Church in Senchi Ferry, Ghana

May 26, 2012

Sunday morning and everyone in the community seems to be going to church. Ghana , or at least this area, seems to be very religious. You can see signs for all kinds of different churches like Methodist, Pentecostal, and Catholic. This was probably an area for missionaries for many years, and maybe still now. The church buildings are not ornate or ostentatious, just a little better and larger than the homes I see in this area.

Daniel, my teacher who I had worked with this week, was going to the Catholic church and invited me to meet him there at 9 am. I had to walk around Saturday afternoon to find the church so I could walk there Sunday. Another volunteer from San Francisco was going with me too.

It was about a 15 minute walk from the guest house to the church. On the route to the church, I saw two brothers bathing outside their house, using a small tub of water. They don't have running water so they have to haul the water from somewhere. The older brother was soaping down the young brother, both seeming to enjoy the sun, soap and water. I think it was probably a Sunday ritual.

I looked for Daniel outside the church but didn't' see him. He told me he would be there early. We decided to go in and hopefully, Daniel would be there soon. Inside, was a very nice triangular shaped church with pews, an large crucifix and altar. People were sparsely populating the pews but later, most of the church was full.

Daniel arrived right near the beginning and sat next to me for moment. He apologized for being late and told me he was going to the front to play the drum. He was wearing a beautiful purple alb. He later told me had been playing the drum for Mass since we was 9 years old.

The service was interesting. There seem to be two main deacons or church leaders who led the service as no priest was available today. I guess they have to rotate to different parishes in this area. The one woman leader was very good. She spoke in English and the the local language giving the sermon or message to the congregation. This was one of the first Ghanian speakers whose English I could really understand. There was lots of singing and participation by the worshippers. The women were all dressed in very Ghanaian gowns and the men in nice western clothes. At the end of the service, the leader asked Lyn and I to come to the front and introduce ourselves, and say a little bit about ourselves. We did that and they seemed genuinely happy that we were there. The whole service lasted about two hours.

Daniel walked us back to the guesthouse. I offered to take him to lunch and he accepted. In this area, there is no restaurant that I can eat at safely-meaning without possibly getting sick. So we took the tro-tro to the Continental Hotel, which is a resort type hotel about 10 minutes from my guesthouse. Daniel had been there only once before. This hotel is either owned by an Indian family or managed by some Indian people. Their restaurant has an Indian cuisine and some local food too. The food there is ok to eat. So we had some rice, chicken and vegetables. As I paid the bill, I left a tip for the waitress. Daniel asked me about the tip. He didn't know about tipping before this. After I told him, we said we should wait until the waitress comes back because someone else might get the tip otherwise. Daniel knew these workers don't get pay very much so I thought it was very nice that he was looking out for someone else who he didn't know. It tells me a lot about his character.

It was a very nice relaxing Sunday in Senchi Ferry. Hot and dry but really appreciating everyday... Hope all is well. .




- Posted while traveling the world