Dust Checks in From Ghana

After a week in Ghana, with one chance to post an update, and 100stories, I find myself at a loss. Where to start? How to describethe depths of feeling beneath the surface? When it’s all said anddone, we’ll have planed, trained (actually motorbiked, because trainskeep derailing), automobiled, bicycled, and footed 18,762 total miles. Take 16,462 miles off for the plane trip, and you’re still talking2300 miles in Ghana. Full details to follow in the video summary oncewe return to Oregon.


Do I start with Dad being presented with a hand-crafted piece of artin front of 850 children at Holy Trinity Lutheran School in Kumasi [aschool that has won ‘best school’ in the entire Ashanti region for thelast two years], a plaque that reads: “Founding Father, Holy TrinityLutheran School: Reverend Dan Kunkel.”


Do I start with telling howthe young man with a Master of Arts who created the beautiful plaque[covered in Ghanaian symbols] was hit by a car when he was a littleboy, and Dad saved his life by rushing him to the hospital for surgery– now Michael stands 6 foot 3, and quietly shakes Dad’s hand and says‘thank you’.


Do I start with the people of Peace Lutheran in Kwasu[waaay out in the bush] being unable to stop dancing even though theirGhanaian pastor asked them to stop – dancing for the joy of the Lordafter Dad had preached his first sermon here in Akan Twi?


Do I start with telling how Willie – now grey-haired but still full of energy;Dad’s first contact in Kwasu – with a huge grin on his face, pulled Dad off the podium and had a ‘dance-off’ together before the Lord?


Doyou get it? This is Africa; people know how to praise.


Do I start with sweating on the veranda in the evening, with a glass of coldwater, making plans for the trip to the far north, and wondering howwe will contact the church in Bunkpurugu, when Kenneth [the youthrepresentative from Bunkpurugu] walks up from his 12 hour journey justas we say the word, ‘Bunkpurugu.’ Problem solved.


Do I start with Dad using the song, ‘two little eyes to look to God, two little earsto hear His word, two little feet to walk His way, hands to serve him all my days’ to help the children at Peace – all the children of God,old and young – remember what really matters.


Do I start with“Auntie” Florence, departmental head at Holy Trinity School and representative on the National Lutheran Education Board, coming fromthe other side of town – two hour journey -- to cook for us becauseshe loves our family [the story goes waaaayyyy back, but the short version is that as a young woman she once needed a place to stay for a few months and mom and dad were there]?


Where do I start? It’s been only a week, and we have a forest of stories. Because of the intensity of our travel schedule, it’s tough to get to an internet café and do regular postings. That, and where we’re going next, there are no internet cafes! But I’m recording the entire journey with digital video on our little camera. One picture = 1000words, right? So, stay tuned.


A final thought: Ghana has changed dramatically since we were here 15years ago, and so has the fabric of the Ghanaian Lutheran Church. The country is now an ‘emerging economy’ and you can see it everywhere. There’s energy and purpose. Everyone’s got a plan, everyone’s got a business. It’s beautiful. And so different from the United States. The culture back in the States feels depressed and old compared to the energy here. And the young people in the church carry the same energy. In the U.S. with young people, we find ourselves straining to gain attention or encourage discipline.


Here, I’ve been visiting with youth at each church, and I’m transfixed by the excitement, passion,and energy. They need very little from me. In fact, they are giving me what I need more than anything right now: renewed passion for the simple way of Jesus and His profound gift. Do you know the Lutheran youth in Ghana have raised their own money and ran their own youth gatherings for the last decade? The gathering last year closed with a surplus in the budget? Compared to the lackadaisical attitude among young people in the West, their energy is like a bucket of cold water poured over my head [and let me tell you, in this heat and humidity today, that sounds really really good!].


Tomorrow we leave Kumasi for the next leg of our trip. As boys, both Kris and I rode along with Dad as he worked among multiple language groups all over Ghana. We didn’t know it at the time, but this was very unusual for a missionary in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s. Back then, Dad was the only missionary in Ghana [about the size of Oregon], and he made a point of visiting the fledgling groups all over the country.The next week we’ll cover some 850 miles, and most of it will be by a combination of Ghanaian lorry, bus, bicycle, motorbike, and foot. In the ‘old days’ dad had a 4x4 truck and it was simple to jump in and go. Now, we’re visiting on a tight budget and gas costs $8 a gallon. Do the math. There’s no way to rent or even borrow a 4x4. Instead,we’re going back to the beginning. We’re going to travel with and among Ghanaians. I’ll video the whole journey, and when I return to the states I’ll post a final review in moving pictures.


In the meantime pray for ongoing health for us: we’re eating all local food and sleeping sometimes without mosquito nets. We’re hoping our old immunities from 15 years ago hold up, or that the journey does not exhaust our physical resources. It’s hard to describe the effects of 95 degrees and 95 humidity on the body, especially if there’s no break.
Well. That's if for now.
Keep us in thoughts and prayers.
DustKunkel signing off from Kumasi, Ghana. Over and out.