This
morning, a beautiful clear day gave us the opportunity to enjoy a nice
breakfast on the patio of the Fair Hill. We all dressed in our newly
acquired Ghanaian shirts, dresses, and skirts and climbed into the tro tro along with
Dominic and Samuel to go to their church, Calvary Assemblies of God, in the nearby village of Kakumdo, where we
attended church on our first Sunday in Cape Coast.
This
morning’s service was a little different than the one we participated in two weeks ago. We were much more
involved this morning. After about an hour of singing and prayer, Pastor Komsoon called us
up to the front to sing a song, in Fante, that he had only taught us yesterday when we stopped to visit the church's Kindergarten.
Thank your God
Thank your God
Because He is Good
And His love endures forever more
Thank your God
Da n’ase
Da n’ase
Da wo Nyame ase
Efir se
Oye
N’ado ye so
Do so o o
Da n’ase
Da n’ase
Da wo Nyame ase
The congregation seemed to enjoy our singing. So, we assume
our pronunciations were at least good enough for them to understand what we were saying.
As
we mentioned in yesterday's blog, Pastor Komsoon had asked two of us and Prof to speak "a word" to the congregation.
Chastity shared first. She read Luke 12:48 and stressed three points to the
congregation: 1) we are not guaranteed tomorrow, 2) God has given each of us special
talents and gifts with which we can honor him, and 3) God has also given us treasures. She summed her points up with a phrase from her pastor at home, “We are managers of everything
God has given us. It doesn't belong to us but to Him.” She closed by reading Psalm 144:3-4.
Next,
Ben stepped up to the pulpit to address the church. Ben’s message built off the
topic Pastor Komsoon has been addressing in his radio broadcast--living in a
time of uncertainties. He shared that many of us have come to Ghana for the
first time, and when we came were uncertain of many things such as what exactly to expect
over here and how it would be living in a foreign land for almost a month. He
then explained to the church how with all these uncertainties, we have peace
knowing that the Lord is our protector. He read Joshua 1:9 and summed everything
up by explaining how God is with us when we are in America as well as when we are in
Ghana. As followers of Christ, we all have peace knowing that God will protect
us with every step we take. He concluded his message by reading Psalm 121.
Prof
closed our portion of the service by reading from Psalm 27, David's song of confidence in the Lord despite the uncertainties surrounding him as he hid from his son Absalom. Prof finished his comments with an
exceptional reading of the final verse of Psalm 27, reading it in Fante from a Fante Bible.
Pastor
Komsoon then shared a brief message of his own and then, not surprisingly, called us
up to the front of the church again. We all lined up in front of the pulpit as Pastor Komsoon went down the line of us, anointing us with oil and praying over each of us individually. He thanked
God for calling us to come and serve in his country and prayed that God would bless us in everything we do in the future. The congregation prayed over us as
well. Then, as we were wiping tears (and oil) from our faces, we were presented with gifts from
the church. They gave each of us a church sticker, gave the girls a matching
bracelet, necklace, and earrings set, and gave Ben, Robert, and Prof a custom made
Ghanaian shirt.
After
church, we returned to Fair Hill for lunch. We then loaded the tro tro with the
remaining bins of books, laptops, and boxes of school supplies and took them to
Mr. Baidoo at Tuwohofo-Holly. Some of us spent time in Akotokyir village playing with the village children, while others went with Dominic and Samuel to a local
professional soccer match featuring the Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs (Yes, that's the name of the team and it was explained to us that playing against dwarfs is difficult because they are so small and so fast.) The Dwarfs played a team from Accra. At the game we drew the attention of a group of young kids. We tried
to talk to them but the language barrier was too
great. They were fascinated by some of our facial features, especially Ben’s
red beard.
We left the game with the hometown team winning 4-1 and Dominic dropped us off at the Cape Coast Castle to do a little shopping while he went back
to Akotokyir Village to pick up the rest of the team. Surprise, surprise,
a few more purchases were made.
We
returned to Fair Hill just in time for dinner. We sadly said our final goodbyes
to Samuel since we will more than likely not see him again before we leave Cape Coast on Tuesday.
Tonight Prof’s Ghanaian sister, Agatha, graced us with her presence for dinner.
She is the head of Junior Staff at the University of Cape Coast, and oversees
about 4000 employees. She shared with us how the role of Ghanaian women is
gradually improving and that there are now several women in important government positions.
We spent the rest of the evening beginning to pack our suitcases to make
sure all of our Ghanaian treasures will fit. We are also preparing ourselves
for the big Durbar tomorrow where Prof will be installed as Nana, or Chief, of
Education Development for Tuwohofo-Holly school. It will be a very bitter sweet day for us filled with lots of emotions
since it will be the last day we see the beautiful faces of the children we
have taught and played with at Tuwohofo-Holly International School.
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