Purpose, People, and Product (Pt 2)

God placed me on an unbelievable journey, and I promised Him that I would never quit. But I didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t have money to help needy people on another continent, so I thought.
After a few years, Sankofa International, Inc. (Sankofa) obtained its tax-exempt status so Sankofa was eligible for government grants and corporate sponsorship. However, I refused to apply because, by now, I believed that God was responsible for funding Sankofa since the work was His will. Out of obedience, I continued to travel to Ghana, led by God, covering expenses out of pocket. Each journey produced success stories. For example, early on, Sankofa built three school blocks to accommodate 150 students, refurbished the roof on the old village school, took electricity into the village, provided school supplies for elementary school students, coordinated medical exams for
students and teachers, awarded academic and vocational scholarships, fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and more. The success stories produced a sense of personal fulfillment, spiritually and physically. However, while I couldn’t put my finger on it, something very important was missing. Before my first trip to Ghana in 1994, my Ghanaian-American friends warned me that Ghanaians, in Ghana, could not be trusted. I was never given a reason but they all stood firmly behind this warning. The more I travelled to Ghana, the stronger the warning. I kept up my guards even though the Ghanaians, in Ghana, were friendly, hospitable, and nice. They gave me no reason to be distrusting, so I thought. Later, I came to understand that you must get to know the Ghanaians, beneath the surface, to
understand the reason for the warning. As the years passed by, I noticed that the level of relationships stayed the same with everyone (i.e., they existed at the surface level only). I knew why my guards were up. But, why were their guards up?
Certainly, by now, I had demonstrated that I was there to help. Knowing me, had they dropped their guards and opened up, I would have done the same, in spite of the warnings. It wasn’t going to happen, so I thought. What was that important missing element? Trust.

Footnote: For the story behind this journey, please read “When My Feet Touched the Ground – A Matriarch’s Prophesy”. Every dollar raised, from selling the novel, is used to support Sankofa projects.
Click HERE to purchase the novel.
To be continued…