Iain Cunningham (Convener of the World Mission Council's Local Development Committee) and Carol Finlay (Twinning and Local Development Secretary) are visiting Ghana from 14 - 27 January 2011. They are meeting with our partner churches, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana.

Monday 31 January 2011

At the cross and around a table….sharing together

Wednesday 26th January

Started the day again with the staff of the EP Church head Offices at their morning worship and where we were presented with a lovely Ghanaian Kente scarf. We were able to say goodbye to them as this was our last day in Ho. However before we left we had further things to experience. We set of for Bremen Village which is a few miles beyond the city of Ho towards the border of Togo. It is here that the EP Church and particularly the Western Presbytery has established a weekly healing service. We were surprised and delighted to discover that one of the ministers leading the service was none other than our friend Rev Gabriel Akoli. The service was already underway in the church and after praise and prayer and a short sermon, all in the local language, the congregation made their way outside to a clearing among the trees where there was a large white wooden cross – the remainder of the service took place around the cross. At a particular point people were invited forward for prayer and many people responded.

Although the singing was lively, there was a sense of unhurried calm and gentle peacefulness as the sun filtered through the trees around the cross. The church and the area on which the cross stood were situated in an agricultural station owned by the EP Church and it had been arranged with the Director of the Agric Programme that we would meet him. However the service was still going on and Carol remained there while Iain and Rev Agidi met with the Director. At the end of the service Carol was able to share with the congregation why we were in Ghana and the importance of being able to not just hear about the various church activities but to participate in them.

Meanwhile Iain was finally getting to see a ‘grasscutter’ in the flesh as the Agric Programme was breeding them – their real name is the African Cane rat and they are about 18-24 inches long, with thick fur and a set of very sharp teeth. They are vegetarian and can destroy crops. However they provide very good nutrition and are bred for food not for their ability to mow the lawn! He also saw the small ruminant programme and the rabbit breeding venture.

On the way back to Ho we visited Mawuli Estate Church. They had tentatively started a twinning with a Scottish Congregation, however some work needs done to develop it. Carol had a picture in her mind that this was an estate such as a tea estate or something similar but we found it was a church within a housing estate, with some impressive houses and some new building work happening. This church was another example of a ‘church without walls’, bizarrely the walls consisted of chicken wire fencing with rolls of razor wire at the top. It was difficult to understand why the razor wire was there as there was a very large doorway and no door! Perhaps the razor wire was an artistic alternative to stained glass?

We had been invited to Dr Agidi’s house for lunch; of course he was now Seth to us as we had become friends on the journey. His lovely wife Madeline had prepared a feast which included …guess what….grasscutter soup to eat with our fufu. The meat tasted like a mixture of venison and brisket…sort of!

By mid afternoon we were packed and ready for the drive back to Accra, traffic was heavy and progress slow. It was nearly 7pm when we arrived at the home of Rev Solomon Sule Saa where we were greeted like long lost friends….which is precisely what we felt we were. It was great to spend the evening with Solomon and his wife Beatrice and with Seth. Together around a table we ate with our colleagues from both Partner Churches in Ghana…not doing business but enjoying time together as friends. Sounds familiar?

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