Ghana (MNN)–The number of orphans and street children in Ghana is staggering.
Many of them were abandoned by parents too poor to care for them. Others have lost their parents to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and struggle for survival on the streets. Still more fend for themselves as the offspring of trokosi, or fetish slaves.
With the thousands that are in need, that means children’s outreaches are booming. Every Child Ministries takes as many in through their various arms of their organization.
Aside from an orphanage, there are schools, shelters and educational programs to teach freed trokosi vocational skills, and to mentor them in their new faith.
As effective as these are, the needs are ever growing. ECM’s John Rouster says their construction team just poured the foundation for an expansion. “We have children waiting in the wings to come to Haven of Hope. And we are full to the brim, so we are just starting construction on our second dormitory that will house another 30 children, and then also, it’ll allow us to separate the boys from the girls.”
The operational cost of keeping the children at Haven of Hope is covered through child sponsorships. Ministry friends sponsor individual children. As the facility grows, so too does the need for sponsors.
ECM hopes to have the finished dormitory ready for occupancy next June or July. Rouster says it will also enable them to reach more of these desperate kids. “The children of Ghana are like a sponge. When you have the information and the salvation message about Jesus Christ, they are there to hear it and to absorb it.”
