241. Stories Series: From the Mission Field, Experiencing God in the Little and the Big with Patty Sommer
Psalms 7:11-12 (AMP) "I will [solemnly] remember the deeds of the Lord; Yes, I will [wholeheartedly] remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your works And thoughtfully consider all Your [great and wondrous] deeds."
**Transcription Below**
Other Savvy Sauce Episodes Mentioned:
204 Charlotte Mason Inspired Mini-Series: A Delectable Education with Emily Kiser
Patreon 55 Charlotte Mason Inspired Mini-Series: Embracing a Robust Life with Nicole Williams
Patreon 56 Charlotte Mason Inspired Mini-Series: Imparting Morals to Our Children with Liz Cottrill
Questions and Topics We Cover:
What miracles, big and small, have you witnessed from God throughout your life?
What is something we may not know that is true of many missionary families?
What does a typical day look like in your world?
Patty Sommer is a Michigander by birth, though she has now lived in Ghana, West Africa for longer than she lived in Michigan. She is a follower of Jesus, wife to her best friend John for 21 years, and mother of 4 girls. She recently came to the realization that she is no longer a "young mom," but squarely in middle age, learning how to mother all her kiddos well, with her oldest 7,000 miles away at school in Tennessee and her youngest just finishing 4th grade. Her family is also in a transition in Ghana, as they are stepping out of a church plant that is very close to being autonomous and preparing to start a new one. Patty loves discipling young wives and mothers, and getting to share all God has taught her. She is a bookworm but does almost all her reading at night when the house is quiet. She loves spending time in nature, studying educational philosophy, and writing. She is currently seeking to master the art of sourdough bread.
Connect with Patty:
Thank You to Our Sponsor: The Sue Neihouser Team
Connect with The Savvy Sauce through Our Website
Please help us out by sharing this episode with a friend, leaving a 5-star rating and review, and subscribing to this podcast!
Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)
Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”
Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”
Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession- to the praise of his glory.”
Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“
Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“
Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
**Transcription**
[00:00:00] <music>
Laura Dugger: Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.
[00:00:17] <music>
Laura Dugger: Thank you to the Sue Neihouser team for sponsoring this episode. If you're looking to buy or sell a home this season, make sure you reach out to Sue at (309) 229-8831. Sue would love to walk alongside you as you unlock new doors.
We are continuing our series of stories today with Patty Sommer as my guest. Patty loves to lift up God's name by sharing his faithfulness in her life and telling people of His personal acts of love. I think you're going to be very encouraged by her stories.
Here's our chat.
Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Patty.
Patty Sommer: Thank you so much. It's such a joy to be here.
Laura Dugger: Well, we'd all love to get to know you a little bit better first, so will you begin by telling us a bit about yourself? [00:01:19]
Patty Sommer: Okay. So I was born and raised in Michigan by two Kentuckians, which is kind of a funny thing. They had just moved to Michigan, a young couple. And being from Kentucky, they were very nervous about moving to the far north, they thought. That's a place that for many years I called home.
Then in 2003, the Lord called my husband and I to Ghana, West Africa as missionaries. And we have now been here almost 21 years, which is hard to believe. I was raised in a Christian home, as was my husband, which has been such a huge blessing for us as missionaries.
Our parents and our grandparents on both sides have always been so supportive of us and so excited that we've been called to share the gospel with people here.
I have four girls, from 19 all the way down to nine. And we love learning and growing together, and we're so thankful for what God has called us to here in Ghana.
Laura Dugger: Wow. Was this something that was on your radar from a young age, or what was it that led you and your family to the mission field? [00:02:24]
Patty Sommer: Okay, so I actually did not like the idea of missions when I was young. I actually went through a time in my early teens where I really was feeling a leading, a prompting that way. I said, "Lord, I'll do anything but that."
Even though I had been raised meeting many missionaries, my parents had always been very positive, I just couldn't imagine leaving my home country and leaving my family and going halfway around the world to another place. So for about two or three years, I really struggled with that.
When missionaries would come to our home church and visit, I would try to pay no attention. I'd actually close my eyes during their little slide presentations and things. I really wanted nothing to do with it. When I was 14 years old, my best friend's big sister and her husband left for the mission field of Cambodia. And they were the first people I had personally known to go to the mission field.
We were at a summer camp, and actually this new missionary, her father, was the one leading devotions one night around the fire, and he was just talking about being willing to do what God asked us to do. [00:03:32] And I remember just this internal battle. The Holy Spirit just questioning me, would I be willing to surrender to what He had for me?
I remember distinctly saying this really silly statement now that I look back at it, that, "Okay, God, I will surrender to go to the mission field, but I know I'll be miserable the rest of my life," because I knew that's what it was going to be like.
But after I made that commitment really everything changed for me. The Holy Spirit really began to work in my heart, and He changed it, that instead of being a thing I never wanted to do, it being the thing I wanted to do with all of my life. And He worked that in me and I went off to Bible college. I met my husband there, and he, at the time that we met, he already knew that the Lord wanted him on the mission field.
We actually went on a college trip, and we came to the mission field of Ghana as a college trip. And that's how the Lord really began working in both of our hearts to come here as missionaries. [00:04:32]
Laura Dugger: Wow. Let's see. So then the timeline, so that was the first visit there, and you were already married then when you actually moved, and you did not have children at this point.
Patty Sommer: So we came on a college trip. It was actually through the university that we were attending, and so we weren't even dating at the time. We were acquaintances. Not long after that, we actually started dating and then started praying about where we should go.
So my husband actually came... We weren't married yet. He came back on another trip just to pray about if this was really the place for us or if that had just been, you know, the place that you see really affect you. I was back in the States and just praying also. And when he came back from the trip, he said, "No, I think this is where the Lord wants us."
So he graduated from college, and we were in Ghana... We got married, I think, two weeks after he graduated, and we were in Ghana a year later. So really quick transition out of college.
Laura Dugger: Wow. And what kind of missionary work did you go over to do in Ghana? [00:05:35]
Patty Sommer: So we do church planting. Along with church planting, of course, missionaries end up wearing lots and lots of hats, I've learned. But our primary role is church planters. That also includes training of nationals. We do literacy work. We teach in the public schools and do Bible clubs there.
We are actually running a small library that we're slowly working on building to help people have access to more literature and things like that. But our primary role is as church planters.
Laura Dugger: That all sounds so fascinating. You're right, that is a lot of hats to wear. But then also, when you moved to West Africa, did that influence your decision to eventually home-educate your children?
Patty Sommer: My degree is in L.Ed., and so I had this beautiful idea of coming here and setting up my own little classroom. I thought that was the best way to go. That's what we started with. I mean, I even put a bulletin board up in my house, as funny as that sounds, because that's how I'd been trained. [00:06:39]
Then I brought over an entire curriculum. I mean, everything was going to be just like in a school classroom. And then the Lord really started working in our hearts and really changing that up because of a few different things. So homeschooling, I knew, would always be something I'd have to do, but how we've gone about it has changed quite a bit.
Laura Dugger: So was there eventually a philosophy that you chose to follow, or do you want to elaborate on that journey?
Patty Sommer: Sure. So my oldest daughter is actually dyslexic, and I did not know that, of course. So we started right out, and, I mean, I drill it and kill it. I mean, we did the little blend ladders and everything exactly how I'd learned as a teacher, and we were not making a whole lot of progress.
And I kept thinking, "Well, you know, we just aren't working hard enough." Every day we would get done with school, and I'd think this isn't what I thought school was going to look like with my child." And so we just began to really pray, weren't sure what to do. [00:07:42] Nothing seemed to be working. I mean, I started right out at age four and so many things. And not that there's anything wrong with those things, but it just wasn't working for our family.
So we actually went back on a furlough when our oldest daughter was 7 going on 8, and we put her in the school actually that I grew up in and had taught him for a while before we came to the field. And I thought, "Okay, this teacher is great. She'll fix all my daughter's problems." Well, that was definitely the wrong way to look at it.
The teacher came to us just a few weeks into the school year, and she said, "Your daughter has dyslexia." And I said, "Okay, so what does that mean? How do I fix this?" Because in my mind, I consider that a problem. And she said, "Well, if you were living in the States, you know, we'd get you right in with a reading specialist." And she gave me the whole list. And she said, "But since you're going back to Ghana, I don't know what to tell you."
And so I went to my husband, I said, "What are we going to do?" And he said, "You've got this time. We're back on furlough to figure out what the Lord wants us to do. [00:08:43] I trust that you'll make a good decision."
I had already been digging a little bit, trying to find, you know, answers to what was happening in our home and in our school room. And I just kept coming across the name Charlotte Mason. And every time I read something about Charlotte Mason or Charlotte Mason homeschooling, it really struck a chord with me.
From the pictures I saw and the stories I read, I thought, "This is, I think, what I'm looking for." And so I just began to pray, and the Lord just opened up door after door. I met people along the way. And so when we came back, my daughter had just turned eight, my oldest daughter, and at that point, she could not put together two-letter words.
I said, "Okay, Lord, you're going to have to help us with this." And we dove into the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education as best I knew how, which wasn't really great at the time and we just began making tiny steps. And when she was 10 1⁄2, she was able to read her first book on her own. [00:09:42]
But more than that, it became the philosophy that our family needed. It has been such a gift to our family in so many ways, I can't even count.
But the Lord used something that I saw as a difficulty at the time to actually lead us to something that we just absolutely love and encourage everyone who's interested or struggles with any of these things to at least take a look at Charlotte Mason's philosophy of education.
Laura Dugger: We did do a series previously on The Savvy Sauce, and I'll make sure and add those links in the show notes if anybody wants to dive in deeper. But we are having a few more conversations on this podcast about homeschooling, and I'm so intrigued. So if you could, I know this is really difficult, but if you could just boil down a few tenets of the Charlotte Mason philosophy that have been most beneficial to your family, what are a few points that you'd share?
Patty Sommer: One of the very first things that really struck me, Laura, is that because my daughter couldn't read, she couldn't do the work. [00:10:48] So much of a box curriculum... and there are some good ones out there. I'm not saying that box curriculums are bad, but they really are geared for children who read very, very quickly and can comprehend what they're reading, and can write quickly. And she could do none of those things.
So I felt like using a workbook, she just kept getting farther and farther behind, and I had to do everything with her and everything for her.
When I read about Charlotte Mason's ideas of narration, which is the idea of a passage being read, and if the child cannot read it being read to them, and then the child narrating back or telling back what they have heard, that just really struck me that I thought that that could work with my daughter.
My daughter is very artistically talented, and so even the idea that at times she could do drawn narrations and there wasn't a huge emphasis right away on her having to write a lot upfront right away.
So that really helped Carrie also, in that she didn't have to try to take all the decoding she was having to do and then try to make her hands do that and think of how to spell things. [00:11:57] She could just speak back to me what she was learning. And I began to see fruit from it very, very quickly.
She didn't read immediately. I had hoped that this was like the magical ingredient. I've since learned many, many things about dyslexia, one that it can be a blessing, but that it didn't fix what I thought was a problem. But it did help her to have the tools that she needed so she could continue to learn and grow alongside of her learning to read, not being hindered by her inability to read.
It allowed us as a family to begin to look at learning in a whole new light. I loved also the emphasis Charlotte Mason places on the observations made by the child, that they are bringing their own mind to bear on the work that they're given to do. So spending time out in nature, considering what it is that they have read, taking time to read beautiful poetry and beautiful books. [00:12:56]
I was raised by a reader. I'm a bookworm. And my mother always was very particular that we read good books. She called the books that weren't as healthy cotton candy. That's what my mother called them. So she always made sure I had a diet of good books.
That also really drew me to Charlotte Mason's curriculum because I wanted my children to read the best. I wanted them to have the opportunity to read from many wise people who've gone on before us. So when I found this philosophy, I really began to see how it would work for our family.
And because it was a philosophy, it wasn't just me having to order a bunch of workbooks and trying to get them to us here in Ghana and the cost involved in all of that. There was a bit more freedom, too, to use what we were able to find where we were at.
Laura Dugger: And even that word freedom, that's what comes to mind when I learn more about this philosophy because Charlotte Mason believed in short lessons. [00:13:57] And when you put this all together, it's only a few hours total.
And even going back to you mentioning there are so many requirements of missionaries or so many hats that you're wearing, it sounds like you've really had a robust life with this homeschooling philosophy, that your family can be involved in so many things beyond just school.
Patty Sommer: I think another thing that I love, too, is she makes the point that education is a life. Education isn't something that we do from just 8 to 3, Monday through Friday. Everything we do in life can teach us something.
And I love that aspect, too, because there are days when we get a phone call and something odd happens, we have to deal with something. Someone's sick in the hospital and they need food taken to them, there's an emergency. That my children, just because they're not in this exact classroom 8 to 3, that they're not learning.
Just on Saturday, we were out visiting as a family, and we live in a huge city, over 4 million people, but there are still pockets that aren't city-like. [00:15:04] And one of those areas is actually in the middle of a huge area of factories, but kind of in the middle, this area has been left, and there's charcoal fields there. Because many people maybe are aware of the fact that in most of the Third World, people still have to use something to make their cook fires. So here in Ghana, it's charcoal.
What they do is they actually take wood and they smoke it and make it harder so that the wood lasts longer. That's really what charcoal is. It's been made for millennia.
But as we were going through there visiting the people, they were getting to see this, and we talked about it on the way back, what wisdom God has given mankind that they could figure out how to take wood and make it into a fuel that could burn longer and burn better for them, and just all the different things. And all of those things are adding up, stacking up every day for my children, and even myself, to grow in wisdom and the knowledge of mankind and the knowledge of God and the knowledge of the world He's created. So it is a very freeing philosophy of education, and it has been a huge blessing to all of us as a family. [00:16:09]
Laura Dugger: And now a brief message from our sponsor.
Sponsor: With over 28 years of experience in real estate, Sue Neihouser of the Sue Neihouser team is a RE/MAX agent of Central Illinois, and she loves to walk alongside her clients as they unlock new doors. For anyone local, I highly recommend you call Sue today at (309) 229-8831, and you can ask her any real estate questions.
Sue lives in Central Illinois and loves this community and all that it has to offer. When unlocking new doors with her clients, Sue works hard to gain a depth of understanding of their motivations and dreams and interests in buying and selling their home. And then she commits to extensive market research that will give them confidence in their decision.
Sue truly cares for each of her clients and the relationship she forms with each family along the entire home-buying or selling process. [00:17:13] This was absolutely our experience when we worked with Sue and her team. The house that we desired at the time was actually not even on the market, but Sue had a connection and was able to ask those homeowners if they would be willing to sell.
She was timely in her response as she walked us through this whole process, and she helped us sell our home with the right offer coming in hours after it was listed. We kept saying, "She's thought of everything."
Sue's continued generosity was astonishing. I remember one afternoon after we had settled into our new home, and she was knocking on the door dropping off a goodie bag for our family that came from the local bakery. Our daughters also loved getting to know Ms. Sue as she assisted us in finding truly our dream home.
So whether you're looking to buy a home for the first time or looking to upgrade or downsize or making the big decision to move to an assisted living from your home of many years, Sue will be there to help you navigate the big emotions and ensure the process is smooth and stress-free and that the new doors to be unlocked are ready and waiting for more memories to be made. [00:18:30]
So call her today at (309) 229-8831 or visit her website at sueneihouser.com. And that is sueneihouser.com. Thanks for your sponsorship.
Laura Dugger: I oftentimes have not met many other moms of four daughters. So do you have any other parenting wisdom to impart from your experience so far?
Patty Sommer: Oh boy. Parenting wisdom, that's a dangerous question to ask. I will say this. Again, I will quote Charlotte Mason because this, I think, was the quote that really struck me the most the first time I read it. She said, "The question is not how much does the youth know when he is finished with his education, but how much does he care?" And that quote goes on. There's a lot to it.
But I think one of the things that I have loved to see grow in my girls is the fact that they do care. [00:19:35] We live in a world where a lot of people are angry a lot and say they care a lot. But I think in actuality, we don't see many people who really take that caring and do something with it. If that makes sense. Many times it's just the agitation of the moment, the thing that is being put in front of our eyes or in our ears. But to see people who really care.
And I believe that when we pursue knowledge for God's sake, that that is what we will raise is children who care. I'm sure that you have been given lots of good advice over the years, but I think that that's the one thing that I'm so thankful that the Lord has led us. That it's not about knowing just something. It's not about getting a grade. But seeing in my children the fruit of the fact that because we have learned to care, that they are learning to care, that they're desiring to see God do a work in this world, not for their own benefit, not for material gain, but because they love the world that God has made and they love Him and they want to see other people come to know Him and see them grow in Him. [00:20:50]
Laura Dugger: Patty, what miracles, big and small, have you witnessed from God throughout your life?
Patty Sommer: I have so many. I'm going to have to limit myself. I grew up reading missionary biographies. They're one of my favorite genres to read. And they have been so encouraging to me along the way. But I remember reading stories and thinking, Well, that used to happen to missionaries. But I can say that God still does miracles for missionaries and not just missionaries. He does miracles for his children.
A couple that I love to share. One of them is about a big thing and then one is about something a little bit smaller, maybe.
Our third daughter, she was born in the States when we were on one of our furloughs. She was actually born... she's my fastest, fastest delivery. I was in the hospital 18 minutes before she showed up. She was born and they did a quick check and they said everything was good and they sent us up to the hospital room. [00:21:53]
She was really cold, and I didn't think anything of it. I just thought it's cold in the hospital. And a few hours later, they were coming around doing the checks for, you know, their hearing and their sight, and there was a NICU nurse who it was really quiet on the NICU floor that night. And they had just asked her to come down and help because a bunch of babies had been born that day.
She came in, she started doing the hearing test and she kind of gave us a funny look, and she said, "I'm going to take your baby out just for a minute to check a couple of things." And we didn't think anything of it. And then about an hour later, I looked at my husband, I said, "Where is our daughter? Can you please find that nurse?" I was starting to get a little panicky.
And he came back and he just had this look of shock on his face and he said, "She's been admitted to the NICU. She has a heart problem." We found out that day that she had a problem with her PDA valve. To make a complex thing fairly simple, there's a valve between the lungs and the heart in a baby that is open while they're in the mother's womb. [00:22:50] After birth, it's supposed to close immediately or within the first few hours, but hers would not close. So her body could not process oxygen correctly.
We ended up in the NICU for two solid weeks while they were trying to get her stable. That was a very difficult situation. When she was ready to go home, they said, "Most of the time, this will close on its own but you really need to see a doctor before she turns three, because if a child has it longer than that, the heart will enlarge and it can cause her great difficulty as she ages, even to the point of it, at some point, it could kill her.
Of course, we knew we were coming back to Ghana and so we just prayed, "Lord, just heal her up." And she seemed fine to us, but she was also five years younger than the sister above her. She was a very slow baby, very sleepy. And like I said, because she was so much younger, we thought, "You know, maybe you don't remember. Maybe all of our babies were like this." [00:23:50]
Then I found out we were expecting our fourth daughter, and she was born, and she was just full of so much energy. And I kept comparing my two girls, and I thought, "There's something wrong here. So we just have a clinic that we've used here for many years. One of the doctors there he's quite old. He's in his 80s, but still practicing.
So we just took her in and said, "Doctor, I don't know if you know anything about this. Here's the situation. Is there any way you could check and see if this valve might still be open in her heart?" She was two and a half at the time. And he did a couple really quick checks and he said, "Oh, yes." He said, "I can actually hear the backflow in her heart. This is going to need surgery."
And I said, "Well, do you know anything about this?" And he sat down and began to tell me how he'd actually dealt with a young lady 30 years prior in Ghana that had had the same thing. But actually, she was a grown woman. He was talking me through, and he said, "No, she needs surgery." [00:24:51] And I said, "Well, where can I get... what kind of surgery?" He's like, "Well, it's a heart surgery. It's not huge, but it's also not small." And he said, "There's no one in this city who can do this heart surgery." He said, "You're going to have to go to the capital city."
So we just began praying. We knew of some missionary doctors in Togo, which is the country to our east. They have a hospital there. And so we started praying and just kind of putting out feelers to different people we knew. And we were able to get the numbers. And we made a phone call and were able to talk to the heart doctor there. He said, "There's no way with the visa issues that you can get your daughter to us. And even if so, we don't have the equipment to do this surgery." He said, "She'll have to have this kind of heart test. She'll have to have this checked by a pediatric cardiologist. She'll have to have this, this, this." He said, "But there is one hospital in the capital city where this can be done." And so he gave us some information, and we just began to pray. [00:25:51]
We went down to the capital and we actually went to the hospital. And here we don't go to a hospital by appointment. You just go and get in a line and you literally just stay until the doctor sees you. And if he can't see you that day, you just go the next day. And that's how all the hospitals work here. We don't have enough hospitals for the number of people we have.
So we were just planning on taking our daughter and going and sitting in line at this heart hospital in the capital. That night we were staying at a missionary guest house, and a couple came in. We'd met them years and years before. I mean, just knew them by sight. Began to talk to the lady, ends up that she is a doctor in the far north in a little clinic up in the northern part of Ghana as an outreach. And she said, "Well, do you have this paper and this paper and this paper and this paper?" And we said, "No, we didn't know we needed them." And she said, "Well, you're never going to get to see anybody without these papers."
And we said, "Well, how are we going to get these papers?" And she said, "Well, the good thing is I actually know the head cardiologist." [00:26:53] She's like, "Let me write these papers for you." She just began writing out these papers and printing them off on her computer. And she had her stamps there and everything.
So the next day my husband was able to go with our daughter, and they said, "No, she definitely needs a surgery and she needs it right away." So we started planning what that would look like. We'd have to figure out what was going on here in our city with the church plant that we were leading at the time and where were we going to stay in the capital city?"
And we saw, Laura, the Lord opened door after door after door after door. And when the head cardiologist found out about the situation, he said, "I'm going to do this surgery for this little girl." It was just a miracle piled on top of a miracle. So nine years ago in May, we took our little two-and-a-half-year-old down to this hospital and we just had to hand over to the Lord and say, "Lord, you're going to have to do a miracle." And He did.
She had that heart surgery and she has come through it and she is strong and she is healthy. [00:27:58] The Lord provided the tests we needed. He provided the pediatric cardiologist. She'd just been back in the country one month. She'd moved from UK. And just how the Lord took care of every single thing. It could only be God.
So she's our miracle. And every time that I start to think, "Lord, we need this. We need this taken care of. We need this provision" He just reminds me, "I healed your daughter. I healed your daughter in a third-world country where people said it couldn't be done, and I gave you everything that you needed."
One more miracle that I love to share is our library here. To get things to Ghana is very expensive because usually we just have to put it in suitcases and bring it. And if you think about how much it costs to just carry a suitcase on a plane in America, multiply that times coming overseas.
There was a point where we were really growing and understanding of our Charlotte Mason education. [00:29:00] And we had books, but there were a lot of specific books that I had on these lists. And I was like, "Lord, how do I get these books here? I want to provide my children with this education that I believe that you've laid on our hearts. But we need books. And we would love to also be able to share books with the people here."
Ghana is... one of their national languages is English. So the people who go to school and learn to read will read English. So we felt like it was a way that we could help people here. We got a phone call from a missionary family that we knew a little bit. They were in one city and it hadn't worked real well for them and they moved to another city. And they were really discouraged.
We were going down just to try to encourage them. And we got into their house, I mean, they had bookshelves everywhere. Beautiful, full of beautiful books. And I was like, "Lord, they have all these books. Lord, how are you going to help us get books that we need?"
Well, when we were spending that couple of days with them, we were talking with them and things were not going well. [00:30:02] They were pretty sure they were leaving the field. We spent a lot of time just trying to encourage them to seek the Lord's will about it. Because leaving the field is a big decision.
And when we were there, the wife looked at me and she said, "Look," she said, "we are definitely going to be leaving the field." She's like, "But would you like our books?" I just started bawling. I didn't even know what to do with that. And I said, "Some of your books?" She's like, "No, look, we shipped in all these books." She's like, "I can get books in the States at used bookstores. Do you want the books?" And I'm like, "Well, we can't take them all." She's like, "Whatever you can take, you are free to take." And I mean, I think we maybe paid $100 for everything. They built our library for us.
And so many of the book titles that I have been praying about that have been on a list that someday, little by little, we might be able to get here, the Lord just dropped them in our lap. And since then, He's provided other ways for us to get books here and build this library. [00:31:00] But again, the Lord said, look, I can do at any moment what you need, as long as it's according to my will.
And we've seen that over and over in people's lives. We've seen God's provision. We've seen God care for us in ways that are just beyond the realm of what we could do as human beings. I'm just so grateful that He's allowed us to see those things, to see Him made strong on our behalf.
Laura Dugger: Wow, Patty, that is incredible. You're just reminding me of verses that I read this morning in my quiet time. So I'm going to share a couple of these. First, in Hebrews 4:16, I was reading in the Amplified version, and it says, "Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God's gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need..." [00:32:06] And this closing is what especially reminds me of your books. So that part "...grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment]."
Patty Sommer: Yes, over and over and over again.
Laura Dugger: Have you checked out our library of articles available at thesavvysauce.com? New posts are added multiple times a month related to parenting, intimacy and marriage, personal development, habits, and other topics connected to what we discuss here on The Savvy Sauce. If you sign up to join our email list, you're also going to enjoy little extras delivered straight to your inbox.
Our hope is to encourage you to have your own practical chats for intentional living. So these freebies will include things like questions that you can ask on your next date night, safe resources to read to promote enjoyment in your intimacy and marriage, or questions to ask your kids to connect at a more relational level. We hope you check out all the available reads at thesavvysauce.com under the Articles tab. [00:33:09]
I love that you're sharing this story because it lives out Psalms 77:11-12, again, in Amplified. It says, "I will solemnly remember the deeds of the Lord. Yes, I will wholeheartedly remember your wonders of old. I will meditate on all your works and thoughtfully consider all your great and wondrous deeds."
Patty Sommer: Often we're afraid to put our faith and trust in God because we really don't believe that He is capable, that He is, He is.
Laura Dugger: And I love that he did for you what you could not do for yourself in both of those examples, big and small.
Patty Sommer: Yes.
Laura Dugger: And then even to start to tie it together, even going back to your Charlotte Mason education, I'm so curious, what are a few of those specific titles that your family now gets to treasure?
Patty Sommer: One of them, it just sounds funny, Johnny Tremaine. It's a story from the Revolutionary War. I had seen it over and over. It was one I'd never read, even though it was quite a bookworm growing up. [00:34:12] And I wanted a copy of that so bad. And she had not one, but two.
Laura Dugger: He provides in abundance, doesn't He?
Patty Sommer: He does. He does. I also was able to get, this is just a total side note, little things, how he just provides us exceedingly abundantly above what we ask or think. I was really praying about cast iron cookware. And of course, cast iron is so heavy. To put that in a suitcase, there's no way that we could justify a 50-pound suitcase with two pots in it, right? So she actually said, "Hey, by the way, I've got five cast iron cook pots. Would you like them?" And on top of my books, I got my cast ironware.
Laura Dugger: My goodness. Well, it sounds like you've been, what the Old Testament talks about, blessed to be a blessing. Will you share where the library is at these days and how it's benefited others as well?
Patty Sommer: At this point, our library is a mobile library. [00:35:15] We have tried in various forms to try to set it up in a place. One thing that's really hard here is our buildings are not sealed. And so trying to keep books preserved in unsealed houses and buildings is really tricky. It's also very high humidity here. So you can imagine what that does to books.
So we had thought we had something set up at the place where our church is renting and that fell through. And then we thought we were going to build another little room onto it. And that fell through.
And so when we actually came back from our last furlough, I was just like, "Lord, you've given us this." At this point, you know, as people come, they ask for books, I can take them a book. But what can this look like practically right now?
So I actually was thinking about the old mobile librarians. I actually have my book bag. So whenever we have a service at this point, I have this big bag and I've got a patch full of books of all different kinds and all different reading levels for the people that read well and are interested. [00:36:16] And I take my book bag and I have the kids, they just line right up and we just go right through and we trade out old books and get new books.
At this point, I have a very small mobile library. It's in our home right now. We're just taking it little by little with what the Lord's provided. But it's exciting to see just what the Lord is going to do with it.
Laura Dugger: That is beautiful. It sounds like you're being very faithful in the small things. I can't wait to see what this blossoms into. I'd also like to know, what are some things that we may not know that are oftentimes true of many missionary families?
Patty Sommer: That's a tricky question because I would hate to claim something that all the other missionaries disagree with. I think one thing that goes along kind of with your question about parenting, I've realized that church planting, especially, and parenting are very, very similar. It's about the day-to-day, but it's also about the end game. [00:37:17]
When I was first expecting my very first, my husband and I were actually on a missions trip with our home church right before we were getting ready to come to the field. And we were helping. We were doing some backyard Bible clubs and things like that.
We were in northern Ontario, Canada, and the lady who was having us help at her home found that I was expecting and she said, "You don't really know me, but can I just give you a little bit of advice?" And I said, "Sure, please do." And she said, "Remember that you're not raising a child. You're raising an adult. You're raising a responsible citizen. You're raising someone who should be able to go on and keep the two great commandments." And that really stuck with me.
As we are transitioning as a family right now, our oldest is back in the state. She just finished her first year at college. We are also in the point of this church plant that we are transitioning ourselves out. The thing that has struck me over and over again is that our calling is never to set ourselves up. [00:38:24] Our calling is always to prepare our children and our churches and the people that we disciple to go on and grow and walk with the Lord themselves.
So I think as a missionary, at times, it's easy to forget that. Okay, this is going really well, this looks really good on paper, but my goal is not for it to look good on paper. My goal is for a church where the leadership can teach and they are growing in grace and that they are discipling those behind them and that they're passionate about preaching the gospel. And that the end game is what we must always keep in mind.
I'm not here as a missionary so that I can set myself up and have my little kingdom. Just like as a parent, I'm not here to set myself up as the ruler of my child. I'm, by God's grace, raising them to go out and do what God has called them to do. And so as missionaries, that's something that I think we always need to keep in mind. [00:39:26]
And it's something that can be prayed for for missionaries as they go through the hard things, as they go through the hardships, as they go through the difficulties to remember: what is our goal as missionaries? Our goal is to be establishing churches or our goal is to be building up believers. Our goal is to be training those under us. Whatever field, whatever area of missions God has called us to, it's not about us. It's about how God will be glorified in the future in these people and in their lives and in what has been done in that place for His honor and glory.
Laura Dugger: Well, it's also always fun to hear a day in the life of various people. So what does a typical day look like in your world?
Patty Sommer: One of the things we had to learn right away is that when you live in a place that isn't run by the clock, you either run yourself or you will be run. That has changed a bit in the 20 years that we've been here. But really, Ghana is a much slower place than what we came from in America. [00:40:29]
America is very much by the clock. The idea of being by the clock is still fairly new here. So we learned pretty quickly that if we just kind of went with the flow of things, we would not get a lot accomplished. So we have had to learn actually to be pretty set in what we do.
So a typical day here, I am very, very strict about school time unless there's an emergency. I wasn't at first. And I learned that to my detriment. So Monday through Friday, we're in the classroom at nine o'clock and we are done at one o'clock, which is the joy of a Charlotte Mason education. My children do have things they do in the afternoon. But as far as the actual school subjects, we're done at one o'clock.
Then literally we have each day kind of planned, what happens each day afterwards. And so we have some nights that are for ministering to other people. We have some nights we spend as a family. We have a midweek prayer service. [00:41:30]
Every Wednesday morning my husband and my girls go and they actually do Bible clubs at one of the government schools here, which is a great outreach in the area where our church is. On Saturdays is always family visitation. On Sundays we have church.
And then we also have things very set monthly. I only go grocery shopping once a month because that is a huge all-day endeavor. We go into the city. We don't have like one place where I can go and get everything. So we go from this market to that market, to this place, to the shopping center, to this building, to that building, to the butcher and we get everything for a month besides like, of course, the fresh stuff. But all of the meat for the month, anything that has to be processed.
OK, so if I want tomatoes for tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce or anything like that, I have to buy the tomatoes. So I buy huge bushel baskets of tomatoes and I have to bring those home and process them. And so trying to get the food for the month is a huge thing. [00:42:30]
Then my husband goes out on Mondays while we're in school and he runs to the market and picks up the fresh things that we need for the week. So just really actually quite regimented. If the electricity is on every morning, the laundry must be done because it has to hang because we don't have dryers here. Just things that for me are very normal.
I have to cook everything from scratch. So I have to put a lot of time into cooking every meal. Every supper meal takes at least an hour and a half. So at four o'clock I start cooking supper. So really just every day, just the thing that we've been given to do for that day, which is usually for me, school and taking care of our family. And then the things we have in the evening so that we can minister to others.
Laura Dugger: Wow. In your bio, you also mentioned that you're seeking to master the art of sourdough bread.
Patty Sommer: I'm trying.
Laura Dugger: I love that because it just makes me think of slow living, but you're sounding so intentional with your time. [00:43:31] So is there anything you've learned about that combination of being intentional to tell your time where to go, but also it is a slower pace, even making everything from scratch?
Patty Sommer: Oh, boy. I think that... man, I don't even know how to put it. I used to be a very frantic list person. My husband used to call me Martha Stewart and say, "You're Martha Stewarting again, honey." I would really work myself up. And I've learned that it has to be a balance. I have to be intentional with my time, because if not, it slips away from me, and I look at the end of the day and I say, "Man, I had these things that I wanted to get done, but I didn't even get done the things I needed to get done."
So learning to make the time. And to figure out also what it is the Lord actually wants me to spend my time on that day, I think, is also an important lesson I've had to learn. And I'm not always good at it, but hopefully we're growing in that area. [00:44:32]
Laura Dugger: Oh, that's so good. Any practical tips on that if we all want to seek the Lord as well? How have you heard his voice or then led to know which things are for you to pick up and which ones you need to lay down for that day?
Patty Sommer: I am by nature a night owl, but the Lord moved me to a place where everyone's an early bird. So I have learned that it's very important for me to get in God's word and prayer before I ever leave my room in the morning. Because if not, as a mother, everybody will assail me with a need, a problem, a question, a want.
So my husband and I, years ago, we worked out... He is an early bird, so he leaves the room and he comes out to do his devotions and he runs interference for me. This wasn't possible when I had, of course, tiny babies. But now that none of my kids have to have me first thing in the morning, so I do not leave my room until I spend time with the Lord. [00:45:32]
I'm trying to seek the Lord's face and just asking, what does today look like? And having a rough idea of what I should be doing that day helps. But knowing that where there's spots that, you know, I've got this time frame in the afternoon, what's it need to look like? Just asking the Lord, please make it very evident what I need to do at that time.
Laura Dugger: That's so good. Is there anything else that we haven't discussed yet that you want to make sure we don't miss?
Patty Sommer: I would ask as a missionary that those who listen to this, if they're praying people, that they would take the time to pray for your missionaries. There are so many people who've reached out to us over the years who say, "Man, how can we pray for you?" But there are some things that it's just impossible to really share. Not because we don't try, not because people who are listening don't try, but they just... when you've never experienced some things, you've just never experienced them.
But there are things that missionaries face that are just so different than what they face in their home country. And missionaries really do need your prayer. [00:46:34] And there are times that we've gone through difficulties and we can tell there's a calmness in our spirit, there's a quietness in our hearts because we know that people are praying for us.
We don't always know what missionaries are going through and we may not know how to pray specifically, but taking the time to pray for missionaries is really, really important. And it does more than most people imagine.
Laura Dugger: That's so helpful to hear. Is there a place where we can go after this conversation to learn more about your journey or just learn more from you?
Patty Sommer: So I'm on Instagram as Mrs. John in Ghana. That's where I do most of my writing now and my picture sharing there. We are on Facebook, but I don't a ton there. I used to write in the old days when people blogged. I wrote a lot about when I was younger and a young mom over. It's also at JohninGhana@blogspot.com. So those who are curious about the early years, you're welcome to go there. But I don't write there much anymore. [00:47:41]
Laura Dugger: Wonderful. We will add links to that in the show notes for today's episode. Patty, you may already be familiar that we are called The Savvy Sauce because "savvy" is synonymous with practical knowledge or insight. And so as my final question for you today, what is your savvy sauce?
Patty Sommer: I think as funny as this might sound, this is something that I've been learning in recent years, whether it comes to homeschooling, whether it comes to my plans for the day, whether it comes for dealing with my adult child on the phone 7,000 miles away or dealing with my 9-year-old, that prayer is one of our most underestimated gifts from the Lord.
The more I learn to spend time in prayer, the smoother my days go and the more I feel like I am learning what it means to walk in the spirit. So prayer has not been an easy habit for me to learn. And it's something I'm still learning. [00:48:40] But I would encourage you to just start. Whether it's ugly, whether it's awkward, whether you fall asleep, whether you find your mind wandering, just start seeking to pray. Before you make a decision, before you talk to someone, when someone asks you for counsel, ask the Lord for wisdom, ask Him to guide you and He will.
Laura Dugger: Patty, I wonder if it's the fruit of that habit that I just experienced you as such a calm, peaceful soul and a faithful woman. And we're so grateful for the work that you're doing every day, both in parenting and in missions work. And then to disciple us through this conversation was such a gift. So thank you for being my guest.
Patty Sommer: Thank you, Laura, for inviting me. This has been a joy.
Laura Dugger: One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term "gospel" before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news. [00:49:41] Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves.
This means there is absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved. We need a Savior.
But God loved us so much, He made a way for His only Son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with Him. That is good news.
Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. [00:50:44]
Romans 10.9 says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
So would you pray with me now? Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to You. Will You clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare You as Lord of their life? We trust You to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring Him for me, so me for Him. You get the opportunity to live your life for Him. And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So you ready to get started?
First, tell someone. Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes & Noble and let me choose my own Bible. I selected the Quest NIV Bible, and I love it. [00:51:50] You can start by reading the Book of John.
Also, get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps, such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.
We want to celebrate with you too, so feel free to leave a comment for us here if you did make a decision to follow Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read Scripture that describes this process.
Finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.
If you've already received this good news, I pray that you have someone else to share it with today. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.
Welcome to The Savvy Sauce
Practical chats for intentional living
A faith-based podcast and resources to help you grow closer to Jesus and others. Expect encouragement, surprises, and hope here. Each episode offers lively interviews with fascinating guests such as therapists, authors, non-profit founders, and business leaders.
They share their best practices and savvy tips we can replicate to make our daily life and relationships more enjoyable!
Related Episodes
