Crusader Codi

This Sunday (for the first time in years) I went to church. One of our translators, Emmanuel, is involved in a Pentecostal Christian Church in Bolga, and he offered to drive all 5 of us girls over on Sunday morning. At 7:45, we hopped into the bed of Emmanuel’s mother’s blue flat bed truck and rode over. Upon arriving, we first spotted the ladies of the choir, all wearing traditional Ghanaian dresses (made from matching fabric with the faces of the pastor and his wife printed on the cloth—interesting…) Church members started to fill the rows of plastic chairs: children filling the left side, older women who don’t speak English sat on the right where a woman translated the sermon into Fra Fra for them. Everyone wore their finest Ghanaian-patterned shirts and dresses in bright colors and intricate patterns. They wandered and chatted their way in, and the choir began to sing. Instead of pipe organs or pianos, the choir responded to the beautifully belted calls of the lead singer and only a drum set accompanied the songs. Their jubilant melodies begged even our prudent American toes to tap and shoulders to sway. They praised in English, so I could usually sing along after a couple of repetitions of the chorus. Drawing the congregation together in song, everyone began to rise up and move toward the front, dancing and clapping along with the choir. The glee was contagious. We spent more than half of the 2.5 hour service singing and dancing on our feet—ideal church format for me! The rest of the service comprised strongly emphasized (yelled) Bible verses and a (somewhat repetitive, but very positive) sermon about progress. Key phrases: “Wisdom is the key to progress!” and also “Fathers are like feathers! You need your Fathers to fly!” In general, I found the experience delightful. It was such a joy to share the ebullience of their praise.

From my experiences so far in Accra and Bolga, it seems that religion is an important part of Ghanaian culture. Both Christianity and Islam are well represented in the population (according to my travel guide book). As we drove north, we saw mosques, but I haven’t encountered many Muslim Ghanaians so far. Christians, on the other hand, have made their presence clear in both Accra and Bolga. Taxis spread His word with phrases like “THY WILL BE DONE,” “TRUST IN GOD,” and (beautifully spelled) “BELIVER.” Stores and restaurants include religious figures in their titles—our favorite so far is “KING JESUS CHEMICALS.” And I see many people wearing rosaries and crosses as they walk around.

The “religiousity” of Ghana might be best demonstrated by this fact: in only 2 weeks, I’ve already been deemed a crusader for Christ. Yesterday around 4:00, it began to rain. Straight, heavy, mercifully cool rain. So of course several of us girls had to go frolic in the rain. We splashed over to the Catholic Social Center’s amphitheater where we found ample space to leap about and soak it in. During our rain dance, we heard giggles from a nearby covered porch. The Catholic Youth Organization (CYO)—a group of about 20 kids ranging from 3 to 13 years old—delighted in watching us ridiculous Americans. We beckoned them to join us, and soon they were showing us their dance moves. These kids were fantastic! We stood in a circle and clapped some rather intricate rhythms as each kid took turns skillfully stomping and jumping in the center. Allison, Rachel, and I each took our turns in the middle, too, trying to imitate their style (and earning gleeful laughter—they thought we were hilarious!) After a good 40 minutes of dancing, the CYO leaders gathered the kids up for closing announcements, etc. They welcomed us Americans to their group and went around introducing themselves with their Christian “crusader” names: Crusader Charles, Crusader Nancy, Crusader Joseph, Crusader Emmanuela, Crusader Cecilia, Crusader Peter, Crusader Rita. The gathering ended with Allison’s, Rachel’s, and my induction as “crusaders.” What is your crusader name? they asked. “Crusader Codi!”

By the way, here is the Catholic Social Center address, where you can reach me via snail mail:

Catholic Social Center
PO Box 5
Bolgatanga, Upper East Region
Ghana