Ministry in Ghana…
How do I describe what we did for a whole month while in Sunyani? While Elim City provided structure for our squad – not just my team – with schedules and support and love, much of what we did for ministry during those times looked unstructured.
While this offered much growth, part of me struggled to stay connected in this place. This place includes a country that speaks English, a city that resembles my home with “a church on every street corner”, a hostel with air conditioning and three meals a day, a lovely church to partner with as Jesus lovers, a ministry that somewhat fell through but worked out beautifully anyway, a squad and team that are friends, and a wondering in my own heart that left me questioning what we were doing… for a bit.
My team and I started off the first day of ministry with some prayer and ATL (that’s World Race lingo for Ask The Lord). We took the time to listen to anything we believe He might have to say, and that lead to our team splitting up and heading out in our neighborhood. Taylor and I encountered a woman named Diana with a baby. She appeared as a picture in my mind earlier as we had prayed, and it was cool to watch the Lord work so faithfully in that manner. We chatted with her, prayed with her, went to her house, and promised to meet again. It was a “successful” day – and it really was; however, I learned that sometimes successful in ministry simply means I have loved the Lord and believed Him, included Him fully in my plans, and loved those around me daily. It doesn’t have to mean I get this perfect picture every time of what to do and work perfectly in those means.
This leads to another day where I did not seem to hear anything when we prayed before heading out. I ended up joining my teammate Kelly and squad mentor Alissa on their walk to visit a few men they’d met a day before. They’d talked with them and done Scripture study and discussion as well. I listened as Kelly and Alissa shared with these men and answered their questions and joined in on occasion. We all laughed, soaked up Scripture, ate bananas, and learned some Twi (another national language). This is Alissa below with some of the men.
So after two very distinct – at least to me – moments, I felt this discrepancy. I began to wonder what this month was really going to look like and honestly felt a little discouraged in what felt inconsistent. I stayed in this place for a few days.
We joined with Elim City on Sunday mornings for church as well and had opportunities to serve with them on Sundays. A group of us helped with children’s ministry. I had the expectation of working with my typical little “friends”; however, we showed up and my friend and squadmate Danielle and I ended up with middle school children, which initially we felt unprepared for. Thankfully, some of those initial and awkward barriers with this age group melted quickly during week one and lead to a hilarious and smooth week two with them. They had so much Bible knowledge, learned quickly, adapted with us, and became our buddies at church. There’s a few pics below of some of the kids and our group of about 20 almost teens.
Shortly after that, it was time to go out again. We prayed and it was obvious that most of my team was exhausted. I joined with Christa for the day. We adventured and came upon a gorgeous house. We annoyed the dog until it barked loud enough to disturb the owners and started up a conversation with Paul (pictured below). He invited us into his place – the typical custom in most African culture that exudes hospitality! We learned so much about him, discussed things we were learning in Scripture, encouraged him in pursuit of certain things in life and prayed.
After this, we were walking back to our hostel and saw this large pile of wood and Doris and Kofe. Christa was immediately intrigued by this. She loves manual labor and serving with others. She had asked earlier that if the opportunity came along during the day if I’d be OK with getting my hands dirty. We started a conversation with this father and daughter as they dug coal out of their burned wood to sell for a living. Eventually Christa gave me the look that questioned whether or not we would try to dig in with them or not. I prayed quietly in exhaustion; immediately during that pause, the Lord reminded me gently, “Kim, it’s not about you.” And I looked at Christa and said, “Let’s do it for awhile.” So we sat and literally dug in and pulled out coal with this family and spoke with them more.
And as I sat and dug out coal (pictured below), I began to feel my month – the exhaustion, the asking, the hard and good parts. I stared at this piece of wood that was now coal and looked at the process. It’s wood – a log – that is burned in a contained and focused manner for an exact purpose. It’s then buried, dug out, and only has what is useful left. It’s then burned to make other things warm or hot. It also looks beautiful to me. And suddenly it hit – this is me. I am this piece of coal and the Lord takes me through this same process. I immediately felt overwhelmed and refreshed at one time. It gave me perspective in my month and helped me refocus on the purpose – to love God and others, to allow Him to use me, and to allow Him to shape what I look like.
Thanful for that moment – ministry was still hard; however, my team did a better job relaxing together, realizing that we were all in the same place. More ministry continued to pour in. I went out another day with Taylor pictured below. We attempted to find our friend Diana from the first day of ministry but got somewhat lost instead. We stopped and prayed – I felt the Lord tell me, “Today’s not about Diana.” As we continued we met Ebenezer, a journalist in Ghana, at this food stand below. And yet again we were invited into his house, watched some of his work on TV, and shared encouragement with one another in Christ. He walked us back to the street (he and Taylor are pictured below) and said goodbye.
And then we came to a day that we’d been waiting on as a team. Some of our team had gotten into a local school and found out they needed help with an afterschool/PE program. This meant we got to be in charge one day and split the classes up and did different activities. I was once again with Christa. We played games like “Capture the Flag” and “Duck, Duck, Grey Duck.” For those of you confused at this point as to the choice in the last name, let me offer some clarification. The game is the same as “Duck, Duck, Goose” and is mainly used by that title in Minnesota. Futbol (soccer), track, volleyball, and other games all took place.
We also took a day and went out with the church to help break ground on some land that they purchased, which will one day be a children’s hospital. A hilarious, hot, and fun day with the whole squad blasting music while working hard to dig holes and bond with locals.
We also spent a day helping them clean their church. A group of us washed chairs and the floors in the sanctuary (pictured below). We once again played music, laughed, and worked so hard.
Then finally on our last day, we went to visit Diana at her school. This is below. It was hilarous to talk to her and her children in her classroom. I was thankful for a great followup with her and being able to say goodbye properly.
So while our month looked different than anything I expected, it proved to have these beautiful touches of joy, bonding, and intentionality splattered throughout. I’m going to miss my squad for now and Elim City and the work they’re doing. There’s more to learn as we continue on the journey!
Love,
Kim
