Visiting Ghana
from Rev. Martin Camroux

Africa! The word has a certain excitement to it — the promise of something different. And different it certainly was! As part of our twinning with Wesley Cathedral Accra, seven of us from Trinity (myself, Malcolm and Antonia Booth, Sarah Jones, Fiona Chappell, Charlotte Oliver and Jean Bilton) visited Ghana from 21-30 July. For all except Sarah it was the first time in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The journey out was more eventful than we expected as we hit the chaos at Heathrow caused by the industrial action by the BA check-in staff. By the time we arrived the strike was over but Terminal 4 was choked by people and luggage and no-one was allowed in before check-in time. We spent four hours outside the building and then nearly missed the plane because BA staff wrongly informed us it was not in yet! In the end we made it to Ghana only two hours late but sadly our baggage did not arrive for another three days. This delay, together with the somewhat intermittent nature of the water supply in Ghana, meant that there were moments when our personal hygiene may have left something to be desired!

The overwhelming impression of the visit was warmth and friendliness of the people. The Church took an immense care of us. A member of the congregation gave up a house for us to stay in; the Sunday School superintendent took a fortnight's holiday to show us round, another Sunday school teacher cooked for us. I am sure all our lives we shall remember the kindness we received.

I was impressed by Ghana. Well endowed with natural resources, Ghana has twice the per capita output of the poorer countries in West Africa. Life expectancy is 57 years and 64% of the population are literate. There is a strong commitment to education and many very capable people. Even so, Ghana remains heavily dependent on international financial and technical assistance. Ghana is $5.5 billion dollars in debt, inflation is at 30% and unemployment at 20%.

We were fortunate to see some of Ghana's history and natural beauty. We went to Cape Coast, where British rule began, and visited Cape Coast Castle which was first established by Sweden in 1653 and captured by Britain in 1655. It became a major centre for the export of slaves and it was deeply moving to visit the slave dungeons. We took a boat trip on the Volta Estuary where the presence of God was not difficult to discern and visited the powerful Volta dam, which is now short of water partly due to deforestation.

For a European coming from a continent where religion has been sidelined the vitality of African faith was overwhelming. Something like 99% of Ghanaians are religious (Church attendance in the UK is about 5%) and everywhere we went new churches were opening and the voice of prayer was never silent. Most of the Churches we visited seemed to be in the middle of expansion schemes and the Methodist Church in Ghana has opened 500 new churches in the last three years. Several of the Methodist churches we visited had 3000 members (as did Wesley). Every time we were asked, "How big is your Church? (which was often) the answer was rather embarrassing to give. The Presiding Bishop told us how shocked he had been on visiting this years Methodist Conference to see how small and old many ofour congregations are!

At the same time the Methodist church in Ghana (like all the mainstream churches) is facing a real challenge. The most rapid church growth is in the charismatic congregations with their stress on miracle healings, speaking in tongues and how to gain prosperity. I slipped into the back of one of them and in a few minutes saw someone slain in the spirit and a person with a bad heart cured by the expelling of evil spirits. More younger people go to these churches than to the mainstream churches. In response the traditional churches are incorporating more African elements in their worship. So at Wesley the worship included not only five traditional hymns out of the old MHB and three canticles (including the Te Deum) but also a time for African choruses and dances.

It was a great privilege to visit Ghana. On September 14th we shall be using the morning service at Trinity to report back. May the connections between our two churches enrich us both in the years to come.