Ghana diaries: June 21, Saturday.

We are staying in Peg and Pat Osment’s house in Tamale. Aidan is already napping. It’s 2:20 in the afternoon. The home is not air conditioned, but the fans make things pleasant. Lots of waiting and flying up to this point. Two days of travel has me very, very tired. I got about five hours of sleep last night. We arrived at the airport before 5 AM only to find our flight delayed until 10. Oh how I could’ve used that sleep!

Mud hut villages lined the roads as we drove along. I found it curious to see modern cars and roads flanking mud huts. Goats roamed freely. Chickens too. Termite mounds nearly as tall as Aidan fascinated him. “Did you see them?” He said.

When we landed in Accra, Aidan turned to me and said, “I’ve been waiting for this moment a long time.” Yes, he has. To see him already love Ghana has been a blessing.

We met Paul Napari today. When we did our introductions, he said, “Yes, Mary and Aidan we know. We say their names around our house.” Aidan’s “fame” has spread because of the well project. It looks like now it’ll become a pipeline project, running from a source nearby to the village of Sankpem. We may need to raise more money for that, but we’re excited to be a part of bringing fresh water to the village.

Tonight we will go to the Koinonia church. I’m very excited. Those who know me well know that I love energetic, alive worship. I can’t wait.

A rooster is crowing in the background. It’s very peaceful here. Humid and agrarian. I love seeing flowers and trees I’ve never seen before. It reminds me of what heaven might be like.

The people here are utterly beautiful. Stunning. I look forward to meeting many folks in the days to come. God is good. All the time.

Evening. We had a lovely dinner at the Osments—spaghetti and bread and salad and homemade pound cake and ice cream. Then we went to Koinonia church for a dedication service for the team. We sang a few worship songs, then Pastor Isaac introduced Cheryl who introduced us. We’ve found that AIDAN is hard to pronounce. Perhaps we should use his Ghanian name. Akwasi.

The church blessed us with outrageous hospitality—gave us each icy cold cokes from the bottle and beef kabobs. Usually when guests come they give water, but this time they honored us with much, much more. I am humbled to be here.

The weather so far has been hot and muggy, but not too unbearable.

I am here to help Aidan, to be a part of the birthing process of his dream, but I sense a few other things too. One is that perhaps God will deliver me from my own self, particularly my tendency to be extremely hard on myself. I sense He is calling me to freedom. The other is too personal to write, but just as much as a need as the other. Jesus, would You do some heart surgery in my life? Change me from the inside, please. Deliver me from self-condemnation. Set me free. Set me free. Free indeed. Only You can do that.

The Lord reminded me today of Psalm 73:28. “But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works.”

One thing I don’t want to do this week is to point to my own goodness. It’s the nearness of God that’s my good. I am praying specifically that I can be a humble servant, to place myself last so that others will be first.

I had that chance at the airport on Friday when I had everyone’s carry on with me at Starbucks for several hours at Heathrow so the rest of the team could see London. But as the time of our departure came, the team was still on route and our gate was a seven minute walk away. I couldn’t carry 13 carry ons by myself. I asked a worker at Starbucks if they had luggage carts.

“No ma’am,” he said. “But I will help you. Hand me some of your bags.” So this dear Chinese twenty-something walked half the bags down the concourse, while I peddled the other half. The team arrived and we got on the plane in time. I long to be a blessing both to the team and the people we meet. Lord, would You make it so?