of Americans giving instead of

getting at this time of year.

With this in mind I came up with

the following list that WAMM

would like to give to Ghana in

the coming year. It is our prayer

that there are many of you who

would join us in our attempt to

help change Ghana’s perspec-

tive on Christmas.

Afenhyia Pa! That is the closest

thing the Twi language has to a

Christmas greeting. But really

“Afenhyia Pa” (pronounced

a fen’ shee a pa) is closer to

our “Happy New Year” than

“Merry Christmas”. There really

is no greeting specifically for

Christmas and a little lesson in

Twi might explain why.

The Twi word for Christmas is

“Buronya”. It is derived from

two Twi words: “oburoni” a term

used to refer to Americans or

Europeans and “nya” which

means to obtain or to get

(Florence Abena Dolphyne, A Compre-

hensive Course in Twi (Asante), Ghana

University Press, Accra, 1996, pg. 7).

So if we replace “Christmas”

with “Buronya” in our typical

Merry Christmas greeting it

becomes “I wish you a happy

day on which Americans get

stuff” (but you don’t).

Now this was a sobering bit of

language study for me. I found

myself ashamed that when

Western Christians introduced

Christmas to Ghana it resulted

in the Twi-speaking residents

choosing a name that means

“the day when white people get

stuff”. This resulted in asking

myself, what can we do to take

the “Buronya-ness” out of

Christmas?

Perhaps we could begin by let-

ting Ghanaians feel the impact

A F E N H Y I A P A !

You Need to Check This Out!

Take a look at our website

(WAMMGhana.com) and click

on to see

what you can do for $8.88 per

month—that’s about the price of

two Starbucks’® coffees.

Your recurring, tax-

deductible donation of just

$8.88 can help provide pre-

cious orphans in Ghana, West

Africa, with a home, a family

environment, medical care,

food, clothes, advocacy, and

most importantly love.

Each week for the next 8 weeks

(Beginning Dec. 1), the website

will highlight the story of a dif-

ferent child whose life has been

touched through the ministry of

WAMM. As you read their sto-

ries you will see the life-

changing effect that your sup-

port can have in the lives of

children like them.

Please, take a few minutes to

check it out.

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

I S S U E 5 5

H E R E I A M !

P L E A S E P R A Y

W I T H U S :

Support for HOMe for

2015

Guest House Opening

in 2015

Women’s Shelter

Opening in 2015

McIntyre’s Support

Level

Wetzels’ Support and

January Move

Our Christmas List for Ghana

Continued Support of HOMe (WAMM’s Children’s Home)

A New Guest House

A New Women’s Shelter

Continued Support of the McIntyres as WAMM’s Representatives to Ghana

C O N T A C T

I N F O R M A T I O N :

WAMM, P.O. Box 2028

Waukesha, WI 53187

Phone: (262) 347-7172

E-Mail: Contact@

WAMMGhana.com

or

Missionary’s first name

@WAMMGhana.com

Facebook:

WAMMGhana

Twitter:

@WAMMGhana

NEW WEBSITE: WAMMGhana.com

When will we ever stop being

surprised by God? Time and

time again he does what we

think can’t be done (just like

he promises). And time and

time again we are caught off

guard when he does it.

2014 provided us opportuni-

ties to see God do what only

he can do again. For in-

stance, we prayed for God to

provide a house for us to use

as a WAMM office and as a

guest house, never really

believing it would happen.

And what does God do? He

provides one free of charge.

Or consider the case of

Danny. WAMM was not sup-

posed to be able to handle

adoptions anymore. Danny

was “unadoptable” due to his

special needs. And the only

family that had expressed

any interest was a family with

way too many children to

even be considered by DSW.

So what does God do? He

clears the way for this adop-

tion to happen and Danny

now lives in Oklahoma.

Finally, Akos and Christable

were not only cleared for

adoption, but have been

adopted by their new families

and await visas for travel to

the States so they too can

join their new families.

And all this happened while

Debbie and I were unable to

be in Ghana on a long-term

basis.

Truly God is reminding us

again, just how amazing he

is. Join us, won’t you, in

thanking him for all he has

done.

T H E H I G H L I G H T S O F 2 0 1 4

Page 2 H E R E I A M !

S U P P O R T O P P O R T U N I T I E S

If you would like to . . .

Help create & maintain ministries in Ghana such as HOMe, WAMM’s Women’s Shelter, WAMM’s Guest House, etc.

Sponsor a Baby Bed at HOMe

Help Bring the McIntyre’s support up to 100%, insuring their continued involvement in WAMM

Help the Wetzels raise the support necessary for them to join the WAMM Team in Ghana

With a . . .

One-Time Gift of $_____________________________________

Monthly Gift of $_____________________________________

Annual Gift of $_____________________________________

Please fill out this form and mail it with your name and address to

West African Mercy Ministries, P.O. Box 2028, Waukesha, WI 53187

Or Check out our Paypal option on the Website: WAMMGhana.org

Danny being loved on by Danny being loved on by

one of his many siblingsone of his many siblings

Akos Awaiting Her VisaAkos Awaiting Her Visa

Christable Awaiting Her VisaChristable Awaiting Her Visa