Sunday, May 10, 2009

Journey to Wa
After an overnight flight, our plane arrived in humid Accra, Ghana around 8am on Wednesday. A few hours later, Phil’s research contact picked us up at the airport. We proceeded to drive around Accra and north towards Wa, stopping frequently so that our driver could run errands. Early Thursday morning (12:30 am) we arrived in Tamale, a city in north-central Ghana. Because we were delayed, we ended up staying in Tamale two nights. Friday morning we set out for Wa, and after several hours on a very bumpy road(!), we finally arrived at our destination just in time for dinner.

Research Station at Wa
We are staying at the guest house of the research station were Phil will be doing some of his research. It isn’t fancy, but we do have running water and electricity. We have our own room and share a common area with two roommates, a German soil science student and a Muslim accountant from Tamale. We enjoy interacting and have already had the opportunity to discuss matters of faith with them.

Wa
Wa is a multilingual city; the languages spoken here include: Waale, Dagaare, Twi, and (luckily for us) a little bit of English. We are learning Waale and Dagaare, although it’s confusing learning more than one language at once. Saturday morning we practiced our new language skills in Wa’s central market. (Besides that, we needed to buy some food!) We now have a nice store of rice, peppers, onions, plantains, efule greens, and peanut butter.

God’s Glory Baptist Church
Sunday we attended God’s Glory Baptist Church, an affiliate of the Ghana Baptist Convention. We were praying we would find a church. After asking around, we finally found a “friend of a friend” who knew of this church. What an answer to prayer!
Sunday’s service was filled with dancing, singing, shouting, clapping, handkerchief-waving, and other exuberant expressions of worship. At the welcome time, we introduced ourselves and brought greetings from the First Baptist Church, Gainesville, Florida, United States. They received us warmly and were happy to have visitors from so far away.

This week
Phil will begin his research and Dani is looking forward to going to another village to visit a Baptist women’s agricultural development project. Please pray for us to learn the languages quickly and find places to serve in order to meaningfully interact with the people of Wa, Ghana.
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6 comments:

  1. UnknownMay 10, 2009 at 8:52 PM

    I copied your blog for Ian so he could keep up w/ your travels, too! So happy to hear from you and your settling in so well and so quickly. Can't wait for the pics, next! Love, Mom

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dr. John FairlessMay 13, 2009 at 10:18 AM

    Yay for Phil and Dani! Thanks for taking the time to give us such detailed accounts of your adventures. Still remembering you daily in prayers...especially tonight (Wednesday) at church. We love you both!

    ReplyDelete
  3. John and GaryMay 18, 2009 at 11:37 PM

    "RESEARCH Station at Wa

    We are staying at the guest house of the RESEARCH station were Phil will be doing some of his RESEARCH. [Empahsis added]"

    We appreciate the clarification as to what activities take place at the RESEARCH station. Now on to our BLOG excerpt: we BLOGGERS now have additional matterial for BLOGGING about on your BLOG. We look forward to future clarifications to BLOG about.... on your BLOG.


    You guys are doing a wonderful job!

    John & Gary

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 18, 2009 at 11:43 PM

    Remember we make fun of you Phil because we really do miss you and we love Dani.

    We're all happy for you!
    John and Gary

    ReplyDelete
  5. John the IVMay 19, 2009 at 11:40 AM

    "Please pray for us to learn the languages quickly and find places to serve in order to meaningfully interact with the people of Wa, Ghana."

    To accelerate the language proficiency process, I recommend taking one of the following courses of action:

    1. Purchase software from Rosetta Stone. I believe the company boasts an "In Demand" discount for those desiring to speak Waale, Dagaare, and Twi.

    2. Teach the local villagers English or Japanese.

    3. Borrow or buy a Universal Translator from the Star Trek Series prop master.

    4. Ask Carlos to perform a language immersion mind meld via Instant Messenger.

    5. Create a unique dialect that combines the local tongues with those of German, French, Italian, Korean, Creole, and Klingon.

    Let me know which of the aforementioned options best suits your abilities.

    "A good farmer puts down the plow and picks up the fishing pole."
    - O. MacDonald

    John

    ReplyDelete
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