Ghana (MNN) — Every Child
Ministries' John Rouster says they're investing in future ministry in
Ghana. They've brought on two missionary
couples, Jim and Carolyn Driscoll of Staunton, Virginia, and Jerre and Ruth
Ann Gowin of Crown Point, Indiana to the Haven of Hope.
They're excited "for men
figures in the boys' lives, and just overseeing the general managing
day-to-day. And then also the mothers at Haven of Hope–they're great mothers,
and they really sacrifice a lot working with the children. I think Ruth Ann
(Gowin) and Carolyn Driscoll will bring a warmness to the children's lives that
they've not really experienced up to this time."
The Driscolls will begin working
with the street children in downtown Accra and working at the Haven of Hope. Jerre Gowin, with
a background in education, will be running the Haven of Hope Academy, and both
he and his wife will be active at the home.
The
women plan to work as mentors at the Haven of Hope Home. Their job will be to encourage more
relationship between the house parents and the children they're caring for.
The Academy will benefit
from Jim and Jerre's work experience in the United States. The facility has been growing, and ECM began construction this
year on the second set of buildings, which will allow them to continue adding
classes.
On the
home front, both couples will be caring
for children who desperately need a safe haven, a loving atmosphere, an
opportunity for Christian instruction, positive role models and a chance to go
to school.
Just
last year, ECM opened a second home on their eight-acre campus which enabled
them to double their capacity and to separate girls and boys in two separate
homes. The operational cost of keeping
the children at Haven of Hope is largely covered through child sponsorships.
But it's more than getting kids
off the street. It's about building community of the future. Rouster says this intensive ministry can help heal
broken lives and hearts. "There are
46 children there now, and not a one of them ever slept in a bed until they
came to Haven of Hope. They had lived on the streets. This will just fortify the position of ECM of
raising the children in a Christ-centered atmosphere."
