FIRST SHOT

My flight to Ghana is nailed down* and finalizing that ticket has forced me into a decision I have avoided for at least 18 months: 

Ghana officially requires foreigners to be vaccinated against Covid 19. 

I'm not an "anti-vaxxer". I'm a procrastinator. One with a measure of distrust for Big Pharma and Government. 

(And a dislike in general for being forced by others to do anything I feel is unnecessary.)

After all, I am in much better health than at least 90 % of the people my age. And I wasn't spending time around older and more vulnerable people during the height of the pandemic.

So I dragged my feet, waiting to see if the anti-vaxxers were right about the vaccines doing more harm than good. But nothing really happened. In time, Covid passed from the daily news and I figured maybe I had procrastinated long enough to avoid the whole issue.

Now I have the opportunity to see Mission Resource's work firsthand in Ghana and the price tag is the vaccine. I could take a chance that officials at the airport in Accra will not really be enforcing the rules, but I don't want to risk being turned away.

I feel called to work with Mission Resource, called to Ghana, and called to this trip. 

A number of well-intentioned friends have warned me against getting the vaccine. They say it's too risky. 

But from my perspective, getting the Covid vaccine is hardly the riskiest thing I have done in obedience to God's call on my life. 

_____________

* I leave a week from Monday!