Sunday

May 31, 2009

So I have come to the conclusion that the bugs in Africa must be smaller compared to the United States. I have been bitten three times and not see the mosquito once! I even have been looking for them and I cannot find them anywhere.

Today I go to church. I am a little nervous but then again I am excited to have the experience. When we got there they were doing Bible study for the children. They were all so adorable. I said hello and they ALL said hello back. They all wanted to be in there. In the States I have seen parents have to drag there kids to church. They went through all of there names and for the most part their names are the same as they are in America. The pronunciation is different of the ‘I’. For example in the United States when we say Sophia we pronounce the ‘I’ like an ‘e’. They pronounce it like an ‘I’ and then follow it by the same pronunciation of the ‘a’. We all took a picture together when they were teaching me the words to a song. Then Lydia tells them that I have something to say. I did not. The children were talking about how the Lord is our Shepherd. By the grace of God the previous Sunday I was at my church and we had discussed this very thing. So I was able to reference that, Thank you Pastor Scott! At the end they came up to me, Auntie Anna, and shook my hand and told me, “God Bless”

We started off the service by us singing. Well they were singing and I was attempting to learn the words. Then we prayed, but we prayed out loud, everyone saying a different prayer. People walked around and at times I felt like I ran out of something to pray about because this went on for ten minutes or so. There was no need to rush it. Also when we were singing a song, someone in the congregation would start it and then the others would follow. There is no need for hymnals because everyone just knows.

We sat in the front at the beginning of the service. Some of the service was in their own language. The beginning of the service was in their language but Lydia told me they were talking about faith. The first time they spoke the message in English was the story of Joseph in Genesis 37. I find this ironic because I was hanging out with my friend Josh one night and he had mentioned the story of Joseph being sold into slavery. This is one of the many things I heard about when I talked with another individual about Africa. God amuses me. We also talked about how love is give and take.

There are three pastors that came up and spoke. When the next one came up we discussed how you can never love man (creation, both male and female) 100% because man will fail you. Not necessarily on purpose but because we are sinful and make mistakes. Man can also misguide you and do you evil. We need to forgive man and serve a living God. You must put God first in everything that we do. Give all you love to God and some of it to man, for God will never fail you.

We also talked about marriage. They say do not hunt from man to man because in the long run it will hurt your marriage because you will compare. This pastor came up and said he had the secret to marriage because that past Friday he had celebrated his ten year anniversary. He said that it was forgiveness and he does not hide his feelings. When something happens that one of them does not like they talk about it then, and do not wait, and separate their differences. Also they make the families stay out of it; the family cannot openly enter their domain. (This is something different from where I am from). You need to go into a marriage with both people putting the love for God first. You should love man more than God. If you love anything more than God it is a stumbling block.

Before you marry you have to leave you family, meaning you have to be able to support yourself on your own. Counseling is very important before marriage. Also for content in the marriage the family is not allowed to deal with affairs regarding the business between the couples, whether good talk or arguing, the family is not allowed to interfere. By living alone and keeping outsiders out of your business, you allow yourself to be in an environment where it is just the two of you, full enjoyment.

Do not marry for money. Marry a born again believer, someone that is going to live and defend the Bible and not tempt you or risk your chances of going to heaven. If you want to get married, seek God first, by being able to do this your husband will be able to trust you more. It is about two bodies becoming one flesh.

One thing that they do differently in this church is something called contribution. This is where you say and state your opinion and also back it up with a Bible verse. It amazes me how well they know the Bible. Lydia shared with the church a conversation I had with her yesterday. Yesterday we had talked about how it is hard for me to truly stay upset at something. I told her that it is so wasteful to hold on to negative feelings.

We referenced to Isaiah 43:7 and Jeremiah 7:9.

Contribution is voluntary but for some reason it was not for me. LOL Once again I am put on the spot. I talk about forgiveness and I tied it into holding onto the bad emotions makes it hard to remember the good.

After the contribution there is more singing, where two ladies come up and lead song, while two of the gentlemen play the drums. We then have offering. They are trying to save up for a generator which is 300 American dollars. They want this generator because they have no lights when it gets dark. It gets dark here around six in the evening.

Then we went around and greeted everyone. People came up to me and welcomed me, one lady said that I was now apart of them. This is my family.

Then there was a time for something that we call testimony. I hardly understood any of it. An individual gets up and starts singing a song of praise and then follows it by a personal testimony. When they are all done with that, Lydia, who they call mom, walks to the front of the church and tells them that I have a message from America. Well…So I walked up there and said my name, where I was from, and my message from America. Honestly, I just spoke from the heart. I thanked them for how kind they had been to me. They opened their arms like I was one of them. OH!!!! Then Lydia tells them that I will be heading up the youth ministries that start on Wednesday. Some of them say that they will attend. Oh boy! I have had to change the way that I speak English, the way we speak in America is very clear cut. My words run together when I speak their English.

Church lasted from 8:30-12. I know I know, some of you readers are grueling at the thought, but it was so diverse and different that everyone was kept interested. I think it is because in America we have the same Pastor standing up there talking and you just have to sit and listen. Thank God my pastors at Northern Hills are charismatic.

After service we got a taxi and went back to the hotel. I have found that my lunch and dinner are the same, chicken and chips. A few hours later Pastor James came. He brought me cookies and soda. The soda cans are different here and it seems like everything that is manufactured comes from the US or Sweden, basically anywhere but from here. He and I talked for hours. We talked about what I thought, American customs, differences in culture, food, marriage, prison, and black man’s time versus white man’s time. It was very good.

I have fallen in love with Ghana. We are in the outskirts, the slums but I absolutely love it.

He said that this is my country now. So I can feel free to take pictures and talk to anyone and learn the language because this is my home away from home. I am a sister among the people here…every person I have encountered treats me like I live there. It is a nice feeling.

I honestly thought that me being in Africa would make me appreciate things, in some ways yes, but in others not at all. Ghana is about acceptance and openness. This is something that I cannot say for any other place in the United States that I have been too.

Live, Love and Be Happy…the end!

P.S. Did you know that even thought a plantain is referred to as a big banana it is nothing like a banana at all! You have to cook the plantain before you can eat it. The reason they are giving white people food is because there food is spicy and will hurt my stomach as they say.