It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so He giveth His beloved sleep. —Psalm 127B, The Book of Psalms for Singing

This song echoed in my head nearly every morning as I climbed the stairs to my classroom. Another day with no news of the school’s curriculum and supplies (supposedly on its way across the Atlantic Ocean); another day with lesson plans assembled from the internet and utilizing my teaching degree I never thought I’d use; another day of intermittent power outages.

Had I come to Africa knowing I would be teaching school, I would have packed differently. Our suitcases contained 150 pounds of power tools, hammers, wire crimpers, wire-pulling fish tape, wiretesting equipment, multi-meters, and clothes. Construction. Electrical work. Computer networking. That was what we went to Ghana to do.

My husband Clint and I joined a work team to help missionaries with HCJB Global Voice (formerly HCJB World Radio) in Ghana. Our task was to transform an existing garage into a usable office for their Sub-Saharan ministry center. We were amazed to realize that, though we had not met the rest of the work team prior to arriving in Africa, God had brought together all the people He needed to accomplish the hard task of renovating and wiring the building for electricity and internet.

There came a greater surprise. Apparently, God also had in mind to provide a teacher for a nearby Christian school through us. He accomplished this through a number of setbacks to delay the office construction. Finding electrical components was one of them. Clint found many components in stores that were little more than small wooden shacks. Power outages, sickness, and difficulties in obtaining materials pushed progress back.

The rest of the team needed to go back to the U.S. as scheduled, but Clint and I decided to extend our trip by a few weeks to continue working. The missionaries then asked if I would teach the middle school classes at a Christian school, starting the following week. It was exhausting, particularly on hot, un-airconditioned power-outage days. At night, trying to come up with enough material for the next day, Psalm 127B often came to mind, and I would make myself go to sleep instead of fretting over my lesson plans. Sometimes I didn’t sleep much, though, and I would wake up blearyeyed, wearily walk to school, and think to myself, “I think I know now what ‘bread of sorrows’ means. This must the bread of sorrows, because I’m not very happy.”

The actual teaching generally went well, though, and I enjoyed my students. I felt a little silly that meeting an urgent need was so much fun for me (apart from the planning). While my poor husband had to find unknown places with taxi drivers who got lost, trying to find electrical parts that might not be there, I was able to spend the day with seven bright kids, watching their minds grapple with and grasp new ideas.

Finally, on the day we were scheduled to leave, there was internet access in the office! The school had found teachers to replace me. Our job there was done, and we went home.

It was a great experience to be a small part of something so big: HCJB has been involved with over 90 Christian radio stations in Africa. This regional ministry center serves to coordinate African ministries with needed equipment and expertise to set up radio stations. For every station they set up, there is a long line of unseen faces making it possible: engineers, accountants, administrators, shipping coordinators, electricians, and others.

We were glad to see the Lord use us in an obscure way to support this ministry. Likewise, at the school, I was glad to have been a vital part of the school’s first few weeks, but nowhere will there be a plaque in my name. So many people were and are vital to the school’s ministry to the community. In our work on that trip, we saw that there was no room for pride—only rejoicing in how God accomplishes His will.

Clint and Jennifer’s blog from their trip is available for reading at http://herron.elkhartrpc.org

Jennifer Herron and her husband, Clint, are members of the Elkhart, Ind., RPC. Jennifer volunteers at HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart.