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Home assignment complete…now what?! As of last week, I would have been “leaving on a jet plane” having finished my home assignment of 9 months. Instead of being back in Ghana, though, I am still here waiting to hear news of Ghana saying “Open Sesame” to their borders. Until that time, I cannot buy tickets, get a visa or finalize plans to go.
In Ghana, I am used to every day being very fluid – plans made and plans change. What was is not always what will be and I have come to a place of understanding that this is a part of the norm when it comes to my life in Ghana. But my how the tables have turned…in my own country, I have expectations that the plans I make will most likely come to fruition. I expect my day to turn out how I thought with little variation from the plan. But the stability I expect from my own country has been blown to bits in these past months and even though I have lived in a world of ‘expect the unexpected’ and 'be flexible' for 3 years in Ghana, I have a different mindset for my own country and it has been hard to reset my thoughts and my mind to line up with my Ghana mindset. In this season God has taught me a lot, especially in the area of putting my faith into action. I can easily put into words that I trust God for His timing, but sitting still in this time has shown me that it is much easier to talk about trust than to put my mind at rest in that knowledge. It’s interesting that I have more trust in Him in the area of the actual virus than in His timing of my return to Ghana. I want to go back so badly that it is very hard to be delayed and there is some grief in not being able to be reunited with the people in Ghana. In the middle of writing this update, I came across this verse and what better truth to hear than this: Jeremiah 17:7 "But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence." No matter what the future holds, I can rest in the hope that I know the one who holds the future.
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**WARNING** YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER INTO THE PART OF THE UPDATE WHERE YOU WILL EXPERIENCE AN EXPLOSION OF PICTURES!
The following are pictures of reasons why I am greatly anticipating, can hardly wait, and am so excited to return to my home in Tumu...
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As you can tell, I am missing my Sisaala friends and family the most but a couple of things I also miss are my motorbike and dogs :)
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The following pictures show how God reminds me that His timing is best...
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This extra time at home has given me more opportunities to connect with family and friends and do some training and study. I also get to have a weekly meeting with my awesome teammates. We are in 4 different countries right now - Canada, Ghana, USA and India. Please pray for us as we would love to all be reunited in Tumu.
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We live in interesting times - not only do we have a pandemic sweeping across the world, we are also hit with many upcoming elections in different countries, terrorism threats in West Africa, locust plagues in East Africa, India and Pakistan and widespread unrest about racism. This is just to name a few. Some of these issues are repeated so often it is tiring and we may get desensitized to it, while others are buried and forgotten underneath the weight of seemingly “bigger news.” How do we respond or react to all the information that we are faced with every day? We live in a culture of instant news and much of it is filtered long before we filter it ourselves. It is hard to know what to believe and how to respond. I know that I have been overwhelmed at times in the amount of issues facing us today - the way to take it in and how to respond. I am thankful to have the unchanging truth that comes from God's Word and His promise of wisdom. I am thankful for the people He has given me in my life who remind me of His truths. In a world that is shifting every day, I am thankful for a God who doesn't. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. This is my only surety in these changing and turbulent times.
“True freedom is not the liberty to do as we please; rather, to do as we ought. For that we need truth. The grace of God is our only hope to enable us to live by truth. No culture can survive without this. ‘Thy word is truth and abides forever.’” Ravi Zacharias
We all have been given such a voice these days on social media - ways to build people or break them, encourage them or shame them. Words are important and powerful but if they don't line up with our actions then they are worthless. We make judgement calls on what we see but a lot of what we see is only half the truth or half the story. We need to work hard at finding out accurate information and then speak with grace. We can disagree with each other and still show respect, we can challenge one another and still be friends.
May God give us wisdom to listen with discernment, respond with grace, and speak with compassion.
“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” Colossians 4:6
"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." James 1:19
I have read a few articles that people have given me on some of the current issues that have resonated with me or helped give perspective. Let me know if you would like to read any of them and I would love to hear your thoughts!
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If you would like to support my ministry in Ghana you can find information on how to do this at the following address: http://www.sim.ca/missionaries/Cadieux
You can also contact SIM Canada at 1-800-294-6918
10 Huntingdale Blvd, Scarborough, ON, M1W 2S5
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