11 days in Togo, West Africa: days 8–10

In previous posts, the title was "10 days in Togo." However, it was really 10 full days, plus an 11th day when we left at night. So there will be at least one more post after this one. =)

Day 8 was Friday. Friday is waffle day on the ship. At the snack shop / Starbuck's cafe, they make waffles in the morning. I think each one was 50 cents, which is about ten times cheaper than IHOP (International House of Pancakes). That's one thing I never understood: in a restaurant, why do waffles cost so much more than pancakes? One of life's great mysteries.

For the waffles, I worked the cash register. Selling something that people want that is also at a good price is a good feeling. I don't have any photos or videos of the waffles, though.

Here's the video for days 8 and 10. What about day 9? Those videos are separate, but they're later in this post.

The video starts with Jillian and I playing my sister's new djembe.

Before I left for Africa, my sister, Mary, emailed me and asked if I could bring her back a djembe. Whenever I ask people if they want anything from a trip, I rarely get any requests. So I determined to bring Mary some kind of djembe, though I didn't even know what a djembe was!

Thankfully, Jillian knows my sister, and Jillian knows a lot in general. I could have gotten Mary a mini djembe, about 10" high. But Jillian knew Mary wanted a full-size one. The first problem was buying one. Thankfully, Jillian knew a day worker she could ask to buy one for us, thus ensuring that we would get a quality product and the local price. (As opposed to the "white man price," or even the "white-man-who-buys-in-bulk price.") I think it cost $35, whereas a similar one in the U.S. might cost $200, and that might even be manufactured and not handmade. To top it off, Jillian paid for the entire djembe, as a gift for my sister!

The second problem would be getting the full-size, handmade, djembe home. I'd deal with that on day 11.


I suppose this post's theme is music, so here's a question:

What kind of music do you like listening to?

Friday evening, Bill took our team out for an authentic African meal. It was the only one during the entire trip, so I was very excited. They sell grilled rats on the street, so I was wondering if I'd get to try that. However, the restaurant didn't have that on the menu. =) Instead, I ordered a grilled fish. It was delicious!




A group photo from the restaurant. The black woman was our server. I liked the restaurant, but their lighting was funny. They had a couple of compact fluorescent bulbs hanging from the ceiling, but that didn't help much. Toward the end of the meal, I couldn't even see what I was eating!

The African restaurant also had kittens. (As pets! Not to eat.) (0:25)


Because we had a late dinner, we missed the "Jesus" film! I don't think I've actually seen this film, but it has been called "the most-watched motion picture of all time." There is a movement to translate the film into every language and show the film everywhere. Going along with that, volunteers on the ship borrow a Land Rover equipped with an LCD projector, drive to a remote village, and show the film each Friday evening. It's supposed to be quite an experience: the villagers gather around, especially the children. There are tons of mosquitos. And the people will often cheer when Jesus does something they admire, such as speaking out against the authorities.

Day 9 was Saturday. I didn't take any photos, and I took videos of only two events. The first was Briggs teaching the djembe again. But this time, he was giving our team a special lesson! He wanted us to record him so that we would be able to practice when we got home.

This video is part 1 of Briggs teaching the djembe.

Part 2 is on YouTube. (If you go to YouTube via part 1 above, you'll probably see a link to part 2.)

Briggs, thank you for being such a thorough teacher!

What kind of music do you like listening to?

Easy question, right? We've all asked or been asked that. Ever wonder why we don't ask this first:

Do you like listening to music?

Everyone likes music! But the same isn't true of other things. I could reasonably ask, "Do you like traveling?", "Do you like watching TV?", or "Do you like reading?" Not everyone likes those things, but I feel everyone likes some kind of music. Why is that?

Even stranger, I'd say our love of music isn't very logical. For example, I hear people describe all the time why they like a particular TV show, food, or person of the opposite gender. But I've never heard someone adequately explain why they like a particular pop song compared to some other pop song. We just do.

So everyone likes music, and it's not very logical, or at least it's not very conscious. It must be innate. But why? If you believe in Darwinian evolution, then what's the evolutionary advantage to liking music? Don't people get distracted by music and cause car accidents? 

On the other hand, what if God gave us a love of music? Does that idea pan out?

The second event I recorded on Saturday was the Apostolic Praise Choir. This is a choir at a church in Togo. A volunteer named Penny Forbes visited them, and she was so impressed that she arranged for them to perform on the ship.

Here's part 1 of the choir's performance. I didn't record the performance continuously, but I tried to get significant clips of each song.

If you watch this video on YouTube, the video's description will say when each clip is.

They're pretty good, aren't they? I love their vibe. Of course, seeing them live is better than watching the video from my iPad and its tiny microphone.

The Apostolic Praise Choir, part 2.


In part 2, Penny asked Jillian to sing with the choir. I think Penny gave Jillian a couple hours to prepare, and she didn't get to meet the choir until right before their performance. =) The video below will start at Jillian's song. (7:33)


Apostolic Praise Choir, part 3.

What kind of music do you like to listen to?

Everyone loves some kind of music. Did that come from God?

At church, we have a mixture of older and younger generations. Inevitably, they like different kinds of music. However, I think many would say that our church has been able to find a balance that is appealing to most of the people in our church. After all, we have a very devoted, intentional worship director.

A church in which different people enjoy the same worship music. Isn't that a picture of the harmony that will exist in heaven?

Is it?

Last year, I took a class on being a missionary, called "Perspectives." One of the guest speakers was an expert on music in different cultures. He made a strong argument that music is tied to one's culture, and to force someone to listen to music from another culture is not helpful. (For example, building a church in a native village and having them sing American hymns.) The speaker also gave an example of how different music can be: he played some guttural-sounding "music" which I really didn't take to. Then he explained how he saw a native woman transformed by that very same music: she was inconsolable before they played the music around her, but afterward she was able to find peace.

I told the speaker that I went to a church that wanted to be "multicultural and multiethnic." I asked how we could be truly multicultural in terms of worship, since different cultures may have opposing musical styles. He said he didn't think it was possible; one would need separate worship services, so that people could enjoy the music of their culture.

Everyone loves some kind of music. If that came from God, then what purpose does it serve? Cultures who have vastly different styles of music are separated. And if we will all enjoy the same type of music in heaven, what kind of music will that be? Country? 

I think everyone was blown away by the Apostolic Praise Choir. (In fact, only half of them were there!) Afterward, the choir joined us for dinner in the ship's cafeteria. I was sitting with Jim, who runs the ship's convenience store, and a woman named Pam.

Jim said, "Man, I'll bet a lot of people at dinner missed the concert. I wish they could hear them." Then he said, "You know, I'll bet if I asked them to sing right here in the cafeteria, they would."

Pam said, "Yeah, you could ring the bell."

The cafeteria has a bell in the middle that people ring to make announcements. When I think of Pam's line, I can see it almost being, "Yeah, I double-dog-dare you." =)

Initially, I had some meek objections. Thankfully I was overruled. Jim talked to the choir, then rang the bell. So here's the Apostolic Praise Choir, part 4.

I am honored to have been part of such a wonderful moment. Thank you to Jim, Pam and the Apostolic Praise Choir!

That night, Alison and Louise also played a game of Scrabble. One of the other players was Ernest, the ship's Scrabble champion. I think they said he had never lost a game on the ship. The game was very close, uncertain until the very last turn, but Ernest won again!

Day 10 was Sunday. I was wondering if we'd go back to the Fishing Village for church, but instead we went to the ward service. What they do is pack all the patients into one of the hospital wards on the ship, then any guests who signed up (like us) can squeeze in. There are no pictures from the ward service, for privacy, but it was really nice to worship with the patients and nurses.

Before the ward service, my team took group photos. We're all wearing our "Mercy Ships" T-shirts! From left to right, it's Alison, Gene, Bill, me, Louise, Peter and Christine.

If you look at this photo in just the right way, it can seem like either Gene's arms or mine stretch all the way around the team.

Another group photo.

From Mercy Team Alison

Our version of a silly group photo. I think the command was to "stretch out."


Sunday afternoon was spent on the computer. We had email to check, photos to transfer, and videos to copy. I didn't have my laptop, so I ended up borrowing one from a girl named Ali, who works in hospitality. I feel like Ali was an unsung hero, because she let me borrow her MacBook Pro twice in two days, even leaving it with me and giving me her login password. And we had met only a couple days ago! Without Ali's laptop, my iPad would have been full after Briggs' lessons, and we wouldn't have any videos of the praise choir. So Ali, thank you!

While I was working on the computer, I talked to Penny and Jillian. They're roommates. Penny does finance on the ship and … well, you can just listen for yourself. =) (0:41)


That evening, we went out for pizza! Bill took us and Jim to a really nice pizza place. (Maybe the only pizza place in the city? =) They had many unusual varieties, and I think everyone enjoyed what they ordered. In the city we saw some goats but no cows. I wonder if the cheese was from goat's milk?

Below is my last video clip of the entire trip. After dinner, we returned to the ship to hang out. A couple of Africans were playing the piano and singing in the cafe area. Gene joined them. Watching that gave my heart a warm, fuzzy feeling. (2:06)

What kind of music do you like to listen to?

I like different kinds of music. But one commonality is that I like songs with a female vocalist. That's true whether it's pop, rock, alternative, country, anime or opera. It makes sense: I'm a guy, so I like hearing the female voice. The problem is that I also like singing along! When a girl starts talking about how much she likes a guy or some other girly thing, I'm not sure what to do. Other people must have run into this situation, but I still don't have a good solution. So far, I just stick with the lyrics and try not to think about it too much.

One of my favorite songs? "It's Raining Men" by The Weather Girls. =)