I’ve finally been able to upload some of my favorite photos from the past three weeks in West Africa. These are NOT the photos you’ve already seen, which were taken on my phone’s camera–you’ll want to take a look at these. The link is to my Facebook photography page since that was an easy place to put them; you should be able to view it even if you aren’t a Facebooker.

http://tinyurl.com/moyrgv

Enjoy; thanks for your continued prayers as we finish our time here!

Here’s a touching anecdote from our time in Senegal so far.

We were preparing to leave the village after collecting our photos and videos of the development and ministry going on there, when a boy in a patterned frock caught my eye. I beckoned to him to come over so I could take his picture, and he acquiesced. As he drew nearer I noticed he was sucking on a collapsed plastic cup he must have found among our gear. As I asked him to move it away from his mouth, my colleague Daniel told me to pass the cup to him. He then proceeded to un-crumple it and fill it from our bottle of water.

I hope I never forget the look on the child’s face when he received the cup. Joy and amazement lit up his features as he realized it was full of cool, clean water, and I could not help but bring to mind Jesus’ words to his disciples: “Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones…” (Matt. 10.42).

This little boy, surrounded as he is by evidence of malnutrition and the hard life of the village, is nonetheless capable of experiencing the “abundant life” Jesus desires for all people (John 10.10). That abundant life is slowly coming to his village through the work of our partners there, in the form of clean water projects, nutrition programs, animal husbandry, and newfound faith in Jesus himself.

This is one example of the many wonderful ways God’s kingdom is being established in Senegal.

Thank you for all your support leading up to and including the last two weeks of our time in Ghana, West Africa.

I am sitting in the boarding lounge of Accra’s airport, waiting to go on to Dakar, Senegal, for the final week of our Africa trip. Looking back on the last two weeks, I realize we have collected some amazing memories in a very short time. While it’s hard to say goodbye to our friends here, we are ready to close this chapter and open the next. But just before we move on, it seems appropriate to review some of the recent highlights.

* We had amazing experiences in the villages we visited. I’ll share lots of photos soon, but suffice it to say that we literally felt transported to a different time or another world. As I entered one village chief’s hut compound, Guinea fowl underfoot and mud-and-thatch houses all around, I was unable to prevent myself musing aloud, “Is this real?!” Sitting in a village “council” moderated by a pastor, an Imam, and a fetish priest, and surrounded by women accused of witchcraft, did little to diffuse the surreal feeling.
* There are amazing and inspirational people with mind-boggling stories here. In the spirit of full disclosure, that statement is true of all the various places of this earth I’ve had the privilege to visit, but you only signed up for the Africa stories One such person I shared about previously is Issa, the Muslim-background Christian who has suffered much at the hands of his own family and community, yet has been blessed by God with opportunities to forgive and even be a benefactor to the people who have hurt him.
* Goats are everywhere in the North. (Roughly as prevalent as squirrels for you fellow Spokanites.)
* There ARE ways for us middle-class Americans from little ol’ Spokane, Wash., to be of useful service in Ghana. I’m not saying there aren’t already tons of people like us striving to make a positive difference here, but I for one need to be reminded sometimes that my people can do real good and not just make messes. Sorry if that sounds overly skeptical–I’m really an optimist at heart about the potential for productive partnerships in the hard places of the world. For the group at hand, that means working in partnership and service with an African-led ministry to realize, together, the vision God has given them for their own region.
* Hospitality is beautiful here. Even the high-pressure merchants in the market, once the haggling was finished, just wanted to sit and chat and genuinely get to know us.
* President Obama is REALLY popular here, where he is viewed as family (for better or worse–I guess time will tell). It’s just too bad I didn’t buy those “Air Obama” sneakers when I had the chance. (You can laugh, but I’m not joking.)
* Our Ghanaian partners are incredibly visionary, persevering, sacrificial, innovative, humble people. The world is not worthy of them.

Thanks for all your prayers and encouragements during our time in Ghana. We are changing countries now (to Senegal, on the western tip of Africa), and expect to encounter many more amazing sights and stories.

With the excitement of the village ministry behind us, we made our way to southern Ghana–where unbeknownst to us more adventures awaited! First was the discovery that in Ghana you can argue your way out of a speeding ticket. Next up was the “canopy walk” on a rope suspension bridge 130 feet above the rainforest floor. That was awesome. Then we headed to Cape Coast to visit an old castle from the slaver days, but we weren’t able to go in because Ghana’s vice president was in there preparing for President Obama to arrive in a couple days. Then the VP came out the door right next to us! After meeting the press he got into his motorcade–and our van driver promptly put on his flashers and jumped into the back of the motorcade! We followed for a while and experienced the clearest roads of our whole trip. Last night we appeared on Ghana’s national TV station because of our presence at the VP’s visit!

Obama’s “akwaaba,” or welcome, in Ghana has been almost unbelievable. TV coverage leading up to his visit has been almost constant, numerous songs have been written and proudly broadcast in his honor, and the capital city is plastered with banners and billboards featuring Obama’s face. It’s reminiscent of Obama fever in 2008, with the exception that there’s no opposition opinion.

The most interesting aspect by far has been the Ghanaians’ mindset that they are receiving one of their own. Numerous placards, t-shirts, and radio announcements, not to mention the official theme song of Obama’s visit, declare his “welcome home.” One DJ referred to him as a “great son of Africa,” and national TV newscasters announced how proud of him his “family” is. Needless to say, expectations are high for his policy speech tonight. We asked our Ghanaian host if Obama could be elected president here, and he (half) jokingly replied, “He already is.”

The theme song’s chorus, stuck in our heads and on our tongues, goes like this: “Akwaaba, Obama, you are welcome, we are clapping, singing and shouting. Akwaaba, Obama, you are welcome, you are the sun that keeps on shining.” I’ll be honest: it’s pretty fun here right now.

This morning we are visiting a Compassion International project site. The rest of the team goes home tomorrow, and Megan and I leave for Senegal Monday night. That’s all for now; thanks for praying.

Two days ago we completed our time of ministry in two villages of rural northern Ghana. Our primary purpose was to establish relationships, but why this location, so far from electricity, paved roads, and our own language and culture? The answer: witchcraft. Read on.

Endemic in the culture of northern Ghana is the fear of supernatural reprisals and of the people who can manipulate the spirit realm to their own ends. The cultural spillover is the tendency to attribute such powers, usually falsely, to some of the most disadvantaged–and inconvenient–people in the communities: widows past childbearing age.

The process of witch allegation, trial, and punishment in one such area might go something like this: a child is bitten by a snake and becomes ill. The illness’ cause is immediately addressed–except that instead of asking what caused the sickness, family members want to know WHO caused it. The child may be denied medical attention until the fetish priest can issue a verdict on whether the snake was motivated by witchcraft or not. By the time he determines that it indeed was sent by a witch, the child is likely beyond help. During the night the child’s father has a dream in which one of the older women of the village appears, and when he awakes he brings the accusation of witchcraft against the woman. The fetish priest decrees a trial by ordeal, which basically amounts to extracting a confession by torture from the woman. Quite naturally, she is found guilty, because people will admit to just about anything under extreme duress. Finally, the “witch” is summarily banished from the community and finds her way to another town or village where she can scratch out an existence, branded and exiled from even her own family.

While it is certain that witchcraft and spiritism are practiced fairly widely in West Africa, to deal with that huge issue would probably be less productive and practical for us than addressing human and women’s rights on the grassroots level in this specific village, which we see as a potential epicenter for an earthquake of positive change in the region. We envision thousands of human hearts set free as they comprehend Christ’s love and saving grace for them, in combination with His equal value for all human beings.

One of the most heartbreaking things we saw in this village came when we asked for a show of hands of who among the women fear being cast out as a witch some day. Every last woman, from young mothers to late middle age, shared that fear.

We had the privilege of convening a village council to discuss whether a) the elders and opinion leaders thought this cycle was a problem and b) what they thought they could do about it. The very positive conclusion was that they do see a problem in how these women are treated and they think they can do something to improve the situation in the region. Praise the Lord, the ideas were 90% theirs with only a little input from us outsiders. That means they are far more likely to effect lasting change, because the inspiration is from within.

We made some good new friends in that place, and would count it a great joy to return someday. In the meantime we will do our best to keep in contact with them and continue to support and build up the faithful Ghanaian Christian workers who are there consistently throughout the year. We now have some wonderful memories and great hopes that we have become part of a process that will result, by God’s grace, in communities throughout northern Ghana being transformed for this life and the next.

Now we are making our way back down to Accra, whence the rest of the team will fly home while we move on to Senegal. Thanks for your past prayers (they have been answered) and your continued intercession on our behalf.

I’m dead tired and sticky with sweat as I write this, but it’s not enough to deter me from thanking you for all your prayers this far. We have just finished two days of ministry intended to initiate our relationship with the Ghanaian village I have mentioned in my other messages (the one with the camp of alleged witches). These two days went extremely well, by the grace of God, and I am happy to report that our African partners regard our work thus far as successful in the goal of opening further doors for their ongoing work. I’ll share more detailed stories later, but here is the highlight reel:

*we were warmly welcomed by the community
*they responded favorably to the parables we enacted and came to remarkably insightful conclusions based on just that little input (side note: I’m fascinated by the communication and learning styles of this collectivist, orality-based tribe)
*i got to employ my linguistic training a little bit and was forming complete sentences in the Komba language within 20 minutes of first arriving
*they regard us as friends (how do I know? One sure sign is the elder who presented me with the parting gift of a live Guinea fowl)
*the chief and most of the village evidence a desire and hunger to know Jesus Christ, his words and love, better (this did not start with our visit, but we got to see and affirm it)
*the accused witches were clearly touched and encouraged by our time with them and the love we showed them. Those dear women have suffered much in every way for the sake of others’ superstitions and/or convenience.
*awesome photos of people and places straight out of the Discovery channel

Thank you for continuing to pray and send us your encouraging messages. We have one more day of village ministry followed by two days of training area workers in children’s ministry.

In a few hours we will begin our journey into the highly rustic area of Ghana where we will pursue our main activities for this trip: engaging village communities in what (we hope) will turn into long-lasting relationships, and providing training to a set of African Christian workers in sustainable children’s ministry techniques. (learn more about this training at www.kidzana.org)

The real “meat” of our activities will occur (Lord willing) in villages near a town called Gusheigu (you can Google that), a place where there are whole communities of marginalized, ostracized women.

Our desire is to be part of a process of bringing true hope to these women, in cooperation with ongoing ministry being done by Ghanaian missionaries. We want to see the women’s communities, as well as the communities who have discarded them, transformed over time by the love, grace, and powerful truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We strongly believe that God loves these people, desires them to know and love him back, and that he wants to set them free from the spiritual and social bondage they have known so long, either as oppressed or oppressor. We believe he is already at work doing that very thing through the African believers who live there, and our role is to join in the process already underway.

I don’t know if we will have email access at all once we leave the capital city, but we desire your prayers especially over the next 10 days. Thank you for continuing to stand with us. And yes, we have been getting your encouraging email responses–thank you so much!

We have been enjoying our time in Africa so far, with lots of memories made in these few short days. I’ve recorded an inspiring story for you below, but first, some fun observations from our experiences:

*Goats, cell phones, and American cultural influence are everywhere (see the Africa 2009 photos on my Facebook for examples from my camera phone)
*The national currency became so devalued that they eventually just recentered it by chopping (at least) four zeroes off its rate against the dollar
*The Ghanaian people are warm and generous and inspire respect
*We are truly privileged to have a friendship and partnership with our wise, loving, insightful, passionate, shrewd, and successful African counterparts

Now, this is the true story of someone we met yesterday.

Issa could never have guessed what God had in store for him. Growing up in a proudly Muslim home, son of an established and wealthy father, he had everything he could need in the eyes of his community. That’s why it was such a shock to everyone when he put his faith in another Issa: Issa Masih, or Jesus Christ.

Immediately his older brother and father tried to squelch Issa’s new faith, feeling ashamed of his perceived betrayal of Islam. They beat him terribly, then the brother carried him off into an exile of sorts to a nearby Islamic country for three months to reindoctrinate him. Issa managed to smuggle a Gideons New Testament with him, though, and read it whenever he was left alone by his guardians. In the end, their efforts to reconvert him failed and he returned to Ghana, not swayed but strengthened in his newfound devotion to Jesus. His life’s purpose was further confirmed when Jesus appeared to him in a series of dreams with a command to return to his home community with the Gospel message.

Despite ongoing death threats from his family, Issa persevered in obedience to the Lord he could not deny, eventually being baptized and sent to Bible college for three years so he could become a qualified pastor and church planter. He married his wife, Mercy, in 2003, and they hope to begin a family soon.

Issa’s father eventually died, and his older brother who had done so much to hinder his new hope was killed tragically in an accident. Through a grant from Partners International (www.partnersintl.org) via Christian Outreach Fellowship (an African-born mission in Ghana and our hosts for this trip), Issa and Mercy have started a thriving restaurant business. The restaurant, called Pastor’s Wife Restaurant and Catering, provides an income for them as well as support for Issa’s family–turning the tables on their persecution of him and undermining the popular belief that his forsaking Islam would subject him to Allah’s curse and keep him from any success.

Issa and Mercy exude the love and passion one expects from people who know their Lord intimately and trust Him completely. To meet them is a joy and an encouragement, and to be counted their colaborers a great honor. Please pray for them and the others like them in Ghana and around the world who are steadfastly serving the Lord Jesus and bringing His love and freedom to their countries despite great obstacles.

Just a quick one: we arrived safely a little while after you went to bed last night (morning here). Here’s a pic taken outside our current lodgings–you can see the laundry service in the background and a happy first-time Africa visitor in the foreground. More later.

A long-time dream of ours has been to visit Africa, to see the work God is doing there and experience the joy of being part of it. This summer we have a double opportunity to begin fulfilling this dream—we will lead a short-term church team to Ghana, followed by a visit to Senegal on business for Partners International (where we both work).

What We Are Doing

In Ghana, we will work alongside Christian Outreach Fellowship (COF), a successful Ghanaian-led ministry (and affiliate of Partners International) that trains and sends Ghanaian Christians to effectively minister in rural areas. COF starts churches as well as community-development projects like vocational training and micro-lending. We already know COF’s leader, Emmanuel, from his previous visits to our hometown of Spokane, and our church sent one other team to Ghana in 2006.

Emmanuel, our host and the leader of COF.

The purpose of the team Robert is leading this summer is to strengthen the relationship with COF, assist in their ministry work through dramas, discussions, and trainings, and identify opportunities for our church to become involved more deeply in this partnership. This portion of our trip will be from June 28 to July 13.

At that time the five others from our church team will head back to the US while the two of us fly to Senegal. We will meet up with a videographer Robert has hired to assist with documenting Partners International’s ministry involvements in that country. Robert’s job will be to direct the video documentary work and do the still photography (capitalizing on his background in professional photography), while Megan has a chance to see some of the gifts given through the Harvest of Hope gift catalog (the program she coordinates at work) in action. The Senegal leg of our trip will be July 13 to July 21.

How Much It Will Cost

We and Partners International are covering all costs of our Senegal visit this summer, plus one-third of the Ghana segment with our church. Our church has provided an additional one-third of the Ghana segment costs (which total $3,500 per person), and we invite you to partner financially with us in this venture for the last third, totaling $2,200 for both of us combined.

If you would like to be a part of sending us on this mission trip, please mail a check, payable to Whitworth Community Presbyterian Church, with “Ghana Mission Team” in the memo line. Please do not put our names on the check. You will receive a tax-deductible receipt for your gift. Or, if you don’t need the tax deduction, you give directly to us through PayPal–right here and now!

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How You Can Pray

In addition to joining us financially, we ask you to join us in prayer. Please commit to praying for us every day that we are in Ghana. The area of Ghana where we’ll be is almost entirely non-Christian, and we’ll need God’s wisdom, protection, love, and boldness as we encounter the communities and situations there. Your prayers are crucial to our success.

Please pray for:

• Our own hearts as we prepare—depth and closeness with Jesus Christ
• Health and safety while we are in Africa
• Unity as a team and wise, sensitive leadership by Robert
• Good relationships to be established between us and the local ministry workers and communities
• Open eyes, ears, and hearts to see what God is doing in Ghana and how we can join Him
• Wisdom and discernment as to next steps for our church in this partnership
• Successful, productive documentary work in Senegal
• All costs to be fully provided for

Thank you for being part of our lives! We eagerly look forward to sharing our stories and photos with you once we return home in July. In the meantime, we invite you to follow Robert’s photography blog at www.roberthuggins.com/light-blog, where he will continue to post his best photos, news, and travel updates, before, during, and after this summer’s trip. Also, if you are interested in receiving email updates, please let us know that as well.

Thank you for the role you play in our lives, and for your support as we embark on this mission!

Village scene from northern Ghana