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First Baptist Church in Ghana
Reflections (Day Two)
Co-written by Hazel Burnett-Davis and Robert Graham
We arose to another glorious day that the Lord had made to engage in some
familiar routines: exercising, walking to the morning rhythms in the street,
and partaking of a sumptuous buffet of native delights. All of us, while
dressing for the adventures of the day, were preparing mentally, emotionally,
and spiritually for wherever the day would take us. Most of all, we prepared
to listen and learn from our brothers and sisters.
Because “the king said so”, our first activity of the day was
a meeting arranged with the Association of Ghana Industries, a powerful
group that represents over 1,000 manufacturing companies and businesses
in Ghana. (Getting in to address this group is no small feat, especially
on short notice, but there we were.) Following tradition, the members introduced
themselves and then allowed Pastor to introduce himself and his delegation
and tell the reason for our visit.) In his usual charismatic manner, much
to their (and our) delight, Pastor shared our mission. We learned several
crucial things that impact the development and growth of Ghana’s much
needed businesses: a lack of sufficient capital to expand farming; exorbitantly
high interest rates on loans; and non-interest in investing in small businesses.
From the Association, our police escort took us to a region in Ghana called
Osu, which is one of the oldest areas along the ocean front. This very busy
section of town was home to one of the largest collection of street merchants
many of us had ever seen, who were selling everything one could possibly
imagine, from clothes to food to art to coffins. (Yes, that’s what
we said, coffins!). Many of the items were skillfully balanced and carried
about in different sized baskets on the heads of men and women, the women
moving with a graceful rhythm to their own internal music, without holding
the baskets with their hands. (No swipe against the men intended!)
We saw many clusters of shanty houses that were home to many, many, very poor families. It was heart wrenching to see the way so many of our brothers and sisters are living, with what it seems, no way out. The extremely large number of people indicates that it will take a long time and a great deal of planning and money to change the current conditions. These conditions have contributed to a large population of orphans called “street kids”. We visited a place loosely called a school where the conditions made you want to cry and instantly count your blessings. Hope and despair were simultaneously displayed in the eyes of the children as they gratefully accepted the pens and candy provided by the delegation. Witnessing the children and the conditions in which they live, and the food that they have to eat (a large pot of porridge (gruel??) cooked and stirred over an open fire in the yard, made you want to do something for them. Pastor committed to providing materials and equipment, and gave a monetary donation on the spot.
Our next stop, after lunch, was a visit to Accra Polytechnic Institute where
we had our spirits lifted by college students participating in a business
program that emphasized entrepreneurship. Their program teaches them to
develop business plans for a successful business. Seeing and hearing these
young people let us know that there is hope for a new generation of business
leaders in Ghana, even in spite of the many obstacles they face. They were
quite impressive!
From there we went straight to Calvary Baptist Church which has a total
of ten satellite churches and approximately six thousand members, with six
services on Sunday in the main church (and we thought we were working hard
with three!). We were treated to authentic African Gospel by their Praise
Ensemble! (What rhythm—I see where we get it. Watching the graceful
moves of the singers and worshipers made us consider asking First Baptist
to add Conga drums to our services, and we already have a volunteer from
the delegation.) After our host, Reverend Stephen Asante introduced him,
Pastor Soaries lit up the place (even with an interpreter speaking Twi)
with an inspiring sermon that offered hope of a better life here and in
heaven when this life is over.
Finally, we ended the emotion-filled day over dinner by sharing the different
things we had seen and heard during the extremely busy day. Although weary,
we ended the day grateful that we were able to listen with our hearts as
well as our ears. We truly felt that we had been able to let our extended
family know that we heard them and that the First Baptist family cares and
is willing to help.