Ghana Update: Tuesday, Day 8

Day 8

Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day... like when we leave for America.  Today we were faced with a lot of unexpected free time due to the rain.  Our clinic was scheduled to begin at 2:30 and go until 4:30, but just about as soon as we stepped off the bus, the downpour began.  We set up under a small open shelter and sat on the low wooden benches as the rain pounded around us.  When we finally did open up for service, there weren’t many people that came out to receive the help.  Jon said that out of around 225 tickets that had been handed out, precious few turned up.  Even after counting those without tickets, we only saw 73 people in all.

A few days earlier in this same village, a man in his forties passed away, leaving behind a wife and children.  Everyone seemed to be related to him or at least knew him in some way so the village was grieving. The rain wasn’t the only thing that kept people from our clinic. Apparently there was a wake being held for the deceased with plans for a funeral tomorrow.  Our leaders decided that we should move to a different village tomorrow for the last clinic and crusade. The people will be focused on the funeral and a busload of “obrunies” rolling in would be an insensitive distraction.  So tomorrow we will head to a different location. Africa gives you lots of opportunities to practice flexibility.

The crusade was held in the center of the village and more than once a truck or motorcycle drove right through the middle of the service.  Our group contributed some special singing and a few testimonies. However, the rest of the night we were clueless as to what was said. The local pastor preached the sermon in Gaa and it was translated in Ewe, so we sat and listened without understanding a word. The most widespread language in Ghana is Twi, and even some of the local pastors were clueless.

Another authentic Ghanaian meal awaited our return and we enjoyed a type of “haystack” called watchi. It’s made up of rice and beans, meat, spaghetti , and coleslaw. There were more pouches of Fan Ice to enjoy in sundae form for dessert and after dishes a bunch of us sat around and played some games.

The Scribe