Greetings - Dave Douglass, April 25, 2008

Greetings! In about 5 hours, we'll be heading back up to the northern regions of Ghana for several days. I doubt that there will be any inter net (it's been pretty spotty here as it is) access, so I just wanted to share a few thoughts with you. (we've also lost power several times and combined with internet problems, its been very hard to up load pictures and videos).



As a first time visitor to Ghana, I’m hesitant to draw any conclusions from my observations and experiences so far. While I have been here for more than a week now, I find that I’m still processing all that I have seen and done so far.



Although I’m not a particular baseball fan, I can’t help but be drawn to some baseball analogies while digesting everything that confronts me when visiting Ghana for the first time.



It seems like so many ‘hittable balls’ are tossed at you everywhere you turn. Each ball demands your attention and seems hittable enough, no matter the size of your bat. Each ball also serves as a distraction, the old ‘win the inning but lose the game’ type of thing.



As the balls come sailing by, one must be guarded against the very real temptation to consider one’s own selfish motives to hit every ball ~ ie: if I hit a home run, won’t I really be ‘significant’ in their eyes and I the eyes of those back home. And in a sense, there’s a real temptation to play ‘God’ with resources that, while scare everywhere, must seem a kings ransom in the eyes of most Ghanaians. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jesus faced the same temptations in the desert.



Not being a baseball player, I’m not aware of the strategy involved in base hits, sacrifice outs, bunts and walks. But I know batting involves the bigger picture – not just the moment and not just the current batter – but rather the team as a whole and playing good defense and offense. To put it all together takes a good manager and a team willing to head his direction, even when it differs from your thoughts and desires. Like in baseball, here in Ghana, the distractions are plenty. The needs are so great and immediate. Should you take the easy base hit, losing sight of the home run? Does the time and energy and resources required for a home run ignore the immediate needs? At what price is the base hit ignored? Is a walk bad if it’s two more batters till the clean up man is up to bat?



I guess you get the idea – so many immediate needs, so many opportunities to help those in need. Even the many that have been already been helped by MRI need follow-up, guidance, encouragement, direction and prayer. Some need additional resources. Who to pitch to and who to pinch-hit?



Thankfully, we can look to Jesus as our ‘manager’ to guide us and to the biblical principals we find contained in the scriptures. These are key as we confront our own biases, cultural norms and expectations as they clash in this society.



While so many scriptures might apply to the many situations I’ve seen so far here in Ghana, I find Luke 6:33-37 constantly boiling to the top.



"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.



"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."



And with that I leave off for now. I have no profound insight or observations that I’m sure haven’t been shared or made by the many who have one before me. There is a desperate need here and the conditions of all kinds imaginable that Ghanaians are living under are staggering. Theirs is a society in which the majority of the population lives in (by Western Standards) unbearable and intolerable situations. Yet when we contrast the US with Ghana, we find the US has significantly higher rates of divorce, teen suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and mental illness. And education.



And amidst all of their turmoil, desperation and need, God is sufficient for the Christians here. I can’t help but wonder how many of us could make that same statement and have our actions, attitudes and thoughts justify it.



In all humility,Dave Douglass



Dave Douglass is from Muncie, IN and his interest on the trip is to survey the possibility of a logistics operation to aid in transporting the shea nuts in the north to the processing plant in the south.