Heal a Hurting Heart post traumatic stress childrens story book for children experiencing the trauma of slavery

I couldn't bear it any longer and I rushed outside and grabbed 'Puppy' no one was going to steal her and force her to be a slave!

We heard them getting closer and closer as our neighbors were taken hostage. To make matters worse the rain was pouring that night, the river that ran close to our home was overflowing the banks and we were worried that our house would be flooded. This was the last thing we needed on such a night as this!

Suddenly it was our turn, Babatu and his gang of rebel soldiers had reached our door. Uncle Dodzi's bamboo bars at the door were working and the gang were having difficulty breaking through. However soon the bamboo bars started to crack, with every crack we knew that we were closer to being captured. Maame Adwoa could bear it no longer, she grabbed me and pushed me through the small window to the back of the house. I could hardly get through but by wriggling both 'Puppy' and I tumbled out of the window and into the dark, cold river water.

I looked back and saw a sight I will never forget. My beloved Nanabea Mawusi had fallen to the ground and two of Babatu rebels were beaten her over her head with two big sticks. She was too old and weak to be of any value as a slave so they beat her to death!

To my horror Maame and her sister and Uncle Dodzi were shackled and chained and were being herded away.

All I heard was Maame calling " Addae, Addae I love you - Trust in God, He will never leave you or forsake you and He will direct your paths." Her last words were her final blessing to me her only son.

I was being swept away in the river, my head banged into something. Puppy put her foot in my mouth, that's all I remember!

I could see where the ravine usually was, there was a big river, with great big stones. And mud - mud, mud, mud everywhere. I had a big lump on my head as I looked up there was 'Puppy' looking down at me. I held her tightly and tried to fully understand that had happened to me and my entire family.

I tried to remember what I had been told about the terrible journey that Maame was now embarking on shackled and chained, walking miles and miles of rough road until eventually she would be given a last, ritual bath in a river before being sold. Assin Manso Ancestral Slave River was one of the largest slave markets for gathering people to be sold into slavery during the infamous trans-Atlantic slave trade. It is located in the Central Region of Ghana, forty kilometers along the Cape Coast the final African destination.

After they bathed in the river, mum and the other captives would then be taken on the final leg of their journey in Ghana, to the last place they'd ever see in their homeland, the slave forts on the Atlantic. So before traveling through the infamous Middle Passage, mum and the other enslaved people would be brought to the coast, and held in fortifications such as Cape Coast Castle and close by Elmina Castle.

The majestic fortresses along Ghana's breathtaking coast housed dark dungeons, overflowing with misery and despair. Up to a thousand slaves could be kept in the dungeons. Conditions were appalling, with 200 slaves in one room, and no space to lie down. The floor was littered with human waste. Many became ill with malaria and yellow fever and many died before they left Africa.

How could this be happening to me? How could my own people do this to us? How will I survive? Where will I live? So many questions, but one thing I knew that bad things can happen even if we try to do the right thing. But for now all I could think of was my beloved Nanabea Mawusi her name means ' One who is in the hands of God' and at least I knew now that she was in the hands of God her creator.

The Middle Passage, which could last upwards of several months had conditions even worse than the dungeons of Cape Coast Castle.

They were chained together, and usually the low ceilings did not permit them to sit upright. The heat was intolerable, and the oxygen levels became so low that candles would not burn. Because crews feared rebellions, the Africans were allowed to go outside on the upper decks for only a few hours each day. Historians estimate that between 15 and 25 percent of the enslaved Africans died aboard slave ships enroute to the New World.

This is what Maame, Sewaa Serwa and Uncle Dodzi had in store for them. I couldn't bear the thought, it was making me sick and it was now three days and I had not eaten. I curled up with 'Puppy' and hoped that death would come soon.

This is where the kind Methodist, the legendary Rev. Thomas Birch Freeman found me. He was an Anglo-African Wesleyan minister, missionary to Ghana. He swept me up in his strong arms and didn't seem to mind that I clutched 'Puppy' he walked my to the Basilias and insisted he stay with me the entire time, I was ok. Someone offered me some Kelewele I have never tasted such lovely deep-fried plantain chunks, I was starving hungry. He said I would have to come and live in one of the orphanage and right now that seemed the best idea so long as 'Puppy' could come too. So off we went on another adventure, this time hand in hand with Rev. Thomas Birch Freeman, who I latter learnt was the "Founder of Ghana Methodism". He was to become a good friend of the family and someone that would help to shape my little life. He told me that nearly all of the early Methodist leaders were firmly against slavery. He explained the Methodist church in Ghana had several hospitals and health care facilities in the country. I was impressed! That's when he became my ' Uncle Tommy' and it's him that would later lead me to the Lord.

He told me that mum and my family were probable heading to Barbados, many went from Ghana to that little island in the Caribbean. Barbados was the birthplace of British slave society and the most ruthlessly colonized. The geography of Barbados was ideally suited to sugar plantations and there were enormous fortunes to be made for British royalty and ruling elites from sugar produced by an enslaved, "disposable" workforce, fortunes that secured Britain's place as an imperial superpower.

He told me a wonderful story about a lady called Sarah Ann Gill a 'Free Coloured '. When the Methodist Church sent missionaries to Barbados early in the 19th century, Sarah embraced this faith and when white planters succeeded in ousting the missionaries from Barbados, she opened her home as a church and kept the faith going, against physical abuse. She donated the land on which the first Methodist Church was built in Barbados.

He came to the Gold Coast in January 1835 as one of nine missionaries sent by the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society to work in Africa and overseas. Unfortunately by June 25, 1835 he was dead from malaria. But in his memory the orphanage and school had been established.

I arrived hand in hand with ' Uncle Tommy' and immediately the boys were all jealous. Not only that but I came with my own personal security guard dog - " Ya that's you Puppy!"

Sewaa Enyonyam was the lady in charge and I liked her immediately, she said 'Puppy' could sleep under the house and gave me some old blanket for her.

Mr. Manorgbe was in charge of the boy's dormitory but somehow I wasn't sure about him. The boys called me names 'Little Tom' 'Tommy's baby' and others I can't even mention here! They were mean to me and often I would curl up in bed and cry myself to sleep!

I was beginning to feel frustrated, trapped and hurt. Pain started to take over my feelings, I had to find someone to blame. I started getting angry it seemed a way of releasing energy, it was my little protest to the loss of my family, it just didn't make sense, it simple wasn't fair and I wanted to lash out and hurt someone. I knew I had to be careful who I trusted.

Nurse came to talk to me she wanted to know how I was f eeling physically, I told her I felt drained and empty. I seem to be having difficulty making decisions or staying focused. I was becoming easily frustrated and ended up arguing more with people, I was feeling tired, sad, numb, lonely and worried. This was hard, I needed help.

And he told Woelinam, (her nickname was Woeli,) my only friend, to stay away from me. I began to avoid him. Then one Monday he just did not come to work any longer!

One day Woeli told me she had a secret to tell me. We sat under the house with Puppy and she told me........she told me Mr. Manorgbe had left because of her. He had been trying to get her to do bad things. He told her that he would get her ready to have a boyfriend. He had been trying to touch her under her panties. He told her if she did not do what he said he would kill Puppy. She said she ran straight away and told Sewaa Enyonyam what he tried to do and the police came and took him away. She said Mr. Manorgbe was in the prison waiting for the court to decide on his punishment. I was so mad! How could he say he would hurt Puppy! I was pleased he had left as I felt like doing him something really bad, like punching him on the nose. Manorgbe means " I shall live " but right now I wish he would die! I hated him and it was eating me up!

Woeli said she knew what to do about Mr. Manorgbe's bad intentions towards her as it was not the first time. She said her mother's boyfriend had done something wrong to her before and she had told her Sunday School Teacher. She said that is why she was in the Home. As her mother did not believe her but the Sunday School teacher did. She said the Sunday school teacher told her to " tell the truth and truth would set her free " and that she had prayed with her, then she got brave and when the Police came she told them all about it and they were sorting it all out.

Woeli said she knew that you should always run from people with bad intentions and tell someone. She said she knew now that some bad secrets should not be kept. She explained that "Good secrets" were like not telling what was in a present.

But "Bad secrets" were those where the person threatens you if you tell what they did and where they touch you.

No one except your mum or the nurse should touch you where your underwear goes and then tell you not to tell anyone that is a bad secret to keep.

Woeli said that after that experience with her mother's boyfriend she had been different. She said her Sunday School Teacher had told her that God loves her and that it was not her fault. Woeli knew God loved her regardless of what may have happened in her life. She said she had decided to follow Jesus, He became her best friend. I did not know what she meant but I did know I was pleased Mr. Manorgbe was gone.

In the afternoon foreign workers sometimes came they said they were our friends. They were called Missionaries.

Their names were funny and if you did learn them then they left for good! So in the end we just called them "Miss" and "Sir"

I did not have any friends in the Home except for Woeli. She was 12 and was already at Secondary School so she did not come with me to the Mission School. She would sit with me under the house and pet Puppy and talk to me. I told her that I did not believe that my Maame Adwoa and Sewaa Serwa were dead, she was a noble woman and faithful to my Maame they would survive the Middle Passage. My Uncle Dodzi he persevered that was his name so maybe he could survive the years of enslavement that might follow the journey but how will my precious Maame survive. I wept.

Nanabea Mawusi was old I knew she was now in the hands of God, as her name implied. I was learning that grieving takes time. I had to accept my sadness and understand and control my anger.
I just had to accept that some people may take a longer time to recover from a loss. Woeli kept telling me to keep trusting God even when things become difficult. She took me to church sometimes and I learnt about Joseph. When I heard all he had been through I figured Joseph had a long list of reasons to be angry at God and life. He certainly could have walked around bitterly with a chip on his shoulder. Think of Joseph's life over 13 years. At around 17 years old, he was sold to merchants and slave traders by his own brothers. I could relate to that! After things in Egypt were starting to look up for him, he was falsely accused of attempted rape and unjustly imprisoned. Again, things were going well for Joseph, even while in prison. After some time in prison, he interpreted dreams for Pharaoh's butler and baker. He asked the butler to remember him when the butler was restored to his position. Now to add insult to injury, he is forgotten for two more years Hated, betrayed, rejection, abandoned, sold, enslaved, framed, imprisoned, forgotten sounds like a raw deal for over a decade, right? But he never lost his dream.

I had dreams that Maame was calling me, it was always raining in my dream. I sometimes would dream I was under the tree covered in mud. (With Puppies paw in my mouth!)

Some nights I would dream about my old home, Puppy and I were playing by the river and dad was home for the week end, it was such a good dream. I was told that sometimes God can talk to you through a dream, just like He did with Joseph. I was beginning to really like this guy. I could relate to many aspects of his life. There was a lot to learn from this Bible story, I was glad to be going to church with Woeli

The other children all seemed to know each other and the three in my room were all from the same village. They called me names and threatened to hurt Puppy. One big boy said that he hated people from my village and that he would poison my dog as she wasn't a fierce breed like the African wild dog also called the 'Cape hunting dog'. He loved Cape Hunters and so, after a while, that is what we called him "Cape" became his name, even to the staff.

Everyone would have a job in the Home. Cape's was to take out the garbage to the bins. He always made me do it so that he would not hurt Puppy .

He said he would tie a block round her neck and throw her in the sea. Sometimes I was very sad and lonely I would hide and cry quietly hugging Puppy my only comfort.

I didn't do too well in the Mission School, my mind was easily distracted and I got muddled up at times and couldn't concentrate. I wish I could remember where I use to live, I guess it was that bump to my head!

I wondered when my Dad would come and rescue me. He had been worked in the red-skinned African rice fields around the Volta Lake that terrible night the Slavers raided our village and destroyed my family and changed my life forever.

She had a guitar and played songs with the children. She gave us Bible story books and crayons to colour. She said that Jesus could sleep in the storm when he was on a boat. I thought that was incredible!

She told us that Jesus had a special power not to be afraid and not to hate people who hurt him. She told us that because Jesus loved us He died on the cross and wanted to help us to be friends with God and have power not to be afraid and not to hate people. She said we had to decide if to follow Jesus or go our own way and do our own thing. She said the way to become a Christian was to Repent and Believe in Jesus the Son of God.

I thought this sounded interesting I have always wanted special powers!!! Also I was very troubled about how much I hated Cape and Mr. Manorgbe too!

I knew God had saved my life and I really needed to be able to sleep in the storms of life. I decided to give my life to Christ and to be a Christian. I am not a great reader but the Bible Books had loads of pictures and the Sunday School Teacher said that God loved everyone whether they were top or bottom of the class, good or bad, pretty or ugly, that Jesus still died for them so they could " tell the truth and the truth would set them free "

She taught us about Noah who had survived a flood and how God had put the rainbow in the sky to give us all hope that He would never destroy the earth by flood again. I liked that story because I had seen a big rainbow when I woke up under that tree trunk that awful day when I loss my family and was washed away by the river.

Cape somehow heard that I had put my hand up when the Sunday School Teacher prayed. He straight away said I was a Bible bashing Christian. He said Christians were selfish, only helped their own church people and taking people's money. He said he would kill Puppy then I could pray for him to be raised from the dead. I felt myself getting red I just wanted to punch Cape on the nose! That night I remember the boys in my room were especially tormenting with their teasing and taunting saying that nobody wanted to be friends with me because I was from a different tribe.

I pulled the sheet over my head and asked God to switch on those magic powers as right now all I could think about was all the bad things I wanted to do to those guys. It started to rain and normally I would become disturbed and anxious but I went sound asleep I dreamt about Noah in the Ark and God sending the rainbow. All of a sudden I felt so lost and lonely all I really had to call my own was Puppy, she made me smile, but then I remembered I could call on my new friend Jesus. I was excited about meeting the Sunday School teacher next week and learning more about this life with Jesus. I was so glad my dear friend Rev. Thomas Birch Freeman had founded this church and as he taught the adults we were taught at Sunday School.

I didn't like caterpillars, my dad had always warned me that they ate lots of his vegetables in the kitchen garden, I knew I didn't like them they were ugly, no one would say that caterpillars are beautiful. A caterpillar is a worm -- and worms are not beautiful! In fact the only good thing about worms was that you could put them on a hook and go fishing. Woeli squirmed when I told her my fishing stories, with wriggling worms. I was naughty and chased her around the garden with a wiggling worm, until she pulled off a twig and turned and whipped me!

Then I learnt in Sunday School that one day the caterpillar spun a cocoon about himself and stays there for several weeks. Just hanging upside down, occasionally twitching, who would imagine that anything good was happening. But it was like the caterpillar was being born again and when it comes out, it is no longer a caterpillar, it has been miraculously changed into a beautiful butterfly, it was a new creation.

But it took time, it was like the caterpillar died in the chrysalis or cocoon and eventually the butterfly emerged but it was a struggle. I began to realize that we are in a battle but Jesus has won the battle and we can have victory...in THIS life! But it might be a struggle!

One day Puppy and I were in the field next to the School and we saw a chrysalis hanging from a twig, it started twitching and cracking open. We watched as the butterfly struggled to get out. It made me think of all the struggling I had to do over the time since the slave traders had kidnapped my family and sold them into slavery. I later learnt that a butterfly must struggle out of its chrysalis to start the blood to flow into its wings to make it strong and able to fly. It must do this to complete its life cycle into a butterfly. I felt I wanted to help the struggling butterfly but by assisting the butterfly and helping it to free itself, I would never let it fully develop and fulfill its destiny. I would actually be hindering it and prevented it from becoming who it was meant to be.

What God showed me was that what He does, sometimes in our lives, is to allow the struggle, the hurt, the process because we must fight to become fully who we are meant to be.

If He stepped in to help during the most crucial part in our lives, we would never become who we were made to be. As I pondered this thought out came the butterfly, flying away . with Puppy in the chase, she chased that butterfly all around the field until she eventually fell into the ditch which was filled with muddy water, you should have seen her she changed from a white puppy to a brown dog! "That's it Puppy you are going to have a bath even you will become a new creation."

The Bible says, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" When we invite Jesus to come into our heart, we become a new creation. God doesn't just clean us up, He makes us into a new person.

So now when I find myself in a huge struggle or fight I can have hope. I now understand that this could be in the most important part of my life that will make me into who I am destined to be. I know that Jesus is with me and what I am to become is so great that all I have been through and am going though will pave the way for what I am to become - strong, free, and soaring high with beautiful, colorful butterfly wings to carry me onto the next adventure of life with Puppy.

The special war dress the Ghagno comes in various forms. There is a smaller version without sleeves, no embroidery, which is worn either under another gown as a singlet or alone. It is Dagban's version of the "bullet-proof" vest. It is bathed in charms and spiritually fortified to protect the wearer. It may have Arabic inscriptions and talismans on it and sometimes amulets are sewn unto it. It is not a fashionable dress; it is only worn on serious occasions in times of wars or on funeral occasion for protection.

The other Gbagno is like the Bingmaa (the smock usually used in dancing) but usually with fewer pleats or gathers for ease of movement. The only difference between the Bingmaa and the Gbagno is that the latter is fortified and have amulets, talismans and or Arabic inscriptions and worn only on serious occasions and not for fun.

Just as you need protective clothing when you go to war, the Bible teaches us that you need protection in life. The Bible calls it the armor of God and it tells us that we need the armor of God to protect us from Satan's evil schemes. We were taught this in Sunday School and marched around singing ' I'm in the Lords army' I loved it, Woeli thought it was for boys only but we got to learn about the armor of God.

The belt of truth - The Bible tells us that Satan is the "father of lies," but he can never win if we will hold on to the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord

The breastplate of righteousness - Satan can never harm us when we choose to do what God says is right

Feet fitted with the gospel of peace - Satan tries to create worry and confusion in our lives, but knowing Jesus brings peace

The shield of faith - Satan will try to plant seeds of doubt in our hearts and minds, but those seeds of doubt can never take root if we have faith in Jesus

The helmet of salvation - Jesus came from heaven to earth to save us from the evil one, if we accept salvation in Jesus' name, we will win the battle against Satan

The sword of the Spirit - the Bible, God's Holy Word, it is a powerful weapon against Satan.

I know no warrior should ever go to war without the proper equipment, and I should never try to go through life without the armor of God.

She told us that God loved us and wanted us to be free from fear and free from hate. She told us we had to take our fears and tell them to God. She told us that God always listens to us and that one of the special powers is prayer and that this is like a private phone to God. She said this private phone is only connected to God. He must have millions of ears to hear everyone at the same time. She said that fears and nightmares are like ropes and shackles that tie us and that God can cut them if we ask him in Jesus name.

Then she said that hating people was the opposite of what God wanted us to do. She told us it was hard to have love for God in your heart if your heart was filled with hate. She told us we could open the tap of our heart and say we are sorry and let the hate run out. She said this is called repentance. I sure needed to do that.

She told us a neat story about a woman who did some bad things in her life. She didn't say what they were but we know that she was very, very sorry. She felt so bad in fact, that she went to see Jesus in someone's house-when she wasn't even invited!! She didn't know anyone, the people in the house didn't want her there but she was meeting Jesus! I imagine she must have felt very scared and very little. I don't mean little like she was tiny, I mean little like she was with people who were very important. She probably felt unimportant . Not only did she go, but she knelt down behind Jesus and washed his feet with her tears! Then wiped them with her hair and applied expensive perfume to His feet, kissing them to their horror!

You can imagine how the other people in the house felt. One of them got upset with her and with Jesus! Simon the Pharisee didn't think Jesus should be letting her do that. But Jesus not only let her do it, he told her that her sins-all the bad things we do in our life-were forgiven. She was able to leave with a happy and peaceful heart. There were so many lessons to be learned from this story, firstly the woman did something wrong and wanted to make it right.

I could think of lots of things I had said and done that I wish I could now make right. Woeli told me this is what Jesus wants me to do. If we do something wrong, what could we do to make it right? What are some things we could do to make it better?

The other thing we need to get from this story is how Jesus reacted. Did Jesus throw the woman out? Did he say-you did something wrong, leave me alone? What did Jesus do? He let her stay, he let her ask for forgiveness, and then he forgave her. It's important for us to do the same. I decided to give it a try. After all, what had I got to lose except horrible dreams, bad feelings and loneliness. I gave God my fears, my memories of that scary night, the sadness and the loneliness. Then I gave God the anger and the hate. It wasn't easy but I chose to stop hating and to forgive those mean kids and even Cape!

Then I remembered Mr. Manorgbe and his threats to hurt Puppy and I thought of him in Prison and I even decided not to be angry with him any more too. I was free at last, free to ... FORGIVE!

These were the questions I was asking myself, Woeli and our Sunday School Teacher. She told me that sincere apologies can lead to forgiveness, which takes the sting out of hurts. I knew this was necessary in a happy, healthy life. But I had to learn how to say I'm sorry, how to apologies and really mean it even to someone like Cape, because up until now I was glad I had punched him on the nose.

3) Recompense: This is when you try to make amends, which is not always possible, but always worth a try.

I knew "I'm sorry" means nothing unless it comes from a repentant heart. So I first had to ask God to forgive me for being so nasty to Cape.

I had read in Ephesians 4:32 'Be kind to each other, sympathetic, forgiving each other as God has forgiven you through Christ.'

So I had no choice but to go and find Cape and tell him how sorry I was for punching him in the nose. "I'm sorry Cape. I blew it. I was wrong. Please forgive me Cape." Guess what Cape put his hand out and we shook hands, it was the beginning of the healing that was so needed .

I felt better after unpacking all those super powers but I was still lonely...... That night I dreamed of my Dad. He was looking for me in the mud, and all the nightmares and fears of that terrible night came flooding back.

But then, in my dream Jesus came walking into my room and turned on the light and I wasn't afraid any more and Jesus took my hand and led me outside. There was dad and he and I and Puppy started playing "Chaskele" using crashed cans and a stick as the bat, we played on a lovely green lawn outside of a beautiful new house, it was a good dream and I woke up feeling good inside.

They told me that the Police had told them that Maame, Uncle Dodzi and Sewaa Serwa had all been captured by the notoriously evil slave raider Babatu and had passed through the horrors of the dungeons of the now famous Cape Ocean Castle. They had walked through the 'door of no return' and that was the last I would hear of them! How tragic, how final, my heart was hurting.

Then one day Sewaa Enyonyam came into school and said I had to come ' now, Now, NOW' ! I was worried that maybe something had happened to Puppy or that she had escaped and chewed up someone's shoes. It would not be the first time. She said no, I had a visitor. I went into the office and there was a very dirty tired looking man with a beard. It was ......my Dad.....He held his arms out and we just hugged and hugged. He said he was sorry, that he had only just found out where I was as he had been told I had been captured along with my Mum and the family. He had walked for days to get from the red-skinned African rice fields in the mountainous areas of Volta Region around the Volta Lake to get to our village. But it was destroyed. He said that the survivors told him they had buried Nanabea Mawusi but he had been told that the whole family was lost. Then he met Rev. Thomas Birch Freeman and he told him I was alive and in the Home. Sewaa Enyonyam suggested I take my Dad to meet Puppy. So we went under the house and called 'Puppy' she was very excited to meet my father. Dad told me that he had been so sad when he thought that I was gone and that seeing me today was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He told me that he was so sorry that he had not come before. He asked me to forgive him for not being there.

Dad said our lives may have taken some strange twists and turns but the One who holds our tomorrows is still in control. It kind of reminded me of the story of Joseph in the Bible. Dad said that he had asked God to help him find me and now that he had, we would serve God together for the rest of our lives. " And Puppy" I said

I thanked God for Daddy and began to realize that all things worked out for my good in the end.

Dad started planting a kitchen garden with major starchy staples include maize, cassava, plantain, yam, cocoyam, rice and millet, He started keeping fish, goats and even rabbits to eat and distribute among the community. He taught me about Moringa and we planted it all around our property and all the animals ate it and were very healthy. We even drank the tea and began to feel stronger and healthier, dad showed me how you can purify water using Moringa seeds.

Sometimes we would all go down to the river to play. Those times I felt most at peace, Puppy would splash around at the edge and try to pick up rocks from the river bed, when she did bubbles would come out of her nose! It looked so funny I would laugh at her.

Dad taught me how to swim in the river, I loved those times with Dad, he made me feel special and it almost made up for not having mum around. I began to realize how much my Heavenly Father loves me.

I continued to go to Sunday School and Rev. Thomas Birch Freeman became a regular visitor to our home. I learnt more about peace. This was a whole new experience for me. I learnt that Jesus said "I am leaving you with a gift-peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid."

But sometimes at the end of the day, when it was time to turn out the lantern and go to bed, I wanted to know that I was not alone in the darkness. That is where my 'Puppy' came to the rescue, she slept at the foot of the bed in her 'special bed' that Dad had built for her.

Our Sunday School teacher told us something funny, she said " Know Jesus, Know Peace - No Jesus, No Peace."

That made me laugh out loud and it really said it all! If we want to know peace, we can only know that peace when we know Jesus, the Prince of Peace. If we don't know Jesus, we can have no peace.

That is how I was at the orphanage before Jesus became my best friend and gave me that super power to forgive Cape and even that nasty man that threatened to kill Puppy and did nasty things to my friend Woeli I had no peace - only fear, bitterness, anger and loneliness but those days are now way behind me. In another life it seems. I had forgiven those people, it made sense to because not forgiving them is like drinking Poison yourself and expecting it to kill someone else!

One night I heard Dad praying he was asking God to fill our hearts with the peace that passes all understanding. He asked God to guard our minds, to remove the spirit of fear and reveal His love and power and give us a sound mind. I realized I had moved on, now I have my Dad, my Heavenly Daddy and Puppy, what more could a boy ask for!

Dad said that I was growing up, I was very pleased, I pushed my chest out and stuck my chin up in the air and went on tip toe to make myself a little taller. Dad said I was now his big boy, he had my back, he was watching over me.

One day I noticed that Puppy was growing up as well in fact she was getting very fat! I didn't understand why until she started to pull leaves together and she found some rags in the shed and it seemed she was making a bed for herself under the house. Then she lay down and I sat down and watched over her as she gave birth to three beautiful little puppies. They were perfect except their eyes were shut, but Dad explained they were born that way and very soon he was right they opened their eyes and saw me for the first time.

What 'Fun Fabulous' days we had. Puppy and I playing with her new puppies, I just knew I could never be happier than I was those days. Puppy always watched over her puppies, she would pick them up and bring back into the shelter if they wondered off and that is when I began to think that my Heavenly 'Daddy' knows everything that I go through. There is nothing that happens to me that He doesn't know about. Just like Puppy He is watching over me. When I felt lonely and totally abandoned at the orphanage, when everything seems hopeless, I began to realize that even then God knows and God cares.

And if I wonder off track a bit, He comes after me just like Puppy rounds up her puppies so my Heavenly 'Daddy' comes after me, gives me a big hug and brings me back into the pack.

I was happy the sun was shining and the birds were singing and a little sparrow came hopping up to look at Puppy's puppies.

Then it all came flooding back, the smell of Nanabea Mawusi cooking Chichinga, sizzling and smoking hot on a grill that had seen better days, suya meat is one of the best Ghanaian chow. Dad told me for many Ghanaians the 'Abochi' in their neighbourhood is their best friend. He told me "You cannot say you are a Ghanaba without having ever tried Chichinga."

And I wept with joy, I knew my hurting heart was healed and for the first time since that dreadful night I sang that ol' ol' song.

Not just sparrows, He watches over Dad and I and Puppy and even her new born puppies'!

I had grown to realize that even though we face some difficult times we should not be afraid. I now understand that God knows everything that we go through and acknowledge that God knows and God cares.