The Piano Player Strikes a Cord

There is a piano player at this conference who does not care who you are, how long you have been preaching, or how good your point is. When you hit twenty-five minutes, he plays a chord. When you hit thirty, he starts the next song whether you are ready or not.

Breakfast at the Ruckmans' was at 8, and the first service kicked off at 9 sharp for the 2026 Ghana West Africa Pastors and Workers Conference. Each man gets thirty minutes to preach. At twenty-five, the chord sounds as a warning. At thirty, the piano just starts, and whatever you were saying gets to finish in your head instead of out loud. 

We ran four services before lunch. The first speaker was done by 9:45, and three more preached before we broke for the meal. Brother Reno took one of those morning slots, and by the time the day was done, he had preached twice, once in the morning and once as the main speaker for the evening service. 

Lunch was banku and fried tuna with shito sauce, and I am not exaggerating when I say I could eat that meal every day for the rest of this trip. We had a break until 2:30, and that is when they handed me the afternoon slot right after lunch, which I am fairly sure was a test to see if I could keep a room full of well fed men awake. I preached on the conference theme, the unity of the Spirit, and made the case that we have to love God right before we can love our brothers in Christ right.

Three more preachers went after me before supper, and then we all headed to the Ruckmans' house to eat and change clothes before the evening service. Brother Reno closed out the night as the main evening speaker, with Missionary Triano preaching alongside him, ending a day of preaching that started before 9 in the morning and did not really let up until after 9 pm.

I felt the jet lag catching up with me by the end of the day, more than I expected this far into the trip. I am hoping for a solid night of sleep and a fresh start tomorrow.

Pray for us as the conference continues, for strength for the preachers and for the men sitting under all that preaching to walk away with something worth keeping. If you want to follow the rest of this trip as it happens, you can find every post at consfords.com/connect.