Ammon:
I was given ANOTHER jacket/smock (that’s 4) then took a ride to chuch, and tbh (To Be Honest) I don’t remember a thing. (Writing this 4 days later.) Then drove to the FRC and basically met some fellow kids and we did the swing. After that got some food, met a dog, got my photo taken, and I think that was all.
LaReita:
Hilton, one of our managers in Tamale (northern Ghana), stayed overnight in a spare bedroom. In the morning he presented to Ammon another traditional smock. Ammon wore the other smock a lot last year in the winter. It is completely hand-woven and hand-stitched. I marvel at how much time it would have taken to create this piece of clothing. Although we gratefully accepted Hilton’s heart-felt gift, I am more concerned about him (a starving college student), sacrificing so much to buy this instead of buying food for himself to eat!
We took Hilton with us to church (he’s not a member). He is used to Pentecostal churches. So I briefed him before we went into the covered patio for this branch of the Church of Jesus Christ. Although our church meetings are more demure in their preaching style, the S I N G I N G remains the same! Oh the stirrings of the heart as you hear these African saints sing out loud! I think the 40 in attendance were louder than our ward of 200 in Spanish Fork. Seriously, this one of my favorite parts of attending church in Africa.
During the Sunday School discussion, me, Dave and Becky smiled at each other knowingly. How these new saints interpreted and discussed the lesson was not how it would have been in Utah. Honestly, it is refreshing to see the different stages of faith and spiritual development without the long-term historical entanglements.
The missionaries made a bee-line for Hilton after church and got his contact info. We then sent him to the VIP bus station to go back to Tamale. We went back to Becky’s house for a couple of hours to chat, then we drove to the Family Restoration Center (FRC) about 40 minutes away. The FRC is an after-care facility for women rescued from trafficking (mostly from the middle east). The women stay here for 3 years doing literacy, vocational trainings and LifeStory Leadership training (mind-set mastery). By the time they graduate they are prepared for success and won’t fall into the trafficking trap (modern-day slavery.) It was great seeing and hugging some of the former students/clients who are now the mentors/teachers to the newer girls who have returned from their slavery situations.
The property was open to the community to come inside and also experience the party. There were soooo many people!
This was the 3rd graduating class, and it was the biggest graduation party with one Ghana tradition I had not seen before. Throwing money at the graduates (similar to what is done for a bride).
Traditions I have experienced:
– LOUD music pounds through my body (I had ear plugs thankfully)
– Honorary introductions
– Sitting with tribal chiefs
I invited Faustina Tanoe’s family to join us. I’ve been in contact with her family since my first trip in 2016. Sylvester, Gilbert (nephew), Monika (niece), [Anita, living now with her auntie], LaReita, & Tiki. (Yes, LaReita is my name-sake.) After 30 minutes of sitting next to the 8 foot speakers at level 1000, I decided to leave the honorary tent/table. Ammon had already left to wander with Merriam (Becky’s daughter). I motioned to Sylvester and his siblings for us to go to the big tree swing. We had fun reliving what we did last year. Some of these kids rarely have the chance to swing. It was fulfilling to see the children squeal with delight.
Becky needed to stay longer for the event, but we were free to leave since we made our appearance.
We started the journey back which took over an hour because of traffic. A packed two lane roadway with 6pm end-of-church and end-of-funeral traffic.