Day 86 Week 13

Thursday was a matter of doing a little shopping for supplies, packing, and office work. I completed the letter and sent it to Enoch, in which he will be adding to the April monthly donor article. We discussed the remaining schedule for my stay in Ghana, for this will be the last time I see Enoch until I return form the north in June! Enoch and his wife Lydia are leaving Sunday for the states for two weeks, where Lydia will undergo some testing to try to identify her sickness. With this in mind, I will head to the north before they return.
Friday I headed to Akplale, which is Enoch’s home village. I will stay until April 12, so that will give me just over a week. I also will be spending/preaching my first Easter Sunday sermon in Ghana. We arrived in the afternoon where I unpacked and mingled among the community for the remainder of the day.
Saturday I went to meet the headmaster of the school in which I will be speaking to on Monday to ask for permission to address the school, but upon arriving the teachers and headmaster were not there. With this, we decided to go to a village near a beautiful river. The breeze was amazing and the shading from the large trees provided a very peaceful and relaxing place. We spent an hour or so talking to some of the anglers and residence. While doing so you cannot just talk you have to enjoy some fresh coconut milk and meat! I really enjoyed this village and the scenery! I could stay at this place for some time. After or visit we returned to Akplale for lunch. In the afternoon, I began to work on my sermon. I was focusing on unity while working with the Palm Sunday remembrance. I found this to become difficult for some reason. I finally came with the idea of paralleling the battle of the Alamo with the ministry of Christ and the disciples. As hard as it may seem it actually works well.
Today is Palm Sunday and as I woke, I had a feeling come over me as I just sat and thought about Christ riding in on a donkey with everyone worshiping Him. It seemed easier to imagine this for palm trees and dusty roads surround me. Then I also remembered that at the same time in only a few days these same people abandoned Him and then crucified Him. For some reason today, it really sat deep in my stomach the sacrificial love that Christ has for me! How amazing is he! After this wonderful wake up note, church began. I was very impressed for the worship dancing stepped up even more by dancing out of the church and all around the perimeter! It really became morning aerobics! Then it came time for the sermon. I was surprised that only a couple people realized that it was even Palm Sunday! I guess it is surprisingly not looked upon as much at least at this church. After delivering the sermon, I sat down having no idea if this sermon made any movement into the hearts of the listeners. It seemed as though this day was no different from any other day and some Yavu (white man in Ewe) gave a mediocre sermon at best. You cannot hit a homerun every Sunday! The rest of the day was really good. Bright, Pastor Ernest’s son and nephew of Enoch, and I went for a canoe ride. While out we watched as the anglers were setting traps for lobster (shrimp). It was truly another beautiful setting and a great reminder of how amazing our Creator is! Then from enjoying God’s creation, we went to enjoy the company of God’s people. We traveled around to spend some time saying hello to the members of the community of Akplale and surrounding villages as well. I have taken splendor of the simplicity of this life that has been given to us. I find myself becoming lost to often in the daily tasks that cloud our eyes to the majestic aroma of Christ in the ordinary places. I am working on living in the now, for tomorrow will come and if I am not careful, I will miss everything that is around me. Christ truly will take care of tomorrow, so I must live for Him now!