Day 5 - 27/07/10

Today the medical team went about their business in a different village. They reported that today they saw even more, and worse, cases of malaria.

The construction team continued their work under guidance from Prince. Today was probably the hottest day they have had to work in so far.

Meanwhile, a few of us went to a morning healing service in pastor Odai's church. There was a lot of prayer and worship as usual, broken up by firstly, Matt Maguire's testimony to the whole church (!), Scott's amazing testimony of how God gave him a second chance after a suicide attempt, then Dan Rees giving a sermon (!!) and pastor Love preaching about psalm 40; how God brings us out of "the miry clay."
Just like He did yesterday, when our van really was stuck in the miry clay. And the more you wriggle them tires, the more you get stuck - you can't pull yourself out.

The attendance wasn't great on a tuesday morning, but that didn't matter because the service was. Out of that already smaller congregation, about ten people attested that they were converts from islam and four others that Jesus had delivered them from drug abuse. One lady testified how God had healed her from gall stones. On her fourth ultrasound, after being prayed for, her scan was clear. The doctors, disbelieving, ordered her back on a later date for another scan and it was clear again!

After the service we set out for a long car journey to outside Accra, to a little hotel called the Okyeman Palace Hotel. It is closer to the building site and the crusade site and will be our home for the next two nights. I would describe it as a typical little African hotel - think Last King of Scotland if you've seen that film. I'm lying here on my bed with the ceiling fan rattling away, trying to do its best to give us some relief from the hot air both inside and outside.

This evening then was the first of three nights of crusade. It is held in a marquee with open sides, somewhere near a main road in the outback. There was singing and dancing with lots of excited chidren as well as adults that even a powercut temporarily submerging us into total darkness couldn't stop. Did I get involved with the dancing? Of course I did!
This time dr. Morris preached, Tom shared john 8:34-36, and Julia McGahon gave her testimony, including her miracle healing from chronic fatigue and the gift their second child was. At the altar call perhaps 200 people came forward and we all went among them to pray with them. It was great to see so many people hungry to receive Light and Life in their lives, many of them also children with the biggest smiles you'll ever see.

Phrase of the day: "Nia mia deh" - "God is good" in Twi. If I've remembered well. The placing of the spaces is totally arbitrary.