Ghana: Day 3 – Trust the Lord

Disclaimer: Longish post.  Gets a little preachy.  (*cough* Consider the source! Long winded preacher)

You have been warned. But how can you resist?

Today began very well.  Oh, I was groggy in the morning, as you could tell from my previous post on the morning coffee.

There isn’t much to report about the day itself.  Bro Jeffrey brought some more American breakfast. Egg Omlettes and bread. It was nice. Jam would have been a nice addition.  Or Cream cheese. Maybe some butter? This isn’t America friends! We take much for granted.  Still the omlettes were fine.  They had some sort of scallion, or onion…or…something in them.  I’m not really sure and I didn’t ask.  It tasted fine, so why bother?  I ate them on bread as a sandwich and washed them down with a nice Guava juice.

Today was mostly a rest day.  I needed it after two successive days of travel. After a while I even had enough energy to walk a dozen laps or better around the compound.  I figured my legs needed it!  I thought about doing pushups. That didn’t go any further tho!  I could have though!  I’m NOT WEAK!!!!!

Then we fellowshipped a bit, and went and rested some more!  Ah…this is really starting to feel good.

Then the power went out.

We take a LOT for granted.

No internet. No AC. No Fan. No anything else that required power.

Well, my laptop has a nice battery. Itunes!  Yay!  I listened to some sermons and meditated on the Lord. That’s what I should be doing anyhow, I came here to preach and to serve the Lord, didn’t I?

Bro Jeffrey came back and took us to lunch. We ordered, he paid, then he left. (on foot btw) He’s very busy today. The school that was renting their facilities to him delayed in giving them access. He was so busy coordinating everything.

You see, everyone is coming from the surrounding towns and villages.  They are a poor people and there aren’t enough hotels around to accommodate everyone anyway. So Bro Jeffrey rents the school with empty dormitories for the people to stay in.  They feed the people while they are there too.  Everyone takes a bus to get here, there were three cars that were parked outside the meeting area.  Three cars.  Three lonely cars, one of which I came in.  Everyone else took public transportation of some kind.  With all their kids and everything to stay for three days.

How important is going to hear the Word of God to you?  How important is the gathering together of the saints to you?

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25)

Can I be humbled by what I see any more on this trip?

For those that are interested in the culinary experiences, I’ll now go back to lunch.  I had Tilapia, Chicken, and fried rice.  It comes with the sauce on the side, that’s a little hot, but not like the first day! It’s actually REALLY tasty. It has a nice smoky flavor, made with palm oil and spices.

I do not as yet miss any American food.  I will take what I had for lunch today over a cheeseburger any day.  That includes Mussel & Burger bar AND Five Guys. I am starting to miss American beverages though.  They have Sprite and Fanta Orange.  I’d love a nice tea and lemonade though!

I asked Bro Jeffrey today, how many of the four services of the convention am I to preach? I want to know how to prepare.  There are other ministers at the convention, I know I am the “main speaker” but that does not mean ONLY speaker.  He doesn’t want to answer me.  Bro Jeffrey is a funny guy. I ask him about the wedding tomorrow…please, I do not want to do officiate an African wedding!

“I will tell you tomorrow” He says.

That’s what you told me yesterday.  But to say that I would sound like a little child.

“I want you to be trusting the Lord!”

I have many retorts…saying them would do no good.  Bro Jeffrey is a funny guy.  Bro Gilbert Bumoni said of Jeffrey “He is an eagle, if you try to follow him you will lose feathers!” He doesn’t know how close I was to not coming because getting information out of him is worse than pulling teeth!

We come home and rest more.  I begin to prepare to preach. I know the overarching thought I want to convey as a whole.  How many services do I have to bring it out in bite size portions?  Two? Three? Four?  Do I dispense with a light sermon to begin with and go heavy just so I can make sure I can get it all out?

I want you to be trusting the Lord!

Yes, Lord.  Yes, Bro Jeffrey! As I study, I feel like all of them I want to bring out at once.  I look over my notes, anything overtly American in here they wouldn’t understand?

<gasp>  Ezekiel 8!  How do I preach “images portrayed upon the wall” to people who likely do not have a painting on the wall, let alone a TV, Internet, or anything else?  How do I preach “women weeping for Tammuz” as an ungodly emotional connection without lampooning a romance novel?

Ay yi yi.  I still don’t know…

I know the condition of the hearts are the same, but how would it manifest in the northern Ghanaian life?

How can I distill the concepts I want to bring out down to a simplicity that all can understand regardless of way of life.  You’re a Sunday school teacher Trevor! You do this all the time!

I want you to be trusting the Lord!

Hours go by with me studying and taking some time to Facetime home after the power came back on. It was off most of the day.  Bro Jeffrey brings a light dinner, Salmon, rice, and stewed sauce.  I love this food.

We go to the service and meet the other ministers that come from everywhere: Bolgatanga, Jawani, Ouagadougou, Kintampo, other places that are just names to me, not even dots on a map as I have no idea where they are, but they are homes and churches to them.

How did the message brought by a humble man from Kentucky get to a place named Jawani? Grace.

I want you to be trusting the Lord!

Can I go cry now?  Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Bro Jeffrey makes the required announcements after the song service. It takes long, there is much to be said and coordinated and he never really finished getting everything done.

He announces my name.  My full name. Trevor Warren Emond.  He didn’t do terrible on the pronunciation.

The theme of the meetings is the following quote:

Now, don’t get the Rapture of the Church and the White Throne Judgment mixed up. Because, the Rapture of the Church, there is no judgment, see, you done met it right down here. That’s right, “For they which are in Christ are free from judgment.” Jesus said, “He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him that sent Me has Eternal Life and shall never come into the judgment, but has passed from death unto Life.”

I started talking about how religious Ghanaians were.  There are churches everywhere. All kinds of religions. Homosexuality is illegal here because every religion is against it. Religious people!

How are we different? Can we claim our church is better and be any different than they?

It’s Good Friday.  God declared His righteousness on Good Friday, because righteousness requires mercy. God always gives mercy. He always gives a way out.  Noah built an ark, God showed mercy and almost everyone rejected it. What was left? Judgment.  God always sent prophets to tell of coming judgment and to show the way of mercy.  Moses, Elijah, and yes Jesus Himself.

In our day, God sent a prophet because of the oncoming storm. He sent us mercy that said “I don’t care about your church affiliation. I want you to know me through the truth of the Word. I want you to…”

Ah…  Bro Branham says it best:

Not for one moment do I bring a message to the people that they may follow me, or join my church, or start some fellowship and organization. I have never done that and will not do that now. I have no interest in those things, but I do have an interest in the things of God and people, and if I can accomplish just one thing I will be satisfied. That one thing is to see established a true spiritual relationship between God and men, wherein men become new creations in Christ, filled with His Spirit and live according to His Word. I would invite, plead and warn all to hear His voice at this time, and yield your lives completely to Him, even as I trust in my heart that I have given my all to Him. God bless you, and may His coming rejoice your heart.

Well, I won’t re-preach my whole sermon here, but perhaps some more insight into the people and the challenges to bring it out.

There’s SO MANY languages.

I have an interpreter. I believe he’s interpreting into Twi.  But the people from Ouaga across the border in Burkina Faso speak French. The people in the western villages speak a different language than those of the eastern ones.

As Bro Jeffrey is welcoming me to the pulpit people get up and start moving around.

“Bro Samson, what is going on? Are the people leaving?”

“No, they are dividing up into their different languages”

I see four different brothers standing up among four sections, with the front being a fifth section obviously for the English\Twi speakers. This is chaos, but it is all they have.

Simple.  It has to be simple.

Humor does not work at all.  At all. Having people repeat something “Everyone say ‘righteousness’” does not work well either.

Bro Jeffrey tells the people that I will be speaking for all four services. Bro Samson is doing the wedding.  Thank you LORD!  I know now.  I am grateful.

But I have not forgotten:

I want you to be trusting the Lord!

 

Next Ghana Post: Day 4 Morning – Wedding Day