Eat, Pray, and Love Ghana

Disclaimer: I have neither read the book nor seen the movie, "Eat, Pray, Love." Let's just put that right out there. So if you were expecting a beautifully written synposis, Roger and Ebert style, my apologies...you will read no such thing. However, as the much anticipated (self-proclaimed) blockbuster of the summer hit theaters last weekend after one too many previews on the television, the words started to sink in...and take on a new, perhaps more reflective meaning - very pertinent to the ISI and GHF experiences. I feel like the words EAT, PRAY, and LOVE can represent the 3 legs of the ISI/GHF tripod.

EAT - when we travel to foreign countries with a heart to serve, a part of our service to the people is to learn about their culture...and this definitely includes the local food (well, at least it did for us in Ghana). Eating is a mode of universal communication and it can often open the door to the culture of the people with whom we are interacting, so that we may better understand who the people are that we are serving.

PRAY - prayer was a huge component of my GHF experience. As we experience an up close and personal view with human suffering (maybe some of us for the first time), we are also confronted with some deeply profound questions that require us to communicate with someone or something greater than ourselves. In addition to questions, we are often deeply moved by the people whom we serve - their attitudes of gratitude, their humility, and joy despite homelessness, hunger, and no access to healthcare touch our hearts in a way that we find ourselves struggling to understand. Throughout my experience in Ghana, prayer served as an ongoing conversation with God in which I asked countless questions, apologized for my ignorance and arrogance, and shared words of praise and thanksgiving for the people of Ghana and the many lessons provided by their albeit brief presence in my life.

LOVE - In 1 John 3:18, it says "let us love not in word or speech, but in truth and action." One of my favorite, most convicting verses that continues to stir within me the desire to serve. As we participate in ISI and GHF trips, we are called to serve. In our service, we are acting upon the love that we have for others. We are moving beyond "the talk" and begin to "walk the walk." Of course it is a challenge - we are in a completely foreign place, may not speak the language, may have no idea what we are supposed to be doing...but I think if we go back to the basics - EAT, PRAY, and LOVE - we find what the ISI/GHF trips are truly meant to capture.