When you're threatened to be detained...

Steph, Karen and I took a taxi to Immigration Services in Asamankese with Kujo (the literacy class facilitator, supervisor at His Majesty’s and a super handy man to have around) this morning. A couple officers had come to the school last week to inform us that we needed to come to their office to speak about our time here. We sat down before a cameo-clad officer who sat with searching, stern eyes behind a big desk. I would have felt intimidated, but the fact that the soccer (football) game was playing on a fuzzy, little screen to our right on his desk reminded me that all the officers in the room are also only humans. We explained what we’re doing here in Asamankese, but I don’t think they believed us when we said that we are not being paid for what we are doing. They told us that the Canadian government has to send a letter to the Ghanaian immigration office to say what we’re doing, yada yada, and if we don’t provide them with that letter, they will chase us down and we could be detained. Yea...wonderful. I didn’t really plan on coming to Ghana to be put in jail. So we’re going to Accra on Thursday, leaving at 5 am, to visit the Canadian Embassy and hopefully get this all sorted out.

We left with Kujo and came back to our house, where Emma was waiting. What a blessed woman! Things just seem to be so much better when she’s around! It usually takes me awhile to feel comfortable around people, until I really get to know them, but Emma just has an aura around her that is welcoming and strong. We know we’re being taken care of. And prayed for. She’s told us on many an occasion that she’s praying for us, or she’ll just start praying in the middle of a conversation. Can I just say thank you to any one of you who has prayed for us here. I know the power of prayer and I know that these extreme emotions (both of joy at finally being in Africa, holding the hands of little children and helping out a community, as well as the confusion of why I’m here when people at home need/want me there and how to be engaged in what’s happening there as well as here) would be far too overwhelming for me to deal with right now as we’re still settling in and I haven’t really been able to process what’s going on yet.

We had our first meeting for the literacy class for the business women today (the real reason why we’re here). Five women showed up and we mostly just talked and got to know each other a bit. Ideally we’d like to have 20-25 women come, so we’re hoping that more remember/know to come tomorrow. I had a good conversation with Elizabeth (the new teacher for Level 1) and Comfort, one of the ladies who has been trying very hard at the literacy program and who has a heart to tell people about Jesus. She showed me her Twi Bible and mentioned that she’d like an English Bible since the translation is a little off in the Twi Bible and the message is stronger, she said, in English. I’m looking forward to getting to know these ladies better. Elizabeth said she would teach me Twi so that I can actually understand what people are saying in town.