Day six in Ghana was going to be a very long day. Last year the most difficult day of the trip by far was the trip to an area called “Overseas”. The overseas area is actually not oversea, but it is an area that becomes completely isolated from the rest of Ghana during the rainy season. It is approximately 50 miles from Wale Wale which we consider our home base, but getting to this area requires crossing the North Volta River, a tremendous body of water that completely floods all roads in and out of the region once the rain starts in late April. From May until November, the only way to reach this area for years and years was by boat. Fortunatly, a group of Japanese engineers on a humanitarian mission built a great bridge a few years ago making the river passable year round…..but still the roads get washed away every year. The 50 mile journey takes about 3 hours and there are many treacherous places in the road that will tear up the best of vehicles if you are not careful. Day six was our return trip to this remote location.
As we began the journey we stopped in the village of Yama and met Pastor Zachariah, a wonderful man with humility and a servants heart that is rare even for those in ministry. He pastors the church in the Yama village as well as several other churches in smaller villages in the region. Before the bridge was built, Pastor Zachariah would ride his bicycle to the banks of the river and lift his bike above his head, crossing the alligator infested waters about chest deep to go and check on the people who live overseas. Last year we discovered a very small church in a village overseas that had no men menbers. The church consisted of approximately 20 women and 25 or so children. Their building had a giant hole in the roof which made the building flood whenever the rains started. We met with them under a giant mango tree and had a wonderful evangelistic service and 4 men came to Christ and became the first adult male members of the church. In the year that has passed, those four men have continued to serve in the church and they have worked very hard trying to repair the hole in their roof. Unfortunately, the hole was just too big and too much damage had been done. The people of Robinhood Road Baptist Church sent them a financial gift last fall to help them start building a new church in the village. As we returned this year, we saw a church building that was almost finished, all except for the roof and window frames.
Upon our arrival, the four of us along with pastor Barnabas, Zachariah, and Ben gathered in the incomplete structure and prayed for God’s blessing upon that place for years to come. We prayed that the church would be a source of light for the entire village and that one day it would be seen as the most important place in the entire village. After our dedication time, we met with the church under the same mango tree we gathered under last year and I was able to preach. I shared with them the story of Lazarus death and how his sisters were disappointed because they didn’t think Jesus arrived in time to help them……but He had something far greater in mind. I used that analogy to help them see that while life in their village is hard and change is slow, they have to remain hopeful that God’s plan is still coming about and when it happens, they will be amazed at how much more wonderful it is than even all they had hoped for. At the end of the service, people sort of started forming a line and asking our group to pray for their sick. We even had one girl whose family wanted me to pray that the “devils would leave her head”. It seemed that the teenage girl sufferered from some sort of severe mental retardation…….but nonetheless i prayed that God would be with her every day of her life and meet her every need.
After some goodbyes and a meeting with the village chief, we headed back down the long and dirty road back home. Along the way we passed by a desserted village and Barnabas told me an incredible story of how one day about 30 years ago, everyone from the village just disappeared. No one knows what happened to them, but in the span of one night, an entire village and all of their animals just vanished. Their homes and all their belongings were still in the village, but as many as 200 people just simply vanished never to be heard from again. To this day, locals are afraid to go into that village and it remains empty, exactly as it was left three decades ago. It was a very strange and sort of chilling tale!
We made it back early enough to do some sight seeing in town. We spent a few hours walking the streets of Wale Wale and even made it to the chief’s palace for an unannounced visit. He was very gracious and agreed to meet us. The chief of Wale Wale is not a favorite of the members of Central Baptist Church because he ruled against them in a land dispute, so they have never really been excited about taking us to meet him. But, on our own we wandered to his palace and he greeted us. We were told he had 4 wives, and from our brief conversation with him it was obvious that Jessica was a strong candidate to become number 5. He didn’t really care too much about any of us, but he wanted specifically to know her name. It was a little bizarre, but then again, Jessica would make a good chief’s wife. We also visited several homes of church members which was very cool. We went to Kingsford’s home. Kingford is a 11 year old boy who tags along everywhere we go. He is very smart and it’s hard not to love that little guy. His father is a police detective in the village of Wale Wale and a very kind man. We prayed for his home, laughed together and had good fellowship. Turns out he is a Presbyterian and goes to a different church than his wife and son…..and we told him we’d be praying for him to move his membership. The final visit of the day was to the home of Augustina and Rose, the two girls who lead worship at Central Baptist Church. I wish every person who reads this blog would have the opportunity to hear those girls sing. It is truly mesmorizing to listen to them and to see the passion in which they bring to leading worship. Augustina’s father is an elder in the church but is very ill, so we prayed for him and fellowshipped outside of their home.
It was a good day filled with lots of surprises and many impromptu opportunities to build relationships with people in the community. We ended the day having a much different perspective on how hard life is for them every single day, and yet how much joy they have in their faith and family life.
