A Day at the Beach

In a stark contrast to the past few weeks, the last few days have actually been quite laid-back.

Friday we literally did almost nothing the entire day -- we thanked God for actually giving us a chance to be bored for a moment for the first time in our entire trip lol. Andrew and I got to sleep in a good amount for the first time since we've been here, and spent the day mostly just hanging out, talking, and reading.

Saturday was jam-packed, juxtaposed nicely with the lull of Friday. Rich and Gina took Andrew and me (and their baby daughter Rinna) to a beach which was about a two hour drive from Osu, the part of Accra we're staying in. The beach (called Bojo beach, I believe -- not that it really matters I suppose lol) was really cool; it's actually an island. The shore-side is maybe just 1000 feet from the mainland, but it was extremely cool nonetheless. You get to take a boat over to the island/beach, which is a fairly decent size and has areas to swim (the waves were huge!), play volleyball, or just hang out, and has an area that serves food as well. [And by the way, even though there's a "beach" like five minutes from our house, it's sadly really more of a garbage dump; thus the journey to get to a nicer section of the shore.

And today (Sunday) we got a chance to go to church with Rich (Gina's had to stay at home with the baby lately). It was a really neat experience. The church has a main service, and also a youth service which is made up of kids mostly our age (in university of close to it). And Rich himself actually leads the youth service, which he explained he just recently started. It was cool of get to "see him in action" lol. He's a really smart guy and the amount of dedication he has to not only living his faith but sharing it with others is quite inspiring. I'd say there were a little less than 40 people at the youth service, which lasted for about three hours and consisted of praying, singing, bible study, Rich speaking, and just some general fellowship. Everyone was extremely welcoming to me and Andrew (as usual lol), talking to us after the service and checking to see if we'd be back next weekend.

And then later in the afternoon we attended one of the neighborhood Bible studies that Rich leads (he's a busy man lol). This one was actually a children's study. I guess for the past few weeks they've been going over evangelism and how to talk to people about the Gospel. So today was spent mostly just doing a few "trial runs," with the someone taking a role of an unbeliever and another kid coming up to talk to them and get to run through the course of the conversation. It's really an impressive thing to see these kids (maybe around 10-14, mostly) going through this process and telling the grand story, reciting the verses, and keeping their cool - for the most part lol. But the important thing is that they're learning -- and moreover just doing it at all. [The Nkum mission at the beginning of this trip was really the first time I had even done that type of thing myself. That was definitely an experience in itself, and something I'll talk about at greater length a little later....]

More than anything in the past few days, I just want to stress how blessed I feel to have had Rich and Gina take us into their homes and into their lives. Their generosity and attitude service have not once ceased to amaze me. I remember distinctly the first night Andrew and I arrived, when they sat us down at one point and told us how they were willing to sacrifice for us while we were here. It's an amazing thing to hear and what's even more amazing -- though at this point not at all surprising -- is that they really live it. Just all the little things they do for us. Andrew and I more than anything don't want to be a burden (an attitude that many would most likely share), but they don't even think about it that way. It's their honor and thier joy to serve, and we've just had to learn to let them. I just hope we can pay it back in at least some small ways. The time we've spent with them has been great. The beach is a fine example too. They set aside the day to spend with us, paying for everything along the way and thinking nothing of it. We took time after first arriving on the beach to read the Word together for a little while. Getting to read the Bible with them like this and to pray together as we have on countless other occassions has really been great; it's really amazing to see how their faith pervades their life and for us to get to be a part of it. They've been great. Simply and truly.