Ghana Trip 2: Day 4

There is nothing like church in Ghana. NOTHING. The worship is unbelievable. This morning we sang and danced and clapped and shouted to the Lord. We sang mostly all contemporary Christian songs that I have heard and sung before, but today was different. Today I worshiped the same, one true God that I worship in Ames, Iowa, but I sang praises along with a people not my own – a nation not my own. And I loved it. Who gets to experience this at the age of 27? Really. These people amaze me. They sit in the rain, under their metal roofs, inside their tiny shacks with a cloth sheet for a front door, and they say “Let me tell you how the Lord has blessed me.” By American standards they are not blessed. But here, they choose to see their blessings. And they will tell you about it. When we sang the praise songs at church today, all you had to do was look around to see the testimonies in the room. We sang, together, hands raised high in the air, and I looked around and knew that these Ghanaians are living these lyrics. They know what it’s like to completely depend on God for physical, daily bread. They know what it’s like to watch a child die from a completely preventable and treatable disease because of their lack of money and access to medicine and care by a doctor. They will never know what it’s like to be able to turn on a kitchen faucet and get uncontaminated drinking water. And yet, through their struggles and pain and trials they turn their eyes upward and praise God. They are such a good example to me.

Our plan for today was to visit a village that Kofi has started a project in. He wants to help the village create a market area to sell their goods. Jake is very interested in helping with the project and he has some valuable connections that will help – like access to an architect/builder back home who has a heart for Africa and has been waiting and waiting for a project like this to come along! You may remember this builder, Chris, who accompanied Jake on his 1st trip to Ghana a few years ago. Ever since their trip Chris has wanted to donate his time/services/resources toward a project in Ghana. This might be just the thing (And actually, since I wrote this journal entry, Chris & Jake have met about the project and plans are rolling! I will post about the progress soon.) I was getting SO excited to go to the village because I know village life is completely different than life in the city and outskirts of Accra. The only other village we have been to so far is Samuel’s village, and that was an unmatched experience. So, like I said, I was getting so excited to go to the village and then it down-poured all morning long. Between the drainage system and the dirt roads here everything was flooded, trees were uprooted and some structures were even caved in. We are actually visiting during Ghana’s rainy season now, so it rains about every other day. When it rains hard like it did this morning it is almost impossible to get back into the villages b/c of the conditions and flooding of the dirt roads. So, bummer. We will probably not be able to make it there this trip since our next 2 days are quite jam-packed.

So, instead of the village trip we went swimming again….yes in the rain!

We had lunch at the hotel, and JJ is still loving chicken and rice for almost every meal!

And we ordered ice cream for the first time since being here, and Samuel really liked it!

And then, late afternoon we went over to Esi’s for a home-cooked meal. It’s turned out to be a very easy day, and I am thankful for it. Tomorrow is the big visa appointment so it’s been a lot to think about.

I’ve also been meaning to write that Samuel knows a lot more English than we initially thought. I think at first he was having a hard time understanding our accent, so when we would ask him questions he wasn’t quite sure what we were saying. But now that he has become so comfortable he is talking a lot more and can say numerous sentences in English. They are choppy sentences, but he can string together the right words to make pretty good conversation. For instance, in the pool today Jake was trying to get him to jump in off the edge and he said to Jake “You no catch me!” because he didn’t want Jake to catch him when he jumped! He also discovered JJ’s fear of dogs at Esi’s house tonight and later on he was joking with JJ by pointing to the front door and saying “JJ, puppy is coming!!!” :) So, he can definitely communicate in English which is a great relief and was quite unexpected by us!

I’ve also been thinking a lot about school for Samuel. Intellectually he is ready. He can write all of his ABC’s (upper and lowercase) and recite them easily. He can spell and write his name, knows colors, a few shapes, and can count. Not only that, but he practically breezes through answering the questions on the little computer games that we brought along. Socially I think Samuel will do fine in school as well. However, I do really want to ensure that he has plenty of time to bond and attach with us at home before sending him off to school. Unfortunately, our school district does not offer ½ day Kindergarten which is a huge bummer for our situation. We aren’t deciding anything now, but I was happy to see that intellectually it doesn't seem like he will be behind for his age.

Well, that’s about all I have to write for today. It was a great day of rest…emotionally and physically. Tomorrow is a big day and I am ready for it to come!