CELEBRATE GHANA

I want to share with you some of Ghana this week. You may or may not know that Ghana's Football (Soccer) team made it into the World Cup and actually went further than any African nation has ever gone. There has been much celebrating in this country in the last two weeks. We've been caught in many spontaneous street parties which is a very noisy, exciting and colorful event. The people paint themselves in the red/gold/green colors of the Ghanian flag, wrap themselves in the flag, flags waving from cars, bells, whistles, drums, LOTS of dancing and conga lines! Ghanians have a lot to be proud of, not just because of the soccer team but because these are a warm and friendly people that are truly full of life and love. There is nothing more beautiful than an ear-to-ear smile from a child here.

Ghana's average annual income is about $390/year. You may say "Yeah, but that money goes further there than here". When the World Health Organization does their calculations they are saying that they make in a year what $390 would buy in a developed country such as the U.S. Just think of that! I spent $5200/year in groceries alone...hummm, that makes me stop and think! Ghana is 133 of 192 in the Human Development index which means they are more developed than most countries we have been in recently. Liberia, Togo and Benin fall under their number but yet 1 in 4 children still die in Ghana before they reach 5 years old. Life expectancy is 60 years and the average household is 5.1. The city of Tema, where we are ported has 1 million people. And they are all on the roads everytime I need to go anywhere. You can fit 5 United States inside the continent of Africa....hard to imagine and there are over 2,000 langues spoken here. I can imagine that because just as I think I'm getting the hang of understanding someone, it all changes and I'm back to square one.

Some families here believe they are under curses where their females will never succeed at anything, thus they don't allow them to attempt anything. Sounds like a really sad scheme of Satan to me to keep 1/2 of the population from ever achieving their God-given potential. They believe heavily in curses and that nothing can cure a curse so many will not seek medical attention. Many African leaders consult oracles to make sure their term of office will never end, often offering human sacrifices. We are very priviledged to witness the faith of our Ghanian friends. I honestly believe they have a very strong faith, stronger than most of us in the western world because they HAVE to trust God for most everything, something to eat everyday, roof over their heads, transportation, jobs. Speaking of my own life I can't say I was in that situation until the past few years and even then it's not the same because I can choose to leave.

PRAYER POINTS

• Discovery of outreach opportunities and how we can be most effective
• Delivery of critical pieces of equipment to the Africa Mercy - cannot do sea trials without them - causing another delay to Africa
• Intestinal problems for many crew members
• Thank God for our financial supporters and continued financial support