week. Tuesday was a very exciting day and a very long one, but we all did it and accomplished many things.

Today, Wednesday, June 18, the team split up. Dad, Mom, Grayson, Jim Mac, Randy, and Mr. Kodi (clinic director) traveled several hours up to the Volta region of Ghana. This region is north of where we are, and they traveled up to this region to visit another clinic that Ghana Health Services owns. The trip was a very good success. Randy casted one amputee and said things look promising. However, one thing will be a challenge and a blessing; the workers in the clinic know nothing about making legs since the clinic has been closed for quite some time. This is good and bad because they don’t know anything, but that means there won’t be any past experiences to get in the way. The Volta region trip went very well and it looks like Standing With Hope will begin to have another clinic in Ghana making state of the art prosthetic legs and sharing the great news about our Lord and Savior…Jesus Christ.

Meanwhile, Kraig, Papa, Drew, Mamie, Olivia, who is now feeling better, and I stayed at the clinic to continue work. We had A LOT of patients at the clinic. It got a little crazy, but everything was very exciting! Kraig was the only prosthetist and casted at least 10 people. Papa and Drew continue building shelves and other specialty organizing equipment for the clinic. Mamie was Kraig's right hand assistant throughout the day, taking information about every patient and helping the casting process. Olivia organized all the feet in the clinic by size in the stock room. I took pictures and did anything and everything that needed to be done. One incredibly moving event was when Kraig and Mamie casted a double amputee that was above the knee. Kraig had the man lay on a bench, to make the casting process easier, and the man began to cry. James, Kraig, Mamie, Olivia, Papa and other clinic workers wondered why and James asked him, “Why are you crying,” in his native language. The man then said, “Because I am going to be able to walk again.” Everybody there just broke down in tears and we were reminded once again of the wonderful work the Lord is doing, not only in our lives, but the lives we are helping here in Ghana. This ended a pretty spectacular Wednesday here in Ghana. I thank you all again for your support, thoughts and prayers. Can’t wait to 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, "Our 2nd and 3rd Day of Work...June 17th and 18th," or simply go to standingwithhope.com

Subscribing to a Blog

Having a Team Blog this year is a great opportunity for Standing With Hope supporters to participate with the Team each day. If you are unfamiliar with blogs, they are simply a form of online journal. With Parker in charge of the Blog, there will be something new each day, perhaps several different posts a day, so just go to ghanateam08.blogspot.com each day to get your daily fix of all things Ghana! Once you click on the link above, and are viewing the Blog, you can save it to your Favorites folder to make it easy to access.

Now if you are the type of person that wants to know things as soon as they happen,you can subscribe to the Team Blog. By subscribing, you can find out whenever something new is posted. Blog subscription is accomplished by RSS (Really Simple Syndication) - yes you too can impress your friends with your knowledge of all things Geek! RSS is indicated with the image displayed here. When you see this image on a blog or a website, you can subscribe to recieve updates whenever they are posted. There are primarily two ways to subscribe:

1. Subscribe through your web browser on your computer. If you are always using the same computer to go online, this may be the simplest option for you.
2. Subscribe using a Web-based Reader Program.

• Some readers are downloaded and installed on your computer. Like the browser option they work only on the computer to which they have been installed.
• Web-based readers are accessed by an account. Once you log in, the reader recognizes you and configures itself based on your settings. The advantage of a web-based Reader is that you can access it anywhere you can go online.

If you would like to learn more about how to set up your subscription, click on the appropriate link to view a short movie explaining in detail how to subscribe using Internet Explorer 7, FireFox, or Google Reader (web based). If you have difficulties or questions, please feel free to email me at Info@YBuF.com





Tim Cummings
Cummings Enterprises
Business Mentor and Web Host for StandingWithHope.com

Monday, June 16...Our First Day of Work

Good evening everyone!! I hope that you all had a good start to your week. Ours began a little weird. I apologize for not having yesterday’s blog up not until today, but Internet didn’t work very well and I wasn’t feeling well either. All team members were supposed to report to breakfast at 6:30 AM and be ready to leave at 6:45 AM. However, certain vehicles didn’t show up on time and the team left the hotel about 9:00 AM. Once we all got to the clinic, things started to begin. All of us checked things, to make sure they were working, hugged old friends, and new ones, and began fixing the clinic up. This year, our goal is to paint the inside of the clinic, (yellow), build shelves, have a fully stocked inventory, treat and maintain previous and new patients, provide more training for the prosthetic technicians, and venture into the eastern region of Ghana to look at bringing a prosthetic clinic, up there, online with our clinic in Accra. I personally, took pictures, helped Mom and Olivia Perry pick out a great color of yellow for the inside of the clinic, and then painted…a ton. So, there was a lot of work done today, but we held off from seeing any new patients, simply because we were trying to get everything in order in the clinic. Papa, (Jim Parker), and Drew built several shelves for the stock room. Dad and Daniel Kodi (Ghanaian Prosthetist) were finally able to get the 1,100 pound pallet from customs. Now, we have to organize all the supplies, but the generator worked great and we can now rely on having power anytime we need it…unlike previous years. Tomorrow we’ll be treating patients, continuing construction, and finish some improvements to the clinic. I ask all of you to be in prayer for us…because 6:00AM comes mighty early :) Thanks again for your support and sorry again for having the previous day’s blog a day later. Talk to ya Tuesday!!

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, “Monday, June 16th…Our First Day of Work,” or simply go to standingwithhope.com

We Are Here!!!!

Wow!! I can’t believe we are finally here. However, it was not an easy trip. Our Delta flight out of Nashville was cancelled to New York and we ended up having to go on an American flight to LaGuardia. After arriving in LaGuardia, we all had to take a bus over to JFK to catch our Ghana flight. We finally made it to our Ghana flight and met up with Olivia and Kraig. Jim McElhiney did not go from Nashville with all of us, he decided and Mom worked it out, for him to leave Sunday morning…today. Dad will pick him up Monday morning, June 16th. Landing in Ghana is a wonderful experience and an even better experience in the morning. Our 10 hour flight took a little while, but it was sure nice to see the Ghanaian coast and beautiful landscape. Daniel Kodi and Alfred Ocansey were at the airport to pick us up and take everyone to the Novotel Hotel. Check in wasn’t bad, but just an experience getting all 19 of our bags into our rooms J After checking in, everybody slept, …and slept for a while. Walking out of our room like Zombies, we all made it down to the restaurant, in the hotel, to eat a little bit. Mr. Kodi and Alfred then took several of us to the clinic to scout things out for Monday morning. Arriving at the clinic, we ran into two of the technicians, James and Peter. All of us went through the entire clinic deciding what we want to accomplish and try and to get down. These projects ranged from building new fitting rooms, installing new fans, to making sure the vacuum pump works so we can make legs. There is a ton of work to do, but we can do it with the Lord’s help and support. After our clinic visit, we all went back to the hotel and dropped off the majority of the team members, but Dad, Jim Parker (the grandchildren call him Papa), and myself were taken around Ghana by Alfred. Dad and I wanted Papa to see Ghana and a few of the surrounding towns. Alfred took us down to Jamestown, which is one of the many slums in Ghana, to see because of the filth, poverty, and sheer lack of connection with the world and our Lord Jesus Christ. Papa’s eyes got “really” big when we drove through Jamestown. He told me later, “Parker, boy…that’s hard to see; it hurts you to see how these people are living.” Alfred then took Dad, Papa, and I to the coast and all four of us got to see the Gulf of Guinea. After making our way back to the hotel, everyone went to their rooms to take a well deserved nap. I’m sitting in my room right now, Papa snoring heavily in the background, watching the British version of the Discovery channel, and talking to you all. We are all going to dinner tonight and are going to celebrate a wonderful Father’s Day with the wonderful fathers of our team. Tomorrow is going to be a big first day as we start our many tasks of “equipping others to stand with hope in Jesus Christ!” Talk to ya tomorrow!!!

May the Lord bless you!!

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, “Monday, June 16th…Our First Day of Work,” or simply go to standingwithhope.com

Almost Ready to Go!!!

Hello everyone!! My name is Parker Rosenberger and I am the oldest son of Peter and Gracie Rosenberger. I am 20 years old and a sophomore at Samford University, in Birmingham, Alabama.

Well, the final day is upon us and everyone is on their way to Nashville. There are 11 team members participating in this year's Ghana Trip. Four of the team members are driving up to Nashville today. Jim Parker, Drew Killingsworth, Mamie McNeil, and Randy Roberson are driving up to Nashville today (Friday June 13th). Jim and Drew are coming up from Florida, stopping by Birmingham, Alabama to pick up Mamie and Randy. We will meet up with Jim McElhiney, who is from Nashville, at the airport Saturday morning. Olivia Perry is another team member from Nashville and will meet the rest of the team in New York. Finally, we will all meet Kraig Helberg in New York. Dad is working on getting everything ready to go and Mom is preparing herself for the journey. Grayson and I are simply running errands for Standing With Hope and doing everything and anything to help get things ready. Right now, I am working on setting up this blog and making sure I can communicate with all of you when we're in Ghana.

We just got word, several days ago, that Kodi received the supplies we sent. This 1,100 pound pallet of supplies included a generator and numerous prosthetic supplies we'll be using during the two weeks and for the clinic to use in the years to come. We are all getting a little nervous now that the final day is upon us. We all ask for your prayers and thoughts as we prepare to leave. I will try to post another post on this blog before we leave for the airport Saturday morning. Thanks again for your wonderful support and I can't wait to talk to you again. Click on "Almost Ready to Go" and it will take you to Standing With Hope's website where you can learn more about the ministry and our work in Ghana, West Africa, or go to standingwithhope.com

Thanks again and I'll be looking forward to talking with you all on Sunday!!

God Bless,

Parker Rosenberger