Ready for church, but not sure where it is!
Late last night (our first full night here), we received an email from the Pastor who leads the Lutheran Seminary here in Ghana, Reverend Doctor Steven Schumacher. We are invited to worship today at Church in the Valley, but the directions are a bit hazy….not sure we’d find this on GPS at home: “Go past the tro-tro stop in Oyibi, then get out at the first gas station on the left and walk the path to church”……. Huh?
So we used Uber to get to church. I’m a pro at using Uber from my days in Florida without my own car, but this is…. DAUNTING. So here’s what we did. We got out of the Uber at that “first gas station on the left”. And then a young man you will hear MUCH ABOUT on this journey, Patrick, met us and walked with us to the church. We absolutely would have NEVER found it on our own. Little did we know that while we were walking, Patrick and Lydia were speaking in their native Twi language, and in that short span of time, also establishing the beginning of a bond that continues to this day for all of us. Call them “consequences” if you like….. we call them spirit-led moments.
The church service was simple and mystifying at the same time. We were late, but managed to be there in time for the sermon, which was based on the same scripture as our Pastor’s sermon the last time I was able to attend our service at home. Interesting that during the offering, music was played that was uplifting, dance-able and more “African” than I expected (Lydia was happy)…..And the congregation held hands and prayed Luther’s Morning Prayer afterward. We also attended “adult class” (we would call it Bible Study), and then Pastor Schumacher and his wife Cindy invited us to their home for a light lunch and what would be meaningful, helpful conversations!
Once we arrived at their home, we called our own Pastor Mark Clow at home in Connecticut (8 A.M. there), who was excited to hear from us and offered a prayer for our journey. It felt so comforting to hear his voice and his prayer.
Pastor Schumacher and Cindy gave us some wonderful ideas and guidance for our time in Ghana, along with further insight into Ghanaian culture: “Ghana is a country of deception”. That quote would wiggle and nag my thoughts the rest of the trip…..and to this day. Not necessarily in the negative way you might think, but more of a pointed understanding of a culture so diversely different than our own. Kind of a “good to know” moment.
He told a story of how his laptop was stolen from their home compound on the seminary grounds early on…..of how the policeman came to the house to investigate….and when the “suspect” was identified walking not far away from there and picked up (all while Pastor and the policeman were still in the same car)…. the policeman handed his (loaded) M-16 rifle to the ‘suspect” in the back seat during transit, saying “HERE….HOLD THIS”….ON THE WAY TO THE STATION TO BE QUESTIONED!
We also learned that Pastor Schumacher is the only Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) Pastor who fluently knows American Sign Language….and serves two additional deaf ministries in Ghana. We also learned he is a second-career Pastor – formerly an engineer.
All in all, we felt so blessed to have made the connection with Pastor and his wife that we had already — that they had made time for us, graced us with their insights….and offered the services of their driver (the one who walked with us to church), Patrick, for most of our stay in Ghana.
Much more on “Patrick” later. For starters, he showed up first thing the next morning and would remain with us throughout much of the trip. And we discovered he has also learned American Sign Language and is passionate about serving these same deaf ministries with the Schumachers.
Patrick was formerly a Pentacostal preacher who would have never met Pastor Schumacher and Cindy had he not been a taxi driver who one time drove them home from a furniture store – a long drive. He came to a deeper understanding of his own faith journey on this drive home with them, and after long conversations in following days about Jesus and grace, mutual core beliefs and what gets someone into Heaven…….Pastor asked him, “have you been baptized?”…..and Patrick answered, “No, I’m not good enough. I’m not worthy”.
The Lutherans who are reading this right now are saying “ahhhh HA”.
Grace Mission in Ghana 