Visiting Jesus

 

Every first Sunday of the month Communion is served at Christ Church. During the several days leading up to Communion Sunday the church office is filled with people coming to register for Communion, it is a main event in the life of the church. Akropong is town in the mountains with a high elderly population. Most of the younger people move elsewhere to find work or go to school. Because of the amount of elderly people in the town, many of the church members are house bound and cannot make it to church. Therefore, Rev. Nyarko takes it upon himself with his staff members to visit the 200+ house bound parishioners each month to serve them communion. He does this work over the course of two days, which means they must average 100 homes per day. We attempted to help with these visitations for a couple of hours and made it to about 20 homes. Most of the traveling is done on foot. Rev. Nyarko says this town is easy compared to his first church placement as a minister where he had to walk 10 miles through treacherous jungle to serve communion. He is truly called to serve as a pastor because even though it is tiresome work, he says the ministry makes him feel refreshed.

Although it is not long, the parishioners love the visit from the pastor. Some look forward to it all day and do not eat that day until the pastor has arrived with communion. Rev. Nyarko says that these people are stuck at home all day and that it revives their spirits to have someone come and minister to them. To have the pastor come for just 5 minutes to sing or offer a loving pat on the back means the world to these people. Many of the homes we visited were worn down, one or two rooms with a bed and some chairs. Often times there is a fire or burner set up outside with basic cooking supplies. The homes used to be built side by side like compounds with a courtyard in the center. This way, the generations of families could continue to live together and share the same amenities. A lot of the people we visited lived in this type of compound home. At the homes Rev. Nyarko would lead a hymn, pray, and serve communion. Afterward, one of the elders would put some money into parishioner’s hand. Each person visited receives 2 Ghana Cedis which is about the equivalent of $1.50 in the U.S.. Rev. Nyarko says that it is not much but that even this little gesture helps them know that they are cared for. The church also makes it a point to send nursing staff to check on these house-bound members. The nurse takes their blood pressure and advises and answers questions about medication. One woman we visited did not even know she had extremely high blood pressure and she was advised to get medication immediately. When Jesus said, “I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” I am sure this was the type of situation he was talking about. Christ Presbyterian Church has made it a point to look after the people that are the most forgotten, taking to heart the words of Jesus, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine you did for me.”