Let me speak plainly...

I met with the Chief of the village of Teiman. Several miles outside of Adenta, which is several miles outside of Accra, there is a very small place called Teiman. Don't be fooled, it's not Tema as some would correct you. In Teiman everyone goes to a central location to draw clean water that they then tote back to their homes in various containers. Children chase each other and startle and disperse a small group of goats that were casually tearing at some patchy grass beneath a mango tree. The buildings are single story, shaded by mud and dust they all take on a similar color, being a roughly smoothed plaster over concrete. As we drove up, everyone stopped and began to stand awkwardly straight as they noticed an "obruni" or white man, me, coming to their village.

This was an exploratory first meeting to evaluate the physical needs of the village so all of you would have a better idea of what the needs were and in this way, partnering together, we might be able to meet some of those immediate basic needs. The good news of God's love is first and foremost, that is a given, but meeting the physical need of these people fosters a relationship of trust that cannot be bought or sold at any price. We parked the car and our small commission of myself, Dr. Odoi, a woman named Momma Comfort (no relation to Dr. Odoi's wife by the same name) and our driver got out and began walking towards a small, walled enclave of buildings. We stood in the courtyard as some sort of meeting dispersed and then walked into a small room about ten feet by twenty feet in size. Along the top of the wall there were pictures of men dressed traditionally and wearing gold, these were the past chiefs of Teiman. We entered and began greeting, extending a right-handed handshake and moving counter-clockwise starting that the far wall where a single row of men of various ages faced us. Then we moved over to two very small rows perpendicular to the first row, I had no idea who was chief and I think that is the point of the arrangement. The four of us sat facing the two small rows and Momma Comfort started the introduction, I believe she may have spoken in Ga, which I'm told is the primary language of the people in Teiman,though they can also speak Twi and English (to a degree).

Then the room was introduced to us, the long single row were elders, then moving left to the back of the two short perpendicular rows was the "keeper of the stool" (the small stool is passed on from chief to chief but is considered the corporate possession of the village; it is a way of bestowing the chiefdom), then the chief, next was the the furthest right of the closer small row. The first person was the "speaker," through whom everyone else's idea were expressed, followed by the "cup bearer" to the chief. There were also two secretaries that sat behind our seats that hurriedly scribbled down notes for the meeting. We opened with a word of prayer, which I'm told is customary anyway. Then Dr.Odoi turned to me and translated what the "keeper of the stool" had just said, which was to ask why we had come. Dr. Odoi then said he'd translate for me if I would just tell them a little bit, he said he had already told them that I had come to help and that I knew I needed CBC as a facilitator. I told the room we come to share the good news of God's love, that is first and foremost. I then said we believe that God can take care of us and meet all of our needs. I then said that we wanted to hear from them what they felt were some of the immediate needs of Teiman and that we could then go back and coordinate with sources of support to see what needs we might be able to assist with.

There was some discussion by the elders in Twi or Ga and then the "keeper of the stool" spoke again, first in Twi or Ga and then he said he wanted to speak plainly and looked directly at me. He explained that they needed some specifics because otherwise there could be a never ending list of things. I then shared the core, basic human health matters that we had in mind: water, food, clothing and shelter. There was some more discussion by the elders in Twi or Ga and then the "keeper of the stool" came back with his response. They need a medical clinic and a new school building. Then the chief spoke, leaning forward and putting his right hand on the shoulder of the "speaker" that sat in front of him. They want to give us a piece of land to use for our church work and evangelism, they want to meet with us in one week to show us where they envision a medical clinic for their people and they want to invest sweat equity or offer physical labor as their part of this new partnership if we can help them get a medical clinic.

Here we have an opportunity at a long-term relationship with the people of Teiman. Here we have an opportunity to touch lives and make them better spiritually and physically. I need your help! Going forward I will need your prayers intensified, for physical health and for the logistics of planning this large project. We need skilled laborers, if only for advisement and pricing assistance. We need donors to come forward who are willing to partner with us in this great and important life-changing work. I know this is the beginning of something truly incredible, I look forward to experiencing it together. Remember, don't talk about change, become the change! Together, we can save the world!

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