Shaped by West Africa

A Letter from Josh Heikkila, serving in West Africa

Spring 2024

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Dear friends,

On January 14, the day I departed Minnesota for Ghana, it was -8° Fahrenheit when I left for the airport. Twenty-two hours later, as I exited the terminal in Accra, I was hit by a wall of hot and humid air, probably 95°F and 90% humidity. The hundred-degree difference was a shock to my system, and I think I’ve been sluggish and sweaty every day since then, as I readjust to life back in West Africa.

For three months in the U.S. last fall (followed by some weeks of vacation around Christmas), I had the chance to visit more than 45 congregations, presbyteries and seminaries, speaking about the work we are doing together with Presbyterian mission partners in West Africa. It was great to have the opportunity to see so many of you face-to-face!

A man in a traditional mask and dress in southeastern Nigeria. Much of the food, music and culture of the Americas is influenced by West African traditions, such as this masquerade, which is reflected in the Mardi Gras of New Orleans. Photo Credit Josh Heikkila.

Traveling to see you and being together in person – it’s exhausting and expensive to be on the road so much, but I find it to be a good experience. I’m constantly encouraged to find how open and receptive you all are to learn how God is at work with our partners in West Africa – how we are sharing with them the gifts God has given us, and learning and receiving in return according to the gifts God has given them. I learn a lot from interacting with your congregations, too.

Zoom provides us the opportunity to connect from afar, and I hope over the next two years, as I remain in West Africa, we can continue to communicate online. But there’s something that Zoom just can’t recreate. I hope in 2025 to be back in the U.S. and to have some more of these in-person visits.

This past October, I reached a milestone anniversary, having spent a total of 15 years in Ghana! One of those years was as a Young Adult Volunteer during the 2002-03 school year. But since 2009, I have been serving as the PC(USA) Regional Liaison for West Africa, which is my current position. I find it hard to believe it’s been this many years.

I think after so much time in one place, it can be easy to fall into a rut, doing over and over again what you’ve become accustomed to doing and not breaking out into anything new. It seems the COVID pandemic also reinforced the need to stay at home, so perhaps not venturing out has become something of a habit.

I often find myself spending a lot of time at a desk and in front of a computer, and I worry this has limited my opportunity to learn from and grow in the environment where I am. I hope in 2024, I will get out more often and continue to learn about the churches and cultures of West Africa in new and meaningful ways. If there’s a way I can bring you into this process, please let me know.

During the fall when I was visiting churches, I spent a lot of time trying to share how West Africa has shaped the country and culture of the United States, and how we need to learn more about West Africa if we are to really understand ourselves. Our American food, music, dance and language has so many roots and influences from this part of the world.

In recent years, our denomination has been speaking about the need for repair and reconciliation, and I wonder if learning more about how all of us Americans have been shaped by West Africa can help us with this process. Not to sound naïve, but I think learning about and recognizing how we are made up of contributions from so many diverse places can help us to acknowledge there is more that brings us together than separates us.

One subtle criticism I occasionally hear from partners, though, is how we Americans have a tendency to make ourselves the center of attention. We believe our problems are the world’s problems, our interests the world’s interest, what we want to talk about to be what everyone else wants to talk about, too. This is not always the case! By walking alongside our partners, we can see there are many ways they live life, faith, and community better than we do, and we just have to be quiet and learn from them, as well.

In the year ahead, I look forward to interacting with you more about our shared mission engagement with West Africa.

I invite you to take a look at these links to YouTube and my Facebook page to appreciate the vibrancy of the Ghanaian church. I took the videos below when I visited these vibrant congregations.

Evangelical Presbyterian Church Ghana, Dansoman congregation interpreting “Rejoice the Lord is King” with Ghanaian instruments and rhythms. youtube.com/watch?v=15QXbSMOs0M

The church in West Africa has incorporated European hymns and instruments into an African style that includes drums and a call and response type of singing. Agoe Nyive is the name of the congregation, the neighborhood in Lome Togo where they are located. The hymn is Mawu donku dzinye, le wo domenyonyo nu. Lord in your goodness remember me.  youtube.com/watch?v=s_0Em_EHrkI

A choir singing, “Mawu ana nya la wunu alesi woanyo na woe.” facebook.com/josh.heikkila/videos/277466865369771

Josh