USPG’s 2010 Lent study course focuses on Ghana

Ghana is the focus for USPG’s Lent study course 2010 – a country where two-thirds of the population is Christian and shops have names such as God’s Grace Hair Salon and Pray Hard Provisions Store.

USPG's Lent resources to view

Watch a short film showing the work of the Anglican Church of Ghana

Christianity – and the Anglican Church in particular – play an important part in people’s lives; Christians live peacefully with their Muslim neighbours, and the country is often held up as a model in Africa of political stability.

The country also faces hardships – with unemployment, poverty, and preventable diseases claiming the lives of one in ten children before their fifth birthday.

Steve Ager, an architectural technician from Derby, is currently on a voluntary teaching placement at an Anglican vocational centre in Ghana, while his optometrist wife Vicky is volunteering at an eye clinic.

He said: ‘It’s so refreshing that people talk about God so openly. Many taxis have bible quotes on the back windscreen, and many shops and businesses have Christian references in their names, for example God is Good Welding.’

He described an inspirational moment. ‘One weekend we took a tro-tro [minibus] to a little fishing community in Apam. The fishermen were mending their nets and dragging their boats up the beach at the end of the day. One of the boat owners asked if I wanted to help them moving their boats – so about 15 people were all helping to heave this boat up the beach. As they did this they sang a song, with the verses alternating between the people pulling at the front of the boat and the people pushing at the back of the boat. So it was really good to be a part of that.’

Steve added: ‘Something I have gained on placement is a greater understanding of the struggles and difficulties faced by people in developing countries. Every day we in the west take for granted the fact that we have clean water, food to eat and electricity – but these things aren’t necessarily easy to come by in Ghana.

‘I think it’s important that everybody should try and understand more about different cultures and people of different faiths, something I certainly experienced while I was there.’

We hope our Lent course will give churches in Britain and Ireland an opportunity to delve deeper into the life experiences of their brothers and sisters in another part of the world church.

Each week, the Lent course will look at a different aspect of Ghanaian life and look at how the Anglican Church is putting mission into practice to support communities.

Order copies of our free Lent study booklet and other Lent resources

Posted on 02.11.2009