The American Spirit

Some people have asked me, which team I was rooting for this week. Ghana played United States in the round 16 level of the world cup. Some Ghanaian thought I would root for America, and some missionaries were made that I did not!

But I think it is all a matter of the American Spirit. Sure if the U.S. was playing any other team, I would be wearing my Red, White, and Blue, they are my home country, but not this game. Some people are shocked when I tell them. But, I think that I have found a way to explain my treasonous behavior to those other missionaries that are slightly offended by cheering for the 'other side'.

See, one of the truest and most deeply rooted believes or habits, what ever we call it in America, is that we cheer for the under dog. We all want to little guy to win, the under achiever. We love the stories about the guy that comes out of no were and wins it all. Well, that is Ghana's story. It is a small African nation, with only 20 million people. It was facing a Goliath nation of 400 million and millions more in funding for a sport that most of its people do not even like.

So I cheered for Ghana! In this case it was the truly American thing to do. And I might add, David defeated Goliath two goals to one! (It is funny how we like under dogs until we are the big dog).

Weather the reader was cheering for the US, Ghana, or did not even know about the match like most people in the 50 states, it was fun. And this missionary had fun watching a game in which no matter the out come, he could not lose.

It's Raining it's Pouring

Playing in the rain. This is one of the parts of African life that our children love. Since Ghana is located in a tropical climate,the rains here are not cold. (At least not in comparison to Michigan rain). Every time the clouds become dark and the winds start to blow the kids ask if they can go outside and play in the rain. If it is not thundering, they get to go.

The rains themselves can be quite strong, but the down spouts make the front of our house almost like a water park. The rain water comes rushing off these spouts and create six jets of water. The kids love to run through and stand underneath them.

The last time it rained Andrew and I got to join into the fun. After filling up plastic buckets everyone had a hugh water fight. It was so amazing to see the two or three gallons of water dumped on the kids heads. They love it!

After the rains stop the kids like to play in the puddles and the mud. Overall it is just good clear missionary life fun. After about 30 minutes of playing the kids are shivering (they have African thin blood now), and are ready for a change of clothes ad something hot to drink.

Here are a few pictures from out last rain storm-

The New Adom Hene (King)

A few weeks ago I was in down town Kumasi, when I heard gun shoots. Crime is very low in Ghana, and in 7 years I have never heard gun shoots. Needless to say I was surprised. So what did I do, the reader might ask? I went to go find out who was shooting the guns.


I found out that the new Adom Hene was being given the throne on that day. Here we call it en-stooling, since the king has a stool instead of a throne. The Adom hene is the king in charge of protection for the Asanti Hene and he is the general in charge of warfare if there ever was a war.

In the pictures, if the reader looks closely, he will see that the king is holding a small shotgun. The soldiers are all carrying guns or golden swords. It was quite amazing. The men leading the king were in possession of 12 gauge shoot guns and where shoot blanks. The area that they were passing through was the busiest part of town. Thousands of people were watching. The procession blocked the roads, and people were lining the roads to watch. I grabbed my camera and tried to take a few photos.

It is hard to express, but the recoil from the shooting of the guns, as it bounced off the three store builds was pretty intense. It reminded me of a few military shooting ranges that I have been to back in the United States.

The king was riding in a 'palanquin'. It is a four foot long low sided box. The palanquin has four carrying polls attached to it. One poll on each corner. The palanquin is carried by four people, in former days these were slaves, but now they are people that work at the chief's home. The king body is covered in amulets and charms. Some are used to give him power, others are used for protect. He is given a new name on the day that he becomes king. It is believed that when he picks the stool, the spirit of the departed king comes to live in his body. Also the kings mouth is filled with clothes, traditional medicine in a pouch, and leaves. He is not allowed to talk! From the beginning of the process until the end he may not speak.
The sounds of the drums are almost deafen up close. The talking drums are being played, and they are used to praise the new king and the departed kings of the past. Many of the people are wearing black. This is because in choosing the new king they are also remembering the former king that has died, therefore they wear black to show respect for the departed.

As the king and the soldiers moved down the streets of Adom, they would stop from time to time. This would allow the people to see the king. During this time they would spin the umbrellas and everyone would begin to jump up and down. They would point to the king and praise him. The whole procession was a long drawn out affair of drumming, shouting, shooting, and cheering.

Kaase Bible Study

This past week has marked another step. Over the past year and a half the work has been centred around two Bible study locations. This last week the Lord added to that number. Some of the people that attend our large Sunday morning meetings, live quit a distance from our Thursday night studies and cannot attend. For this reason they have been requesting a study in their area. I kept telling them that after they where able to have a few visitors start to attend on a regular basis, we would consider starting a new study.

This last week that time came. The new study is located in a shanty town called Kaase. It was such a blessing to start these meetings. Bismark, Peter, and Abigail were able to attend. (They all attend on Sundays). Also there were three other adult ladies in attendance, some teenagers, and a few children. The little zinc roofing sheet structure that we used was pretty full for the first week. (It also made a deafening sound when it rained, but the Lord allowed it to stop before the preaching started).

It is more rural than some of our other Bible studies. Most of the people there could not read. It is a heavy responsibility when a preacher understands that the people are trusting every word he is saying. They do not have any ability to read for themselves or study. It adds a lot of pressure. He needs to study hard and make sure that the message is a clear presentation of Bible truth.

Our hope is to visit through all of these homes and invite people. We are quiet hopeful. The homes do not have any water or electricity. This makes some things easier, since most people are open to attending. There is not much else to do but work or sleep.

After the meeting Nat (one of the young men that has offered to help) told Andrew that it really helped him to attend the meeting. He told Andrew that until he went to shanty town he did not know that he had so much to be thankful for!!!

Here are a few photos-



Here are a few photos that I took Friday while visiting in the Kaase Shanty Village. The first is of some local broom straws that people in Ghana us to sweep. They are drying. After drying they will be separated and formed into smaller brooms. The second is one of the shanty. The third is a picture of two Guinea Fowls that we show on our way back to Nat's house.

New Tent

The people that attend our weekly Bible Study in Ahensan have taken another step. The Bible Study has been meeting underneath a tree for about a year and half. Since the rains have started, and the old shop that we used to use is now occupied, we were in need of place to go when it rains. The people were able to raise the money (about 100 dollars). The decision was made to buy a tent. It is a large 20 foot by 30 foot tent. It will help to keep the rains off, and when this Bible Study has a more permanent location it will be able to be moved.

The canopy has been used for three weeks now. The Lord was kind in allowing the rains to hold off until the tent was finished. That is another story in and of its self. It took about a month to finish, but it is here and everyone is happy.

Here are a few photos-

African Cowboys

Yesterday I was out visiting when I had the opportunity to take these photos. While on my way to visit Bismark and Matilda I passed through a place were a lot of cattle owners like to graze their herds. Most of the cows are from the north. I was able to give out some English tracts. The cowboys where from all over. One was from Mali, some were from Barkina Faso, and some were from northern Ghana. They bring their cows to Kumasi to sell and slaughter. It was very interesting to watch them work with the cows.

No one has horses, so they walk on foot. Each handler (cowboy) knows his cows. They are not branded, but painted. The men will have a lass-o. It is tired around the waist to help them hold unto a run away cow. Most watch the cows using sticks to keep the stubborn cows in line.

Here are a few picture of our African cowboys.

World Cup

South Africa here we come! I have to admit before I came to Africa I did not know about nor care about soccer, or more rightly named football. Since coming I have learned to play, and at times watch. When a missionary is seeking to connect with his people he does so by find things that they are interested in and trying to enjoy them.

Most missionaries around the world will tell you that football (soccer) is the passion of most nations. Though most Americans do not even now that it is happening, the rest of the world will be tuned into South Africa as they watch teams from around the world perform in this years world cup.

Lucky for us Ghana's games are not on TV the times of our services. So we will all be watching. GO BLACK STARS!

Family News

This last two weeks has been very busy for our family, but it has been a lot of fun also. Carey has finished kindergarten. Starting in August she will be a first grader. Since she finished K5 our family decided to have a little graduation for her. Patty made her a nice graduation hat. She also received a certificate of completion. Not only that she was first in her class! Which is not to hard since she is the only one in it.

The following our little graduation ceremony the family had a nice opportunity to relax. I decided that we would all play a super fun game that I used to play in college. When the guys would have to much energy we would sumo wrestle. In the dorm we would tape a circle on the ground, then everyone would stuff about 4 to 5 pillows in his t-shirt, then all out sumo chaos would ensue. It was great! So, our family decided to sumo. Our floors are a little hard here, so we had to cover the floor with couch cushions, but the girls loved it. Her our a few pictures of us with our sumo bellies!