Journal Entry 9: Praise the Lord

One thing I learned about Ghanaians is that they get up very early. This past Sunday, I received the privilege of accompanying my Ghanaian friend to church.  She wanted to know whether I wanted to attend the 7:30 am service or the 10:00 am service, so you can guess which one I chose. Thankfully, Ghanaian time usually runs a bit late, so we wouldn't arrive at the actual time either way. I knew it would be an interesting experience for me, regardless of how it went. I was fascinated at how similar it was to the black churches in the States. When we first entered the church, a middle-aged man was speaking about unity, and how it is necessary in order for the community to grow. Another woman later on spoke about the hope for the community through the youth. I felt as though I had been in any other church in Roxbury (Ma), listening to the older generation of black folks talk about how we have to do what’s best for our people.

Even the music was like back home. The only thing that really stood out was their Ghanaian clothing. I wasn’t fully aware that I was in a Ghanaian church until the choir began to sing Ghanaian songs during the offering, and of course the fact that the service lasted very long.

One man asked all of the visitors to stand. He told us to stay after the service and that he would have a special gift for us. When I stayed I was given a form to fill out concerning where I was from and my religious beliefs. There was a checklist to see where I was in my life spiritually. I immediately noticed that there was no option on the form for non-believers. They had options such as, “I’m dedicating my life to Jesus”, “I have been baptized”,  “I want to be baptized”, etc. but nothing that allowed you to say "I'm practicing another religion" or "I'm just visiting". There was simply a box in another section of the form that said "I do not wish to be a member". This automatically caught my attention because it made me question how tolerant Ghanaians are to various religious beliefs (something I'd like to explore further).

 I learned a lot from this one service. I learned that there is such a thing as black unity. As I explained how similar the church was to the black churches at home, my Ghanaian friend said to me, "black people are the same everywhere".