Ghana #3: Experiencing God in Ghana through All Our Senses
by Jeff Ritchie
One of the joys of traveling with others is that each of us experiences the trip differently. Yesterday Carolyn Ueber shared her reflections on Children’s Sunday and the Presbyterian Women’s Shea Butter project in the Fooshegu Church. Today Ingram Caswell offers her unique take on Children’s Sunday and how she is experiencing Ghana:
On Children’s Sunday, all the Presbyterian churches in Ghana invite the children and their youth leaders to lead the morning worship. In both churches we attended, one urban and one rural, there was singing, dancing, plays, and prayers. I am thankful for all my senses taking in these joyful experiences of worship and the entirety of our experience in Ghana to date.
Sight—the beautiful bright African dresses, the women’s head coverings, the men’s traditional outfits.
Sound—the singing and laughter of children inside the church and the periodic call to prayer from nearby mosques.
Smell/Taste/Touch—new foods like jollof rice, guinea fowl, fufu (a dough made from yams and cassava eaten with two fingers in a bowl of spicy soup), and “red-red” (fried sweet plantains with a side dish of bean stew).
Our journey continues. Our hearts are full of gratitude to God for the people we are meeting and the work they are doing in God’s name. We are grateful also for each other; we are experiencing Ghana and God’s mission in Ghana more fully because we are together in this pilgrimage.