You’re Ghana Miss This… Like African Ton.

It must have been about week one but I remember telling my mom… “I like it so much here, it kind of scares me.”

Now I don’t know God’s plans for my life and who knows if I will end up back in Ghana for one reason or another, one day or another… but what I do know is that in Ghana I came alive.

 

The freedom I found, the friends I made… they definitely made it hard to leave and easy to miss. However, the devil continually is trying to trip me up and make me think that freedom was something I left in Ghana. The discoveries I made in the Lord? Those were only because of whom I was with and what I was doing.

Now let me tell you… as amazing as Ghana was for me I just want to preface my sharing of experiences with a confession. For a hot second I was acting as though Ghana was what gave me freedom and Ghana was what let me find myself in the Lord. I had deep conversations that drew me closer to God, I danced around in church like a fool, I climbed up trees like a child, and I started living out of who God says I am.

It was glorious… and then we came to Europe.

 

The faces that greeted me in the airport were no longer smiling and waving with enthusiasm. Clothes went from being bright and vibrant to stiff and neutral toned. The atmosphere literally and figuratively became cold in comparison to the warm and welcoming atmosphere of Ghana.

And as quickly as the culture changed, so did my attitude and my newfound freedom in the Lord.

But don’t chu worry, the devil is a loser and a liar and there was no way (and there is no way) that I would let him take that from me so easily. As long as the Holy Spirit is the breath I am breathing, Christ’s blood is the blood pumping through my veins, and God is the one guiding me… the devil can rot in hell.

 

And so ladies and gentleman, I am continuing to live out the freedom I found in Ghana because it isn’t Ghana that gave me freedom, it was God. Last time I checked His Holy Spirit lives inside of me so as long as I got that, I sure as heck am living young and wild and free (yes, I went there).

It’s not always easy but it sure is fun. I walk around town and sing to myself. On occasion, I might spin around a light post, skip instead of step, run in the rain just to get an ice cream, or wait in the line at the park to jump on the kids trampoline. Really I could go on ‘cause when you’re walking with God you just feel so free!

But that’s me in Europe so let’s go back to Ghana and I’ll share bits and pieces of my whimsical (shout out to Hannah Jacoby for introducing this word to me) experiences there.

 

Joy-filled experience number one: Sobolo

This is a Ghanaian drink that the locals make and man oh man did I love it. It is the perfect combo of sweet and spicy, with a good amount of ginger to try and keep the mosquitoes away (still didn’t work for me because my blood is a mosquito favorite). They sold it at the church we worked with and some of my Ghanaian friends got wind that I liked it, so more often than not our sweet, sobolo-selling friend Ben would pay for mine. If you dare to try it yourself and can handle a little kick, or you’re just feeling adventurous here is a link to the recipe:Sobolo Recipe

 

 

Joy-filled experience number two: Healing Brittanee

The day before my squad mate Luis had me pray for my other squad mate Dara, because she was having some pain in her back and stomach. To be honest, it irritated me that he was having me pray healing over someone AND to top it off he asked that I try and use as few words as possible. I’m pretty sure I may have rolled my eyes at one point… oops. However, after the third time praying, Dara felt completely better and we were both surprised that God had healed her… not that we should be, but it was awesome!

The next day my teammate Brittanee had a headache and I just felt it in the pit of my stomach… God wanted me to pray for her to be healed. I didn’t want to, I really didn’t. But remembering the day before, I sat down and prayed for her. Nothing really happened. So I prayed again. After three or four times of praying we both opened our eyes and I still cannot forget the excitement and shock on Brittanee’s face. God had healed her! We both looked at my hands and laughed as she asked, “Do you have the gift of healing?!” And again it was awesome!

 

Joy-filled experience number…

Honestly I could go one and on and on but that might take a while so instead I’ll share a few more quick tidbits here and then let you on your way. God provided an opportunity for me to lead someone to Christ for my first time and for the first time be a part of baptizing someone. Doors were opened to speak with Muslims that were all over the community we were in. I danced for Jesus during a service or two during worship. God provided a one-of-a-kind camping trip in the African bush with some friends.

 

Luis baptizing our friend and hotel manager, Joseph

Raman (hotel chef), Me, and Joseph

One of my friends Samira, a mother of two precious little boys, with one girl on the way. She is one of the wives to the hotel owner and I was fortunate enough to pick her brain about what it looks like to be a Muslim and one of two wives… God’s gonna win her heart one day. 

My friend Gifty and I outside of church

 

And so it begins… the camping trip to the bush!

hitchhiking in a Ghanaian policeman’s pickup… Exhaust from the car in front of us left our faces slightly discolored.

 

Leaving the villages and walking through the bush

Rafael (a guy we just met who owned a canoe), Luis, Alyssa and I canoeing down the river

  

A fellow canoer 

Our campsite that we had put up the day before in the POURING rain… but it was fun 🙂 Also sorry quality on this photo is no bueno.

 

Like I said, I could go on but really what I want to get across is that in Africa I started living out the freedom that has always been waiting for me. God has always intended for me to have a joy-filled life, full of wonder and laughter. I just was too wrapped up in other things to see it or even embrace it. Sometimes I was too proud, caring what others thought and wanting to do life my way. But what I got ahold of in Africa; I am never letting go of. I am a child, I am a lover of the Lord, I am a delight to Him… and so are you.

 

No matter who you are or what you’ve done, God loves you. He just does. He loves you so much. And it is in that love, knowing that there is a God who cares for you and created you, that you can find true freedom… because His love is never failing, never ending, and when you get ahold of that, you realize how great He is and how small you are and you just want to jump around.

I just want to jump around! I just want to dance through the streets because God is just so great! It’s awesome! He’s amazing and I love Him… wow how I love Him. Seriously… I know it sounds crazy… but that’s because it is.

God’s the craziest thing, person, deity I have ever known… and He loves me, like who am I?

 

I am free.

 

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV