This photo is of the Central Mosque in downtown Tamale. While Ghana as a whole is 70% Christian, this northern region is 70% Muslim and the culture is Muslim. Ramadan began last Saturday. Jerry, Rose, and I were taking a taxi to town on Sunday and Jerry was chewing gum. The driver asked, "Aren't you fasting?" The daily calls to prayer are heard throughout the area, the first beginning at 4:30 am! We were asking our English students about their birthdays. Most of them do not know by our calendar dates. They only estimate them in relation to the number of "moons" before or after different Muslim festivals.

Just a warning to the squeamish - this post might gross you out, so maybe you want to take a pass! But if you want to read on, Ghana seems to be home to a large portion of the world's termite population. This photo is just the beginning of a baby termite hill. Before long these host trees will be dust and all that will be left will be a mountainous termite home. Despite treating wood that is used, we were told that not long ago one of the bookcases in the Training Center library collapsed from termite damage and all the books in it were turning to dust.

During heavy rains the termites are forced out of their hills. They are drawn to light as we discovered one evening last week when our living room was invaded by hundreds of them until we realized we needed to turned the light off. Fortunately they don't bite and they die quickly. In addition to the ones we swept out, there were literally thousands of them on the ground outside the next morning. We were told that villagers often collect them, pull the wings off, and fry them for a treat to eat. I know that God provides, but really?

Last week was the halfway point of our time here in Ghana. So we took a 2-day break and visited the Mole (pronounced "mow-lay") National Wildlife Park. We got to see elephants, antelope, monkeys and baboons, warthogs, and some beautiful and unusual birds. What amazing creatures God has made!

We found a restaurant with pizza!  Heaven!

This is Sunday School in the small rural village of Yapala. The teacher is an amazing young woman. She is one of the girls who was baptized on Mother's Day in Adubiliyili. She attended a training for children's leaders at the Training Center and has been riding her bicycle from her own village 5 miles away each Sunday ever since to Yapala to teach these children who would not have Sunday School otherwise. Her class has grown each week.

There is no church building in Yapala. Sunday School and worship are held under the trees. While the children are in Sunday School, Jerry is preaching to some of their moms (and a few neighboring cows!)

Yams are a staple of the food supply in Ghana. They are a root vegetable, but not like the orange sweet potatoes I usually think of. They are white and more like potatoes. You can do pretty much anything with them you would do with potatoes - boil, mash, make french fries, etc. Our favorite so far has been using leftover mashed yams to make pancakes. For Ghanians, however, their favorite is to grind them and pound them to make flour for fufu, a rather indescribable dish you just have to experience!

Our visit to Kalende included attending the ground-breaking for a new church building. In Ghana the term for ground-breaking is "sod-cutting", though it didn't look like there was much "sod." Rev. Solomon Sule-Saa, the chairperson of the Northern Presbytery, is doing the honors. Their commitment to build a new church is a tremendous act of faith on the part of this congregation. Their goal is to have a dedication ceremony by the end of next year.