Here’s Philip Darko’s most recent newsletter outlining how things are going with Arm of Hope in Ghana. Thanks for taking time to read what is on his heart.
Dear Friend,
Every summer thousands of children in the U.S. attend a faith-based summer camp where they sing songs, make new friends, and hear the Gospel. In Ghana, hundreds of kids will be doing the same. Your support this year is putting on a summer camp where children from the slums will participate in fun activities, receive three meals a day, and most importantly, hear the Gospel message.
Ghana is one of the smaller countries on the western side of Africa, and there is so much opportunity to share Christ. It’s not just the children who are blessed, but many times the lessons children learn at the camp end up impacting their parents. The songs from camp are sung the whole year, and the shirts from camp become an important shirt for a child in need.
A lot of children return home and have accepted Christ, and their parents don’t know what to do with that. It’s a wonderful opportunity for them to share their faith with their parents and families. We see how so many times children accept the Lord first, then go home and share with their parents, and their parents accept the Lord too. But the discipleship doesn’t end once the two weeks of camp are over. The Sunday Bible Club meetings play an important role in helping maintain spiritual growth.
Last year, over 300 children attended the two weeks of camp, and many rededicated and gave their lives to Christ. This year, we hope for an even bigger success. This summer, even more children want to come, but our camp site can take only a certain number. It’s an evangelistic camp, and evangelistic summer camps in Ghana effectively reach both children and their families with the hope of the gospel, but children need help to attend. That’s where you come in! Sixty dollars will cover the entire cost of the camp for one child, which includes three meals a day, t-shirts and other camp supplies. The cost for the whole camp is close to $20,000.
Thirteen missionaries on a team from Hope Community Church, Elizabethtown, PA plan to visit for two weeks and join the native missionaries to reach children with the gospel this summer. Please pray and support team members as they come to serve at camp in August. When children encounter the living Lord Jesus through the kindness poured out through the missionaries, they desire to know Him more. Pray that the Lord would move mightily among the children, and then pray for them as they return home to their families.
Two hundred and sixty children attending primary school, secondary school and university in the slum community need books and uniforms to begin their school year. Will you help them? We have twenty-one elementary students who will be graduating next month and ready to enter high school next school year. I know they desperately want to go to high school, but in Ghana that’s often where the education starts to fade. They need tuition for boarding school or day schools as well as entry admission fees. It is very expensive for their poverty stricken families so they will need help ($30 per student per month or $360 for the year).
In Ghana most school children learn until ninth grade but then get stuck because they are not able to continue their education. These children are our next generation, and our future community and church leaders. Have you seen them? Have you seen slum children in uniforms walking from school with their backpack through the populated community in the afternoons? They stand out! They feel proud because their uniforms make a statement. These special clothes proclaim that the children are learning and that they have a future and hope. I was impressed with many of the grades received by these children this semester, and I know that with God all things will be possible!
I am so thankful for your love and support which enable us to work and reach out to many unreached people in Ghana with the good news of our Lord Jesus, We pray daily for you that the Lord will bless your labor and the love that you have for us.
The Third annual Arm of Hope 5k just took place. Proceeds from this year’s 5K will go towards the lodging, food, and transportation of over 300 children who will be traveling to camp this August in Ghana. Like everywhere else in the world, it definitely costs money to do this kind of thing, so eight days of camp will require lots of food, water, bus travel, and personal supplies. If you ran or walked in the 5k, you have contributed to these necessary parts of the camp!
Also, the new Arm of Hope website is fully in operation! This is your opportunity to sponsor an elementary child, a high school child or a college student for the new 2016-2017 school year by giving online. If you feel God calling you to help a child, visit the website at www.armofhopeinghana.org.
You can also send your tax deductible gift with a separate note designating it for any of our current needs along with your name and address to: Hope Community Church, 1806 Harrisburg Avenue, Mount Joy, PA 17552.
If giving financially isn’t an option, you can always pray. Pray that God would move mightily during the summer, leading children to recognize their need for Him and that He would work in their families hearts as well.
“His truth endureth to all generations” (Ps. 100:5).
Philip Darko
(Missionary in Ghana, West Africa)