March 14, 2023

Adam's Blog: A Trip to Ghana

What an amazing opportunity to visit a mission partnership in Ghana called Ghana Christian Mission. Graham (a fellow Ridger) and I visited medical clinics, church plants, and a Bible school, and got to meet with multiple pastors and leaders from Ghana. It was a wonderful trip, and I’m so grateful for the time to interact with these people in Ghana. If you see me or Graham around, be sure to ask us about it. I’m sure we’ll talk your ear off about all the things we saw, experienced, learned (and ate! Look up ayoyo, it was quite an experience). But, if you don’t want to hear us talk that much, here are five things I learned and was reminded of while in Ghana. 

1. The world is diverse. 
Not a surprise, but a reminder: people who live in other places experience different things. Many places we visited had dirt roads with significant holes. Walking a long way is common and necessary. Power outages are normal. Ghanians eat way healthier than Americans. There is much diversity in the way God created the world and different cultures, and it is to be celebrated. 

2. The world is the same. 
It amazes me how many times we had a conversation and I thought, “That is the same back home.” From the ways kids respond to their parents to the tensions in politics to the hopes of the pastors we talked with: we have many similarities. One major one that kept coming up repeatedly: the God in Ghana is the same God in Indiana. The hope of Jesus is needed in both places. The leading of the Holy Spirit guides no matter what country is on your passport. 

3. Jesus leads to community. 
Why would people who have never met us and will likely never meet us again welcome us into their home and cook us a meal, often times in ways that brought them inconvenience? Jesus. They love Jesus. So do we. So, we were welcomed in their homes and called “brother.” Jesus doesn’t divide, he brings people together. Truly humbling. 

4. Delay is okay. 
Our flight was delayed on the way to Ghana. Another flight was delayed the next day. We often found ourselves making plans and something out of our control happening to change them. Life is like that, isn’t it? Wisdom Yao Nyador, the Executive Director of Ghana Christian Mission, was our guide and would say, “Delay is okay.” Yes, sometimes annoying. But sometimes it was helpful. Sometimes it reminded us of what God has already done. God’s timing truly is perfect, and we saw it first hand over and over again (ask us about catching the ferry across the river)! Delay is okay. 

5. God is moving in Ghana (and in The Ridge)
Ghana Christian Mission (GCM) is doing amazing work. While there are certainly needs and struggles, God is moving in Ghana. Since 1987, GCM has started 246 churches and baptized 15,000 people. All while serving 700,000 patients at their clinics. I was inspired. This is truly a “whatever it takes” type of place. 

So is The Ridge. This trip has served as an important reminder that reaching people with the hope and love of Jesus is the single most loving thing we can do. Because of God being with us and guiding us, we have the opportunity to reach people for Christ. Communities for Christ. Friends, family, and strangers in a country halfway across the world so desperately need the hope and love of Jesus that we will do whatever it takes to help them know Him. God is moving. GCM is moving. The Ridge is moving. 

Say a prayer for GCM and their impact on Ghana!

Whatever it takes, 
Adam