Akwaaba!  Greetings from Ghana.  We have arrived in Accra after two fairly smooth flights, and have spent a wonderful first evening with our hosts in Accra, the Korums.  Our trip through Accra from the airport to their house was not as different as we expected – in many ways, like a city in the US, but much more colorful :) the streets were busy, lined with people carrying things on their heads or walking between the cars to sell those well-balanced objects, with motorcyclists zipping in and out of the cars.  Their tall buildings were among the very colorful landscape, with lots of different geometric shapes and designs, which made for an exciting drive.

It’s still hard to believe that we’re here, actually here.  Daniel and I have been enjoying the small glimpses of “wildlife” that we’ve seen here, a few small birds and a dancing lizard, and look forward to tomorrow, when we’ll be flying up north to Tamale, and getting to start the work we’re here for!!  A huge praise, all 10 pieces of our luggage made it here with us, despite the very short layover we had in Belgium – which means that we have all of our clothes, tech equipment, and all of the Bible+ units we brought here!

There will be more to report tomorrow I’m sure, but for tonight, we’re re-packing and getting ready for our flight up north tomorrow (and sleeping, which I’m really looking forward to!).  We are praising God for the luggage arriving here, and for good health so far, and are asking Him for safe travels on the rest of our journey, and for a productive start to our technical work tomorrow.

Grace and peace to you all,

Kaitlyn

After our short flight from Accra to Tamale, we met the always smiling Ray Mensah.  Crammed in the back seat, we stopped for lunch, a trip to the Batik store, a quick petrol stop and Fan Ice run, before starting the long drive to the Northernmost village we have traveled to in Ghana, Bunkpurugu.  Our GPS tells us we are here:  +10.773269 -0.621868.  Everyone can figure out on their own how to plug that into Google Maps.  From our Lat/Long, you should be able to see we are about ½ a degree from the equator and very close to the Togo border.

I drove the second half of the five hour drive, as the road turned into a red ribbon of mud and holes. We zigzagged from one side of the road to the other, trying to find the safest routes.  As we bounced along, Ray explained that Daniel and Kaitlyn were getting a free Safari.  Fortunately, Daniel had sufficient gel in his hair to provide a bit of vertical cushion. Several times he left head prints on the roof of the cab.  Beth, who spent most of the day flying or riding in the car, somehow earned 17,000 steps on her Fitbit.  Hmmmm.

A short blog post today, and no pictures, because we have been mostly in transit, arriving late in the evening and then having dinner with Pastor Nathaniel and his wife Eva, our Bimoba hosts. Tomorrow is Sunday, and we will be attending a “traditional” service — in Ghana, that means no organs or Martin Luther hymns, but a lot of dancing and singing.  We should have lots of fantastic pictures tomorrow evening.  We will start the recording tomorrow, and the spend the full day Monday in our makeshift portable studio.

-Pete

 

 

(Sunday)

It is hard to imagine a bigger Sunday. The Cheerios and Cracklin Oat Bran we brought from the US made a spectacular breakfast with the dry milk powder.  By 8:30 the equatorial sun was warming the rain-soaked ground and the humidity was rising.  Sweat dripped from my forehead.  Africa.

Church in Northern Ghana is spectacular.  The kids, dressed in the exotic and colorful prints of Africa sat on benches in the shade, outside the church, listening to their teacher.  My sister would have loved growing up in this part of the world.  In Ghana, big sisters have permission to correct and discipline anyone younger.  Everyone understands this simple rule.  When someone older gives instructions, don’t hesitate, don’t contemplate a sassy answer — Just Do It.

Inside, joyous singing echoed off the concrete floor and metal ceiling.  After about 30 minutes, it was time for introductions – Ghanaian style. Formal introductions come from a traditional culture of respect for elders and tribal leaders.  The pastor introduces Ray, and Ray introduces me, and I introduce my wife, and then Kaitlyn and Daniel.  From the front of the church, Beth and I explained how we are working with Ray, and why we are here in Africa.  Then the service really got going.  It is hard to describe African church worship – maybe it is best described as the opposite of American church worship in most ways.  Africans enjoy singing loudly, they love colorful clothes, they move and dance during worship, people dance to the front on the church to give offerings, moms care for their babies and breastfeed during the service, toddlers walk in and out as needed to find their moms, pastors break out in song during their message, and the service is 3 hours long.  In every way, it was like an ice cold glass of water to jet-lagged and weary travelers.

After church, we enjoyed lunch with the pastor and his wife. Food in this part of Ghana is usually a starch with a sauce.  The carbs can be noodles, rice, or potatoes.  The sauce could be made from a bit of meat or fish powder/sauce combined with veggies or eggs.  We spent some time talking to pastor Nathaniel and his wife Eva.  They are from Accra and gave up their careers there to work with the Bimoba.  We looked through their wedding albums – 2 of them.  One for the classic western wedding, and the other where tribal customs are observed, and traditions very carefully followed.  If the couple has family in northern Ghana, going up to the villages for the traditional ceremony is critical for the success of the wedding.

We then started recording. The local language here is Bimoba, and the Bimoba people span both Ghana and Togo, which is only 2 miles away.  Some of the men we met had farms in Togo.  The recordings of Bimoba choirs, pastors, community health, and Bible stories will be used on the BiblePlus+ units that will span both countries.  It was our first technical setup, and while I’ve done it dozens of times, Kaitlyn and Daniel had to learn on the fly.  Fortunately, they are both quite handy with technology and learn quickly.  The microphones, cables, and cameras were soon splayed out across the cement floor of the church.  A nervous young man was the first to step forward, ready to recite from memory the Bible stories he had prepared in Bimoba.  That first encounter with a microphone just inches away, and a balding guy hunched over a laptop can no doubt be a bit intimidating, but after the first few nervous mistakes, he was soon comfortable and working his way along.

We had a two hour break in the afternoon to gather up gear and meet with the pastors from the local “council of churches.”  About 8 local pastors sat in a circle outside, in the shade.  Some additional blue plastic chairs were added to the circle and we joined in.  After a review of the minutes from the last meeting in September, when it was noted that some American visitors will be coming in October, the formal introductions began. We were warmly welcomed, and then began planning for the work to be done on Monday.  One of the pastors, the official secretary, took notes and summarized our plans.  We left promptly, allowing their meeting to continue, since our official business was complete.

Here at the equator, the sun rises and sets at nearly the same time every day all year long, which means the daylight hours are not long.  By 6:30 it is dark here.  So after dinner, we hopped in Ray’s truck and headed out into the bush to meet up with Joshua and Christian, who had set up a showing of the Jesus Film using a small battery-powered projector.  Electricity runs only a short distance from the main road, so with the exception of the cities and people living along the road, this area of Ghana is without electricity.

Daniel and I rode standing up in the back of the pickup truck in order to make room for passengers in the cab, most importantly, the local man who could guide Ray through the bush. I shared my tidbits of pickup truck riding with Daniel.  Never put your fingers between the roll bar and the roof of the cab – that gap changes as the truck hits bumps.  Keep your needs bent, squint your eyes and let your lashes filter out the bugs, and of course, be prepared to swallow a few critters.  Ray, for his part, had us ducking down to keep from getting caught on trees and of course got stuck a few times in mud and trying to cross rocks. Daniel did great and had a great time. One particularly harsh bump did send us flying however.  Daniel was not tossed from the truck, but smacked his ribs and knee pretty hard on the truck. Being in Karate tournaments in the US seems to have prepared Daniel for getting punched in the side, and he recovered quickly.

In the small village, more than 100 people had gathered to watch the film about Jesus’ life. Kaitlyn, Beth, and Daniel were offered chairs.  I wandered around taking long-exposure pictures.  One group of the children just sat on the ground behind the screen, which was sufficiently translucent that they could watch the movie in reverse.  Local pastors prayed with people after the movie, and by 11:00, people were heading back to their homes, some using flashlights, some using mobile phones, and others just guiding their steps by starlight.

On our return, we wandered through the bush a bit more than we should have, trying to retrace our path. The lights stabbed at the darkness, but following bicycle and motorcycle paths with a 4×4 truck presents challenges.  Within twenty minutes we were back on the road and speeding toward the guest house. A great day.  A long day.  We were up late, taking about all of the sights and sounds in this first full day in the bush and slept in the following morning.

-Pete

 

 

(please note that Kaitlyn’s blog post is at the bottom, so you have to read mine to get there :-)

Our primary purpose here in Ghana is to support the efforts of Ray Mensah, Director of OneWay Africa.  Over the last several years, we have helped construct the BiblePlus+ program for three local languages: Mampruli, Komba, and Dagbani.  On this trip, we are working on two new languages: Bimoba and Fulfulde-Maasina.  We have mountains of video to shoot, hours of audio tracks to record, and countless photos to snap as we melt, rehydrate, and melt again in the African heat.  I love hard work, even when it begins before breakfast and continues until the starry and quiet hours of the next morning.  But upon reflection, I see that such intense focus, even when applied to the most admirable of tasks, can keep me from spending time listening to people and experiencing their stories.

Monday was our first full day of recording – we accomplished everything that was important, and we completed some recordings and took some photos as well.  The hardships of this remote land are quite real.  Yet the jubilant sounds of the choir and the encouraging messages and stories from the local pastors uncover a reality that stands in stark contrast to their surroundings — stories and songs of faith, hope, joy, and peace.

The morning started with the pastors.  Their Bimoba words, directed at the black foam windscreen covering the microphone made no sense to us, yet we heard kindness and passion.  Some of the pastors started their message with a song they had composed.  We listened, and tried to soak it all in.  Jinjong, a retired pastor with silver hair and a soul-penetrating gaze told us about his life in Ghana and the hardships he faced as an early Christian.  When I asked him if he had any more messages we could record to share with his fellow Bimoba, he grinned broadly and explained that a retired pastor has many things to share, and he would be happy to return tomorrow with some more prepared material.

Some of the other pastors:

 

In the afternoon, we took a break to snap photos and fly the drone and collect some video.  I’ll upload the video and post some, it was spectacular.

 

 

 

 

About ½ way through the day we had begun to work more like a team.  Beth would prep each speaker, record their names and meticulously manage the content. Kaitlyn would take photos of the speakers both before, during, and after their turn behind the tripod.  Daniel had one of the most unique tasks.  He was both responsible for turning on and off the ceiling fans between recordings, as well as chasing goats and chickens out of the church before they started bleating or clucking.  Occasionally a stealthy hen would sneak in.  Who knew that chickens were so intent on being in church?  Once in the church, it was how I imagine comedy routines at Dollywood – a lot of running, clucking, feathers, and laughing.  Chickens are quick.

Daniel resting after a crazy confusing chicken chase. Late in the evening, we set up for the combined choirs of Bunkpurugu.  Several soloists took their turn, from young girls to adult men, leading the songs.  I think we recorded for two hours.  It was exhausting and hot, but the singers smiled and swayed to the hand drums.  You will enjoy this short sample.

(click the play button in the black box below, on the left)

We wrapped up the evening with a candlelight dinner… almost… it was by the light of a fluorescent flashlight because the power had gone off.

-Pete

Kaitlyn also took the time to write a blog post as well!  Whoohooo!  Encourage her and Daniel to keep writing :-)

Kaitlyn’s post

I have loved getting to hear the stories of the pastors and missionaries here. Last night we talked to Eva, the wife of Pastor Nathaniel, who has been hosting us here in Bunkpurugu. Eva is a wonderful hostess, so hospitable and generous. We’ve been served incredibly delicious meals every lunch and dinner while we’ve been here, and there are a lot of us – the 4 of us from America, Pastor Ray, and the two Jesus Film riders who are here with us, plus Eva and Nathaniel. Every time you look at her she has a smile on her face, even the day she felt unwell. But getting to hear her story last night has been my favorite part of being here. She felt called into ministry for a while, but when she married Nathaniel, he thought he wanted to be a businessman. She talked about how churches here choose people to come in for interviews to be missionaries, choosing people who seem to love the Lord’s work and are invested in the church. They were called for an interview, and despite some obstacles in their way, they were chosen. She told us about how Nathaniel had a job offer in South Africa that would have been very lucrative, good pay, easy life. But they followed God up north here to Bunkpurugu, where they have a thriving church that we had the privilege of attending last Sunday. She had two quotes last night that really stayed with me (which I was not able to record word-for-word, but which I will put here as I remember them). “It is so much better to be poor and within the will of God, than to have a lot of money and be outside of it, because then I could not help [people] at all.” And when Pastor Ray asked her if she was going to go to Togo next, she at first shook her head, but then responded confidently, “I will go wherever God tells me.” What a beautiful faith and trust in God this incredible woman has! I could have sat and listened to she and Ray talk about heaven, and tell stories of those who have burned idols and come to know Jesus, for hours and still not heard enough.

The other testimony that I have been really blessed by hearing was that of Joshua Bonney, the newest Jesus Film rider who just started at the beginning of this month. We recorded his story yesterday, and his faith and prayers were also challenging and inspiring. He came to know Jesus while he was sick, on his “sickbed”, as he said, in senior high school. He went on a bunch of missionary trips while in school, and then attended the Livingstone School of Missions. He wanted to be a missionary, and was eventually connected to Ray Mensah, who told him about the Jesus Film riders. Joshua said that this was what he wanted to do, and even when Ray told him that there was no support for another rider at that moment, he still said that he was willing to start. And the Lord provided support for him, so he is now in training and hopes to have his own motorcycle and to go off by himself by November. At the end of his story, Beth asked him to share prayer requests that he has right now, so people who support him can be praying. And while my first thoughts when I was asked for prayer requests for this trip revolved mainly around health, safety, productive recordings, etc, his were simple and so beautifully heaven-focused: that God would be working through him to reach many people, and that people would come to know Jesus in this area and in the whole world. Amen!

-Kaitlyn

Tuesday was our last day recording in Bunkpurugu.  Our small team was working well together. Our USB Cords, power strips, tripods, computers, and cameras were quickly setup.  Several ladies arrived to tell their stories of faith, followed by the community health technician who present material that we recorded.

Daniel (who is 15 yrs old and chief chicken chaser and gear schlepper) wrote up a post for the blog on an iPad while bouncing along in the truck.  It may have some typos.  However, right now our Internet is 2G… we can hardly upload this text.  I suggested maybe we upload using a smaller font, to reduce the data, but Kaitlyn and Beth rolled their eyes at me.  The bandwidth is so low images and video will be uploaded when we get to town in a couple hours.  Until then, enjoy Daniel’s description of his experience here in Africa.

Daniel:

Man, the first half of this trip has been quite an amazing experience! Sadly this morning we had to leave the city of Bunkpurugu, but that place is one that will definitely not be forgotten. All the people we were able to meet, and the animals that we interacted with, and the many events that we were able to attend have been so wonderful and I am so filled with joy that I was able to come on this trip and experience what Africa is really like. Everyone here is so welcoming and especially the believers are so happy just to be on this earth and able to serve the Lord no matter what they may be sacrificing to do so. Hearing all of the testimonies and stories that the kids, pastors, and women had to share was awesome and truly inspiring. Even though I may not be able to speak or understand their language, there were many moments during the recordings where I could know what the people were saying for two reasons. First because I was able to figure out that the word Yissa means Jesus. But more importantly I could know what they were saying based off of the passion and the joy that they were expressing when talking about how Jesus came into their lives and saved them or gave them a new purpose in life.

One thing that I have found specifically extraordinary is how passionate the people here are and how much they just want to go out and tell everyone about their lord and savior and also just to sing songs of praise and worship to Him every chance they get. Even in the exhortations and the testimonies of some of the pastors, they would either start or end with a song and while it may have been fun to hear it in their language, once they explained what the words meant then it really got to me and made me thing about how true what they said was. One of the pastors who is now retired, Reverend Jinjong, sang a beautiful song before giving his testimony and after singing it he explained what it translated to and what that meant for people in Northern Africa. He explained to us that the song talked about sacrifices, and how for many people in the Bimoba people group think that sacrificing goats or chickens or other animals like that is how they are able to be saved, but the song says that none of those sacrifices can do anything for you. The only real sacrifice that will do anything for you is the sacrifice that Jesus made when he gave up his life on the cross for everyone on earth fully out of the love that he has for us. And when he explained that to us I really started to think about how true that is and the significance of the sacrifice that he made.

Another thing that was really encouraging to me that I heard during the recordings was the effect that saying all the stories and testimonies had on the people. Many of the younger kids and the women were very shy when they first came up to the mic to record. But once they started talking, they went from slouching with their hands folded in front of them and talking quietly, to standing up boldly waving their arms and exclaiming the great stories that they had prepared for us. And even in a few of the songs that the choir was singing, when the kids had started singing, I didn’t think that they could get any more energetic and joyful, but once they got into the songs they were dancing and singing even louder and the smiles on their faces were like none that I’ve ever seen. And simply seeing those people praise God and be so happy while doing it made me extremely happy. It also made me think some about how amazing it is that even though the people here and the people back home in America are thousands of miles apart and in completely different cultures, we are still able to praise the same, one true God and serve him with everything we do in our lives.

One last thing that I have really enjoyed is getting to experience the culture because it is MUCH different than in America. Literally everywhere you go here you can find at least three different types of animals and most of the time many more than that. Even in our church service there were animals coming in and clucking to the music. There was one time yesterday in the afternoon when we were able to see a man walking with what seemed like 30 cattle right past the missions house that we ate most of our meals in. And speaking of meals, this trip is the first time that I have been able to witness the slaughtering of an animal and then eat it two hours later. There were two guinea fowl that were slaughtered for dinner and the first one was mostly cooperative with it being killed but the second one ran away and was so close to escaping until one of the boys, who was surprisingly fast and agile, caught it and brought it back to be killed. I also found out after the little girl had killed the birds that those were only the third and fourth birds that she had slaughtered in her life. Another part of the culture that I loved getting to experience was just the hospitality and friendliness of everyone in Bunkpurugu even those who had no idea who we were or what we were doing. Everyone that we went past would say good morning or good afternoon and smile at us. And no mater who it was, they would always say “you are welcome”. Even the retired pastor when we went to his house to see his pigs, he wanted us to come into his home and meet his “honey” and they made sure that we were comfortable and had a place to sit. The last thing I was able to experience was riding on the motorcycles that the Jesus Film riders used. I got to ride with Christian twice and he showed me how to drive it but sadly I wasn’t able to actually drive it anywhere.

Sorry for such a long post but even all of this barely covers what this trip has been like and how awesome it is to be here.

Your favorite Ginga Ninja,

Daniel