African Mission

Monday -
We began our drive toward the Volta Region heading northwest from Tema. The traffic is unbelievable all the time here. Every road is lined in tents and huts with people selling everything imaginable. If they don't have a building for their business, they carry it around on their head. I have seen boiled peanuts (loose), bananas, banana chips, boiled eggs, loaves of bread and sodas being sold from the heads of vendors and this is only a few of the things I saw. Along side the road, you can buy or rent about anything you can possibly think of. You can rent a dump truck, a back hoe or other industrial equipment. The operators just sit in the equipment, you go to them and contract with them on the spot. I saw doors and windows, braids, pots and pans, irons, microwaves, refrigerators, mattresses, newspapers, maps of Ghana and even toilet paper for sale by vendors on the streets. I filled two pages in a notebook with items we saw for sale. Quite interesting.

Labo Labo was our first village stop on Monday. This little village was really prepared to greet us. They set up our meet and greet in a shaded area behind the school. After we exited the van, the children were released to greet us and I can truthfully say I have never been greeted in such manner. They ran across the school yard toward us singing and waving their hands, yelling "akwanna, akwanna"(welcome, welcome). Some of the children had paper airplanes that they sailed into the air. It was quite a greeting!

The people had gone to so much trouble to prepare for us - it was very touching.

That night we attended Pastor John Johnson's church in Kpeve, a small town about an hours drive from Labo. This little church was so refreshing. They have recently made some improvements to their building. It has a roof and door and they also have a new set of drums! The building is small and the walls go about 6 feet up with an opening between the top of the wall and the roof. They have done a lot of hard work on this and would like to put some screening up to keep the mosquitoes out. At this time, they are saving the money for this project. It was a wonderful experience worshiping with them.

We spent Monday night in a hotel in Ho. The hotel was clean and nice. The bed was extremely comfortable and I was very thankful for a good night's sleep. The day was very tiring with a lot of driving and bumping around in very crowded conditions. We have so much fun though even under those conditions - lots of singing, laughing and just enjoying each other.

Tuesday -
Today we will begin installation on the 2nd purification system in the village of Adigbo Torno. This village has a large body of water nearby but it has a parasite that causes Schistosomiasis (one of the symptoms is blood in the urine) and many of the villages are suffering from this. We spent all day here, working on the system, visiting with the villagers and playing with their children. A little girl named Esther and I became very good friends! She sat in my lap for a long time and demonstrated her dancing abilities for us. Very impressive, I might add! (For all you facebookers, she is my profile pic today).

We left there after dark and had a long drive to our next village, Alovanyo. We drove a couple of hours, turned off the paved road and onto a dirt road/path and drove (or perhaps I should say bounced) for 30 minutes into the village. They were expecting us for a worship service which took place far back in the bush under a palm canopy. Ben drove us as far as the van could make it into the village and then we got out and walked. It was really dark and a long walk through the village and down a dark, rocky path. This was my favorite worship experience of the trip. Their drums and shakers were the only instruments and their dancing and singing was out of this world.

We arrived at the guest house back in the village about midnight, very tired and ready for some much needed sleep!

Wednesday -
Upon waking this morning, we discovered the beauty that surrounded the house! Mango trees, pineapples, corn, plantain and bananas were everywhere and a gorgeous view. We were invited to a "meet and greet" with the Chief and his elders. As we walked up to the meeting place, I heard the call of the drums. They were signaling a village meeting! What a beautiful, soulful sound.

We left Alovanyo and headed to Logba Tota! Logba Tota is high on a mountaintop and is the village of Chief Takyi who has taken care of us everyday since arriving in Ghana! He has a 3 bedroom guest home that we stayed in. The views are magnificent from the wrap around porch on the house. It was a nice relaxing afternoon, sitting and visiting with all our team.

Thursday -
Today was our return to Tema day. On our way, we stopped at Adigbo Torno to check on the purifier and it was working perfectly. We were all so thrilled - it was a great moment! Even better is seeing the excitement of the villagers! The smiles on their faces and knowing that we could help in this way is just wonderful! And to top it all, I got to see Esther again!

It was a long hard road this week. I've been through so many different emotions as we go from village to village. I go from being completely exhausted to a burst of energy, from feeling terribly sad to complete exhilaration, and pretty much everything in between. This has been a week I wouldn't trade for anything.