Divine Appointments: July 4, 2013

Marlee Tollison & Courtney Threat

Today we were scheduled to observe a Ghanaian Parliament session, but the Lord had other plans. We arrived at Parliament House at 9am because Damba, our guide, had received a letter from the Parliament office instructing us to be there on time.  We were seated in the gallery and were told upon entering that we were to have minimal talking and to prepare for the session which was to begin at 10. Needless to say, thirty minutes into waiting, four of us had already been asked a few times to be quiet by the gallery monitor. We had been interacting and bonding with a group of kids from a summer school program in Accra who were sitting in the seats directly in front of us. 

We met a little boy named David (age 7) and his sister Danielle (age 9).  We noticed that they kept raising their arms and waving their hands back and forth to see themselves on a camera that was set up to film the Parliament session. This sparked a conversation with these two joyous kids. They both were born in Georgia but live in Ghana and have continue to return to the States to visit. Due to their extensive knowledge of Disney Channel show theme songs and movies, we were able to experience a little piece of home on our second day on the other side of the Atlantic. David also taught us the traditional Ghanaian handshake; and, after being taught by the master, we held a competition to see who had the natural talent to perfect the handshake. 

After 2 hours of sitting, waiting, singing, and laughing, Prof said it was time for us to leave. As we left and said goodbye to our new friends, the words of Dr. Franklin, our Education professor, rang true, “Experience each moment from God, who is sending you. I am so proud of your calling.”

After leaving Parliament House, our Sun Seekers bus took us to the Ghana National Museum. Here we learned about Ghanaian textiles, traditional dances, and craftsmanship, and saw numerous historic artifacts.

Leaving the museum, Damba asked us if we would like to experience true Ghanaian food. With a resounding “Yes!”, we traveled to Afrikiko, a popular Accra restaurant.  Most of us ordered our first true Ghanaian meal, Red Red.  It is a bean stew served with fried ripe plantain. Red Red got its name from the palm oil that tints the stew and the bright orange color of the fried plantain.  We all really liked it! 

After lunch, we headed to the Ghana Cultural Arts Center, which is comparable to the Charleston Market, just ten times larger.  It was here that we were fully introduced to the art of bargaining as vendors competed to gain our attention.  While it was a tad overwhelming for most, some of us warmed up and began to bargain our little hearts out. We were in awe of all the Ghanaian articles to buy and wanted to spend every cedi (Ghana's currency) we had with us. This was a completely different market setting than the one we had experienced on Osu Street.

We really had a good time at the Cultural Arts Center and were surprised and pleased when one of the vendors that Marlee talked to asked her to pray for him. She said she would do so and would be back to see him at the end of the month. Marlee believes that it was another divine appointment and spent a good 20 minutes with him as we shopped. Ben also had a divine appointment with a drum maker as he spent over an hour with the man from whom he bought a drum and to whom he gave his “in Jesus’ name I play” bracelet. Ben said later that night if their time together touched the man in any small way he would be happy.

We left the Cultural Arts Center and headed back to the Sun Lodge Hotel and recapped our day over dinner.  Most of us shared about the new experiences that had been full of laughter and learning, while others who were returning for their third and fourth tiimes said they were so glad to be “back home” in Ghana once more.

It is clear that Ghana has already left an impact on our lives even in the short time we have been here. God blessed us with wonderful divine appointments today and for that we will be forever grateful.

As the day closes we would like to leave you with this thought. A man we bought some items from said something beautiful, “We are all one. We are all brothers and sisters who work together.” It is our prayer that as we are getting closer to being in the Ghanaian classrooms that we adopt this way of life as a team. Our deepest hope is that we will become one with our teaching partners in the classrooms here and also when we return to our classrooms back in the States.