Saturday

June 6, 2009

They serve breakfast at seven and to me this is early. Especially since, they run on black man’s time, This means breakfast is coming between seven and eight thirty. I am glad that I got up early, even though I am tired, because I have to edit my blog, type out my sermon to give to Pastor Alex.

Today we are going to the African market. I hope I am able to find all of the things that I need. After that, there is a chance that we are going to the beach just to see it. I am going to bring shorts just in case I want to walk in it. Even though they have a beach, it is not something that people are at all the time like in the States. After that, we are going to touch on my hair so that it looks nice when I go home. Then we will go to a café so that I can update my blog and look for Pastor James a computer.

I have to type of my sermon, heavens, that sounds so weird to me. That the word sermon and my name are included in the same sentence. I guess I did not think God was going to use me in this way. When it comes to being a Christian, I am a believer but I never thought I was good enough to be a messenger of His word for a congregation. I am excited for what they future brings, I just need to keep following His path and His plans will be carried out.

We went to the bank before we went to the Market. I had to sit with other people that were waiting while James went and talked with a lady. A gentleman sat next to me. He started to converse with me. Of course, he asks if I am married. I said no. Then without missing a beat he asks me if I will marry him. I laugh it off. It is the white skin that makes people want to talk with me, especially now since I talk in Ghana English.

We went to the African Market and it is very different from anything that I have encountered in America. Everyone pretends to be your friend and wants you to come and talk with them. I already have a tendency to be bad at saying no, so today was a good practice.

After that we went to go eat. We went to a restaurant that is below a hotel so there were white people there. I walk in with pastor James and there are even more stares from the white people than from the black…I feel like they think I am an albino black, which is not the case. I just blow it off with a smile and keep walking.

Pastor James and I start talking about what we thought of each other. He said that he could not believe that I was 19 and traveling to Africa alone. He wondered why my parents let me go so young…this made me smile because they were not happy about the decision I made, especially since I was trusting so much on people that I had never even spoken to. He also said that he worried on how I would adjust to Ghana culture, economy, and the people. He said that it was as if I was from here. I embraced the economic state as being what was normal, like it was nothing different from where I am from even though it is a drastic change. Also, he said that the way I was able to be so open to everyone, especially with Lydia and talking with her for five hours the first time that I met her. He apologized that they are not well nourished here and he said that he appreciated me eating everything they gave me without hesitation. I was not going to be rude and I have found myself eating foods that I would not eat in the United States. I have never in my life had so much soda and fries in my life. There will be some definite working out and refocusing on a diet when I get back to the United States, but I did not come to Ghana to complain and have them adjust to me. He said that it feels like he has known me for years and to be honest I feel the same about him and Lydia. I feel like I have been here so long. This is a life long contact and someone that I can confide in. Next time I come back I will have a group of people with me, but I am will forever feel at home when I come to Ghana. He said that he was amazed by me for the way I carry myself for my age, how I do not complain, and that he and Lydia are proud of me. This means a lot because he is someone that I look up to.

After that we went to the shop to get my hair touched up. It feels so good to have them touch and run their fingers through my hair…I am nervous for the way United States are going to see it. I have not been able to post pictures to brace people for what they are about to see when they see me. I hope that people like it. Like I have said, it takes a minute to get used to since everyone is used to me being blonde…it makes my eyes stand out even more, so maybe that is a good thing…maybe, yes, no?

We went to a café so that I could post the blogs but the computers were so old that I was unable to connect my external hard drive. A man about my age sat next to me and the song “Kiss me through the phone” was playing. I was singing along and he looked surprised. He asked me if I knew this song and I said yes. We started talking about music. It was so nice to talk to someone my age about something that did not deal with the Gospel. I mean I love the Lord and the church, but I am still me. I still enjoy things like dancing and singing to songs on the radio. I saw that he had email but Pastor James was ready to leave so I was unable to even get his name. As we were driving, I told myself that when I come back to Ghana, I need to establish myself among the people. I need to have friends and a network, because to be honest, I would love to embrace their night life of dancing and having fun. As we were driving to the hotel I saw a soccer game going on and I saw a girl bumping a ball in the air. I told James I saw volleyball and he said that it was soccer. In my mind I knew that it was volleyball. So he dropped me off at the hotel and I ran to my room threw my stuff down, locked my door and headed out. It was going to be dark in about thirty minutes. I walked to where the game was going on and sure enough, there was the girl peppering with a person. The ball came to me and instantly she asked me to play. I put down my bag, took of my flip-flops, and played in the red dirt with her. We peppered until it got dark. After we were done a whole group, both men and women, surrounded us. They said they are a club volleyball team and they train Monday through Saturday from 4-6. There is about twenty of them that will come and play. They were unable to play because the pole was broken. They either play guys versus girls or mix it up. I exchanged contact information with two of the girls so that when I come back to Ghana, I can come play with them. Do I love the Lord, I tell him that I want to establish myself among the people and he brings me a coed volleyball squad! AMEN!

I walked back to the hotel and I talked with the woman at the front desk. Learning to speak Ghana English has made all the difference. No one could understand what I said when I spoke American English, I know just need to be able to change it back when I go to the United States. I am now able to converse with anyone from Ghana. They all have their own tribal language but they all speak English. How nice that must be, to have everyone in your country speak one common language.

It was before eight and I was ready for bed. I have to be ready by eight and we go to another church. This makes me sad because I want to go to my church and see my friends one last time before I go.

Now it has not hit me that I am leaving Africa to go home. It will hit be a couple hours into my 18 hour flight…o heaven. I am going to try to stay up late so that when I get on the plane, I will fall asleep. Me and that Tylenol PM and the movies are going to be friends.

Pastor James is counting on me to build a foundation in Africa. It is something that I have a passion for, now I need to God to meet me half way and open the doors. We eventually want to be sending hundreds of people to Ghana every year once we get established. He envisions this in the next five years. Then we can send people for a variety of things, bringing teams sometimes of forty people to come down and build a church or a library, while also continuing doing the ten day tours. I feel like I a going back to the United States with a lot. I need my dad to be on board with me because I know that without him this could fail. I need to make a goal, maybe sending thirty people to Ghana in the next year. I feel like this task is heavier than my new hair…lol. I have to find humor someone because it pains me to fail, to let someone down. I would much rather disappoint myself than anyone else. I will always prefer for me to get hurt instead of someone else. It is weird when someone feels as if they disappointed me, it pains me to know they feel that way. I do not like to depend on people to do things. One thing that my dad has taught me is do not let someone do something for you that you can do yourself. For the most part I have stuck to that.

Actually my biggest concern, is actually a very selfish concern…what about the whales I want to swim with? Where do they fit into the plan? God put that dream in my heart when I was little…My mom always said when we would argue about the “project” people that I brought into my life to help and fix, “Anna why don’t you just help people for a living since that is what you do now.” I said that I help people because I cannot be with whales. Putting this dream aside and trusting in God is going to be my biggest challenge. Anyone that I have talked to knows that I am torn between the two. If I can get the growth out of this Ghana adventure then I can station anywhere in the United States, I will be independent, I will have a known and established name, I will be living a dream, which is a goal of mine. I have always said that I want to live my dream and when it comes to speaking, I want to be able to travel and inspire others while bringing others to realize and grow within themselves. This is exactly what I have dreamed of, I will admit that I never thought Ghana, and I never thought this young, but God knows that I hate waiting for dreams, I like to reach out and take them. He also knows that I like to push the envelope and set a high standard for myself.

Please keep me in your prayers as I travel and start to put together the pieces to the puzzle I call my life.