I am back and recovered from Mission Ghana, a missions trip to Ho, Ghana, in the Volta Region of West Africa. The trip was unbelievable! The thought about the African nations is that if clean water is provided and education comes alongside it, the people will not continue to suffer as they do currently, without access to clean water and the knowledge of increased hygiene.
On our first full day, we traveled to villages and dedicated wells that had been recently drilled, over 70 wells funded through one church in Des Moines(imagine the impact we could have if we all took up a cause such as this one church did!). The custom in the area is to dedicate a well before it is tapped, which sent a profound statement to me. At first, I was shocked and upset by the fact that some of the wells we visited were locked up until a pastor could get to the village to perform a dedication. I maintained this mindset for several days, until it hit me; the people understand that water is a gift from God, and before they begin to drink it, they want to first acknowledge Him and His gift. This rattled my cage as I thought about all of the gifts God gives us, and we don’t even hesitate, let alone stop to acknowledge the gift giver before we dive into the gift. I felt like a total fool for flying through my pre-meal prayers of thanks in order to get to my over-portioned meal more quickly. Everyday, we overlook the Source in order to get to what the source produces.
Are we in love with God, or God’s blessings? The question was posed in Francis Chan’s book, Crazy Love, and it got my attention. He asks further, “Would we still want heaven if there was no Jesus?” Talk about getting to the point. I encourage everyone to ponder that question, what are we in love with, God or the benefits of God? Do we desire an eternity free of pain and suffering or do we desire an eternity with Christ? There was flesh and blood put on these questions in the Volta Region of Ghana. My prayer for myself is that I see God in what he has created, but I seek after Him, not what he has created. May we truly seek first the Kingdom.
Good stuff!
I’m chasing after Him with you bro!