The Flight In

February 15, 2008

There has been so much in one day, the events themselves are difficult to describe. The hustle and bustle of this day will hopefully be met by a much calmer, relaxed morning tomorrow. As of 7:15 Ghanaian time, I was on Ghanaian soil. The excitement that was building up from the moment we had left Detroit can be summed up by our youngest member, Maamaya, the three year old daughter of Vida Twum, a Ghanaian member of my church, when asked where we were going, Maamaya responded with a childish joy that is difficult to describe, “Ghana!” When we had left Detroit we had no idea what our journey would look like. The last time a group left for Ghana from my church in June, they described a very different experience than what I have observed today. Whoever invented our T-shirts for us to travel in must have been someone resembling a genius. The bright lime green colors are a clear eye catcher and the picture of Africa on the front and back is enough to get people talking. Right away, as we were waiting in line at the ticket counters in Detroit people began to notice and they began to ask about our project. When we had landed in Amsterdam and were getting settled before our next flight we ran into several groups, also traveling to Ghana, who were going on a calling from God and need for God’s love here; that isn’t to say that the people of Ghana are not very close to God, but the fact remains that this is a third world country and is amongst those hurting as the result of many injustices. I should add that on neither flight was I able to attain very much sleep, so if this comes out as rambling and nonsensical, I’m operating on about 3 hours of rest that was very much interrupted. Most of my time was taken up by homework and after doing some reading for my African American History class, Maya Angelo’s book, I know why the caged bird sings, I was shaken hard and my heart longed for a way to connect. It is probably a feeling that I will never quite be able to convey, but needless to say there were events in her life that intersected mine, to some extent and some people who are very close to me and it was very difficult to hear her recount stories that I have heard so many times. It was right after reading this that one of the more interesting moments on our flights occurred when a man fainted due to stomach pains. Fortunately we had a doctor in our crew who was able to assist the man. It was also one of those times of prayer where you are touched deep inside by God. At the time I didn’t quite know what was going on, so my prayer was just for the world to stop hurting. Here I am, on a flight headed for Ghana, a country where the largest storing cells for slaves were kept, to go and make a feeble attempt to help some women shunned by the community, to help educate others and to show some love to children who are far too commonly forgotten.So Lord save us, move us towards that which is your will. Amen.