We headed out to Tema today to participate in their stake Gathering Place launch. They planned a community health fair, cultural cooking demonstrations—and eating, games for the kids and lots of loud music blasted in the African way, over very large speakers. The event was scheduled from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm. Everything here starts early in the day. The sun rises and so do the people.
We drove the 20-mile, 50-minute, route with the idea to arrive about 12:00 pm, since neither of us was benevolent enough to donate blood. We exited the Tema Motorway and started on the smaller roads towards the Old Tema MTC Building. I looked up just in time to see we were in the middle of an intersection driving through a very red light. I was not the only one to see the error, a policeman standing on the side of the road also saw it. He waved us over and began the process of demanding permits, licenses, passports, etc. We have been instructed to only show documents, never hand them over. He looked at the papers, then turned to “discuss the matter” with four other officers who were standing a few feet away. Right after he turned there was a tap at my window. Standing there was a nice-looking man wearing a plaid shirt and his wife. He said his name was Patrick, they were members of our church and would like to offer their assistance. (How did they know we were members? Silver Mitsubishi truck, white faces, black name badges.) The wife heard our story of guilt, then walked to the circle of five police officers ready to plead our case. The husband, in the meantime, explained how to handle being stopped by the police:
1. A bribe is the goal, but only pay if you don’t frequent the road.
2. A bribe is the goal, but when people pay, it emboldens the police, so only do so as a last resort.
3. Pay the bribe before following them to the station. Once at the station they can impound your car and charge you heavy court fees.
After a period of time, the wife returned with the good news that the officers agreed to let us go on our way! Bless these dear people who recognized our church truck and white faces and stopped to assist us.
The activity was in full swing when we arrived. Children were jumping in a bounce house, piling on a small trampoline and rolling tires across the field. Women were cooking all sorts of Ghanaian dishes. We got to pound the fu fu! Dale was good at pounding in with a regular beat, but I was not as quick to turn with the same timing. I felt like my fingers were in peril the whole time. The African sisters laughed at us, the obronis. (Images 1-5)
This Gathering Place was unique in that it had a computer lab! Brand new desks, computers, a printer and most importantly the internet! These “goodies” had been promised in the original Gathering Place application, but since the funds had not been approved, no “goodies" were installed, so there had been sublet disappointment at other launches. This stake presidency has resources in the US who contributed large sums of money which allowed this lab and internet to happen! (Image 6)
The official launch was closed during a general meeting, complete with invited tribal chiefs, where 50 YSA received institute certificates and 15 YSA dressed in light blue caps and gowns graduated from Pathway Connect. One young woman was awarded two Bachelor’s degrees from BYU-I. Speakers, including Dale and me, spoke on various topics, songs were sung, people clapped, hands were shook. Praise for hard work was offered. Then the stake president, President Abankwa, officially declared the Gathering Place and the stake’s new website, temaghanastake.org launched. The congregation sat quietly until he said, “Please, clap for me!” A rousing applause followed. (Image 7)
The end of the story that connects to the beginning---At the closing meeting there was only one empty chair on the stand, it was next to Dale. About a minute prior to starting, a man in a white shirt, rushed to the stand and sat in the empty seat. As he sat down, he said that it was nice to see us again. We thought nothing of his statement since we meet people all the time, but with face masks (nose mask here) it is hard to remember faces. When the diplomas were handed out this man, now identified as Area 70 Elder Patrick Apentenge, shook hands with the graduates and gave a speech. Later, as we were driving a YSA home, we told him about our police encounter and how a nice couple came to our rescue. The YSA gave a little chuckle and said, “You mean Elder and Sister Apentenge, the Area 70 you sat next to on the stand?” Good grief, how embarrassing! If he hadn’t changed his shirt, we could have recognized him, maybe…
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