Missionary Internship Cultural Experience: Visiting Old Friends and Making New Ones in Ghana

A Meaningful Day of Reconnection on the Mission Field

One of the most valuable parts of a missionary internship cultural experience is learning that ministry is not just about programs, preaching, or planning. It is about people. Relationships built years earlier often become the foundation for future ministry opportunities.

Our second full day in Ghana turned into a powerful reminder of this truth.

Although we were still battling a little jet lag, the morning started better than the previous days. For the first time since arriving, I woke up before nine o’clock. Adjusting to a new time zone takes patience, especially after traveling halfway around the world.

Even so, we were beginning to settle into the rhythm of life in Ghana again.

The day began with a hearty breakfast of biscuits and gravy. After months of anticipation and long travel days, a good meal and fellowship around the table was exactly what we needed. With breakfast finished, we prepared for a full day of visiting friends and reconnecting with people who had been part of our lives years earlier.

Days like this are an important part of any missionary internship cultural experience, because they help interns understand how deeply relationships matter in missions work.

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Searching for the Family of Teacher Adoko

Our guide for the day was Pastor Prince, a faithful pastor in the area and a longtime friend of our family.

Our first goal was to find the daughter of our former Fante teacher, Teacher Adoko.

Teacher Adoko had been instrumental in helping missionaries learn the Fante language. His teaching helped many of us communicate the gospel more clearly in Ghana. Sadly, he had passed away only a few months before our arrival.

His obituary had been posted all over the area, showing how much he meant to the community.

We drove to New Takoradi, where we believed the family had lived years earlier. However, ten years can change a lot. Roads had shifted, buildings had been replaced, and neighborhoods looked different from what we remembered.

For a while, we searched without success.

Eventually, we began asking people nearby if they knew where the family lived. In Ghana, asking for directions often leads to conversations, and conversations often lead to helpful connections.

Sure enough, we met someone who knew where Teacher Adoko’s wife and son were living. The man kindly gave us Mrs. Adoko’s phone number.

When we called her, she explained where her daughter Happy was staying. However, the directions were still a bit confusing, so someone from the neighborhood helped guide us to the home.

When we finally arrived, Happy was not there.

But the search was not over.

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A Market Visit and an Embarrassing Moment

We asked a neighbor if she knew where Happy might be.

The neighbor smiled and quickly gave us another phone number. Soon we discovered that Happy was working at the marketplace selling cloth.

The market was only five or ten minutes away.

When we arrived, the vibrant atmosphere of the Ghanaian market immediately reminded us why a missionary internship cultural experience is so valuable. Markets in Ghana are filled with color, conversation, and constant activity. Every stall tells a story, and every vendor represents a family working hard to make a living.

It did not take long to find Happy’s shop.

Her stall was filled with beautiful cloth in every color imaginable. The patterns and textures were stunning. While we talked, we decided to buy some material so that shirts and skirts could be made.

While Happy was cutting the fabric for us, something unexpected happened.

I accidentally knocked over a massive stack of cloth.

For a moment, I froze.

I was completely embarrassed. The pile seemed huge, and I felt certain I had just caused a major problem. But the reaction from the people around us was very different from what I expected.

Instead of getting upset, everyone acted like nothing had happened.

They simply laughed and helped put everything back in place.

Moments like this are part of the learning process during a missionary internship cultural experience. Every culture responds differently to small mishaps, and sometimes the best response is simply to laugh and move on.

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Seeing What God Has Been Doing

After our visit with Happy, we continued our day.

Dad needed to exchange some money, so we stopped at a local grocery store. Mom and I took the opportunity to look around and pick up a few drinks.

Before long we had Dr. Pepper, Coke, and several other drinks loaded into the vehicle.

With errands finished, Pastor Prince decided to take us on a small tour of the area.

While driving along the coast, he showed us his seaside church. The building was beautiful, and it was exciting to see how God had continued to work in the area while we were back in the United States.

Standing there, looking at the church, we talked about the many experiences we had shared years earlier. Dad and Pastor Prince laughed as they remembered stories from their time working together in ministry.

These conversations reminded me that missionary work is built over years of faithfulness.

A missionary internship cultural experience allows young missionaries to see firsthand how relationships and churches grow slowly but steadily through faithful service.

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Remembering an Old Friend

While driving through the city, something familiar caught our attention.

We suddenly recognized a road leading toward a seafood restaurant we had visited many times in the past. The restaurant owner, Richard, had been a close friend of our family.

He had often given us free meals, and we had even invited him to our home for dinner on several occasions.

Naturally, we decided to stop by.

As we approached the restaurant, memories began flooding back. The signs looked familiar, and the location was exactly where we remembered it.

When we arrived, we asked if Richard was there.

Unfortunately, we learned that he had passed away about five years earlier.

The news was sad, but the story did not end there.

Richard’s wife, Nana Bentuma, was still running the restaurant.

When she saw us, her face lit up with recognition. It was as if the years had disappeared. We immediately began talking and sharing stories about the past.

Before we left, we exchanged phone numbers. Nana Bentuma warmly told us to call her if we ever needed anything.

This moment perfectly illustrated another lesson from the mission field: relationships built years ago can still open doors for ministry today.

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Evening Bible Study with Local Children

After leaving the restaurant, we returned home for lunch and some afternoon rest.

Later that evening, we hosted a Bible study at the house.

More than twenty children came, along with one elderly woman.

Everyone behaved well and seemed excited to be there. Bonnie and Mom helped lead the singing and teaching, and the children participated enthusiastically.

Moments like these are one of the most rewarding parts of any missionary internship cultural experience. Seeing children learn about God’s Word reminds us why missionary work matters so much.

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Rainy Weather Changes the Plans

After the Bible study, we enjoyed a delicious meal together before preparing for evening evangelism.

However, the weather had other plans.

Rain began to fall, making it difficult to go out into the community for evangelism.

Instead, we switched the evening schedule to discipleship.

Danny and I spent time talking with several young boys about the gospel. Some of them seemed to be understanding the message, while others struggled to stay awake after a long day.

Even so, meaningful conversations took place.

After the discipleship time, we played games together and enjoyed some fellowship.

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Ending the Day with Sweet Fellowship

By the end of the evening, we were back home relaxing.

Apple crisp and ice cream made the perfect ending to a long but rewarding day.

As we sat together talking and laughing, it became clear that the day had been full of both memories and new connections.

A missionary internship cultural experience is not just about learning language or visiting ministry sites.

It is about people.

It is about friendships that span cultures.

And it is about seeing how God works through relationships built over many years of faithful service.

Tomorrow would bring new adventures, but this day reminded us how valuable it is to reconnect with old friends while making new ones along the way.

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