My favorite day in Ghana

Our last day with children in Ghana was my favorite day in Ghana and is right up there on the list of all-time favorite days in general. We got dropped off at Pastor Christian's church on the beach in Aflao and our van went and picked up the kids at the orphanage to bring them there. We had told them we could shuttle them in several trips but they showed up and all 40 of the kids piled out of our little 12 seater van - it was quite impressive. They were sooooo excited and it was so awesome to see the joy on their faces! Tons of kids from the area who live near the church, many of whom go there, came down to play. I think there were at least 100 kids on the beach with us all day. I got some great pictures. I took so many photos on this trip that I filled up both my memory cards. So many great things and beautiful children! On the beach, some of the team played soccer with the kids, some just held hands and sat with kids on our laps (me included), some went in the water and played in the waves with the kids. It was such a fun day. I sat on the beach with a group of about 7 kids around me and taught a tiny little 4 year old boy how to do the hand clapping game where you do hand to hand across and then clap in between. It was so cute. Another little girl played with me too. And then other kids just wanted to hold my hand or sit next to me. Most of the kids who were around me where actually the neighborhood kids, not the kids from the orphanage. Although sometimes it was a mix. It was very evident that the kids in the area are desperate for love and affection. I spent most of the day with kids holding my hands, sitting on my lap or just standing all around me. But my all-time favorite part of the day was at the very end. The kids from the orphanage loaded up into the van and I was sad to see them go but while we sat and waiting at the church for the van to come back for us - we kept playing with the kids who lived nearby. I was inside the church and Caleb had been playing drums in there so me and some of the kids started dancing. We did that for awhile and then I started doing the hokey pokey to the music and though they didn't understand me - they mimicked everything I did and did it with me. It was so fun. Then I taught them head and shoulders, knees and toes and they followed right along on that too. Then I asked them to sing for me and one kid who kind of spoke english said the word hallelujah which told me that they probably all knew that word. So I spontaneously started singing it over and over and made up a melody. And the coolest thing ever - they totally started singing with me. We sang it quite a few times and then I led them outside to sit in the shade on a bench behind the church. There were 2 benches and I sat in the middle and all around me and the entire other bench in front of me filled up with beautiful African children, all looking at me to see what I had planned next. I hadn't planned any of this and yet it was just flowing and I was loving my time connecting with them and bridging the language barrier. One of them started singing the Hallelujah song I made up and I joined in and then all these cute kids joined in and we must have sat there and sang that for about an hour. So I added a bridge to it - Praise the Lord 4 times and then it would go back to Hallelujah. Jess came over and took a video of it. It was a truly wonderful blessing to just sit with these precious children singing to the Lord with them. It was the most beautiful sound in all the world! This one little girl who was smaller than the other kids and sometimes would almost get plowed over when they were swarming one of us - I picked her up and put her on my lap. Another kid was laying on my other leg and a sweet tiny boy sat in front of me facing me and he touched my hand the whole time - he seemed quite fascinated with my white hand. He was so adorable! All I can say is sitting there on that bench with them singing was one of my favorite things ever!!! I will upload the video when I get home for sure.