Day 4 – Reflection

By Dru Lindsey

Ghana has already changed my life in such a beautiful way. Today marks the 4th day of our journey, and my heart has already been filled with such a genuine joy. We traveled to the small village of Akramaman to do a Jesus camp, switch is basically a vacation bible school. We were told to expect about 80 or so kids, maybe a few more maybe a few less. However, today we had much more than that! These kids truly are such a light and have been a great blessing to me.

I really thought that coming here I was going to be helpful and change lives, but really through everything, Ghana and its people have helped me and changed my perspective on so many things. Although these kids may be lacking in things materialistically, they go above and beyond in joy and love. The children ran to me and wanted to be held or wanted hugs, and they had such a genuine joy that could be spread so easily. Their smiles light up when they saw us, and my heart was overjoyed with their kindness.

Faith and I were responsible for running the crafts section, and we did in fact have to get crafty to try and come up with solutions on the spot and ways to fill the time once the kids were done with certain activities. We were forced to think critically and creatively to try and give these kids the best experience. We did coloring sheets, we made bracelets, and we built relationships.

With the sudden influx of kids I was terrified that there wouldn’t be enough food for all the kids, . however, Vero, our cook and the priest’s wife, knew you should always expect more and figured out how to “feed the 5,000.”!! Words cannot express the way I have learned to care about these kids, and I cannot describe feeling and the joy I felt knowing that a every one of kids got lunch today. I never thought I would get to experience something like this, and I am so grateful that God brought me here. Seeing the kids sing and dance and play made me happy, because regardless of circumstances they still get to be kids, and I am so so thankful I could help them experience something like this.

For the evening, we went to a Ultreya session. Before today I was not familiar with this term or what it stood for however, I love the principle of it!! We got to go to a church and do praise and worship, then broke out into small groups and discussed the way that God had worked in our lives during the week. Ultreya is a method of keeping each other accountable and working on growing closer to God through seeing his works and focusing on ways we can intentionally seek God. I love this so much, and everyone was so welcoming, kind, and patient.

For the last part of our day we got KFC, by this point in the day we were all pretty hungry and very tired, so this chicken had to be the best I’ve had in my whole life. We all were so hungry we got an insane amount of chicken, but it was very good.

Overall this day is one I will never forget. God is moving here, and I am honored that I got to see it first hand. I know I came here for a reason, and I feel myself growing in my faith every step I am here. I am so thankful for the wonderful people of Ghana, and I cannot wait to see what else this trip has in store!!

P.S. over 180 children attended Jesus Camp