First Impressions...by Jason

In the weeks leading up to this trip I’d been thinking a lot about what things might be like here in Ghana. I’ve been overseas a few times but never to Africa. Whenever you travel there are always unexpected surprises both good and bad. Sometimes things seem so out of the ordinary you don’t know what to do and at other times you stop and think “that seems just like the way things are at home.” Well, here are a few of my first impressions after arriving in Ghana.

I didn’t have a window seat on the plane so I didn’t get to look at the country side as we approached the airport. My first glimpse of anything was as I came to the door of the plane to descend the steps to the tarmac. Two things struck me right away. One was the amount of smoke in the air. There was (and is) a constant smell of smoke in Accra and Kumasi from the many fires all over the city. These are not fires burning out of control but fires in people’s yards for burning trash and sometimes cooking food. There seemed a constant haze and scent of smoke in the air.

The second thing I noticed was that it felt like I was back home, at least in terms of the temperature. It was only about 86 degrees in Accra when we landed and somewhat humid. I’m from Florida so it felt a lot like what I remember growing up. It seemed comfortable actually. Tuesday we spent the day in Kumasi and it was a little hotter. We checked the temperature at one point just after midday and it was 94 degrees in the shade. It still felt like home in the summer. The evenings cool off a good 10 to 15 degrees and it feels really nice.

There are so many other “first” impressions I could share like having to deal with the folks in customs (had to let one of them have a pair of glasses to get through), the absolute chaos of the traffic (there would be no way any of us could drive here), to the wonderfully friendly people we’ve met. All that will have to come in later posts. For now I just wanted to share these few quick thoughts.

I’m thankful for the opportunity to be here, thankful for Manny and his parents, and thankful for everyone who has supported us on this trip. Please continue to pray for us and the people we meet in the coming days.

To God be the glory in all that we do.