June Update!

Continuing where I left off... Another great experience we have had is participating in what is called Adidima. This is when the pastor and some of the church members on the committee go out to serve Holy Communion to the senior citizens and those who are housebound. Papa Nyarko (the pastor)stated that there are about 200 church members who fall into this category. What a blessing it is to walk the streets to go into their homes and pray for them and celebrate Holy communion with them. Besides Papa Nyarko, there is also the Assistant Pastor, Papa Michael and just a handful of other faithful members who participate in this fellowship every month. We walked up and down hills and valleys to reach people's homes. The poverty is very prevalent but the church members are so filled with love and warmth and they sincerely appreciate the prayers, the singing, the bread and wine, the fellowship and the 2 CDs (their currency-equivalent to about $1 in US dollars) which is slipped into each person's hand as we leave. The churches' commitment to reaching all 200 members up and down hills once a month in as high as 80-90 degree heat speaks volumes about their determination to serve God. But again, just seeing their faces and feeling their warmth has been such a rewarding experience! Last week we also accompanied the nurses to visit some of the elderly in their home. One of the first people we met was Momma Mary Anne. She is 96 about to turn 97 on July 4th. When I told her both of my grandmothers were also born on July 4th she was just so thrilled. She speaks so clearly although she said that she was disappointed that she couldn't see our faces since she is going blind. We told her that that was okay because we could see her and that she was beautiful. She also told us that she used to be a nurse but was retired now. The nurses from the church came to check her blood pressure and make sure that she was up to date on her medications. When I asked her what she was doing for her birthday she told us to come back for a party! So, we will definitely not want to miss that. Speaking of parties, it was Lukata's birthday so Papa Nyarko and Momma Beatrice surprised him with a dinner last Thursday. ...And speaking of Birthdays---Laci's 26th birthday is tomorrow -June 29th--so we plan to celebrate one more time. I told Laci it is not everyday that you get to spend your birthday in Ghana halfway across the world from home. Papa Nyarko's birthday is next month so we will certainly celebrate his birthday in July. He does so much for this community as not only the church pastor but as the Presbyterian District Minister that I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't give him a big celebration in town. Also, since Laci is majoring in web design at college she has agreed to update the church's website. Papa Nyarko said that it hasn't been updated in 5 years. So, Laci will collect as much information and pictures/videos that she can and then work on their website when she gets back to school this semester. We have taken about 500+ pictures and videos so that shouldn't be too hard. Right now Laci is uploading some pictures of our trips to Accra (the capital city of Ghana). In Accra, we shopped, went to the water front, visited the central part of the city went into the international convention center and to the National Theater where they do plays. As we were leaving we met a major movie star from Ghana who just happened to be coming into the theater. Since I am not from Ghana I don't remember his name-- but Moma Beatrice and Popa George who is the van driver for the church, as well as Papa Nyarko and Moma Beatrices' sons David and Daniel, Jr. knew exactly who he was and introduced him to us. We also went to the monkey, bat, and butterfly sanctuary that we visited on Lukata's birthday. We actually drove about an hour into the countryside over a steep mountain to get to this sanctuary. Then we parked the van and climbed up steep boulders into a cave to see the bats who were flying over our heads and getting louder and more agitated since they knew we were "encroaching" on their territory. We didn't stay in the cave for very long --the smell of their bat dung was enough to get me to leave them alone. But as we drove we saw some of the butterflies and also some of the antelope out on the range. We also got out of the car to take pictures of the 3 ostrich's who were in a fenced off area. They came close enough so that we could touch them and try to feed them. But towards the end the monkeys came out and some of us tried to feed them. They would snatch the food from you and run and eat the banana or bread. Altogether I think there were about 20 monkeys of different sizes--big monkeys, little monkeys, pregnant monkeys, and older monkeys. Just as we were about to leave one of the baby monkeys was attacked and chased by the bigger monkeys. I think he tried to sneak a piece of bread and got caught. It wasn't a very pretty sight and the only thing that I think saved him from really getting hurt was a couple of the sanctuary guards came and threw rocks at the other monkeys until the little one could get to safety. After each trip Papa Nyarko always asks us to give a theological reflection about the experience we had. In regards to this monkey business I commented to Jewelie in the Field Ed office that all of these monkeys needed prayer and probably a lesson on forgiveness and reconciliation! That is my theological reflection for the day... One more interesting thing before I close. We were invited to a ceremony of the King for this area. I videotaped a lot of it but also took some great pictures of the libation ceremony. Many of the members of the community came out and we all went up and bowed to the King on his throne. Papa Nyarko as the district Minister was on the program to offer the prayer for the community. Most of the dignitaries who spoke at the ceremony including the elected officials mostly spoke in Twi so we didn't understand everything while it was going on but Papa Nyarko explained some of what was happening later that evening. Blessings to all of you for now...we will keep blogging and posting pictures as often as we can but that is a quick update for the past month. Yes, we have eaten Ghanian food, had Ghanian outfits made for us, met kings and queens and movie stars and fellow-shipped with our Ghanian brothers and sisters at schools, churches, on the beach, and in town. Finally, I calculated that it took a total of almost 14 hours (not including the layover time in Germany) to get from NJ to Ghana. However, I spent the last 3 days for a total of 18 hours getting my hair braided by the Master braider in Akropong. Yes, I have at least 500 braids in my hair and even the other hairdressers in town wanted to know who did my hair???? As momma Beatrice said, "The price we pay as women to be beautiful!--Well, I pray that you all are still enjoying your summer and we look forward to seeing you when we return! Love always, Lisa and Laci

Ghana Update

Hello Everyone: This is Lisa and Laci...we are both doing well! It has been awhile since I blogged so I will try to give a brief update of what we have been up to the past few weeks. As I stated before the power goes off several times per day--whenever it wants to and for as long or as short as it wants to! So we have just learned to live around that minor inconvenience. We are still trying different Ghanian dishes--but the favorites seem to be banku, fufu, and kenkey. They are all somewhat similar but made differently and sort of remind me of mashed potatoes. We have also had lots of chicken, goat meat and lamb. A couple of days ago I had Ghanian pancakes which are very close in taste to pancakes in America. But I don't want to give the impression that all we do is eat! We spend a lot of time in the community and at church gatherings. On Sundays we are typically in church for 5-6 hours since we attend both services. We have all preached at least twice so far at 2 different churches. As you can imagine--the services are very lively especially at offering time and during the time to fellowship. Lots of singing in both english and twi (the main language here in Akropong) as well as lots of African dancing! I haven't figured out how to load my sermon yet but when I do I will post it. As part of our duties we attend schools to do a worship service with the children. Yes, the Ghanian schools include a devotion service every Wednesday at the schools. We each will have led a worship at 8 schools over the next few weeks. The children (primary school-high school) are a lot of fun. They treat their worship service as if they were at a high school football game or a R&B or rock concert! It is so amazing to see them get that excited about God! The US would do well to look to the Ghanians as a model for incorporating prayer and worship back in school. Before school the students all spend time cleaning up the school grounds. The US should also take note of that--the students here are excited to be in school and are very eager to learn. In addition to the schools and church--we have attended a couple of funerals. Here in Akropong, they only hold funerals every other Saturday. At the funeral service you could have one person being funeralized or as many as 9 caskets in the front of the church. Mama Beatrice (Popa Nyarko's wife) said that they have had as many as 22 people being funeralized on one day. I couldn't imagine that in the U.S. But on the Monday after the funeral they do what is called Ayiasetena which is when the pastor and church leaders go to the home of each deceased member and do a mini sermon and assist with the reading of the will and public acknowledgement of who will be designated to oversee and handle the deceased family affairs. The 3 of us will all each have the opportunity to preach a funeral on a Saturday at the church as well as assist at the burial sight and then do a sermon at the Ayiasetena on one of the Mondays. My time is almost up so I will stop here and continue in the next blog.