Book of Mormon Moment #372. Twi/Fante/English, July 21,2005.
07/21/2005, at the laudromat.
Is the Lord cool or what? On Tuesday this week I received the Twi Books of Mormon in the mail. On Wednesday I met a man from Ghana who spoke Twi, but didn't read it, though he did accept an English Book of Mormon. Today, Thursday, at the laundromat I met another man from Ghana who spoke both Fante and Twi, and he accepted both of those, plus English.
It's been months since I met anyone from Ghana, then I get the Twi language Books of Mormon in the mail, and BOOM, within 2 days I met two more Ghanians who speak Twi.
This guy was folding his laundry near the entrance and I noticed him as I went in. He triggered my immigrant radar. I put my laundry down next to a washer, then went back towards the entrance and bought some chips from a vending machine. I asked him if he spoke any African languages, and he said yes, Akan, and that he was from Ghana. I asked him "Akan-Fante or Akan-Twi?" And he said both. I said I had some church books in those languages in my car, they were free, and asked if he'd like to see them. He said okay.
I retrieved Fante, Twi and an English copies of the Book of Mormon from the car, and presented them. He showed genuine interest and we chatted some more. He said he knows some of the people who worked at the now closed Africa-Mart at Lafayette Square. I said that I had told the Ghanian employees there that I would give them a Twi Book of Mormon when it became available, and asked him to pass along my phone number to them, so they could contact me if they still wanted the books. He said that there is a Ghana association in town.
Labels: Fante, laundromat, Twi