If you think America’s a Christian nation, you ain’t seen nothing yet. It’s so Christian here it’s ridiculous (I hope it’s not sacrilegious to say so) though it is mostly just humorous, it can also be frustrating. The stores are named things like “The Power of His Might Classic Fashion” –our local tailor – and “Rod and Staff” – I honestly haven’t figured out what this store sells yet, but I’m pretty certain it isn’t rods or staffs. The people have good intentions but unfortunately, very shaky theology at best (not that most westerners’ isn’t, they’re just more vocal about it here.) Sometimes the religion is so cultural that it loses all personal and spiritual meaning, which is the real shame. They are extremely Pentecostal here and very lively, the energy and excitement about their faith is something that I can really appreciate and is missing in a lot of other places.
I’ve been trying to explain to the kids that God can hear you even when you are silent, that he knows exactly what is in your heart and mind even when you aren’t yelling. I think part of this also comes from living in a house with 30 people where you have to shout to be heard, but the volume level around here is an entirely different issue. We are also trying to give the kids individual attention and hope they make their faith personal, not just social. I read some Bible stories the other day and tried to throw in some corrective “this-is-what-they-meant-when-they-said…” theology, though probably most of it was lost in translation or plain and simple childhood distraction.
There is a fairly large Muslim presence here too, though it is much more prominent in Northern Ghana. We can hear the call to prayer from our bedroom (which is actually comforting for me – it sounds like home) and they (hilariously if not bizarrely) turn the tv channel to the call to prayer for some extended periods of time – this one is beyond me! There are a lot of these paradoxical and contradictory messages being sent which we try to enjoy for their unique cultural flavor and pick our battles carefully – something that is definitely not exclusive to Ghana, I felt this way in the States too, just with different issues.
The problem of the trafficking of children is one we are learning a lot about, though I can’t say the water is any clearer so to speak. It seems the issue gets murkier and more confusing the deeper we dig. There is, of course, problems with child labor in other industries here (school is expensive and so most families can’t afford it and most goods are being sold by kids during the day.) The gold and cocoa industry have had a lot more government regulation because of international pressure due to exports but the fishing industry is mostly internal, and therefore, largely overlooked. There are also a lot of economic and cultural factors which make for a lot of grey areas. It would be much easier to pretend the problem was black and white and to demonize those involved but unfortunately it’s not that simple.
It can be overwhelming at times, but we are doing a lot of talking, reading and praying about everything we are trying to absorb. We brought some helpful books that we are spending a lot of time discussing and trying to figure out our stance on some tough issues. Who knows if we’ll ever reach a definitive answer on any of these things but we’ll die trying. Also trying to keep in mind that being is more important than doing.
On a completely unrelated note, of all the mod cons we do without here, I miss my washing machine the most; though I’m building some pretty good arm muscles in the mean time. That’s all for now.