We had a very full day today. So full, we didn’t have time to write a blog. In fact, the power went out in North Legon (not an uncommon occurrence), leaving us stumbling around for flashlights and candles.   Tomorrow we must to get up at 4:00am, it will be a LONG day.  Hopefully we will have time to write about it.

Wow, Wednesday was a very full day. My eyes could not stay open after we returned to the guesthouse to post to the blog.  We are catching up on our posts…

Wednesday:

The two iPhone alarms started playing marimba music at 4:00am. Shortly after stumbling around the room and wondering where I was, we were packing onto the large bus rented for the Baylor choir.  With our Ghanaian friends from the Christian Leadership Center we were out on the road by 5:30.  Even at that hour, traffic was crazy. Merging is done by jamming your car into any small gap, forcing other cars to either veer into opposing traffic or stopping to let you in.  Unlike most other parts of the world with intense traffic, Ghanaians don’t see to get very worked up.  We have not seen any yelling or furious hand waving so prevalent in other locations.

Our first stop was a series of four schools.  We drove west toward Cape Coast, leaving the intensely crowded city of Accra behind.  Soon, we were passing banana trees, small villages, and roadside stores. Ghana is a beautiful country, but the intense humid heat makes me melt.  I have to carry a bandana to continuously wipe the sweat covering my face.  We go through drinking water faster than we can find stores to buy it.  We have been keeping a careful eye on Paul, who sometimes forgets to keep drinking.  With his shaggy mop top, he is especially hot.  After 2.5 hrs we reach our destination.

Ghana has three or four main tribal languages.  Twi (pronounced with more like “chwee”) is the largest.  However, here in the west, Fanti is the primary tribal language, although most people can speak Twi, Fanti, and English.  English is an official language, and while it is not their first language taught at home, they are often taught in English as school.  Speaking slowly, we are generally understood.

We arrived at the schools late – at least an hour late.  This is the African way.  There is no fighting it, no matter how carefully we try and plan, things just move at a pace that we cannot accurately control or predict.  Even the time to eat is variable — sometimes the kitchen we have arranged has all of the food ready and other times folks are cooking it as we arrive, and two or more hours could be spent eating in shifts. Everything is flexible.  The Africans seem to have no trouble with this, but I must continue to remind myself that the everything will just work out, we will be exhausted, and that is the way it should be.

At the set of schools, we broke up into four groups and spent time singing and teaching them songs and telling Bible stories.  The classes were so happy to have visitors.  Our class was junior high.  Naturally the Baylor choir was amazing. They started with singing a 4 part arrangement that had the kids eyes wide.  The Ghanaians are fantastic singers and love to really groove.  With a djembe and some body swaying, they have their own fantastic sound, which allows them to appreciate the completely opposite rhythms and harmonies of the choir.  We tell some Bible stories, and then teach them a song before our time is up.

<< Sadly, one of my memory cards in the camera died and I won’t be able to attempt recovery of the photos from the school or part of the visit to the beach until we return and I have more software and hardware tools at my disposal >>

 

 

We then headed to the beach to walk around.  We arrived at one of the slave castles that the last stop in Africa before slaves were shipped to other destinations.  During the slave trade, local African tribes captured slaves from other parts of Africa and sold them to companies that then prepared ships for points north and west.  It really was quite chilling to see the building still standing, with cannons facing the sea.  Across the street was an old colonial church.  It hurt to imagine how people justified slavery only 150 years ago.  I stared at the castle, trying not to imagine what it was like, but it was impossible.  Fortunately, there were other activities at the beach.

 

In this coastal region, the ocean sustains life.  Large, beat up and leaky canoes were lined up under the palm trees.  A team of 9 men prepared to venture into the sea with a long long net that would be floated across the waters and then hauled in from shore.

The captain was in the back, with a single rudder to guide the boat.  After making it past the shallows, they paused in a rough patch, waiting for the perfect moment to make it past the set of waves.  While they waited, waved continued to pound the boat, occasionally turning it 45 degrees.  The strong young men jumped out and pushed the boat back into the walls of water before the next wave could turn and flip them.  They struggled for wave after wave, waiting for the right time.  On shore, the women and older men sat on their buckets and tubs, waiting for the men to make it out into the sea and lay their nets.  Their eyes were fixed on the men struggling against the sea.

Suddenly, we saw the men stab at the water with their paddles in unison.  It was time to charge the sea.  A wave broke over their boat.  The men braced, leaning down, so as not to be swept off.  The canoe froze, halted by water.  A bigger wave menaced.  The men quickly sat up and slammed the water with paddles.  With a boat that massive, getting flipped could mean death or serious injury.  I wondered if I was the only one concerned.  As the wave approach, almost in slow motion,  I heard women shouting from behind me.  The wives were standing, pumping their arms and yelling.  I could only imagine that they were yelling “PULL”, “GO GO GO GO “.  The wave smashed into their heap of patched and soggy wood.  The bow raised up so high I looked for men to topple out the back.  It hung in place for a moment and then slammed down.  The team immediately resumed their sprint and the wives sat down.

 

After the net was set, the team returned to shore and hauled it in.  The fish were divided into buckets and handfuls given to several men who had helped pull in the net, but did not go out into the surf.  Their courage was amazing.  As a team, they provided for their families.  It was a hard, dangerous, and difficult life as fisherman on the African coast.

 

 

 

On the way home we stopped at Kakum and walked the canopy.  It was a nice way to top off our long day.  Tomorrow, the Baylor choir will be in the studio, and our smaller team will be on the road to a primary school.

 

 

 

 

 

(still catching up)…

Most of the day was spent visiting the Mama Jane International School.  It was “International” because it had flags painted on the buildings.  The kids at the school were smart!  We met Mama Jane and her husband Pastor John as we pulled into a school that is surrounded by small mud and brick shacks, tin roofs, and no running water.  It was pouring rain as we drove to the school.  The  rain had mostly stopped by the time we arrived.  Folks were using buckets to collect the brown water from their roofs.

We enjoyed 4 classes, singing songs, playing drum, guitar, telling stories, and just getting a few moments to talk.  I believe we ended up spending 45 minutes with each class.  As we wrapped up with each class, we ask them if they wanted to ask us about anything… people asked where Paul learned to play drum, the schools the kids attend, our favorite food, etc.  They loved telling us about themselves too.

Two of the girls came up to Emily and asked for her phone number.  I explained that calling the US is very expensive, so we gave the girls Emily’s email address.  While Beth was talking to one of the teachers, Beth commented on how much she liked the tie made with beads she was wearing.  The teacher took it off and gave it to Beth.

In one of classes we told the had the kids draw Lions for Daniel and the Lion’s den.  They all got a chance to roar as we told the story.

 

 

 

Paul:

Hey this is Paul again. So yeah, we went to the orphanage again today and had a blast. But first we went to the studio to check out the album progress. We ended up being the sandwich makers, which was quite a feat considering we had 70 mouths to feed. They choir later ended up needing a djembe track so I laid a simple one down as a basis. Afterwards we took the van to the orphanage, which was definitely my highlight. I got assigned to the younger kids, 7 and under, and it was…. Interesting. Our games were fun, but the attention span of the kids was like maybe twenty seconds. So we had around twenty kids running around.  Eventually we gave in to the almost constant chants of ‘Football! Football!’ it was a pretty intense game, and as usual I got whooped by the kids, even though they were under 7. After our semi-organized activities, we had some free time with the kids. Hannah did some songs and I played soccer. It was an awesommmeee day.

Emily:

Any of you who know me well would undoubtedly say that the standard little kid American lunch of peanut butter and jelly is one of my last options on the list of foods I will eat. But today, I think I can safely say I went from an amateur PB&J sandwich-maker (meaning it had made about a total of 4 PB&Js in my life) to being a pro (70 sandwiches later) and even ate one myself!… After all that hard work.. Very sticky hands.. And of course I got to specially cater it to my likes :]. I really did have a fun time though. Just doing simple services like that for others, I realize the joy God gives us as we follow the call of Jesus and take on a servant’s heart. Truly amazing.

 

After a bus ride to the Agape orphanage filled with attempts to plan out some kind of divide and conquer technique since the kids are ages 6 to 17, we arrived at the grassy field with the beautiful, green, rolling hills in the background. We tried some big group songs but only got about 2/3 of the kids ‘going bananas’ with us since the high school guys definitely thought they were too cool for it. Our fairly impromptu plan to split into three groups – elementary, jr high, and high school – worked pretty well and with two leaders in each group, we played lots of fun games for about an hour and a half. I group-hopped with my camera (also making sure there wasn’t a group that was severely struggling hah), practicing a bit for my job this summer at SpringHill Camp in Michigan as a photographer. Near the end I did some beading and bubble-blowing with the little girls as Paul played some much anticipated soccer with the younger boys. With one more final group gathering, we had them teach us a song called ‘All Around.’ I have to say, African songs are just really catchy, and of course fun, and the fact that even the high school guys were loudly singing along was really great :].

 

Probably the best part of the day though was the 30 minutes or so where we simply hung out with the kids before they had to go in for dinner. The sun had stopped it’s glaring rays and some kids were playing soccer, others still blowing bubbles, some gathered around Hannah and her guitar to sing songs, and the rest in small groups around the rest of us. One boy who is about 10 came up to Paul and said, ‘I want to ask you questions about the Bible’ ..which we soon learned meant he wanted to quiz Paul on some Bible trivia. It was insane. He not only knew who wrote every book in the new testament, but what many of the prophets in the old testament did. Soon a crowd of about 6 other young boys gathered and they brought up more questions, eventually telling us to quiz them (which didn’t go so well considering they got most of the answers before we even finished asking the question haha). And if I wasn’t amazed enough already, they zealously proceeded to list off Bible references for Hannah to say the matching verse (and yes they had them all memorized and yelled them in unison when she couldn’t get one, they weren’t just listing off random references hah), I was proud to find out that she new most of them.. And relieved they hadn’t picked on me.. But it was so incredible to hear them yell back ‘yes we love Jesus!’ as Hannah asked, ‘do you love Jesus?’ It should be such a simple question but for some reason it is just to profound, so fundamental; sometimes I think we forget that just being completely sold out for and in love with Jesus should be the base of our faith. Their excitement to know the Bible and just their love for God’s word (‘my favorite book in the bible is……. Genesis to Revelation!’ one boy said), was definitely a wake up call to my lazy, ungrateful attitude toward the abundant access to God’s word that I enjoy.

 

Oh and one more thing, on the bus ride over to the recording studio Hannah and I got to sit next to a Ghanaian girl named Richess. One thing we’ve noticed about the people here is their immense faith in and communication with the Holy Spirit. For some reason many Christians in the United States don’t ever understand the workings of of the Holy Spirit who is always there is comfort, direct, and sustain us.

One last thing: The people here are just so beautiful.. And it may be cheesy.. But on the inside and out.  Their prayer, worship, and everyday conversations are just so genuine and filled with hope. A combination of the ability to focus on God’s plan for the here and now in balance with the overwhelming hope He has given us for the rest of our lives and a secure salvation (eternity with Him), is truly amazing.

 

So I feel like I could go on forever about what I have learned and experienced here but I’m pretty sure some sleep for tomorrow’s work and play at the orphanage, hospital visit and possibly a visit to the market, a fun African dinner, and a some time to meet with the choir at night and just share the impact this trip is having on each of our lives would be good. Goodnight and please pray for safety, patience, open hearts, servant-like attitudes, and complete faith in God’s supernatural power and authority.

 

All around, all around

Everywhere I look I see love all around

Let the nations sing, let the people shout

Let your kingdom come, pour your spirit out

All around, all around

Everywhere I look I see love all around

 

(the song they taught us ^ :] )

 

-emily

 

 

 

 

 

It’s hard to believe we are at the airport already, waiting for our flight.  Our trip has been fantastic, and we already miss our Ghanaian friends.

Here is our last days in a picture story….

The kids at Agape Orphanage are absolutely fantastic.  They have such a wonderful oasis of love and education provided by the church.  We started the day with the Baylor choir and a work trip at the orphanage.  About 1/2 of us worked on projects — hauling dirt, sorting through a nasty container of goods shipped from the US, and the other 1/2 worked with the kids.

 

Paul made lots of new friends.  The kids here are AMAZING soccer players.  Paul didn’t mind as replayed the Ghana vs USA game, with Ghana winning again…

 

 

We had a good lesson in how some Americans donate to foreign missions…  The orphanage had a container that had not been unpacked for years.  It was full of essentially donated junk… used magazines, random bits of hardware, an LP record, etc.  Of course, containers are not waterproof, so much of the stuff was “spoiled” as the Ghanaians say.  There were some good bits inside, but for some reason Americans think of shipping containers as a place to dump obsolete junk — let the orphans sort it out.  So 20 people spent more than 1/2 the day sorting out the trash from usable donations.

 

In the computer lab, I finished reassembling systems I had worked on.  I recruited some help — a local Ghana choir member who was studying Computer Science.  He had never taken apart a computer before, so he and I worked on the computers and I showed him how IDE cables work, how to change jumper blocks on the drives, and other goodies.   We managed to get 4 computers to be in pretty good shape, swapping out bad CDROM drives and replacing them from the other systems that were already toast.

The kids here need so much love and attention.  They are so happy to have us visit and both improve the orphanage with a service project, and sing songs, tell Bible stories, share about our lives back home, and in this case, make bead bracelets.

Hannah got a new dress with the pattern of the Ghana Kente cloth.

In the evening, the Ghanaians from the choir put on a special performance of African dance, singing, and story telling at the Christian Leadership Center.  It was fantastic!

 

 

The Ghanaians LOVED our Hokey Pokey when we did it with the kids at the orphanage, so they insisted we all do it together.  I’m wondering if we  will find a new African dance version of the Hokey Pokey sweeping the continent when we return.

So… we are on our way home.  It was a fantastic trip for all.  The kids had a fantastic experience.  They learned of God’s love, and once again learned the way to be His “hands and feet”.  Looking back on the pictures will help keep us motivated to stay involved and focused on the important, not the pressing.

Emily starts college in the fall, and Paul starts high school.  Our family is at a point of change, and Africa was a great place to start the transition.  We will never forget the time we all went to Africa together.

 

-Pete