Whirlwind/monsoon

Sept. 26, Saturday -- Accra, Ghana


Yesterday was a monsoon. Today was a whirlwind.

It rained on Friday. Serious, down-pouring, bucket-loads of rain – right out of nowhere. Tom, Al, myself and Joe Ayee (the Ghana Navigator director) were sitting in the living room talking about how the ministry has been doing lately. The clouds outside were gray, but they had been that way all morning. Then the thunder rolled in the distance, and something out of Genesis happened: The skies opened up and the floods came pouring down. Then came the winds. It looked like Florida on CNN during hurricane season.

Other than that, the weather has been great. Moderate to hot temps – pretty much the same as Fresno, just a bit more humidity. I've been pretty thankful for that.

This morning (Saturday), the annual conference finally began here at the Presbyterian Women's Center grounds. Somewhere close to 60 people attended – most of them in their 20s and 30s. Day one of the conference has been the whirlwind – the schedule would never have been OK'd in the states. We had back-to-back seminars from 7 a.m. To 1:30 p.m. with short breaks in between, then again from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. with a dinner break.

The sessions have been great. Besides Tom, all the speakers were Ghanaian, and they were all very engaging and thought-provoking. I learned a lot, and have a lot to think about. I've also gotten to know a lot of new friends and am taking informal Twi lessons as a result – the native language for one of the major tribes in Ghana.