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Our Tuesday night ended well after 11PM, and we were warned in advance, Wednesday will be a tough day…….we were  ”overseas” and it was going to be a very difficult trip.   Then the word came that we’d be leaving around 4AM…….that’s right, 4AM! 

Before i get into the day, let me explain what they mean by “overseas”.  There is a certain part of Northern Ghana that is only accessable during the dry season.  When the rainy season begins, every route to this area will be underwater, so the only way to or from this area for a good part of the year is by boat.   The journey was more than 3 hours down dirt roads that in some places are under 5 feet of water for several months of the year…..so you can imagine how bumpy the ride was. 

Our purpose in going “overseas” was to do ministry in two villages.  One of the two has a church that has women and children for members, but in the entire village there is not a single Christian adult male.  Almost the entire village is made up of Muslims who make fun of the Christians and make them feel as though  they don’t belong.  The other village is a community where only 4 believers live, the rest of the village worships either other pagan gods or are considered Muslim.    Our assignment for the day was to encourage believers in communities where they didn’t feel welcome and to remind them that the battles they were fighting were worth it. 

About halfway into our trip, we stopped in the village of Yama where Pastor Zachariah lives.  We prayed for his sick son, delivered a care suitcase filled with food, vitimans, and medicine for he and his family, and picked up several of his church leaders  as we continued the journey overseas.

When we arrived at the first village, we went into their small church and noticed immediately that there were big holes in the thatch roof.  This church made up of women and children didn’t have the means to repair their building, and when the rainy season begins soon……..their church will stay flooded.  They asked us for about $700 to help them put a good solid roof on their building, a prayer concern we are trying to work out.   After praying for their church we went to visit the village chief.   In one of the funnier moments of the week, this wise looking old man came out wearing his robe and a shiney fake rolex watch…..and as i bent down under his shelter to greet him, i hit my head on the bamboo pole and the entire structure almost tumbled down on top of him.  Needless to say i was thankful that i didn’t kill the chief and then in turn they didn’t have to kill me.   He was gracious though, allowing us to stay in the village and even allowing us to take his picture…..which not all chiefs were thrilled about us doing. 

Our worship service under a giant mango tree started and i shared the story of Jesus casting demons out of Lazarus and talked about how Lazarus wanted to go with Jesus when he was made well…….but Jesus needed him to stay where he was to let the village know about Jesus’ love.  That was the challenge for these people, to not give up in a village full of folks who didn’t understand their faith.   Tammy Pless also shared her testimony and 4 men were saved.    It was a great blessing to know that this church now has some men who are committed to Christ as part of their congregation. 

From there we went to the second village where only 4 Christians live who don’t even have a place to worship except under the shade of a tree.  We asked the chief for permission, and he said we could have 5 minutes to greet the village, but that we couldn’t do a service.  So, he came out to hear our greeting.  Pastor Barnabas was very bold and in front of the whole village he said “chief, God will bless this land if you follow Jesus Christ” and then he called on me to explain the plan of salvation.   So, in under 5 minutes (i can talk less than i write) i explained the plan of salvation, thanked the chief for listening, and asked him to consider what i had said.   When Barnabaas came back up he said “chief, do you want to become a Christian”.    The chief raised one finger as a way of saying yes and Barnabas said “God doesn’t want one finger, you must give him your whole hand” so the chief raised both arms high in the air.  In front of the whole village, the chief repeated the sinners prayer after me and became a child of God.  

As we were leaving, two pretty cool things happened.  First, the chief invited the 4 Christians to come worship at his home on Sunday, so they now have a place to worship.  Second, as a sign of goodwill, the chief gave our group a live chicken and 10 pound bag of rice.  The three hour ride back to Wale Wale was a little more lively with that chicken in the van………but it was pretty cool. 

On the way back, we had a brief stop at Yama where we greeted Zachariah’s church.  They were excited to see us, but we were exhausted and did not hold any service, we just said hello and prayed for their church.    We made it back around 4PM and it felt like we had been gone for a week.  I am pretty confident that i had never been so thirsty or tired in my life as i was when we finally returned to the Presidential lodge.   But, it was definitely worth it all to be a part of what God did that day!

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