Taking Only One Bag of Salt?

By Kalengule Kaoma

The Ewe language of southeastern Ghana has a saying that emerges from the salt trade along the Volta River. The saying is Dze kotoku deka medea Kratsi o. It can be translated as "You don’t go to Krachi with only one bag of salt."

Kete-Krachi, shortened to Krachi in the proverb, is about 200 miles (320 km) north of Ghana’s capital, Accra. It isn’t easy for salt merchants to get there, but if they undertake the journey, they will be able to sell all the salt they bring. Naturally, it would be foolish to bring only one bag of salt when you could sell far more than that.

In Christ, everything we do makes a positive difference for the kingdom of God. As 1 Corinthians 15:58 tells us, "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

Why take only one bag of salt to Krachi when you could sell 100? In the same way, the more we do in the name of Christ, the more his love flows through us and permeates the world.

Copyright 2009

Kalengule Kaoma lives in Zambia and is a mission director for a number of African nations.