Right now I’m sitting in a really neat coffee shop on St. Simons Island and the walls have neat canvas wraps from people around the world. So I decided to post these pics that I found recently on a CD from a trip to Ghana in 2005.

This was back in my film days. It’s amazing how much fewer (grammar?) pictures I took before I was digital.

Anyway, this was the first time I was in Africa and it was quite a different experience from the South American trip I took some years ago. We were in a coastal area and it was quite humbling to see the generosity of people who have next to nothing (from our point of view).

There is an extreme between the beauty

and the poverty.

Then there was the touring we did that saw some of the worst of man’s depravity when they are willing to sell their fellow man into slavery. And other men were willing to buy their fellow man and make them servants.

The slave castle we toured (the pic below is looking out the window of one) was chilling to say the least. There was a heaviness as we toured the dungeons where thousands lived, died and were shipped off to other worlds.

And then there was more beauty in the little bit of rainforest. There a series of suspended bridges that did funny things to my heart. I think I crossed them in record time. I don’t like heights. And these bridges were very high in the trees.

Buying goods in the market was very interesting.

So was traffic in the city.

Although “interesting” is probably an understatement in both cases. We have an interesting world and recently when someone told me they have no desire to leave the country (we were talking about getting passports) I could hardly imagine. There are many places I would love to visit, although some draw more than others.

If you know anything about Chris you’ll know this is typical.

 We usually split up for Sunday services and the second Sunday we were there Chris and I were in the same service. This particular church used several kinds of drums, including the standard drum sets you find here in the US. They really hammered down, if you know what I mean, and by the time there were done, my brain was numb. Chris left saying how much he enjoyed it and was drawn into worship. Interesting how God created us with different tastes!

There were other experiences that were thrilling in a different way. This big, wicked-looking scorpion was found very near the orphanage. In fact, while we were there, one of the nannies was stung by one and rushed to the hospital for treatment.

We mostly stayed on the coastal area, where fishing is a big part of their survival. Here they are mending fishing nets.

 

And no matter that is 100* plus terrible humdity, and that they will go home to homes that don’t have air conditioning, and many other things we take for granted, there are many ways to celebrate life.

Hope you enjoyed this tour. If you would like to experience God in another country, Living Hope is one (of many) ministry that can help you with this.