We woke up to a beautiful morning for our last day in Ghana. It was warm and there was a pleasant breeze coming in from the ocean. It couldn’t have been more beautiful if we custom ordered it.
When I left my hotel room, I saw the GGs gathered around one of the girls praying for her. The enemy had been hounding her throughout the trip and this was the final breaking off of things she needed to get rid of to walk in her destiny. It was powerful walking into the presence of God as these women interceded for our friend. This time ended with joy and laughter.
Breakfast was a beautiful buffet with custom cooked omelets and fresh pineapple juice just to name some favorites. We ate in the gazebo on the beach. After breakfast we had church on the beach. We shared communion and a brief, but powerful message for us all. We would have loved to stay at Coconut Grove a few more days, but we were also desperate to get back to our families. We checked out quickly and then we were back on the road again. This time our destination was Accra to fly home.
We arrived in Accra very early. We went to a market at the roundabout to purchase hand carved nativity scenes. It was pouring rain so I found out how many nativity sets were needed and Eddie and I ventured out to get a bulk price for 7 nativity sets. I ended up buying 8 to get us the best price. I already know who it belongs to, so it worked out well. The team was thrilled with the price we got and they had fun looking through all of the pieces of their set.
We still had a lot of time before we could check our carry-on luggage, and we really wanted to buy Eddie a new cell phone because his was horrible. It constantly dropped calls. When I told him to take us to get one for him, he drove to the Accra Mall. Who knew there was a mall in Ghana? It seemed so odd to be standing in a mall in a third world country. I could hear my mother now, “It figures if there was a mall in the country, Susan found it.” It was more like a shopping center in the states, but it was fun to walk around and see the different stores. We found the cell phone store and were able to get Eddie a nice one for his birthday. He was so humbled and excited all at the same time.
We finally finished our shopping and went to the airport. I had called ahead and was told we could check in our luggage between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.; however after we off loaded everything and went inside we were told there was no one from Delta in the airport and they wouldn’t be there to check people in until 6 p.m. Poor Eddie! We had to call him move the van from the parking deck back to the front of the airport to reload all of the bags back on the top of the van and we went to the Agape Guest House for dinner.
Kathy was ready for us. She had the table set, the dinner prepared, and our triple top secret surprises ready for us. We left a cake mix with her on our first night and made arrangements for her to have it ready for us to give Eddie a surprise birthday party. His birthday is October 20th and we wanted to thank him for all he had done for us. He took amazing care of us all, carrying our bags whenever possible, running us all over the country and entertaining us the whole time.
After dinner, I managed to get his gifts out and behind a door. I passed the party hats and horns to Margaret and she slipped the around to the others under the table without Eddie being aware of anything. I took some dishes in the kitchen so I could tell them to go ahead and light the candles. They brought the cake out singing “Happy Birthday” and we all joined in with them. The GGs put their party hats on and I grabbed his gifts and began snapping pictures. Eddie was like a little boy. He was soaking it all in. After he blew out the candles he told us he had only had 2 other birthday parties in his life and they were in his adult life. He said I’ve had 2 nice meals and birthday cakes, but never horns, hats and presents. In America we take birthday celebrations for granted. We’ve probably had so many we can remember them all, but this man who will be 46 years old in a few days will never forget this night.
We sliced up the cake and everyone ate it with huge smiles on their faces, especially Eddie. We had to jump up from the table and head to the airport. There were many tears shed as we said goodbye to Eddie and Stella. They made our trip so special.
Check-in did not go as smooth as it did in Atlanta. Two of the GGs couldn’t find their computerized ticket and nearly turned white as a sheet. We went to the Delta counter and they were able to take care of it for us. Then one of the GGs got stopped at the baggage check counter. When we finally got her through, a couple of the GGs had their carry-on luggage searched and we ALL got a body search. Just when we thought we were finished with all of the bumps in the road, one of the GGs had her carry-on bag taken from her at the entrance of the plane to be checked. We were reminded yet again that flexible necessary in the mission field.
We took our seats and realized the flight wasn’t full. Several of the ladies changed seats to have more leg space and aisle seats. In the process of moving, we struck up conversations with several of the passengers…..a shock, I know.
We landed safely, made our way through immigration, customs and security without anyone being detained. We paused before boarding the train to baggage claim. Once we took the train, we knew we’d all head to our own homes. How would the GGs get through the day without each other? We prayed a cleansing prayer and made plans to have lunch together on Friday to help us with the re-entry process. Lookout world, the GGs are back and we’re more fierce than ever. This trip came to an end, but the mission God has called us all to continues…