Friday morning we flew to Tamale, Ghana. We had to get up at 4am but that wasn't that hard since our bodies were already confused with the 5 hour time difference anyway. We were so tired by the time we went to bed, we slept fine. We left for the airport at 4:30 am - our flight was the earliest one of the day and Dorcas, our Ghanaian friend who picked us up at the airport, said that if you don't get there early - even though you have paid for the flight, they will start giving your seats away. We were like the first people there. The plane was 2 seats on each side - not very big and it was full. The flight was smooth and for breakfast, they fed us a tuna or chicken sandwich. You can't be too picky on mission trips so we all ate a sandwich for breakfast - hey, why not? It wasn't too bad either. Got a juice box and a bottled water and I had taken a motion sickness pill cause I thought the in-country flight might be bumpy like the one in China. It wasn't but it sure made me tired - I was out like a light on the 1 hour flight and had a hard time staying awake the rest of the day. We had a busy day. Cheryl and her team were there to greet us at the airport and we received a warm welcome from them. We got our luggage and the driver took us all to the GILLBT Guesthouse in Tamale. Same Guesthouse name as the one in Accra but this one is much bigger - many buildings spread out. In my room, it's me, Jessica and Dorcas. Amanda and Grant, who are the married couple on our team, are in one room. Cheryl's team are in the same building with them and me, Jess and Dorcas are in the building next to it. When we got there, the team had breakfast left over so we ate again and got to meet the whole team. We then had an orientation meeting where Cheryl told us a lot that we need to know about Ghana and the places we would be going. She also told us that she wasn't going to tell us everything cause she wanted us to experience it ourselves. Which was fine by me - I'm all about experiencing the cultures of the different places I go. So far- I love Ghana!!!! The people here are beautiful inside and out and so welcoming. I am falling in love with this place - I knew that I would. Long before I ever came, I had a heart to visit Africa and now I'm here and getting to experience it and it's amazing.
After our orientation, we went to the Anfaani Children's Home - this home has all babies under age 3. Once they are 3, many of them go back to live with their fathers. International Hope and Heritage, Cheryl's organization, has sponsorships of the children there and this helps them so much. They can only take 12 children max at a time because of the size of the facility and the number of caregivers. The children are called orphans but actually they do have families - most of them had at least one parent, often times the mother, who has died. The father's put them there to be cared for until they are 3. If they are officially declared abandoned - meaning no family has come forth to speak for them - then they can be adopted. They do not care for abandoned children at Anfaani - those children would go to other places where they could be adopted out of. The babies there are adorable! We brought a bunch of cloth diapers and plastic pants to give them. We were not there very long that day but we did get to hold some of the adorable kids. Several of the kids there are sick. One had a really large bump out of the belly button area of the stomach. It was a small baby and I had never seen anything like that. The team told me that it was hernia. A lot of the children we see have that but this baby had an especially large one. Please pray for the children here - so many are sick and they just don't have the kind of healthcare we do in the states.
After we went to Anfaani, we then went to Hands of Mercy - which is run by a man named Silas and his wife. They have 3 biological children and 16 children who were orphans that they took in. They don't call it an orphanage - they call it their big family. They had photos on the wall of each child with his/her name under it. It was so neat to see. Most of the children are older than 5 - Silas said he doesn't take babies - they have so many kids, babies are harder to care for. BUT... he got a call about one little baby who needed help and he couldn't turn away so he took that little one in. The whole time he was sitting and talking with us - that little baby was holding on to his leg. Hands of Mercy was established in 2008 and they have only taken in the very poorest children who needed help the most. They have 9 boys and 7 girls right now. Plus their biological 2 boys and 1 girl. I wish I could upload pictures right now - will do so when I get home and Cheryl is uploading some today on facebook so if you go to my facebook page - you should be able to see them. She'll tag me and the team. The kids at Hands of Mercy were so cute! I can't wait to go back there and spend a day with them. Myself and the other 3 Visiting Orphan team members are going to go back there this week to volunteer and help take care of the kids for the day. The other team members that have been with Cheryl for the 30+ days they have been here have already done that - they said they helped with cooking, laundry, washing dishes and just playing with the kids. One of the kids was literally falling asleep as he was sitting on the floor. I saw his head bobbing and got up to pick him up. I held him on my lap and he slept. He felt really hot and the team said he is sick. I pray he is better when we go back this week.
We are learning some of the language here in Tamale. Deciba means good morning. The response when someone says that to you is Naa. Antere is good afternoon. Aniwoolah is good evening. Ayuli is what is your name. I like that one cause I get to find out the kids names.
I have been surprised how many people speak English here. School in Ghana is free and once kids are in school - they all learn English. Some families do not send their kids to school though - even though it's "free" - there are some things that are not - probably books and supplies and really poor families cannot even afford that so they do not send their kids. A lot of kids in the rural areas are not put in school becasue they have to work on their families farm.
After we visited those 2 places, we came back to the Guest house and the team made spaghetti. They had been eating food prepared by the Guest house but Cheryl and her team decided it was cheaper to buy food and make their own and they could prepare more variety and things that the team liked. Apparently it was the same thing almost every day and the cost had been adding up. It's been fun to do our own meals - feels like we're a big family. And actually, we are. The family of Christ! I love to see that in action - on the mission field each day and as we cook and eat together each evening. After dinner on Friday, we had a group discussion on Chapter 5 in the book Radical. I felt like a zombie to be honest because it had been such a busy day and we had gotten up at 4am. I went to bed about 9:30 and I had been tired all day and then, I laid down to go to sleep and I couldn't. I was up for hours. It was so frustrating. I knew I was tired, that we had a long day coming and yet I couldn't get to sleep. I finally did but I woke up so many times during the night. Finally got my best sleep about 30 minutes before it was time to get up. I was tired that morning but felt actually pretty good as the day went on so it wasn't too bad.
Saturday morning, we had breakfast at 8 am - eggs, oatmeal and toast. We left at 9 am to go to the villages to do hut to hut evangelism. I have never done anything like that. To be totally honest, I didn't know what to expect and I was a bit nervous. But it was AWESOME! We went to 4 different villages over the course of the day - all within 30 minutes of each other. We went to Sankpem, Zugu, Kushibo and Yipielegu. In each village, we specifically went to visit widows. There were several in each village and Cheryl had been going for 5 years back to the same ones and building a relationship. They know her now. She usually has different team members with her but she is the constant and they recognize and respect here. Being here with her has been a huge learning experience. Mostly, I now understand and see the importance of building relationships and going back year after year to the same places. It is important in all country but perhaps even moreso in Ghana. As Dorcas says "In Ghana, relationships are everything". I see that to be true.
The kids of the widows in the villages we went to were so much fun. At the second village, one adorable little girl named Mary stood in front of me as Paige told the Bible story Panorama and she mimicked everything I did. I had so much fun with that. If I smiled with teeth, she did. If I folded my hands, did thumbs up, laid my hands on my lap, crossed my arms, tapped my fingers, winked, etc, etc. - she would do it too. It was the cutest thing. And just reminded me at the core that children are children wherever you go. It also reminds me how we are all one big family in Christ. I love my extended family here!!!
4 of Cheryl's team members took turns sharing the overview of God and Jesus. It started with creation, the fall of man when sin entered, the promise God made through Abraham, and later the prophecies of Christ and how those prophecies came true when Jesus came. It talked about Jesus's work and his death and resurrection. And how we can have a relationship with God if we believe in Jesus. And eternal life with Him in heaven for those who believe. And that we are called to tell others about Him and that is why we came. At several of the villages, the response was awesome and the head woman would tell us how they knew it to be true what we were saying and that they believed. Several though, sadly kept saying that they were too old to be saved even though they believed but that they wanted their children to know about Jesus. Cheryl, of course, told them that their believe about being too old was not true - she's been telling them that for 5 years but culturally they still believe that. I pray they would come to understand and accept that it's never to late to have a relationship and salvation in Jesus Christ.
By far, the village visits were one of the ultimate highlights of all my mission trips. I loved it. Even though they are so poor and do need so much help, they still have a joy. They aren't distracted by technology (I say this as a type a blog entry - go figure) or material things. They have such a sense of community here. We saw small kids with babies wrapped up on their backs. Watching the kids put those wraps on was pretty amazing. These are strong kids. And they literally take care of each other. We saw the kids taking care of the babies even moreso than the mothers. It was really interesting and different than other places I've been. They also seemed joyful. I first saw that kind of joy in the midst of poverty in the Philippines in 2007 with Compassion and I'm seeing that same thing here. There is a joy and contentment in their faces. There is so much poverty and need but in the midst - there is joy. And for those here who know Jesus - they really KNOW Him. He is so real to them. He is their everything. And I love seeing that! And I want more of that for Christians in America!!!
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