Experiences in Jama, Ghana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

( Thursday April 3, 2008 )

After we spent time at the Catholic Prayer Park (Waterfall – there is a picture of this in my last post), we headed to a remote village called Jama.  Jama was the first village that we ministered in.

Vanessa, my daughter, told the story about Jesus and the little children with the help of our translator (Peter C.).  In Ghana the children are not necessarily valued, so we wanted them to know that Jesus loved them and valued them.  It was interesting telling the story with the Chief and Elders sitting right their in the middle of the crowd.  We had to be careful not to offend them while we were telling the story.  We told them how Jesus got upset with his disciples for not allowing the children to come to him; how Jesus welcomed the children and held them and blessed them.

We told the crowd how Jesus loved them, their Chief, their Elders, their mothers and fathers, their sisters and brothers.  He loves the Pagans, the Muslims, and the Christians.  Jesus says that he loved us while we were still sinners!  In our religious minds, that is hard to comprehend.

My Pastor told a really funny story about a young hippo who wanted to climb a mango tree and a little boy who helped him.  The story went on for quite a while and everyone was laughing.  We were sitting under a mango tree as he was telling the story and there are hippos close by at the river so the people knew how silly the story was.  When he was done, he told them that the story was not true, but that we were going to do a drama about something that is true. The drama is called “lifegiver”, which shows how Jesus made the whole world for our pleasure then how sin (bad relationships, greed, alcohol) can separate us from Jesus.  It is a powerful drama that transcends all language barriers.  If you have never seen it, go to youtube and check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3WBvbLDMmI&feature=email

We used the drama and talked about the different characters in it (Jesus, humans, creation, bad relationships, greed, alcohol) and how they affect our relationship with Jesus (the creator of heaven and earth).  We were very clear and spoke very simply so that it could be translated clearly.  Everyone in the entire village raised their hands to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior, even the Chief!  This was a completely Muslim village!  It was very powerful.

When we first arrived in Jama, Ron (the man who played Jesus in the drama), was not feeling well at all.  He had diarreah really bad and his stomach was cramping.  We all went to his seat and laid our hands on him and prayed for healing.  He was instantly healed!  Praise the Lord!  He was able to do the drama and it touched many lives.  God is so good!