The National Director of Compassion International Ghana, Kobina Yeboah Okyere, has called on pastors to collaborate to provide support for deprived children in communities across the country.

That, he said, was to give them hope and support to enable them to come out of poverty. “There are churches in every community and a lot of them already have children’s ministry. It is, therefore, easier to partner and to work together,” he said.

Mr Okyere said this on Tuesday at this year’s National Pastors’ Conference of Compassion International Ghana at the Pentecost Convention Centre at Gomoa Fetteh in the Central Region.

Event

The five-day conference, the first to be held in the last five years, is on the theme: “Transformed to Build’. The programme is being attended by partners of the organisation in the country.

Mr Okyere noted that Compassion International Ghana had, over the last 20 years, provided support to alleviate 109,000 deprived children out of poverty. He said so far, 11,000 of the children had exited the support programme, with 98,000 registered children remaining.

Beneficiaries

It said the beneficiaries had been provided with education, skills training and health support, among others. “We give the children the opportunity to experience the life of God and support their education and health.

There are some children with serious health conditions, with some flown out of the country for further health care,” he said. “Some of them have their education supported through this ministry. Moreover, every month, we support some of them with access to food,” he said, adding that others were put through apprenticeship programmes.

Churches

He said the organisation currently was working with 426 churches and communities that provide them with various interventions. Mr Okyere said from zero to 22 years, the organisation worked with the families of beneficiaries and the church and through that journey, their moral and spiritual outlook were shaped for the betterment of their lives.

Through the programme, he said, some of the beneficiaries became active agents of change in their communities, serving as leaders in their churches. “Through this programme, some of them are midwives, nurses, doctors, teachers, businessmen and women and student leaders.

So, through this programme that God has gifted us with, we are giving opportunities to children who, under normal circumstances, would never have any opportunity,” he said.
He said the children were selected based on needs.

Transformative

The Executive President of the Ghana Baptist Convention, Rev. Thompson, in a keynote address, said the ministry of Compassion International Ghana was transformative. He said beneficiaries were not only spiritually built but physically as well, through the provision of education and hands-on skills, among others.

He said they also transformed beneficiaries emotionally and socially and urged partners not to fail the donors of the programme. A member of the Governing Council of Compassion International Ghana, Afia Darkwa Amanor, pledged the support of the council to the realisation of the organisation’s objectives.

He asked for God’s blessings for the partners for the hard work they were doing to bring disadvantaged and deprived children out of poverty. “As a governing council, I would like you to know that we deeply appreciate our partnership with churches and our partnership with you,” he said.

Source: GaphicOnline