Team Effort

So I've decided to break up the week in some short segments, just to give you an idea of our journey. (When I say 'short', you know I don't really mean it. Consider yourself warned.) This will by no means be all-inclusive, so if you have further questions, just holler. But here are the highlights you can look forward to: team and Ghanaian culture, the US vs. Ghana futbol rematch, VBS/camp activities, Lake Volta, and a post with my favorite photos from the week.

Before jumping in, I have to give a shout-out to my sweet family for surprising me in Dallas when we returned on Friday. It was a huge blessing to come home to their love and support... and some really good food. Love you guys!

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Alright, here we go... If you've ever been to camp, on a mission trip, international excursion, etc., you know that the people you travel with can make or break the experience. That said, I could not have dreamed up a better team to travel to Ghana with. It helped to already know 2/3 of the crew going in, but there wasn't a single person out of the 12 that I was ready to get some space from. Everyone was so gracious, selfless, flexible... We laughed together (A LOT), cried together, and ate strange food together. Below is a shot of Joanne, Levi and myself getting ready to feast on a whole Tilapia, scales and all. I hate fish, but it was actually quite good.

Not only did we have 10 hour plane rides both ways, we had 10 hour dirt road bus rides too. This was the part of the journey that I was perhaps dreading the most, but it went really smoothly. We had a great driver and everyone had positive attitudes about being wall to wall in the bus for so long. Here we are crammed in and ready to go after arriving in Accra. Apparently the Fields were working out "tips for the boys" and didn't make the photo, but this is everyone else!

We spent a night in Tema, outside of Accra, and then traveled up to Kete Krachi for the week. I can certainly say that it was well worth the drive, one that I hope to make many more times. The scenery was beautiful along the way... trees, mountains, lots of green, and lots of goats. Here's a shot out the back of the bus. (This part was on the paved portion of the road.)

This was our first view of Lake Volta. Quite beautiful.


On Ghanaian culture:
*TIme: Ghanaian time is drastically different from American time, go figure. This was a constant battle for us, but also a good exercise is letting go of control and scheduling. It was oftentimes nice to just bounce from place to place and not worry about time.
*Beauty: African people are truly beautiful. I've always thought that, but seeing it in person really impressed that on me. Most everyone we met (except for the lady who yelled at me for taking her picture!), especially up in Krachi, waved and smiled at us. They are very welcoming and giving people as a whole.
*Strength: Everything, and I do mean everything, is carried on the head in Ghana. Vegetables, furniture, water buckets, wares to sell, large bundles of sticks, concrete blocks, laundry... I bet just about anything you can imagine, we saw being carried on someone's head – even young children followed suit. Pretty awesome balancing and strength. These people work hard, barefeet and all.
*Icons: Ghanaians love Obama. Whether his face is a good thing to promote or not, you can find it on food packages, school book covers, shirts, etc. Makes me wonder what other bits of American culture are present in various places around the world.
*Community: The Ghanaians up in Krachi (and the kids at Village of Life) know what it means to live in community with each other. I could write a separate post just on this, but the people there really live out the concept of sharing what they have and being responsible for one another. Very cool to see that in action.

Alright, there's long and then there's loooooong. Here are the girls and the boys from our team to wrap up. So blessed by each one of them!

Levi, Jeremy, Michael, Chris & Marcus


Rachel, Kristy, Joanne, Stacey, Angela, me, Allison