After
spending the morning at Precious’ Compassion center, we drove a short distance
to the community where Tia and I sponsor George & George, a six year old
pair of adorable twins.
The boys' schoolyard.
The church
was predominantly filled with women, with a few men scattered throughout the
standing room only sanctuary. There was
an air of excited anticipation as we entered, both from our group eager to meet
the people of this community, and from them eager to hear from us. Once again, as we walked down the aisle among
these beautiful people, it was hard to accept the warm welcome fit for a king –
but it helped to know that these people are simply generous in their warmth and
hospitality; they would have done the same for a pauper and for a king.
The Biseasi
Compassion project (GH220) we had visited earlier in the day was very different
from the one we had just been welcomed into in the community of Breman Essiam –
Project GH880.
Compassion
had joined forces with the local church in Biseasi several years ago, and since
then, has seen almost every child in the project sponsored. Approximately 7 children at GH220 are still
awaiting sponsors.
By contrast,
GH880 is quite new, having only been established in December of 2010. Out of the 200 children registered at GH880,
43 are still awaiting the commitment of a sponsor. (Seven of these are listed *here*.) This leaves the church struggling to meet the
community’s desperate needs.
What was
encouraging to read, though, was that although only 19 of the 200 children
registered at GH880 attended school in December of 2010, now, barely 11 months
later, all 200 children attend school.
This victory was greeted with a thunderous round of applause. This alone will make a difference in the
future of the community. Since the
beginning of the Compassion program, more than 100 children have made the
decision to follow the Christian faith, and half a dozen caregivers have done
so as well.
Their
greatest challenge, aside from the vital need for sponsors for the 43 children
still waiting, is a meeting place for their program on Saturdays. The school space they currently use is often needed
by the community school, leaving them without a gathering place for the 200
children they feed, teach and care for every Saturday. We can not stress how important it is for
this need to be filled – please join us in praying for this project and should
anyone wish to contribute to this need, simply contact any Compassion office to
find out how this can be done.
We were the
first group of sponsors ever to have visited this Compassion center. Given how closely located to Biseasi it is, I
can imagine Michelle visiting this center when she visits Precious in 2012.
The
Compassion Project Staff were introduced, and we also introduced
ourselves. They chose to convey how
important sponsorship is to us, the sponsors, by sharing with the people who
had gathered how far we had travelled and how much it had cost to travel such a
distance to visit with our sponsored children, their family and their community. It is my prayer that the people understood
that this was not of our hands, but of God who had provided.
The
Compassion staff had given me the opportunity to speak to the people who had
gathered, and my message to them was that in sharing their children with us,
the sponsors, through letters and prayers, we had built a relationship not only
with the child, but with the child’s family – their family and ours had joined
as one. As family, we shared a sense of
community, and as such, we were invested into the success of their community as
well as that of their country. I shared
that it was through one of the four children we sponsor in Ghana that we were
here to help provide a school for children in Ghana, and that we hoped this
would be a strong message of how much sponsorship not only helps the child, but
everyone touched by the sponsorship.
Looking into the eyes of the mothers and fathers who had gathered, I
told them of how important the Compassion program was, how successful it was,
and how it was changing the face of the nations. I told them that each and every one of their
children had limitless potential through the power of Christ, and that the
Compassion program would help them reach it.
Smiling, I told them about Margaret, the woman in Uganda who had grown
up in the Compassion program and had been selected for Compassion’s Leadership
Development Program... after which she had been recently elected to the Uganda
Senate. Pointing to their children once
again, I shared that these children are the faces of the future for Ghana, and
that it was an honor to come alongside these families, not as sponsors or
anyone special, but as brothers and sisters, equals, praying for abundant
blessings upon their lives. I thanked
them for the wonderful job they are doing raising their children, the children
we have come to love so much, and thanked them for their warm welcome into
their community.
We were
presented with amazing, symbolic gifts of unity – a carving of three statues
interwoven seamlessly into a circle was given to each Debra, Tia and
Joshua.
Tia also received a carving of
the country of Ghana, with all the regions shown. I was presented with a carving of a man
leading a small child by the hand, with a woman behind him, hand on his
shoulder in a show of support. Cherished
gifts to we, who had so little to offer but our love for these people.
As children
arrived from school, they gathered in the doorways to watch the “obruni” in
their church. It was as though the
church was overflowing, the way these children gathered outside, crowding
around the doors. For a precious and
sweet moment, I imagined the joy Jesus must have felt when He looked upon the
faces of children who had gathered around to hear the good news.
The skies
opened and rain forcefully poured down, as abundant as the love and celebration
inside the church. The children, still
curious and watching, simply kept standing in the rain, and as I watched them,
I prayed for God to pour favour upon these children in ways that would
outnumber each drop that was falling from the sky onto them now.
Shortly
after the rain stopped, the Compassion staff shared how I had cried as I picked
out Ato Sam out of the choir yesterday, and identified him as my son, wrapping
him in my arms with joy. The crowd of
mothers, perhaps in universal understanding of the love one has for a child of
her heart, applauded with laughter. An
announcement was then made that they would bring a group of children and see if
we could identify the boys, George & George, known by their nicknames
Panyin (Pen-YIEN) and Kakra.
A lady
ushered a dozen children between our group and the crowd that had gathered, and
they asked us to step forward to identify the boys. Tia and I looked at each other, with tears in
our eyes – we already knew... we each knelt
down in front of the boys we shared love for, the boys whose eyes melt our
hearts and whose little faces, carbon copies of each other, we would recognize
anywhere.
There was a
round of applause as we correctly identified the boys, and a round of laughter
when we had to ask which was Panyin and which was Kakra.
As the individual
boys were named, Tia and I each picked up ours into our arms, lifting their
featherweight bodies up into the gentlest of hugs.
I could
guess that there wasn’t a dry eye in the place, but it was hard to see through
my own tears. These boys, both six years
old, so tiny and seemingly fragile, melted into our arms. They seemed to be the size of tiny three year
olds.
I vaguely
remember a round of photos being taken, and us sitting back down with the boys
on our laps as we interacted with the boys as the preacher spoke. I couldn’t tell you a word that was spoken,
the rest of the world seemed to disappear as we each spent time with these
precious boys.
Uhm, helllllo... have you seen this child's eyelashes?!??! Maybe it's Mabeline?
After some
time, they brought the boys’ parents to us, and we were finally able to give
them great big hugs and show our gratitude and love to them. The mom was so sweet, and the father so
enthusiastic and welcoming – what a great pair of parents these boys have!
.
We all piled
into the van and made our way to their home, which turned out to be a tiny
community of it’s own, with several homes encircling a common courtyard where
people gather and socialize.
We sat in
the shade and spoke with the family for some time, asking questions, answering
questions, and meeting the other children in the family as well as the
grandchildren. We were eager to present
them with the gifts that we had brought, beginning with the Thing 1 and Thing 2
shirts my boss had purchased for them along with the Cat In The Hat Book. It would help us identify which twin was which,
and let’s not forget the treasured photos!
The father was so excited as he helped make sure the boys held the book
but didn’t cover up the shirts – it was so sweet.
Tia had also
purchased two stuffed Curious George monkeys and had sent them a photo of the
monkeys, along with her letters that included fictional Curious George stories
that were created specifically for the boys.
We brought the stuffed monkeys to them, and showed them how to press the
foot to make them squeal, laugh and talk.
The boys’ faces lit up like the morning sky – the first smile we’d ever
seen on them... priceless, absolutely priceless.
We presented
the gifts we had brought to their parents and siblings, and handed out some of
Joshua’s Hot Wheels cars to the kids gathered around, as well as some Silly
Bands to the girls.
The last
gift we presented to them was a hardcover book that we had ordered from
Snapfish, including photos and information on Tia and her family, as well as me
and my family. The last page was a
letter we had written for the boys, encouraging them and praying over
them.
The family
was easily surrounded by 30-40 people from their tiny community, all wrapped
around them in love and support... it was so beautiful to see. Over and over again in Africa, this was what
we witnessed and fell in love with.
All too
soon, it was time for family and group photos, and time for bittersweet
goodbyes... so sweet to have been blessed with precious time, but all too
difficult to say goodbye, especially now that the twins’ shock was wearing off
and their personalities were beginning to shine through.
Our arms
still ache from having held them and having had to let them go. It was completely and utterly worth every
ache, every mile, every airport nightmare, all the months of preparation... it
was worth it all.
Still, so
grateful that in heaven, there won’t be goodbyes.
