There were 9 ladies on the team altogether that went. We went to visit many different schools there and most of them were Christian schools that International Needs started. The students blessed us so much with their singing, as each class sang for us. They would never let us leave unless we sang for them as well, which they appreciated a lot. We were able to hand out a lot of gifts from sponsors back at home to a bunch of sponsor kids at the schools. It was amazing to be there and actually see how much they appreciate the people who sponsor them and bless them with gifts. I fell in love with a 9 year old girl at one of the schools and decided to sponsor her. Her name is Angelina. Her family came up to me and let me know how much they appreciate it.
We visited the VTC (Vocational Training Centre) for a few days and got to build a relationship with the ladies there. These ladies all came from terrible backgrounds, where some used to be used as slaves, but with the help of International Needs, they were freed and sent to the VTC. These are amazing ladies and they blessed us with doing our hair and also making some African outfits for us. As well they all had the most amazing personalities and it was great to get to know those that we interacted with.
We also sat in and participated in a ceremony in a shrine and spoke to the shrine priest there through a translator. The slave girls from this shrine were liberated with the help of International Needs and so it was interesting to hear how the liberation affected him and how he and his family are coping now. There is a lot of spiritual warfare going on in places like these in Ghana and they still need a lot of prayer. We also went to see a fishing village and it broke our hearts to see a little boy there who did not know where his parents live and stayed around and helped with the fishing as the fishermen sometimes would feed him for his help. He had no other way to get food and stay alive. It was very sad to see and it just shows how incredibly blessed we are in Canada.
God was really teaching me how much we have here and how much stuff we have in Canada that really distracts us from our relationship with God. In Ghana, their lives seem so much simpler and we could see just how on fire for God they are. People think that they want the things that we have here, but I really don’t think that they do want what we have. Their church services were incredible. There is so much dancing and so much giving to the church. It was awesome. I can’t wait to go back there and experience it all again.