Some Observations

Some further observations today.

When Ghana achieved its independence in 1957 the population was 41% Christian.  Today it is 75% Christian!  It has indeed become a Christian nation.  The people take religion very seriously here, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is growing tremendously.  We are glad to be a part of that.  Due to climate our meetinghouses are often constructed differently than they are in the northern hemisphere.  Frequently the chapel is in a different building than are the offices and classrooms, etc.  The buildings are very open so as to catch every breeze that may come up.  In enclosed buildings the windows are designed to be easily opened and ceiling fans hang down to keep the air moving within.  But there are also open style buildings in which the walls only go half way up, the upper half being unobstructed except for pillars that hold up the roof.  In the case of these latter there are heavy blinds hanging between the pillars that can be let down to create shade within or rolled up to allow the breezes to blow across the congregation.  The pillars hold up the trusses which in turn hold up the roof (normally corrugated aluminum) and there is no real ceiling (only the underside of the roof).  From the trusses ceiling fans hang serving the same function as they do in the enclosed buildings.  Kitchens, baptismal fonts, etc. are often more or less outside.  For example, kitchens are covered but in my experience usually have only two walls.  Regarding baptismal fonts, see the picture below.

This is a concrete and tile baptismal font with a metal cover over it.  The blue item in the background is one of the shade blinds hanging in the down position in the chapel which consists of the building in the background.  Of course, you can only see a small fraction of that building in this picture.

One thing that has struck me here is how common it is for children to become partial or full orphans at a very young age.  Aside from all the other difficulties that causes, it becomes difficult for these children to afford an education.  The Church is trying to improve the educational opportunities of member children, and of others as well.  The hope is to make it so economic status has nothing to do with the availability of education.  From what I have seen, the young people are remarkably receptive to these efforts.  They do not tend to take education, religious or secular (which is actually a false dichotomy), for granted.

While the doctrine, teachings, and procedures of the Church in Ghana are the same as everywhere else, there are some interesting, though minor differences.  For example, whenever someone says "good-morning" or "good-evening" or whatever is appropriate from the pulpit, the entire congregation answers with good-morning, etc.  Hymns tend to be sung with considerable enthusiasm, rather than the lackadaisical way that North Americans tend to.  Wherever we attend Sacrament Meeting (our worship service) in a ward (what we call a congregation) where we have not been before (with one exception only) we are introduced from the pulpit and both asked to come up to the stand and bear to our testimonies prior to the scheduled talks (or sermons, if you will).  Of course, as elsewhere, as soon as we enter the premises we are among friends - even though we have never met any of them before.

Elder Emfield