Thanksgiving Day Ghana-Style!
It was Tuesday, November 24, and I realized, “Thanksgiving is in two days!” Obviously I’m in Ghana, but can I still celebrate an American holiday?
Absolutely, I decided: part of my mission here is to reach out to the college students attending our church, and a great way to reach out to people is through food. What better bonding, cross-cultural experience could there be than inviting people over to celebrate an American feast that focuses on thanking God for His many blessings to us?!
I told my fellow missionary, Leah, about the idea God had given me, and she enthusiastically agreed, especially as she had wistfully been thinking “I guess I’ll miss Thanksgiving this year.” Together we came up with a menu…and the next day we went shopping! My little refrigerator was bursting at the seams, and at 10:00 the next morning we began to prepare the food. Leah’s Ghanaian housemate came over to season the meat and help in other ways, and one of the students came over and volunteered his services, and between the four of us – and Nimson, who roasted the sweet potatoes in the ground – we prepared the following dishes:
1) Mashed sweet potatoes
2) Deviled eggs
3) Ghanaian-style chicken (in lieu of turkey)
4) Bread (our one baked item – store-bought; we had no oven)
5) Stuffing
6) Carrot salad
7) Corn
Ham-and-beans
9) Green beans (topped with sautéed onions and slivered almonds)
10) Cole slaw
11) Jello with banana (dessert item)
12) Banana/papaya/pineapple salad (dessert item)
The meal wasn’t fully traditional – we certainly missed the cranberry sauce and pies, among other things – but at least there was plenty of food for the 15 of us who ate. One man took thirds, so not everyone found the flavors too foreign to enjoy.
After we were all satiated, I had us go around the room and each share one thing for which we were thankful. Yerri thanked the Lord publicly for his new faith, and asked us all to join him in prayer that he will not turn back from following Christ.
I shared how thankful I am to be in Ghana: serving among the new friends God has given me, seeing God at work through the Center of Good News, and being allowed to join with my supporters in having a part in it. Thanks again to each one of you who makes this ministry possible through prayer and sacrificial giving!
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 at 1:18 pm and is filed under Pictures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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