Sunday in Ghana

This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!

This morning our driver picked us up at 8am and we went to pick up our social worker and children to go to church. We attended International Gospel Church in Accra, Ghana and it was awesome! To see a few thousand Ghanaian believers raising their hands and voices in praise of God was overwhelming at times. Many of these people have so little and yet their faith is massive. Adam and I both had moments of tears to see these beautiful people living out their faith. We feel so thankful and blessed that the heritage of our children is rooted in the gospel of Christ.

We were excited to recognize many of the songs and learn a few new ones.  The pastor was excellent and the entire service was on television.  We learned they even have a few community groups in America but none very close to us.  It really reminded us of Passion City Church back home. The children were not with us for the worship service but they were in the children’s church and nursery. They were both very hesitant to go in at first but they were fine when we picked them up at the end.

After church we went back to our social worker’s house so I could learn how to make our children’s favorite meal, banku. It was a fun experience. First we mixed corn dough and cassava dough together and then added a little salt and enough water to mix it up into a smooth liquid. Then we put it on the stove and continued to stir it as it boiled and thickened. Eventually it turned into a very thick paste and we were able to spoon it into little baggies and form them into balls.  We also made pepe which is very similar to American salsa. We put some tomato, onion, green pepper and salt into a bowl and mashed It with a round pistol until it was very mushy. Our American food processor would be an easy and quick way to get the same effect but our sweet hostess worked so hard at it. She also took a red fish and a tilapia fish seasoned with garlic, onion, and pepper and fried it in some oil to serve with the banku. These fish are fried whole with the heads and tails and skin. She put them on a plate with some fresh onion and peppers on top. Then, we all washed our hands in a bowl of water and proceeded to eat. No utensils required in Ghana…your hands are used for all items on this table. I really enjoyed the banku. I can see why my kids like it so much.  It is really a lot like grits except a smoother and thicker consistency. After you break off a piece and roll it around in your fingers for a bit then you dip it in the pepe and enjoy. Yum!  We also enjoyed picking apart the fish and our son and hostess both thoroughly enjoyed the fish heads. Most of the time they even eat  the bones. Usually there is nothing left on the plate.  (We have watched our son and hostess eat chicken bones, goat bones, and fish bones during this trip.)

These food items would normally be a meal but we didn’t prepare enough for a meal. We just used it as a training cooking session. So after we ate this little “snack” we headed to the Accra mall to walk around and play and eat a real meal.  Our daughter was acting very cranky and in need of a nap so we left her with the nanny and headed out with our son, the social worker/hostess, her son and the driver. The mall was very similar to the mall in America although it was much smaller and had a grocery store attached to it.  In the middle of the mall was a play area for the kids and for a small fee they could play for 30 minutes. It was very interesting to see our son walk in hesitantly unsure of what to try. He rode a little electric train and then a merry go round. When he looked at the large bounce house structure with a climbing wall and a slide he shook his head “no” and walked away.  We encouraged him to try it and he kept shaking “no”. Finally, Adam took him over to the entrance and gave him a little push in.  Of course, after he did it once he was hooked and went around and around several times. We really enjoyed watching him play and smile. After the play time we ate Chinese food. Yes! We ate Chinese food in Ghana! Actually our son requested Foofoo so we grabbed that at the restaurant next door and then settled in for some Chinese food.  It was all very delicious. We got some ice cream for dessert and brought some home for our little girl too. She was happy to see us and happy to have her ice cream. I got a few snuggles before we left them for the night.

I am already dreading our goodbye for tomorrow.  It makes my tears start even now as I type this. Please pray for us tomorrow. It will be a very long and difficult day.

Our plan is to get the kids some new shoes and then drive to their orphanage and spend some time there. We will leave in the afternoon to head back to the airport and catch our flight at 10pm. We will land in NY on Tuesday morning and then take a flight to GA where we will be so excited to see Cael and Liz! The next 48 hours will be full of many emotions!

God grant us wisdom and peace. Please comfort us in our sadness and be with our children when we leave. Please keep them safe and healthy and show them your love and our love through others. Please make this process go quickly and allow us to bring them home soon. Thank you for loving us so amazingly and for being the most perfect Father to all of these orphans and to us. Amen