Pastor Andrew and I decided that we would visit Inusah and celebrate his new liberty in Christ on Monday. See, here when the Muslims break their fast, it is cause for great celebration. They will cook food, many times killing goats and rams. They feast, and here in Ghana anyone that visits the house will be fed.
We knew that Inusah’s family would not allow him to take part of the celebration since he was a convert to Christianity, nor would he want to take part since it was a part of his former religion. Though he is happy in his new found faith, we thought that it might be a hard day for him, since there were so many past memories about this day. So we decided to help make it a good day, one of celebration about his liberty in Christ.
Monday was planned to be a day to celebrate Inusah’s freedom from Islam. When we arrived on Monday afternoon, Inusah was not ready yet, so we waited in his room as he prepared. This is when something funny happened.
See, the practice here is to give food to anyone that arrives. So they heaped a plate full of white rice and stew for us. They wanted Andrew and me to eat. What to do? They wanted us to eat, yes, but they also wanted to remind Inusah that they had shunned him. They would not offer him food, and they made sure that they served us food in front of him. He did not ask and had not planned on being there long enough to be served.
As Inusah’s younger sister left the room, Andrew and I looked at each other. “What should we do?” So we asked Insuah. He said that he needed to get ready, but that we could eat some. We told him that we would eat a little, as not to offend the family, but just enough, and we were still going out with him to eat. That seemed to settle everything.
So we prayed over the food. (This is a real I Corinthians chapter 8 experience. That is the passage that talks about eating things that are offered to gods. A missionary gets to really experience the Bible in some ways that a pastor in his home culture does not). After asking God to bless it and dedicating it to him, we ate. It was really good food, but we ate just enough not to offend and then left. (Pray for Inusah’s sister, we are trying to get her an Arabic Bible and trying to witness to her).
After Insuah was ready, we headed off to Campus for a time of fellowship. We went to one of the dorms and ate some really good local food, jollof rice. We tried to get Inusah to buy a ton, but he settled for a large normal portion. After some eating and chatting, I asked each person, ”What was the best thing to happen in your life this past year?” We started with Andrew and worked around the table. This was Inusah’s answer, “The best thing that has happened to me this year is becoming born again. As a follower of Christ, I can have peace!”
Well, that just made the whole day better. After about two hours we all headed back home. Please continue to pray for Inusah, his family, and others that he is seeking to witness to. Also pray for the Lord to give him specific direction in regards to his future.
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