Gone to Ghana, Part Two :: Redux

I originally wrote this post on my personal blog on February 1, 2008, but last weekend I realized I needed to relearn some of the lessons I learned in Africa. Aren’t you glad you get to revisit Africa with me??

So. When I last wrote, I gave you a rundown of the trip and told you how I felt before we left.

Anxious. That one word wraps up all of the emotions I felt preparing to leave for Ghana. I was frustrated because I didn’t know much about what would happen there. I didn’t have an itinerary, much less the names of places we would be staying. I didn’t know where we were going or what we were doing. I wasn’t even sure who was going on the trip. I didn’t know what to tell people when they asked about it. They always wanted to know what we would be doing. When asked, I usually laughed nervously and responded, “That’s a good question.” The feelings of anxiety didn’t stop when we flew away from Birmingham. They remained for three or four days after we arrived in Ghana as I wondered what in the world I was doing there.

When we arrived in Accra, I wanted to get back on the airplane and go back home. I got separated from the rest of the group. They all went ahead of me, and as I passed through the last security check at the airport, a Ghanaian man walked up to me and insisted that I needed another stamp on my passport. This stamp would cost me $20. I was already confused, because I had seen the man talking to Parker. I thought that he could have been with the seminary, someone sent to greet us. But as he continued to insist that I give him $20 for another stamp, I knew that he was just trying to scam me out of money. I asserted that if I had to get another stamp, I would ask one of the people wearing a nametag from the airport. He backed off at that point, but he didn’t go away until after I got out the door of the airport and met up with the rest of the group. The encounter rattled me. I was all alone and unprepared for the situation, immediately set on the defensive. At that point, I looked suspiciously at every Ghanaian I saw. I didn’t care if “helping” Americans at the airport was a good way for them to make some extra money. All I cared about was protecting myself, my money, and my bags from the hands of people who just wanted to take advantage of me.

It’s unfortunate that my experiences in Ghana began with such a strong negative image of the Ghanaian people. It took several days for me to get over my run-in with the con artist; I couldn’t imagine that anything good would come of the trip. All I wanted to do was criticize and withdraw from the culture, but after I had a little distance from the situation, I approached the Ghanaian culture with more openness. A little observation helped me realize that no one else I had met in Ghana acted in the same way as the man at the airport. Quite the contrary, in fact. All of the people we met were extremely kind and hospitable, and they welcomed us to their country with open arms. They were more than willing to help us in any way we needed, whether that meant giving rides, supplying cell phones, providing meals, or making hotel arrangements. Once I understood this, I began to relax, and my expectations for the trip took on a positive tone.

We spent the first several days of the trip studying at Trinity Theological Seminary in Accra. We heard several lectures from prominent Ghanaian theologians and learned a great deal about the intersection of African Traditional Religion and Christianity. That will be the subject of your next installment, which will come Monday. Until then…

Grace and peace.