2016 NYAC VIM Ghana Dance Mission: Proclaiming God with Words. Dance, and Hospitality

O, give praise to God; praise God in His Sanctuary!

Our journey to Ghana is almost at an end. We have been blessed by the gracious hospitality of the Methodist Church--most recently in Kumasi Diocese, Freeman Society, as well as by the Ghanaian family of Rev. Dr. Leslie Duroseau. We were given an inside view to the community and culture from a local perspective.

As we prepare to minister Liturgical Dance along with the local youth groups, we are mindful of our Omnipresent God, adored here and everywhere the same, His presence felt so strongly in the litany of worship.

This Sunday morning began with a wonderful worship experience at the historic Wesley College at about 6.30am. it was attended by more than 1,000 students. Rev. Ewoodzie was invited to preach. The title of his sermon was "We are the witnesses of the Goodness of God."

Before the establishment of seminaries in Ghana, Wesley College was where all Methodist ministers, including Joseph's father received their training and experience.

At the Freeman  Chapel, Pastor Ekow Essel MacForson prrached a Word that God will always take what you have to bring you what you need. The law of the harvest is to reap more than you sow. Anytime God demands a seed from you,  it means He has a harvest in mind.

One of the pieces that we ministered today,  "More of you, Jesus," was choreographed and taught to us by Eva, a liturgical dance leader from GMHSU in Accra. We pray that our ministry of sacred, liturgical dance will reap a harvest that cannot be numbered in every region of Ghana and in the world. God will transform our small efforts into something that will astound the masses.

Be faithful! The blessing is always in the breaking. Amen.

2016 NYAC VIM Ghana Dance Mission: Becoming a Different Person in God

This is the day that the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it!

We are hopeful and feel more revived after our reflection of the events of the past week.

We are focused on the movement of the Holy Spirit, what that Spirit calls us to do and we are encouraged by the collaboration with the Kumasi Diocesan Methodist Church in Ghana.

We discussed the various techniques used in dancing  - whether they are derived from the culture or from some formal training.

Bishop Andam's vision for the dance is to make it an integral part of the liturgy so that it becomes a seamless part of worship will involve education and creating room in worship service. Just as music and the spoken Word inform the worship, so should liturgical dance. It is communion with God by and of itself. It involves a posture of humility and sacrifice before the throne of God.

One of the youth leaders, Samson Kwaku Boafo, said that whenever he puts on a liturgical dance costume, he becomes a different person and God becomes more real to him. Then the Spirit of God takes over and he receives more than he gives.

Another, Akua Frema, expresses that for her it is a joy and a privelege to stand before the Lord in praise. It is her prayer before each time she dances that God empties her out and fill her with his Spirit and power.

Lord, we feel your presence, your Glory, your Power all over us--in our hands, in our feet, in our hearts--moving down in our souls!
 
Thank you Blessed Savior! Amen.

2016 NYAC VIM Ghana Dance Mission: How Great is Our God - How Great is Our Joy!

 "How great is our God ;  sing with me ,  how great is our God; and all will see how great, how great is our God!"

What a glorious day this has been. We were blessed in a most magnificent way by the youth of the Methodist Church, Wesley Cathedral , Cape Coast, Ghana and Theare groups! They are evangelizing in amazing ways through Liturgical Dance. They are praising God with every fiber of their being and yes, they are winning souls for Christ!

Not knowing what to expect, it was refreshing to see how progressive the youth were. Our hope is this collaboration will move the concept of dance from 'performance ' to ministry and to educate the Church as a whole.

Attached is the picture from the Elmina Castle in memory. The visit to the castle pressed heavy on our hearts.  The stench of blood and death is still entrenched in the stone on which our ancestors laid.

There is video of the youth ministering in dance, which we will post later.

Job said with assurance, "For I know my Redeemer lives." Can you say, "I know that my Redeemer lives!"

And, oh, by the way, He will turn our mourning into dancing!

And dance we did! All day into the late evening, the dance team from New York led warm up exercises ,  demonstrated basic ballet steps and movement, then taught praise dance to the gospel song, "I Feel the Spirit," by Hezekiah Walker, first to the young children, then to tweens and teens then to the older University youth.

After dinner, we returned to dialogue about praise and worship and what it means to live as unto God. The youth each shared about why theyou danced, how they fulfill their calling by ministering in this way as outreach as well as to honor their Spiritual being.

We then continued the dance. This time, the youth led choreography and taught us to dance to "More of You, Jesus," by the group, Pocketfull of Rocks. The Pastor, Very Reverend Richardson Ababa Wilson, joined us in this dance.  What glorious praise!

And better yet, Sunday morning...aah, Sunday morning !  Three services are celebrated at the Wesley Cathedral Methodist Church, at 5:30am, 7:00am and 9:00am. Believe it or not, the first service draws the highest attendance--more than 500!

We joined in the second and third services and we brought on the dance--in partnership with the GHMSU - Wesleyan Theatre. The parishioners received the dance offering with enthusiasm and joy.

The Very Rev. Richardson explained Choreography and the Azonto was seen as secular, now we minister together offering Sacred, liturgical dance in praise to our God.

Alleluia , I know that my Redeemer lives! Say it with me, "I know that my Redeemer lives!

2016 NYAC VIM Ghana Dance Mission: The Journey of Dreams Begins

For me, the journey of my dreams begin...Lord, for traveling mercies we pray...Delta non-stop to Accra.. Here we come! Traveling with Rev. Joseph Ewoodzie, Rev. Sheila Beckford, Rev. Leslie Deroseau, Troy and Rev. Tisha Branch and me, Rosemarie Walker.

Landed at 7:33 AM Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Daniel and Emanuel met us at the airport. They will be our drivers.

Ghana feels like home! Tropical, fruit trees, very warm temperatures.

Stopped and freshened up at the Ghana Methodist Church Ghana Headquarters where we met some clergy and staff , the immediate past resident Bishop and current resident Bishop Titus Awotwe-Pratt.

Lunch by the seaside including fresh snapper, Joloff rice, yam chips...yummy!

We were humbled by the story of one great leader, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana, who envisioned a unified Africa with a fierce determination that all would be accepted fully as equal beings with dignity and pride of African origin.

Some challenges on our first night due to power outages. However, this was soon sorted out and we had a restful night.

Thursday morning dawned bright and fair. After a light breakfast, we paid tribute to our past as we. traveled to Assin Manso where captive Africans were made to bathe in readiness for auction in thdance ketplace.

After lunch, we prepared for our meeting and time for collaboration with the leadership of the Wesleyan Methodist Church and the youth and children dancers. We are encouraged by the movement of the Spirit in building up the Kingdom of God through Liturgical dance. The youth welcomed us with dance and drew us into the circle of their ministry. Their mission - to bring disciples to Christ , using dance as a means to new, wholesome, revived communion with God.

This place has rekindled our souls, begging us to be open to the divine movement of God. Our Spirit for social justice was rekindled, Our passion for joyful worship given new vibrancy. Touching the water in the river of the last bath, helped solidify our deep connection to these hallowed grounds. me of our past with the current syate. The youth at Wesley Methodist Church rekindled our souls with the joy they expressed in communicating Christ.

We are blessed indeed and pray to be a blessing to all we will encounter on this mission.

Up, Up and Away! 2016 NYAC VIM YAM Mission Team is Off to Bolivia

This year’s Youth Ambassadors are traveling to Cochabamaba, Bolivia. There are seven teen youth aged 16-18 years old from the six districts representing the New York Conference. The dedication of these youth are remarkable because they have committed themselves to serve others. Here are some of their responses to the question: Why do you want to participate in the YAM ministry? “to help others; to get closer to God; to strengthen our faith; to share God’s love around the globe; to take a journey of faith; to share my love of Christ; to find a deeper faith in Christ’; etc.

Each youth was carefully selected by their Church and partially supported by their church and the district. I am very excited about this year’s mission journey to Bolivia because this is the first time our youth and the indigenous ‘Quechua‘ community of Bolivia will be working together. Our host church is the Emmanuel Iglesia Evangelica Metodista in Cochabamba. However we are assigned to work in solidarity with the Lava Lava community to build a new church called “Rios de Agua Viva.” Our work will include some construction work, vacation bible school, and various children ministry. Please keep us in your prayers as we depart from JFK on Saturday February 13, 2016. Follow us on facebook.

Mize's Bucket Brigade Saves the Day

Phyllis Machledt writes:

After a day of relaxing at YS falls, we were back at work again moving cement at Mt. Osborn.  This time we were more efficient (Mize helped with a training session for the bucket brigade.)  Since the line had to extend pretty far back to reach the ladder, we were a little shorthanded so Brother Lawrence recruited 4 more women from his church.  They really made the difference!  Not as many people had been able to come on Saturday as he had predicted.  The ladies stayed all day and spent some time telling us about their families and Jamaican schools.

The neighbor children – Karon, Jeffrey, and Akeem – were joined by Latanya.  Veda, Pauline and Opal “supervised” them bringing back the buckets.  I say “supervised” because some 7 to 9 yrs olds have short attention spans.  However, the kids worked really hard, and they don’t even go to Mt. Osborn.  We were able to accomplish even more than we did on Thursday in terms of concrete mixed and moved.  On Monday once the concrete dries, the wooden forms will be removed and put up on the remaining beam areas.

We discovered that some of the men working were volunteers from other churches and some were paid construction professionals – which is good because we don’t have the particular skills needed for this type of construction.  Brother Lewis, the chief carpenter, will be there on Monday to finish with the forms. Because of a confusion about dinner at the church, we ended up with patties instead of dinner at the hotel.  For those who wanted a dip in the pool, that was a good move.  The hotel was hosting a wedding so there was a lot of music late into the night. Tired from the hard physical labor during the day, the team all went to bed early During reflection everyone expressed satisfaction in what together we had accomplished

Phyllis Machledt

Digging in to the work

Thursday June 18, Phyllis Machledt wrote:

The plan today is to mix and pour the cement at the church into the forms we made yesterday.  We’ll be at Mt. Osborn all day for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  However, the cultural program which had been planned has been switched to Sunday.

Breakfast at the church arrived a little late, but for the coffee drinkers in our group, there was an ample supply.  They served eggs and sausages, plantains and fried breadfruit as well as fresh pineapple.
Mize, Sean, Matt and Elijah did the devotions for the pre-school, telling the story of Noah and the significance of the rainbow.  They had also prepared a craft but because of all the work going on, the teachers decided to do it back at the school which is next door.

To Americans used to cement mixers filling the forms, the whole process was very different.  The local workers began mixing the sand, small stones and cement in a big circle in front of the church door on the parking area.  Once it was sufficiently mixed with water, we started the bucket brigade.  Buckets had to be hand carried and passed along the line a hill, up stairs and up a ladder to be poured in the forms.  The buckets were heavy and it was hard, messy work, but luckily with everyone working the first part was done in one and a half hours.  Then we had to stop to make more wooden forms for other beams.  The local men, especially brother Lewis, were definitely the experts!  None of us, with the exception of Bob and Mize, had done any construction quite like this.  However, we were good, cheap labor.

Meanwhile the ladies of the church were cooking and preparing lunch and dinner for us – curried chicken and escavitch (snapper) and ackee. After a full day of work moving cement, the team came back to the hotel, tired but feeling good about the progress we made on the building.  Our only casualty was Opal’s sprained ankle (she is recovering).  However, when she was injured, we called for help in the bucket bridge.  Three women from the church stepped forward to help and worked with as for the afternoon. There was an incredible feeling of accomplishment not only from the actual amount of concrete we moved but also from the cooperation with the people of Mt. Osborn.
Would that the whole world could find a way to work together with mutual respect and with God’s love.

Phyllis Machledt

Jamaican Breafkasts, Contrasts and Joyful Work

John Machledt writes:

Breakfast  at 7:30 AM.  We were served fruit, pancakes, eggs, boiled green bananas and akee which is the fruit that is poisonous if you do not cook it when it is ripe.  After breakfast, we headed to the Mt. Osborn church with 15 of us packed in the van with the driver.  On the way, we passed many run-down the  and standard colorful Jamaican houses, but there was one mansion, which was very strange to see. It was striking ato see this mansion among so many poor, a personal castle for show.  Fortunately, the van made it up the hill (more like a mountain) and we go to the church.

We first met with the children from the jpre-school and they sang songs and recited lines they had learned.  It was very sweet and touching and it reminded many of our mission group of their childhoods in Jamaica.  Then Opal and Byron led a story and song for the kids before they went went back to school. After that we prepared to start working. There were a few men there to help us which was more than we expected. They were all volunteers and great workers and they accomplished a lot for one day. One man was even standing on the cement wall working in flip-flops. At first we weren't sure what to do because no one was there to tell us, but we figured it out quickly with the help of brother Lewis who is a great carpenter.

Greetings from Jamaica! The 2015 NYAC VIM Team is in action!

The United Methodist Church New York Annual Conference's Volunteers in Mission team is already hard at work in Jamaica! Rev. Joseph Ewoodzie, the Conference Mission Coordinator, is leading a mission team sponsored by Golden Hill United Methodist Church in Bridgeport, CT to help people in a mountain village. Some of the Golden Hill team grew up in Jamaica, and so this will be an opportunity to introduce their families and friends to their culture in a close and personal way. Please pray for the success and health of our VIM team, and for the people who they will be supporting and for those supporting them.

Maya writes:

We left for Jamaica this morning at about 2:30 am, which meant getting up at  about 1:30. Most of us didn’t have much sleep, but we were all ready and excited to be off. The group met at the Covenant church to load the suit cases and left relatively quickly after the Crosdales arrived and Bob found the key to the second van. Thankfully Sean got his passport yesterday so when we got to JFK airport we were able to check our bags and go through security without trouble. Sean said he made his passport in art class, but I guess he is a great artist because the airport security believed him… On the plane we pretty much all slept to make up for the time we had lost by getting up so early. The flight was 3.5 hours long, but it seemed to go by much faster. We arrived in Jamaica around lunch time with about 3,000 bags to check. Surprisingly we got through customs relatively quickly and we went to meet Jacqui, one of the mission organizers in Jamaica. A van was waiting for us to take us and our luggage up to Mt. Osborn, but first we went to get lunch. We went to an Island Grill, which had good food. A lot of people ordered the spicy “jerk” chicken but they all thought it was mild except John, who thought the opposite. I guess his taste buds are a wee bit more sensitive. After lunch, Jacqui went back to the airport without us to pick up the other two members of the group, Joseph and his wife, who were arriving on another flight. The rest of us went with some of the church members up into the mountains to go to our hotel.

On the coast near Montego Bay, many of the houses are fancy and there are more resorts and tourist
attractions, but as soon as you head into the mountains, the jungle swallows you and the poverty of the country becomes apparent. The road was winding but well kept up, and the view was fabulous. We stopped after a few hours in Santa Cruz to exchange money and to fix the phones. We also bought some fruit, which was way cheaper and way better than anything you could get in the United States. We tried nesberry, which was the sweetest thing I have ever tasted, and a type of apple that was more of a tart flavor and quite delicious. We also got three mangos for 100 Jamaican dollars, which is about USD$1.

After the market we arrived in the hotel in Santa Crest, which is very nice. Everyone was so tired that we crashed for an hour plus before we met to go up to the church. Mt. Osborn Methodist Church is on top of a giant hill, which is so steep that I wasn’t sure the bus was even going to make it up. Fortunately, it did. The church is very pretty, and we have lots of pictures of it. The people there to greet us were very friendly, and one man, who has a bunch of goats in the yard next to the church, brought Sean a bunch of mangos to share with us. Pauline likes, excuse me, loves mangos, and she taught John how to eat them the right way by pealing the skin off and then squeezing the fruit off with your teeth.

We had a reception at the church and we were pleasantly greeted by the members with prayers, songs, and food. I had some of the best pineapple I have ever eaten. It was altogether a very welcoming experience. Then we came back to the hotel and had a delicious dinner and met another group who is on a medical mission from Florida visiting another church. After dinner everyone went to be to rest for a long day of working tomorrow.

-Signing off, Maya- P.S. It is VERY hot here.