Calvary Charismatic Center

Last Sunday I was finally able to go to church for the first time in Ghana. One of the earliest Global Mamas, Esther, invited Angelina and I to visit her church, Calvary Charismatic Center or CCC. It was an early service, 7 am. We met up with Esther in town (which meant we left the house at 6:15am) and rode a taxi together to church. We arrived promptly at 7 but there weren’t many people there already. Esther was excited and happy to show us around the church campus, and we were happy to check it out. The CCC temple is very beautiful, the meticulously manicured garden standing out in my memory. We took our seats as the “open prayer” time was already in progress. The man leading the prayer was pacing back and forth in front of the congregation while speaking in Fante. After quite some time the praise and worship time began. Those of you who know me know that I enjoy singing, consequently, when I sing I feel closer to the Lord. Of course I enjoyed their high spirited, rhythmic, and dance inspiring worship style. There were about three songs we sang that I was familiar with but had definitely never heard them played and sung this way before. It was great! As usual, I simply closed my eyes and concentrated on the words and notes I was singing. At times, I opened my eyes and saw men and women jumping up and down, raising their hands, dancing, kneeling, and even laying on the floor. I think we sang for longer than half an hour. Being the supporter of more music during service, I enjoyed it very much!

            Before the message, the head pastor invited those who brought “souls” with them to come to the front with them. Esther warmly held our hands and walked us to the front. Here the pastor encouraged us to trust in the Lord and accept Jesus into our hearts, and he also commended the church members who were out there spreading the Good News. I stood there quietly, telling God “well… you know I accepted your Son as my Savior when I was 14 and have been following Him ever since. They may think I’m a lost soul, but You know my soul found its place almost ten years ago. It’s ok. I’ll just stand here”. I thought it was a beautiful gesture to pray for those visiting their church and I prayed along with them. The message was out of Isaiah 45:1-3. It was a great reminder of a few of God’s many promises He has given to those who seek and follow Him. Apart from the occasional yelling from the preacher, of which I’m not accustomed to, I really enjoyed the message. Before the service was over, those of us who were visiting for the first time were asked to gather in the conference room where we would be given refreshments and some info about the church. Angelina and I politely followed the crowd. By this point, it was well after 11am and we were hungry. We sat there as they talked to us some more about their church family and asked us to fill out a small form if we wanted to receive info. We didn’t fill ours out because we were just visiting, but I liked how welcoming they were and was happy to see new people interested in joining the family.     

We thanked Esther for inviting us and finding us a ride to Elmina. We were so hungry and walked quickly towards the Elmina Beach Resort. Distracted by the idea of eating yummy food, we walked past a small group of people. A lady in the group caught us off guard “Excuse me, why did you not greet us?” The one time we didn’t say hello to passing strangers.

“Oh we’re so sorry. We are very hungry,” I didn’t know what else to say.

“Where are you from?” She asked. Angelina said the U.S. and I said Nicaragua.

“Paraguay?” the lady asked. “No, Ni-ca-ra-gu-a” I enunciated.

“Why do all your people’s countries have ‘gua’ in them?” She asked very passionately, and almost as though offended. I was surprised by the question.

“I… don’t know. They were the names given by the native Indians,” I said. Well, at least this was true about Nicaragua, I don’t know about Paraguay. She was satisfied with my answer and let us go on our way.

Finally, we made it to the hotel. Our food was delicious, our bellies were full and happy.  I looked forward to one of my favorite parts of Sundays growing up, the nap that followed church and a big lunch.