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By the Rt. Rev. Wendell Gibbs Jr.

The 36-plus hours that have passed since Ash Wednesday morning have been filled with wonder, awe, deep gratitude and raw emotion. My Lent began with receiving ashes in an abbreviated service in the chapel at the ADDRO headquarters in Bolgatanga, Ghana. Surrounded by my fellow pilgrims, the staff of ADDRO and Bishop Jacob of the Anglican Diocese of Tamale, I was made very aware of my own mortality and the importance of repentance, forgiveness and amendment of life.  So poignant was that moment I doubt I will ever forget it.

From there, our transport bus moved us into and around the far northeast corner of Ghana, where we visited: 1) program sites aimed at assisting women improve self sufficiency through farming and production of marketable food stuffs; 2) a school that trains and educates the disabled of the community to have skills and trades that seek to make them useful members of society; 3) homes where mosquito nets are hung and faithfully used by grateful families who appreciate the life saving nature of the nets; 4) a school where a mechanized water system has made it possible for the students to focus on their education rather than on hauling water long distances; 5) an organic mango plantation that is co-owned by the ADDRO program and the local community, and which provides fruit to be eaten and marketed as well as training that can be transplanted to other areas. At each site, our group had the opportunity to interact with the participants and beneficiaries of the programs, hearing first-hand the thanks and deep gratitude they feel for being given the chance to use their God-given talents.

Through these visits and interactions, I became increasingly aware of the importance of my own stewardship of God's gifts to me and contemplated how best to carry these stories home so that more people can be involved in this amazing mission. One of the more emotional encounters included a visit to a home for babies who, by circumstance of birth, are essentially abandoned.  These are children whose mothers died in childbirth and are blamed by other family members for that death. As such, they are not welcomed into the home and must be cared for by strangers. This is a program in need of our prayers and our support!  I/We need to be better stewards of our resources.

 

Wednesday, Feb. 22: Ash Wednesday

Bolgatanga, Ghana: This is my second trip to the African continent; my first trip to Ghana. I am struck by the amount and severity of poverty that seems to have a stranglehold here. Yesterday, the bishop of the diocese, Bishop Jacob, shared that the census indicates as many as 80 percent of the people of the Diocese of Tamale live below the poverty level, making this the poorest diocese in Ghana. The opportunities for the church to reach out are plethora. The partnership between Episcopal Relief and Development and ADDRO is making a difference.

 
The Nets For Life program has distributed approximately 1.9 million mosquito nets, touching the lives of a multitude of people. The program is successful because with the distribution of nets is accompanied by education and training that encourages the recipients to actually use the nets and seek additional nets when the effectiveness of the net expires after three years. The success of Nets For Life has convinced the government of Ghana to adopt this methodology as a national standard for fighting malaria.
 
The question I brought with me to Ghana was "but what else is being done in these communities?"  I have not had to wait long to get my answer! The regional staff of ADDRO oversees programs that address 1) food security (teaching sustainable farming practices); 2) needs for micro loans (helping widows and the disabled to be self employed and thus self sustaining); 3) health issues (HIV/Aids, etc); 4) needs for clean water; 5) education (especially females); 6) issues of child abuse (especially that which occurs if the mother dies in child-birth and the baby is identified as the cause of that death).  These are just to name a few!
 
I am struck by the stunning contrast between life in the United States and life here in Ghana. In the US, we take so much for granted; here, every drop of clean water, every morsel of food, every smile on the face of a child is so incredibly special. Bishop Jacob said to us yesterday that the Gospel and our response to the Gospel must be concurrent. How we reach out to others is not to be a second thought, but rather an immediate reflection of the Good News of God. May it be so!

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Tuesday, Feb. 21: Today, Bishop Gibbs reports he is traveling to Tamale, where he is meeting in the morning with ADDRO representatives. Later, his group will resume travel when it will visit several ministry sites.

Overview: This week, the group will look at conditions in the African nation relating to malaria, improving food supplies, gender and reproductive health, disability rehabilitation and water/sanitation. 

Constance Perry and her husband, Dain, are co-leading the tour. The couple has been touring the United States for screening of the film Traces of the Trade (which was recently viewed in the Diocese of Michigan). The tour will also spend time exploring the origins of slavery, which spans several centuries of Ghanaian history.

Check back here in the coming days as Bishop Gibbs reports from his study trip to Ghana, as we will provide blog updates and other news from Africa.