Jul 24, 2010

Wed-Fri, July 22-24

When we arrived in Ankaase on Tuesday night, we were introduced to house mom, Maggie.  She is an extraordinary woman who manages the mission house when teams come here to stay.  Also, there were 2 American college interns here named David and Libby, who left on Friday for the US.  The house is surrounded by a concrete wall and there's a security guard at the gate 24 hours a days.  This is a very common thing in Ghana.

On Wednesday morning, Cheryl and Colton went with David and the local Methodist pastor to the nearby large village of Kumasi to do some grocery shopping since the pantry was empty.  This was quite an adventure because we had to go to the local Ghanaian market and try and purchase everything for all of our meals for 1 1/2 weeks.  Shopping in a Ghanaian market is quite different from shopping at Tom Thumb.  First of all, the milk was not kept refrigerated.  It was in a box on the shelf with the juice.  How strange.  Also, one did not go up and down the aisle with a buggy because of congestion.  The buggy was parked at the end of the aisle and if you were lucky, it would still be there when you came back with your items.  Fruits and vegetables had to be purchased from local street vendors.  We were so glad to find fresh pineapple, bananas, plantain, oranges and watermelon!  We had to go inside the local "farmer's market" to get our vegetables so our driver's mother went with us to help get the best price.  I think the local "farmer's market" is a fascinating place, but I could surely do without the hunks of raw meat sitting out.

While Cheryl and Colton were at the market, the rest of the team went to the library and entertained about 300 children with Bible stories and songs.  The library is an amazing place.  The town of Ankaase is so blessed to have it here, but they do not yet understand its value to their community.  That will take some time, but by God's grace, it will happen.

On Thursday and Friday, the team would have breakfast and devotions and then head to the library to process books sent by US donors.  In the afternoons, we would do Bible stories and school lessons with the children.

Being in Ankaase has been very different than anything else this team has done.  Everything here moves at a much slower pace and our evenings are free.  It has been a wonderful and much needed time of rest for all of us.

We will be here until next Thursday and then we go back to Tamale until Aug 5.  A small team from Visiting Orphans will join us on July 30.  We are looking forward to meeting them and showing them around.

2 comments:

Terry LaFleur said...

Paige,
I miss you so much. Can not describe the feelings I have. It is so wonderful to see some of the pictures that the team is posting. You and the others have a certain glow around you. You look so happy. I can't imagine the feeling you have from the experiences you have encountered. I hope all is well and keep on spreading God's message. Just by looking at you, you can see the love God has!!!!!!

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