Last time we talked to Paul and Red they were in Kumasi which is about half way to their destination. The truck is doing well and they were thinking of trying to make it all the way to Secondi-Takoradi before they stop.
This morning Zorash came to make up one of the days she took off earlier in the week. We made 794 containers of diaper rash ointment and then we started sorting and sizing baby clothes. The baby clothes have to be sized and then sorted by sex before we can begin to package them for the mothers. It is a lot of work but the mothers love getting the clothes. Our thanks go out to all of those that bought and donated baby and small children’s clothes.
Steve went up to the hospital this morning to have the instructor sign off on his continuing education work. While he was there he went to the maternity ward and saw a very tiny baby girl that was born at 7 months. He came back to the house and we got a couple of the preemie outfits, socks and a tiny hat. Our dear friend Roberta Woods found these tiny, tiny hats, socks and mittens for us. They are smaller than preemie size. The nurse was so happy with the little clothes. She introduced Steve to the baby’s mother so he could present them to her.
This afternoon we went to the village of Mion to pay our respects to the new chief of Mion. The Mion-Lana is the chief that is in charge of the land at Kulkpeni. He was just put in place last week. When we got to his palace we were told that he was resting; we should to come back to see him in an hour. We had heard that there was an idol at Kulkpeni that belongs to the Dagomba tribe but the strange thing about this idol is that it cannot hear the Dagboni language; it only hears the Konkomba language. Timothy Niligrini is a Konkomba and Nazo and Zorash are Dagombas. Nazo and Timothy both knew about the idol but they did not know where it was. Last time we were in Ghana I asked Tichak about the idol; he said he knew where it was but that he could not take us there because it was during the rainy season and the grass was too tall to walk through. Since we were very near Kulkpeni and we had men with us that could interpret for us I thought that it was a perfect time to go see the idol. The idol is actually a large stone that has striations which the people think look like the tribal marks that some tribes put on their faces. We asked around and found a young man that was willing to take us to see the idol. The idol was off in the bush and we had to walk. I hate to walk especially in this heat. The high temperature today was 117 degrees. We found the idol and it was obvious that lots of people had been sacrificing to it. Our guide said that everyday people come to sacrifice. He said they sacrifice for all sorts of things from rain to money to American visas.
After our side trip we went back to give the Mion-Lana his gift. By the time we got to the mission house it was late so we ran into town and got some “fast food” for supper.
Have a great day!
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
