The Reluctant Missionary: Jesus is the Bread of Life
When we finally arrived in Accra, Ghana in 2020 (we were held in the US for months until Ghana opened its borders due to Covid), we bought a small used car, a Kia Morning which we lovingly dubbed Joy! We all know that Joy comes in the morning, so what could be a better name for her! This lead us to something challenging that we never even considered when moving to a less developed nation, Ghana Police!
In Ghana the police don't drive around to issue tickets, they conduct traffic stops in likely and unlikely spots. They set up a barrier in the road or just stand in the road, checking each car as it passes through. This is where the stress mounted. We were stopped so many many times for no reason. We learned that it is how the police supplement their income, by taking cash and goods from passing vehicles. They would say, "Money Talks" or "What do you have for us, we have been out here protecting you all day in the heat". What do you do in those instances? We didn't do anything wrong we just happened to be a very visible target that they assume has money. It really started to stress out John, he would get very upset after each new encounter. So as I was praying and talking with the Lord, He gave me a strategy that we now use in each new traffic stop.
Before we leave to head out on a road trip, we stop and buy small loaves of bread. Yes, bread! Jesus said He is the bread of life, so we take that literally and give the officers the bread of life.
So now totally prepared for whatever happens we set out on the road. A traffic stop is something like this now. As they are headed to our vehicle after motioning for us to pull over, we roll down the passenger window and say "Hi, How are you doing today?" We tell them where we are going and that we are missionaries living here in Sunyani. We ask if we can pray for them, this can draw a crowd of other officers as they really appreciate prayer and the work of the church, even if they aren't Christians. Then we tell them we have a gift for them and ask how many officers there are (in remote areas we try to bless all of the officers at the stop). Then we say goodbye and head off down the road. This plan has lead to some interesting reactions, from happiness to complete confusion to out right refusal of the food. We have had a few times that we meet an officer we have already encountered (they move the officers regularly) and the reaction from them is always pleasant and courteous and they are excited to see us.
The scripture in Proverbs 18:16 says "A man’s gift makes room for him, And brings him before great men." This scripture can be taught from many angles but in this instance it is our literal gift that makes room for us in Ghana. God understands the struggle we were having and gave us a plan to deal with it. We now leave traffic stops laughing and excited to see what God will do at the next one. Give God your problems and He will provide the solutions or the plan. It will always be better and be easier than anything we try to come up with ourselves. The only thing we need to do is Trust Him!
