Ghana Update: Wednesday, Day 9

Day 9

“How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be! How marvelous, how wonderful, is my Savior’s love for me.” This was the last rousing rendition sung by the group just now on the bus as we came home from the crusade.  It’s the last night here and singing hymns in glorious four-part harmony seemed like a good way to wrap up the time here.

The group set out around 12:45pm for the village of Kotoku to set up the clinic.  It didn’t seem to matter much that they weren’t expecting us because we still helped around 120 people.  One lady that came through asked us to pray for her husband.  We asked about her story and she shared that they had both been Muslims but she had converted to Christianity.  Apparently he didn’t care that she went to a Christian church, which is pretty rare.  She asked that we’d pray that her husband would accept Jesus too. 

Praise and worship starts every service and lasts from 45 minutes to an hour.  Dancing is always a part of the service and every Ghanaian does it well.  They all seem to be born with rhythm.  We, on the other hand, could use a few (or a lot) of lessons.   I’m sure the locals at least get a good laugh out of our awkward attempts to keep step with the beat.  You can’t accuse us of lacking in enthusiasm since Dan was dancing before the Lord with many of the children.  A few others formed a line and tried to mimic Pastor Isaac’s varied steps.  Needless to say we all enjoyed ourselves.

Marion preached the sermon tonight and Pastor Isaac translated.  Afterwards we greeted each other in Twi, then loaded up and headed for home. The singing started soon after we left and about halfway through Light the Fire when we hit a traffic jam.  Literally “hit”.  Our bus driver started cutting off a large semi and we all saw it coming. The semi’s side mirror broke and fell right in front of me outside my window.  The distinctive sound of crunching glass effectively stopped the singing.  The bus driver didn’t seem terribly bothered by it.  Leon commented that Ghanaians don’t use mirrors anyway so it was no problem.

–The Scribe, Janae Horst

 

Today was a riot of sensory overload.  The team seemed exhausted as we traveled back to Leon’s after the crusade. “We’re not necessarily tired from today, just drained from the week.” Marie explained.  People’s thoughts were definitely on sleep, so I kept the interrogation to a minimum.

“Describe today in three words.” –The Scribe’s Proofreader

“Inspired. Grateful.”
–Jaxon Weaver, sharing how today changed his outlook.

“Bittersweet. Humorous. Memorable. Soul-satisfying.”
 –Rachel Bauman, who I told could use 4 words.


“Meaningful. Productive. Fun.”
 –Carolyn Nisley

“Hectic. Productive. Fun.”
–Kayla Jenkins

“Entertaining. Enlightening. Unforgettable.”
–Marie Borkholder

“Fantabulous. Enjoyable. Inspiring.”
 –Dan Borntreger

“I’m surprised with how well we threw together an impromptu crusade, clinic, the whole village visit.  It turned out beyond expectation.”
–Jon Sauder, totally ignoring the “three word” limit.
               
“Inspiring. Stretching. Empowered.”
–Luetta Borkholder

“Super. Fun. Excellent.”
–Carissa Geigley

“Fulfilling. Joyful. Addicting.”
–Theresa Yoder

“Joyful. Excitementforhelpingpeople. Rewarding.”
–Maudeen Chupp, bending the boundaries of grammar.

“Perfect. Singing. Bus.”
–Travis Jenkins

“Frickin’ AMAZING.”
 –Adrian Myer

“Good. Life-learning. Loud.”
 –Brianna Eggleston