Together

I hate being alone. 


I know hate is a strong word, but I really don't like it. Yes, we should be able to embrace quiet time, and learn to be still and silent, but I am part of the generation of people like Elizabeth Gilbert (protagonist in 'Eat, Pray, Love') that cannot learn to just be still and mediate in the position of a bridge, board, or other random inanimate object.

I need people!! I need noise!!

Another reason why Ghana is the best place in the world for me.

Under one five-bedroomed roof live twenty-two of us, ranging from 14-40, from seven different countries [Ghana, Togo, Germany, England, Mexico, America & Northern Ireland]. There is a frequently sung the song, "There were four in the bed and the lile one said, 'Move down because another apprentice just got accepted so we need to make room for them!'". With water problems for two days, toilets were full of everything from every orifice. Meals around the 8-seater table are a diving event of hands, food and madness. People sit on each others laps and the arms of the chair as we gather around the tv.

Yet there are no complaints. 

I said it yesterday, and I will reiterate it again: It takes a special type of person to give up the comfort of their western life and live in Africa.

And it is these special people who will change the world. 

I love the late night chats, the hanging out, the communal meals, the trips to the store that don't require ten people to go, but everyone is enjoying hanging out so much they can't break away.

Steve was yesterday's hero for fixing the water. The shower off our room is the best one in the house, so I offered whoever wanted to use it the opportunity to do so before we settled down for the night. After the final person finished, they mopped up the bathroom not wanting to leave it dirty for us.

At lunchtime, whether you have put money in the pot or not, bread, ham tongue and overpriced cheese are shared and passed around the table.

A toilet is cleaning thoroughly even though you weren't the one to repeatedly throw up in it.

This is what it means to be together.
To have community.
To live out the body of Christ.

It is not just in the words we say to encourage one another, or the polished preach we proclaim, but in the acts we serve one another with.

"This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples-when they see the love you have for each other."
{John 13:35 - the message translation}

I love the loudness of this house. The only moment of silence in the house is when "internet time" happens (for just one hour a day) and all the "foreigners" gather around their laptops to update their Facebook statuses, blogs and check emails.

The irony of a internet-based virtual community replacing human tangible connections.

There is no greater joy to me than this.
This togetherness.
This love.
This hope.

I imagine Father God loves it. 
Revels in it.
Takes joy and pride in us, His creation, fulfilling the purpose He desired us to have.

And I imagine how when it is released into the schools and the communities, the great impact it will make.