back over the ocean

The earth is the Lord’s and fulness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein; for He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers.
Psalm 24:1-2

Ghana is beautiful. We stayed at a seaside resort Wednesday night to experience this beauty, after dealing with the challenges. Thursday night we stayed at a hotel near the airport so we could catch our flight Friday morning. And Saturday we arrived in Atlanta in the wee hours.

I would like to thank God and the Methodist Church for providing me with this opportunity. I love Ghana and plan to return, both to serve the people of Ghana and to offer support and friendship to the Jacksons. But now it’s time for a nap!

a different side of Ghana

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.

As we traveled back toward the coast and then on to the Accra, the capitol, we moved from jungle village poverty to coastal urban squalor. The slums have a different vibe than the village. The village is poor and disease-ridden, but has a sense of community, kinship, and mutual support that appeared lacking in the city. The villagers face a hard life with brave, friendly smiles; the slum-dwellers with tense, angry scowls.

Thursday morning we visited Cape Coast Castle, the great slave dungeon. Up on the walls, canons face the sea to combat naval bombardments, so Europeans could enjoy the privilege of killing each other over the right to sell human flesh to the Americas. Below are the cells where the slaves were packed in for six months at a time standing in their own excrement. Millions were captured and sold, and millions of those died in the process. I like to quip that this place is “Satan’s Cathedral,” a towering monument to contemptuous pride and disdain for compassion. A reminder as to why we offer ourselves in the continuing battle for justice and mercy.

good mission

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Romans 12:2

We’ve learned so much, and been transformed by this experience. This was an exploratory mission, and Ghana was difficult. There’s no way to sugarcoat that. The level of poverty, disease, and lack of efficient social organization is great, so our response must be equally great, if we love the Ghanains as ourselves. Yesterday was vastly better than the crisis with the crushing, desperate crowd the day before. Any normal parent with a child suffering from horrible disease would be desperate and frantic, and we understand and forgive the chaos. We’ve learned a lot about how to do this, and are empowered by the energy boost from your prayers for us.

But that was yesterday. Today we’re indulging ourselves in a little adventure tourism on the way back. We went to the Kakum national park to experience some real deep jungle (as if we hadn’t seen enough already) on a tree canopy swinging bridge over 100 feet in the air. This evening we’re relaxing beachside, and tomorrow off to visit Elmina Castle, a slave-holding dungeon, so we can study the capacity for evil in the human heart the way a doctor studies cancer. So we’ll be inspired to do even more when we return. We do not surrender, despite the challenges here.

Learn by doing

And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
1 Corinthians 2:3.

We had a serious situation yesterday with crowd control, so in the evening we did a lot of thinking and planning. Today we released the entire construction team to assist the medical group, and revamped clinic and pharmacy intake. Our organizers and bouncers have done a great job, with some wonderful local assistance, so things are under control – despite the hard downpour right now. The storms here are common, but seldom last long. Thanks to all the people who have posted supportive comments. We may get a chance at some point to get personal emails out – at the moment it’s more a matter of people finding time given the intensity of work during the day, which is only time we have a connection. Meanwhile I can pass along anything posted here.

work and play

If you love me, feed my sheep.

Sunday afternoon was children’s camp, and it became an exercise in improvisation. While we were dividing the children into groups, the rain started, so our mistress of ceremonies Jenny canceled the crafts and we immediately jumped into games, such as egg (plastic) race thru the mud. The kids of course loved it, and after we lost our inhibitions about getting wet, we did too.

This morning was a bit more serious. About 400 people showed up for medical care, which soon overwhelmed our staff. We had a crushing crowd at the door of the clinic and a few angry situations as people jostled for position. I don’t exaggerate when I say our group is managing the challenge heroically, and this applies many times over to our missionaries, who don’t have a quick exit coming up.

Once again, lunch break over, more later. Feel free to post comments on this blog, which I will try to convey to the group (no connection at the lodge).

African Sabbath

With the strength of God in us, we can change Lake Bosomtwe.
from Reverend Jernigan’s sermon

Today we stepped back from work to join a group worship service of several villages, lead by local ministers and Reverend Jernigan. The praise was from the whole person: mind, body, voice and spirit. We’re on lunch break now, and this afternoon we’re conducting Kid’s Camp, a field day of games, crafts, singing, and dancing. Like yesterday, this post will be short, since I’ve got to get ready for the PM activities, but I do want to add a personal note, then more later. I had a couple of children in my lap, and as I put my arm around one, I felt a protrusion a little smaller than a tennis ball on her stomach. There’s so much to be done here. Thanks for all your support.

The Peace Troopers have landed

Thy neighbor as thyself.

We’ve arrived and I now have my first opportunity to post a message (the clinic has an internet connection). The flight was overnight & therefore exhausting but uneventful. Getting through the airport at Accra went smoothly – generally, the officials made an effort to be helpful, but we had a brief bit of excitement when a young man ran through a security point and the police had to chase him down – but no weapons drawn, no one hurt, and the crowd seemed to find it more comical than frightening. The road from Accra to Lake Bosomtwe was degraded hard surface, very slow, very crowded in Accra, with lots of vendors coming up to the bus, including women balancing trays of wares on their heads. We had a nice lunch with some very interesting dishes I’ll describe later (must rush back to help at the pharmacy in a minute). We got unpacked at the lodge, then this morning took a boat across the lake to meet the Queen Mother at a village close to the clinic. Then on the work site. Everyone’s working hard, so much need here, so much lack of simple things, from clean water to medicine.

More later – we feel your prayers.