We arrived in Ghana airport a few days
ago. Everything was going just as expected! We got of the plane,
walked through the airport, REV217 stopped to go to the bathroom and
were the last to go through the visa line. Our team, REV217 is the
oldest team on the L-Squad which is noticeable on travel days. We
are always the last ones to make it through the security lines
because we always have to stop and use the restroom. As stated in a
commercial that makes me laugh, “we do not have a going problem, we
have a growing problem.” Don’t ask me why I find that funny
because I can not tell you why it makes me laugh!
We made it through security and we were
pushing everything we own out of the airport. I think the reality of
how little I own just sunk in. Everything I possess fits in an 80
liter pack. Talk about being a minimalist. As we were pushing out
belongings out of the airport there was a mob of people that started
to hug us and welcome us to Ghana. There were at least twenty
pastors hugging us, shaking our hands and greeting us. In Ghana
people say, “akwaaba” that means welcome! I felt so akwaaba in
Ghana! I have never had such a warm welcome in my life! The people
here are amazing and so full of love and kindness. After meeting all
of the pastors and their families we were ready to head toward out
place of lodging. We took an hour drive toward out hotel. Yes we
drove on the wrong side of the road, yes we had mostly dirt roads,
and yes we were crammed like sardines in the van. However, I think
that we may have been saltier than sardines do to the copious amounts
of perspiration dripping from our orifices. We finally arrived at
our hotel which was much nicer than expected… it had air
conditioning that worked 50% of the time we were there. We stayed
there for two nights then we were off on our journey to the north of
Ghana.
We left our hotel at 6:40 in the
morning on the 10th. We were told we had a 17 hour bus
ride! I was expecting to be crammed into a school bus with four
people per seat! However, I was very surprised with our
accommodations. Our bus was air conditioned and the seats reclined!
This was such a blessing from God! God is very kind to allow us to
have air conditioning for such a long ride. Yet comical enough to
have vinyl seats in the bus. Yes there were a lot of dirt roads but
they were much better than expected. There were crying babies, but I
have noise canceling headphones that save my life on almost every
trip. The bus stopped every two hours and we were allowed a short
break to walk around, get food, and use the wash room. We reached
our bus stop around one in the morning then took a short ride to the
pastors house. Once at the pastors house we passed out for the
night! I must say it was the hottest night of sleep in my life, but
I slept hard! I woke up in wet sheets from extreme amount of sweat
that I produced in my sleep.
This morning I woke up at 9am. I came
out of my room into the communal space. I had plans to read the
bible for a while then talk to God about my thoughts. However, there
were different plans in the work. The pastors wanted to have a
prayer meeting and just ask the Holy Spirit to guide us along our
journey. I have to be honest with you, the pastor we are staying
with may be the nicest man I have ever met! He lives in a place of
humility that is so admirable! Every time we thank him for something
he says, “no thank God.” He has chosen to let us stay in his
house rather than in a hotel. He said that we left our house in
America so now we have a house in Africa. This man has learned the
art of being invisible. We told him we wanted to blog about him and
what God was doing through him. He told us do not blog about me but
blog about God. He is a very humble man who loves the Lord. I
think I will learn a lot from Pastor Immanuel this month. I am very
hopeful that this will be the best month of ministry yet! I am so
excited for what God will do this month!
I love you all and will see you soon
enough!!!
