Togo - Day 2

7am
There is an art to getting ready in the morning. You have to go slowly and think about your next move. It looks like it rained last night, which is good because it is not too hot out right now. Actually, it has been cooler here that it was when we left Charlottesville. The mornings here is very peaceful. The only sounds are the birds (including roosters) and the occasional vespa.
Everyone seems to be healthy so far. I pray that God continues to watch over, protect, and guide us.
From this morning's lectionary reading: Acts 1:8 - You will recieve power, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and you will be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

10am
We went to the internet cafe to tell everyone that we got here safely. John, Bill and Pastor Guidi went inside while the rest of us remained on the bus. We were swarmed by people trying to sell stuff. We were offered all sorts of stuff including some voodoo statues. We did buy some extra towels to supplement the one per room that the hotel offers. We must have looked like a gold mine - a bus full of white Americans. I'm so grateful for the protection of our Togoleese escorts.

11:45pm
Wow! What a long and tiring day. Breakfast "began" at 7, so it was an early morning. Setting the tone for the rest of the day, breakfast actually started about 7:40 and ran for well over an hour. They just kept bringing out more food and insisting that we eat.
We spent the better part of the morning running errands in Lome'. It was time-consuming but allowed us a chance to interact with our Togoleese neighbors. I spent some time playing guitar while we waited, much to the delight of the locals. They really seem to like "Blessed Be"
About mid-day we set out for the "interior" of Togo. This is the part of the country that is more rural and less impacted by western influences. After a long drive on somewhat sketchy roads we finally arrived at "Rock of Salvation" church. We were once again greeted very warmly and offered cold drinks and snacks. We did not get to stay too long, so after brief introductions, a greeting from John and a song or two we were back on the bus.
This time we were headed for an orphanage. I thought that the first church that we went was way back and on tough roads, well, the orphanage was way worse. I'm not sure how the driver got the bus through some of those tough spots. The children at the orphanage were thrilled to see us. The delighted squeals of child cross all language barriers. We had a chance to see the tiny space in which they have classes and worship. Though it was small, the view was outstanding! We were WAY up on the top of a hill overlooking the Ghana/Togo border.
When I say we were at an orphanage, that isn't quite right. We went to a place with orphans. But instead of having one central place where they all lived, each child lived in a different foster house. While this seems like a better solution, we found out that the foster families often do not care for the children well. Foster children are only allowed to eat after the rest of the family has eaten. And in a developing nation like Togo, there is not much spare food to go around. The leaders in the village are hoping to collect $400 to buy the land necessary to build a legitimate orphanage.
We had a very brief chance to interact with the children, they sang a song and then, after John spoke, we got out the parachute and played with that. It was controlled chaos, but a lot of fun. After all too short a time we had to pack up again and leave.
It really is a good thing that we had such a large breakfast, because that turned out to be the last meal of the day. We spent the last six hours of the day coming back down the mountain and trying to pass from Togo to Ghana. We had already secured Visas to travel between the countries but there was new paperwork to be done once we arrived. The Togo border wasn't too bad, but it still took an hour to get across the border. That seemed bad until we tried to enter Ghana. Again there was paperwork, but there was also questions about the nationality of our escorts and some bribes were necessary to get through. That process took another 2 hours. We thought we were finally on our way, then we came upon the checkpoint to get onto "Ghana road." That meant another 45 minute delay and another bribe.
During all of the waiting I had an opportunity to lead some worship songs on guitar. It is funny how context can give familiar words a new, refreshing meaning. We even discoverd that some of the songs that we know, our hosts know in French. So we sang "Father I Adore You" and then they sang it back to us in French.
I am very grateful for the work and the leadership of Pastor Guidi, who has been orchestrating this whole trip. God has brought us safely through another day. I pray that he will continue to order our steps and smooth our paths.