For us, Christmas began on December 23rd this year when we drove to our regional capital of Tamale to do some last-minute shopping, to bless some friends, and to bring Ernest Babiwan Ugru home with all his belongings.
Leaving Saboba at 6:30 that morning, we drove to Tamale. As we passed through D.C. Kura, we bought 3 large bags of charcoal from our friend Fati, our regular charcoal supplier. Proceeding to Sang, we picked GH¢ 200 worth of yams for our friend Reverend Alhassan Fuseini, a.k.a. Big Man.
Arriving in Tamale, we collected Ernest near his lodging in Kukuo. Ernest is one of our special people. Several years ago, Ernest stayed with Taala Ruth as a translator and advocate when Dr. Ibrahim was caring for her at the Al-Shifaa hospital at Datoyili. That same year, Ernest began training as a Physician Assistant at the University of Development Studies in Tamale. Ernest’s father died many years ago, and his mother farms and does petty trading in a village near Saboba. Now Ernest has completed his classroom work and is returning to Saboba, where he will be helping at the hospital while preparing for his licensure exams. While completing clinical work at Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ernest so impressed one of the visitors that the man offered him a job. Blessedly, Ernest informed the man that he was already obligated to return to Saboba.
After picking Ernest, we left one of our pickup tires for repair and drove on to Kumbungu, where we left two bags of charcoal and the yams with Pastor Big Man. Returning to Tamale, we did some small shopping, steadfastly avoiding the central part of Tamale and its snarls of traffic. One of our missionary friends who had been a chaplain in the U.S. Army and who had driven Hum-vees all over the Middle East once told us that he felt Tamale was the most dangerous place in which he had ever driven. Lorries, tro-tro’s, yellow-yellows, Motokings, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians all compete for the same piece of road at the same time. We let one of our friends drive for us; he can handle the stress of the traffic much better than we do.
We got lunch and then collected Ernest’s things. Even though Ernest had already sent several items by goods lorry to Saboba, his remaining possessions filled the bucket of our pickup. truck. With Ernest and I competing for space in the back seat with the items Bob and I had purchased, the lorry was packed out!
As we were heading toward Saboba, Ernest was calling his mother in the village. I could hear her excited comments. Although it would have been nice to pick charcoal for friends in the village, we had no room. We pulled into Saboba and went straight to the house where Ernest will be staying for the next several months. When Ernest’s friend in Saboba failed to find an accommodation, we remembered some friends, called them, and learned they had one room left. Now Ernest is happily ensconced with a loving family who will treat him as another son.
Christmas Eve afternoon found us on our way to Yendi. A friend’s wife in Tamale had gotten permission to leave work at 2 PM. After struggling through long lines queuing for vehicles, the young lady made it and was now headed to Yendi; meanwhile, we learned that Ernest needed two market tables. It was market day in Yendi; due to a delay in the arrival of vehicles, we had time to buy the market tables for Ernest, fuel our vehicle, and then park near the drop-off point for the Tamale cars. After a short wait, we picked the young lady and returned triumphantly to Saboba in time for Christmas Eve church services.
Christmas morning, we attended a joyful service at the Catholic Church in Saboba. We fellowship with a number of churches; however, many churches now have sound systems that can blast the entire congregation into the middle of next week. While the Catholics have a sound system, they regulate the volume a bit, making it possible for us to listen while not suffering. After long years of working in high noise environments with inadequate ear protection, Bob finds that loud amplifiers make listening painful.
And Christmas brought another wonderful moment. As many of our friends know, we lost our beloved Mr. Cat the end of October and have been grieving ever since. Christmas morning, a friend brought us a grey 2-month-old male kitten whom we have named Gabriel. Since this kitten is semi-feral, we are proceeding slowly with his socialization. We are praying that Gabriel has a long and happy life and that he will truly be a comfort for both of us.
“But,” you ask, “you haven’t mentioned Christmas presents.” True. We haven’t exchanged presents as such for several years. Working with poor people, we see so many tragic situations that we feel it’s more important to help those in need. We will do special things for each other; however, those deeds can’t be wrapped in brightly colored paper.
At 1 AM on Christmas Eve morning, I received a call from Musah, the head nurse at the Children’s Ward. A poor child who had been operated two days earlier for a typhoid perforation had just died. The mother was by herself with no family members or money. These people were from a community nearly 80 miles away and had bypassed two government hospitals to come to Saboba. We settled the bill for the family, and later some relatives came to collect the mother and the child’s body.
The two previous farming seasons have not been good, and this year was only slightly better. People are still suffering and falling sick without resources. We know we love each other and Jesus loves us. It seems far more important to buy more breakfast biscuits to hand out at the Children’s Ward than to buy each other presents. For after all, we have already received the greatest Gift anyone can possibly receive: the Gift of Eternal Life through Christ Jesus, our Savior and Lord.
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