SUSAN WUZ HERE

Jambo Rifikis (hello friends)

Do you know how hard it is to put a positive spin on Robert in the Poo tank AGAIN! He just has such a nasty job. It's not romantic, it's rarely appreciated and it just plain STINKS! No pun intended. In fact, he was called at 6:30 this morning because the hospital ward toilets were backing up and now he's crawling around in the big tank at the bottom of the ship. He just came into the cabin to pick up something, smelling to high heaven. Even the air freshener doesn't mask the smell and the porthole won't open. Talk about bringing your work home with you....

Last Saturday we went out to Pantang Psychiatric Hospital again. We go every other Saturday. It takes us 1 hour 15 minutes to get there each way through some extremely heavy traffic. We have now visited every one of the 14 wards and what a blessing it has been to us and the patients. We look back over the past 6 months and can see the change in the people there. When we first started there was a lot of screaming, rolling on the floor, and they wanted more of the "fun" things we brought to them like the balloons, games, food and only a hand-ful really wanted prayer. Now the switch has been made to the things of God. We now only offer corporate prayer, individual prayer, individual counseling and bible studies and they are more at peace. They come in more orderly, they love to pray and they ask really great questions during bible study. The hospital attendants also join us and love when we come. You talk about forgotten people. In a nation where it is difficult to make your own way and your value is determined by how much you can contribute to the family income - - these people are truly the forgotten. Please pray for their spiritual healing as well as their physical healing.

We had a fun day yesterday. Was one of the rare opportunities Robert has been able to get off the ship. We took a Land Rover and 6 other people and went to Shai Hills. Shai Hills is a game reserve about an hour north of here. The government removed the Shai peoples from this region in 1890’s because they were practicing human sacrifices. Unfortunately, it is not the BIG 5 type of game reserve but it was fun nonetheless. It has bat caves, springbucks, monkeys and baboons. We took on a guide as we drove through the park which was well worth the $1.00 for 3 hours. There would have been no way we would have found our way out of this park. There are no roads in this park, just at times tracks where sometime in the past year maybe 1 or 2 vehicles had gone because you could see faint markings of tires but for a lot of the way you really felt like you were driving through the Savannah that had not been touched before. Then the absolute neatest thing happened. An African Savannah thunderstorm! Lightening, thunder and lots of rain very quickly. It brought such cool sweet smelling air we thought God had turned on the air conditioner. Do you know what happens to the grass and mud in one of those flash downpours? It becomes slippery as all get out and the car only spins around and slids side to side even in 4-wheel drive! We were kickin up mud everywhere and laughed so hard when we saw the 6" of mud caked up on the steps when it was all said and done. Yahoo, did I ever have fun. It was a little embarrassing as we were driving back into town to watch the people staring at us because the car was so dirty. When we got home we decided the nice thing to do was to wash the car so that on Sunday no one had to go to church in it like it was. Thanks to Robert and Gordi.

I almost forgot to tell you that I’m now officially a published writer! It doesn’t matter to me if it’s only for Mercy Ships use or not but it was exciting to see the wonderful job our communications department (Mike Osborne) did on the story to make it so attractive. I hope you enjoy the story.

Well, till later please keep us in prayer for the following things:

· Healing for Susan’s Siatica (back pain – radiating down both legs)
· Forward STP system (poo tank)
· Our son Brandon as he looks for work in Dallas
· Susan’s Uncle James – in ICU with respiratory difficulties
· Impending birth of my first great-nephew; due Nov 11 – Susan’s youngest sister’s only daughter.

Thanks for taking this ride of a life-time with us over these past two years. We have been so blessed to have friends and family that really support us in prayers and emails. Please write when you get a moment, we do love hearing from you.

Blessings and Prayers,
Robert & Susan Blanchard
Missionaries to West Africa – Ghana
Mercy Ships
P.O. 2020
Garden Valley TX 75771