wfn.org | Belief in practice

[BethAH@mbm.org]

September 27, 2000
Mennonite Board of Missions
Beth Hawn
Communications Coordinators
(219) 294-7523
<NEWS@MBM.org>

Belief in practice: Building more than dormitories in Ghana

ELKHART, Ind. (MBM) – Some people hit the gift shops and local
marketplaces when looking for souvenirs to bring home from
foreign lands.  When Sam Dinius was looking for something to
bring back from a five-week short-term mission assignment through
Mennonite Board of Missions, constructing dormitories at Good
News Theological College and Seminary in Ghana, he culled the
toolboxes of some of his Ghanaian coworkers.  Among the cherished
keepsakes he brought home is a tool that was in its second
incarnation as a chisel, having already evolved from its first
use as an axle.

“I realized how much of a privilege it is to live in America,”
said the 23-year-old engineering major at the University of
Toledo, who put his studies on hold to make the trip.  But with
that recognition of privilege came an equally valid critique.

“America is a wasteful society,” he said.  “Everybody knows
that.  But you don’t really understand it until you go to a Third
World country.”  While in Ghana, he particularly noticed the way
old materials were re-used for new purposes, like the chisel.
“That would have been scrapped here,” he said.

In part, Dinius said he went to Ghana in the hope of inspiring
others to serve.  Although this was his first service on foreign
soil, last winter he traveled with the mobile MCC Meatcanners,
canning donated meat for relief in other countries.  A member of
Lockport Mennonite Church in Stryker, Ohio, he plans to do the
same work again this winter, but in addition, he decided to
pursue a short five-week service assignment.  He contacted MBM,
who helped him make arrangements with GNTCS.  Dinius’ father,
Wayne, had served with MBM on a building team in Benin in 1997.

“I had never been overseas before,” Dinius said.  “I went with an
open mind.”

One thing that surprised him about Ghana was the number of
Christian churches in the area.  Dinius attended church with
teachers, students and his coworkers in a variety of church
traditions that included African Evangelical, Lutheran, and a
nondenominational church. “Everyone invited me to go to their
church.”

In all of the churches, he was struck by the number of
similarities:  the wide use of dancing, the charismatic nature of
the worship, and the fact that he was expected to sit up front.
He also noticed that, despite the vast differences between North
American and Ghanaian cultures, both used the same Bible in
English.

Being white in Ghana, Dinius experienced a wide range of
receptions.  While he received the place of honor at church
services, Dinius said he also encountered youngsters in the
market who would burst into tears and start screaming when they
saw him.  Working on the dormitories also afforded some
uncomfortable interchanges.

“I could tell that my boss had a hard time telling me what to
do,” Dinius said.  “He saw me as this rich American.”  Many of
his coworkers had similar reactions.  They didn’t think he would
be able to lay a strong foundation or work as hard as they did.
When he did surprise them with his hard work, that raised even
more questions for them.  Why would an American come and do this
work?  Dinius said this question was especially hard to fathom
for people who dreamed of being able to come to America.

Dinius said the closest relationships he developed were with the
workers, not the students, since he arrived a week before the
seminary students graduated.  One evening he traveled with a
worker to his home village.  While he was there, he met many of
the people, shared balloons, and blew bubbles with the children.
“[My friend] said I was the first white guy that actually came
and talked to the people,” Dinius marveled.

His time in Ghana was not without deeper theological
questioning.  Many of the people he spoke to equated America with
heaven.  “It made me reflect, ‘What do I think heaven is like?’”
Dinius said.

As his five-week stint drew to a close, Dinius took his coworkers
shopping.  Instead of combing the marketplaces for souvenirs he
could buy for himself, he bought each of them new tools and asked
for their old ones as keepsakes.  That
chisel-evolved-from-an-axle flew back to Ohio in a suitcase.  For
Dinius, it was the most meaningful choice he could make.

Now, his friends have some new tools they can remember him by,
and he has some truly priceless mementos.  Each one has a special
significance for him, he said, because “there’s something more
behind it.”

* * *

Britt Kaufmann

MBM is currently organizing a building team to GNTCS this
November to help construct a student dormitory.  For further
information, contact Lori Hershberger Blair at 219-294-7523 or
LoriDH@MBM.org.