Haven of Hope kids receiving gifts and letters from sponsors. A very happy day! (Photo and caption courtesy of Mark Luckey)
Ghana (MNN) — There are a lot of words used within the Christian community that can lose their meaning or be taken for granted over time. Hope is one of these.
Jesus is the source of hope for lost sinners. Mark Luckey, international director of Every Child Ministries, knows this already. However, since he’s been in Ghana, Luckey has been able to see the real, life-changing effect of hope within the lives of people who have never had a reason to hope before.
Luckey has been in Ghana for almost two weeks visiting ECM’s Haven of Hope Academy, as well as the other projects in the country. As the name suggests, ECM has an emphasis on bringing hope to forgotten children in Africa.
“I remember the first day I came here, and I gathered with those kids,” Luckey says of the children at Haven of Hope.
He passed out gifts and letters from the children’s sponsors. “I just saw this incredible hope in their eyes, and it just became very real to me why we talk about bringing hope and why Jesus brings hope.”
The lack of hope causes people to despair. But when there is hope, it encourages people to continue toward a goal.
“When you have hope, [it’s reflected] in your perspective, in your attitude, in just your desire to improve yourself, your desire to get an education,” Luckey says.
Haven of Hope has 53 current boarders who are sponsored and over 300 students who come during the day.
The hope goes beyond education and even the future careers that education will make possible.
Luckey says, “At a place like Haven of Hope, not only do they get the meal and the education and the love and the hugs, but they get the message of Jesus Christ and the Good News of Jesus. [Our prayer is that] not only do they have a haven of hope here, but they’re going to have a home forever with Jesus.”
Haven of Hope was started about 15 years ago by former international directors John and Lorella Rouster.
“They gathered these kids, and they started caring for them; and the ministry kept growing,” Luckey says. As the children they cared for grew older, the need for education became apparent–so they started the school. Because it was a good school, other children from the community began to attend.
Aside from the Luckeys, the staff of Haven of Hope is all Ghanaian. Yet, they depend on partnership with partners like you to continue to bless the lives of these children in need. To sponsor a child, click here.
To support ECM projects,click here
Ask God to continue to reach children and their families with the Gospel through the projects of ECM.
