Introduction to GILLBT

So, I wrote this for the newsletter for the newly accepted HNGR interns but I thought it might also be a good introduction to the work I am hoping to do with my organization while I am here!

My placement is in Nkwanta, a rural town in northeastern Ghana. Nkwanta is the market town in its district and is home to about 20,000 Ghanaians from several different small ethnic groups. I will be working primarily with the Akyode, an ethnic group of about 15,000 who live in Nkwanta and nearby villages. I am interning with the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy, and Bible Translation (GILLBT) which is an organization that works to provide translated Scriptures for the 60+ languages in Ghana. They have several focuses which include promoting literacy and using translated scriptures in different ministries to promote discipleship. The promotion of literacy is important because many of the smaller language groups have difficulty surviving because of their size. When these languages die, people lose some of their cultural framework and are less capable of interpreting the word of God in a culturally meaningful way. I am entering this context as an arts advocate in order to help people develop culturally appropriate forms of worship.

            In Nkwanta, I am working with a branch of GILLBT which is called the Gikyode Language Project. This branch consists of three men who are working with the Akyode to translate the Bible and promote literacy. These men form a powerful community as they accomplish everything through collaborative work and strive to make all decisions together in unity. They have graciously adopted me into their team and I am hoping to add an artistic element to their translation work. We are starting by meeting with church leaders in the area to discuss their needs for new Scripture songs. Since there are not many Akyode Scripture songs, we are asking these chuch leaders whether they have certain Scripture passages that they would like to see put to song. Our hope is that these new songs could help expand the church’s worship vocabulary and strengthen people’s faith because the Akyode songs will touch their hearts in a different way.

            I will also work in collaboration with different composers in the area in order to create these new songs. Some of these composers are in the church while others are well-known for their musical abilities but are not Christians. We hope that this collaboration will lead to interest in the Scriptures being set and that good discussion will come about as a result of these songs. It is exciting to think of what might be accomplished through this work.

            Last night I went to my first event associated with GILLBT. Four times a year they host a prayer night for all Akyode people at a village. It was programmed to start at 8pm and end at 12pm but I knew well enough that the scheduled times would not be followed. What I did not know was what a prayer meeting would be like in this context. I was excited and ready to spend time in prayer since my time here has not been easy so far, and I hoped to learn from the faith shown by the people in this community. However, the prayer meeting was different than I expected. First of all, I felt so conspicuous as tons of children crowded around me and stared at me, one of the first white people they had ever seen. When the meeting finally started after 9, worship began with drumming, singing, and dancing. I felt lost as people sang strongly in languages I did not understand and with music that did not touch my heart. For a minute, I was disappointed because I did not know how to participate and actually felt distracted from communicating with God. However, I soon remembered what I was here for and was able to celebrate that Akyode are using worship forms that speak to them culturally! The fact that I felt lost and disconnected proved how important it is to translate the way we worship across culture. In America, we often forget that the way we worship would not mean so much to people in other contexts. We forget that the songs that speak to our hearts might feel lifeless to others. It is so important to express our love for God in ways that connect the heart and the mind. As I experience being a minority and learning to worship in a new way, I hope this will strengthen my desire to see all nations worship God in beautiful diversity. 

Are you excited?

"Are you excited?" This is the question I remember being asked over and over again when I was getting ready to leave for HNGR. I never knew how to answer. Yes, I was excited. I had known about HNGR since I was little and had wanted to do it myself for nearly as long. I was finally going. My life would change and I would not be the same. I would learn so much and find community in another place with another people. But I also knew that HNGR is not just rainbows, that there would be struggle. There would be something called culture shock that we would all experience and it wouldn't be fun. So I was also intimidated. I knew that I did not really know what I was getting into and that the growth would be through struggle, that relationships would take time to grow. So I felt mixed.

I got to Africa, to Ghana, with a knot in my stomach and sleepy eyes. I met the man who is my father here and felt overwhelmed with the fact that I would actually have to live here. For 6 months. I was scared and homesick and very, very hot. But I found this man, Emmanuel, to be kind and understanding and I saw hope. And so life continues. Each day, learning more about the culture, meeting new people. Feeling that I would never make friends and that 6 months is a ridiculously long amount of time.

I travelled to my town, Nkwanta, and entered into a completely new way of life. Dirt roads, motorobikes, concrete houses, women with babies on their back and pots on their head. And many children staring and smiling at me, the "obruni." (what Ghanaians call a white person). I was and still am a novelty. I went into my house which is very nice for Nkwanta as I am blessed to have a toilet and even a shower. But everything starts to hit you and you realize that you are not in America anymore and how do you live life here? How does this work? What do you do? The men are busy talking and the women are busy cooking and you are told to sit. Sit with the men and so I listen to them talking in various languages I do not know. And they welcome me and then continue to talk. I talk to my host siblings and mother and they laugh at the thought of me wanting to help cook.

But they are starting to get used to me and I am starting to see life here. I am learning one word at a time, I am meeting people one handshake and one "you are welcome here" at a time, I am feeling out my place here little by little. And people are so friendly and kind and smile and give me reason to laugh. I am recognizing that their laughter at me is because I am absurd. I do not make sense. Why do I try to carry water on my head like they do? I am white. But their laughter is not unkind and somehow it encourages me to keep going. I am develping relationships and finding joy and hope and peace in this context little by little. And God is here with me. And somehow it all is good.

So now the question is "Am I excited?" Am I excited to be here and enthusiastic about what I am doing? The truth is that I am still scared by the thought of 6 months. But each day I see more and I know that I am doing this "learning by doing thing" that I was so excited to do. And I give myself, my emotions grace and keep going. So I am excited to see what God will do with this, with me, while I am here!

Anticipation

I got home a week ago and all my time has been focused towards getting ready to go on HNGR. During the end of the semester, people kept on asking me how I was feeling but I was so caught up in schoolwork that it was hard to really sort out what I was feeling. I would answer "I'm excited but also intimidated because I know HNGR isn't going to be an easy journey." This is pretty much how I am feeling now, but I've gone through a whirlwind of emotions since then! Home has been great because I really needed some time to relax and focus on preparing. My family has been great in helping me process all the new information I keep getting and so I feel so much more prepared! HNGR will not be easy, but I am beginning to see how the layout of HNGR really allows God to work in so many ways. I am excited to see how he will work in my life and the lives around me as I live and serve in Nkwanta, Ghana!

Tomorrow I will get on a plane and travel through the night to arrive in Accra, Ghana in the middle of the afternoon. I will have a few days in the capital to adjust to the new time and to get some things I need before heading to Nkwanta, which is more rural. Hopefully the next time I write, I will have a lot more interesting experiences to tell you about!

West Africa Wins Again?

My blog titled is a commonly used phrase by expats in West Africa. West Africa Wins Again (WAWA) is used to express frustration in a joking way when your plans change in ways you had no control over. In West Africa, your expectations cannot be trusted. I have already had a few of these moments in preparing for HNGR and I am sure I will have many more while I am in Ghana. I hope to share some of these experiences on this blog in between everything else. It is usually best to laugh at your failed plans than to mourn them and I would love for you to laugh with me as I walk into uncertainty!

Some Background Information

I am getting ready to go to Ghana for a 6-month internship that is part of the HNGR Program at Wheaton College. HNGR stands for Human Needs and Global Resources and it prepares students to do a 6-month internship in a country in the Majority World (also known as the Third World). My HNGR requirements in Ghana consist of an internship, an independent study, and a Global Christian Perspectives course. These together will hopefully guide my time in a way that will allow me to be a learner in the new culture, be able to serve through my internship, be able to help my internship through an independent study project, and read materials that will help me process the journey that I am taking.

In Ghana, I have an internship with an organization called the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy, and Bible Translation (GILLBT). This organization is associated with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL). Since Ghana has over 60 different languages, there is much need for bible translation as more and more people become Christians. I will be involved with a section of the organization that is titled "Scripture In Use." This department takes translated Scriptures and uses them in different ways and in different ministries to increase discipleship. I will specifically be working with the newly translated scriptures for the Akyode (pronounced Ah-cho-day) people who are a small ethnic group (about 15,000) in the Upper Volta Region. I will be working with this ethnic group and possibly two other small ethnic groups in the area in the production and distribution of indigenous Scripture songs. There are many different ideas of what kind of musical work I may be doing and so I will let you know as we figure things out!

I will be living in Nkwanta which is a town in the Upper Volta Region. My guide book describes it as "the most developed town in Upper Volta although it is not very developed at all!" This town has about 20,000 people and regularly receives people from nearby villages because it has a weekly market. More information to come later!

http://www.ezilon.com/maps/africa/ghana-maps.html