Six weeks ago, Arm of Hope held what we hope to be our first annual banquet. It was a great night of food, fun, testimonies, worship, and a message from our missionary partner and director of Arm of Hope, Philip Darko.
Since that night many of you have encouraged us by letting us know how much you enjoyed this evening – the food, the festive environment, and the updates on what God is doing in Ghana through the ministry of Arm of Hope. Thank you for your kind words!
Many of you have also asked about the results of our “Unwrap Hope” challenge at the end of the night when we gave those in attendance an opportunity to be a part of what God is doing in Ghana through financial gifs.
First, we had 22 people who sponsored tables at $200 per table or $20 per person attending. The thrifty people in charge of cooking and decorating were actually able to plan the entire banquet for half of that table sponsorship money, so that gave us over $2,000 toward the ministry of Arm of Hope right up front. If you sponsored a table, THANK YOU! You not only funded the evening but also contributed quite a bit to help kids in Ghana.
Many gifts were given the night of the banquet but they have been trickling in to Hope Community Church ever since. One person in attendance who was new to the work of Arm of Hope went back to his place of employment that shares with various ministries at Christmas and asked them to support Arm of Hope. His business agreed to share $1,000 with the work of Arm of Hope! If you are the person who pursued this and are reading right now, THANK YOU!
So in total (drum roll please)…
Arm of Hope raised $17, 451 at the Arm of Hope banquet plus 18 new children in Ghana were personally sponsored amounting to $360 each per year for a grand total of $23,931!
Wow! All I can say is, “Yay God! You are amazing!”
With these gifts from the Unwrap Hope Banquet:
*18 more children will have everything they need to attend school this year
*Philip Darko will receive additional support to meet the needs of his family
*We were able to meet our goal to raise $7,000 to hire a female social worker in the year 2017 to work alongside Brother Philip, particularly targeting the mentoring of young girls in the sponsorship program.
*The remaining money has been deposited into our Arm of Hope Development fund which continues to support children waiting for sponsorship.
If you played a part in this special night with Arm of Hope, THANK YOU! You are changing lives in Ghana every day in ways you will probably never even begin to understand. Each dollar will be maximized and carefully handled to bring children up to love Jesus and live lives that magnify Him.
God bless you this Christmas season for choosing to be an integral part of the lives God is continuing to change in Ghana!