Christ's Banquet

February 21, 2008

There is a line drawn in mission work. There is a fundamental problem when it comes to handling field work and appropriating funds. We visited an up and coming SPANKO orphanage being overseen by a fellow Michigander and a member of our church. Mike is a Michigan State grad, in his mid twenties. He has taken 5 kids in the area under his wing, all teenagers and has dedicated himself to being their father. He has a big heart and big ideas. I was in awe when he took us on a tour of his new orphanage he was overseeing. From an American’s eyes the buildings are phenomenal, the education system sounds great and everything seems to be heading in the right direction. But as we listened to Mike tell us of his plans, I could hear two of our Ghanaian friends talk of how the classrooms were too big, his ideas of bringing in washing machines to eliminate the need for the more traditional washing day were too American. I can sympathize both ways. From Mike’s perspective, Ghana’s education system is broken, the children are often under or not educated, women have far less opportunity than men and parents are often ignorant of the value of learning. Maybe Mike is right, maybe what the system needs is a radical transformation, a new breath of life. On the other hand, I can understand how tradition is important, how often Americans seek to inject their values and beliefs on societies unlike their own and how stupid white men must seem. The problem is that there is no right answer. We have to trust that God will use us in all of our endeavors and we must always pray that He gives us the clarity to discern what is of God and what is of us.
After visiting Mike we traveled to the Mmofroturo girls school once more to say goodbye and to present them with a brand new laptop, printer, ink, paper, and to commit to their library. When Jeff was expressing how much we appreciated their mission and goals, he invited Kevin up to take the mic for a little interview. The girls loved it, as Jeff said “Kevin’s a rock star.” After our meal with the head of the school we were taken on a tour of the entire complex so we could get a better sense of what they needed. They took us to the grade school so we could see the younger kids in class and meet them. When we were walking in between classrooms, there was a man outside selling newspapers, of which the headline read: “Bush Bull Shits,” referring to his visit to Ghana this week and his tour of West Africa. We all got a kick out of that. Once we had met all of the grade school students, the men and women separated and the guys got to play a little with the preschoolers who are in need of better classrooms, one’s that they can have for themselves. They are all very cute and they found Jeff and Dennis to be very funny. While Jeff, Dennis and I were playing with the little girls, Kevin was being mobbed outside for his number, address and pictures with the girls. As soon as we stepped outside we were all mobbed too. Pictures seem to fascinate people here, they love getting their picture taken, even if they can’t keep it. As the guys were heading back to our bus to leave we ran into a wall of girls, all in their colorful dresses. Boat turned to me and asked me if I had seen the “new” students. I had no clue what he was talking about so he showed me. Ciarra and Katherine had been fitted and had each been given one of the school dresses!
When we left the school I was feeling the presence of God in that place. The school is one of the projects that makes me proud to be a Methodist, a school that encourages women to take on a bigger role, educate themselves and express their individuality through their dresses. We traveled on to another market, but this time there was an actual grocery store. I stocked up on some Ghanaian chocolate. We hit the road again, but back to the hotel. We had a few hours to relax, but we were all very anxious. Tonight was a night to party, a night to celebrate. God was here, Christ was walking among us and we were going to celebrate as Christ commanded. Tonight the First United Women came to have a night of dinner and dancing. They came to deliver the clothing we had ordered and to celebrate our partnership and friendship. When they arrived the music was blaring (as usual in Ghana), games of Owari were being played, and dinner was served. That dinner was probably the best one yet. It felt so good to eat amongst friends here. The women brought extra fabric with them and set up a stand on the edge of our party. There were actually guests at the hotel coming out to check out the celebration and ended up purchasing some of the fabric. One of the women came up to me and asked me to dance, so we did. Even the hotel staff were celebrating and dancing with us. Mike showed up with his kids and we talked about the difficulties of working in Ghana for hours.
When the night was done Jeff wandered back into our room and he had a story to tell me. He told me that he had a talk with some of our friends who were on staff at the hotel. He said that they asked him what the purpose was of this party tonight, who the women were. They had said they had had a lot of fun dancing with the women and they thought they had made some friends. Jeff figured, why not. So he told them who they were, why there were there and what we were about. Jeff said he had never seen people loose their color so quickly before. Their response seemed like a mixture of anger, confusion and worry. The stigma here is real. He reminded me of the parable Jesus tells of heaven being like a party; a party where none of the guests you invited show up, they are all too busy. So instead you invite those on the street, the people who never get invited. Tonight we were in heaven. Jeff told the staff that they had just been to heaven, they looked at him like he was crazy. But it was real. This is the vision Christ had for the world. Heaven is real. I’ve seen it, I’ve danced with the uninvited, I’ve shared songs and stories, held hands and hugged. I’ve met God and I will trade this experience for nothing this world has to offer.