Dina, God’s Way, Richlove, and Sarah Sr. submitted their applications to college a few months ago. To say that this is exciting is a massive understatement. About 17% of Ghanaian women receive a university degree: in one generation, these girls can launch from the bottom rung of the economic ladder to among the best-educated in their country. Sending all eight through higher education will cost $150,000 and our goal is to raise that entire sum by March of 2026, in time for the first four to enroll in their first year of college, with the remaining four following close behind. 

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The Saturday after Ted returned from Ghana we were at church looking at 1 Kings, chapter 19. Here’s the link to the sermon: it was really good–better than I could do justice in a blogified retelling. 

Elijah returns from the wilderness and finds Elisha plowing with his twelve yoke of oxen. Elijah approaches him and throws his cloak (or mantle) around him. After a very old-testamenty goodbye (he slaughters the animals and burns the plowing equipment, cooks the meat in the fire and shares it with his neighbors, he kisses his parents) he “set out to follow Elijah and become his servant.” 

Walter Brueggemann asks us to consider three questions about this reading: 

Who threw the mantle over you? 

What did they expect of you? 

How are you doing? 

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Happy New Year! This November marked eleven years since we met the girls. That first trip was in 2013: one US dollar was the equivalent of two Ghanaian cedis. Now one dollar amounts to fourteen cedis. The economy has its ups and downs, much like ours in the United States, and I am astonished by how much Ghana changes between visits. More skyscrapers, four-star hotels, and (most importantly) a Pizza Hut. Of course, the biggest transformation is within the walls of the Yellow House: as of next month (January 2025), we will have EIGHT HIGH SCHOOLERS. They are all doing well. Flourishing in school, not only academically but socially. They are on their way to adulthood, and we are entering the final years of fundraising. 

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Dear Friends,

This was a big year for Eight Oaks for many reasons: chief among them the fact that we celebrated the ten-year anniversary of meeting the girls this November! Some of you have been with us since the beginning, and others are new members of our family. Regardless of when you arrived, we are grateful for your partnership. 

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