August 15, 2008
Akawaba (Greetings)!
Well it's been a few INCREDIBLE days since we last blog. Everyone is doing fine by the grace of God. I feel so inadequate in sharing with you how God is moving in our mist. There is no doubt that He is using us, but also that He is using our brothers and sisters here in the Motherland to bless us. WATCH OUT! When we get back home it's going to be a shouting Hallelejuah time! Okay, let me try to pick up from where we last blogged:
August 10:
Church in Africa!!!! First of all -- there's PRAISE AND DEVOTION. Not like we do it. But the praise and dancing gets so high that the Spirit of God takes over immediately. The team has talked among ourselves about how people with so little materially can have such great praise for the goodness of God. There is no way that one can experience this and not have a greater appreciation for God's mercy and grace. Pastor preached from 1 Cor. 13 about the power of Love and how the Love of God empower and propels us to love one another in word and in action. Several people joined the church and Pastor Appiah announced that there were going to use the training we gave on New Beginnings right away! There was also a infant baptism and it was awesome how the church lifted a collection for the infant. These peole have so little and give so much. We also presented the pastors and their wives with gifts from EGUMC. They were estatic and very appreciated.
As always we ended the day with good eats (I'm afraid to say that I think we have all gained a little weight!!!) But it' sooooooo good!
I don't recall if I already mentioned this but our team begins and ends every day with a time of devotion and sharing. I believe that this has been one of the most powerful aspects of our time together. The sharing has been so real and the power of God has healed and blessed us in the process. This is truly "small group ministry!"
August 11:
Visited with the head pastor of the Methodist church in that district. We also met the beloved mother of our host pastor, Pastor Peace! From here we left for the Cape Coast and to visit the Slave Castle.
THE SLAVE CASTLE..... there are no words to properly describe this exeperince. We were all brought to tears. We walked through the castle and stood on the very ground where our foremothers and forefathers spent their last days in the homeland. OUr guided tour informed us of the history of slavery in Africa and the sins of the past against a loving and trusting people who thought they were going to be blessed by the white visitors from Europe. My, my, my!!! We walked through the female and male slave dungeons, saw the secret stairwell where the governor brought the "prettier" female slaves to his bedroom, viewed the "door of no return" where our ancestors passed through to board ships that would forever take them away from the land and people they loved. WE have many photos and a DVD to show you of the slave history.
August 12:
WOW!!!! Today is the start of Vacation Bible School. I have never, ever seen so many beautiful smiles and beautiful eyes of delight. The children touch your hearts with their sweetness. At first they are apprehensive, but after a piece of american candy and a hug, they are your friends for life. They adored us almost as much as we adore them. Can't wait to show you the picture. Oh, by the way. We taught them to sing "When The Jesus in Me Meets the Jesus in You," in english and the next day they taught us how to sing it in their language "Twi."
August 13:
Ray is wishpering in my ear that the highlight of today was LUNCH!!!!!! After our second day of vacation Bible school, our host pastor family invited us to their home for lunch. THANK YOU JESUS! Tiliapia, fried plaintains, rice, home made spicy chicken soup and a magical sauce that all I can say was GOOOOOOOOOOD! By the way, tiliapia and red snapper are very common dishes so we have been eating a lot of it, but there is nothing like a home cooked meal (by a master cook) that makes it special special. Even Lenie was trying to get the receipe.
Oh my Lord.... after lunch we went to the market of all markets!!!! Madina Market is unlike anything I have ever seen except on Television. Everyone is selling something everywhere. Every inch of space in the market is used for selling. There are booths, stands, people sitting on the ground selling there wares, people walking with baskets, and tubs on their heads piled mile high with items to sell. Everything on the planet is sold at the market smoked fish, to batteries, fabrics, kitchen utensils, jewerly.... EVERYTHING!!!! Oooops, I almost forgot to mention that driving in Ghana is an experience unto itself. And driving through the market..... well, let's just say that if you can drive in Ghana, you can drive anywhere --- even on the moon!
After a very full morning and afternoon, the Revival began this evening (Wed.). The theme for the Revival was "God's Plan for Your Future." We had a holy ghost good time in the Lord praising God and praising God some more.
August 14:
The Last Day of Vacation Bible School. We took VBS to the village of Otopease (O-tow-pi-ah-see). It was almost a two hour drive to this remote village in the central region of Ghana. This is one of several churches planted by World Anointed Christian Church to spread the Gospel. Everyone that we have worked with here thus far takes the spreading of the Gospel very seriously and are fully committed to it. In Otopease, we first met with the Village Elders. The chief, who ordinarily would greet us was away on travel. After formal introduction the Elders gave us their permission and blessing to do ministry in the village. Rev. Gooden and Lenie walked around the village stopping at homes inviting people to come to church for VBS. We were told that this is the custom of the church to go to the homes on Sunday and invite the people to church. The introduction of Christianity is relatively new to this area. The people still practice idol worship, and even withcraft. Our assignment was essentially to preach and teach Jesus. While the VBS team was ministering to more than 100 children (!!!!!!!!) the rest of the team ministerd God's Word to the people. It was a another holy time in the Lord. Following the preaching, I was asked to do a Q&A with the congregation. They were encouraged to ask any question they had about church and or being a Christian. Their questions were deep. For example, one person wanted to know "how does a Christian respond when their own mother puts a curse on them!!?" Someone else wanted to know if they could continue drinking alcohol, and another wanted to know "Why do they still act like they did before they became a Christian?"
As you can imagine this was another powerful day for the Team. It is so easy to think that because we are from America where we have soo much more "things" then they do, including education, that we are going to "Help" them, but God works both ways. I am sure I can speak for the whole team when I say that what they are giving to us is invaluable and will change us forever in how we worship and serve one another in His name.
Well.... that's it for now. We are getting ready to start our day and will get back to you with more about EGUMC VIM in Ghana the next time we have access to the internet. As always, forgive the grammer and spelling. We love you and please keep sending us your prayers and words of encouragement.
Love, Ray, Brenda, Debbie, Lenie, Cheryl and Pastor
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