| Dear Friends and Partners, It is my privilege to bring you some Arm of Hope updates! OUR BUILDING Our Arm of Hope building is getting a much needed addition! Our current room used for Bible Club is bursting at the seams each Sunday, even though there are already two different times for younger/older students to meet! It’s exciting to know that so many children are hearing the Gospel and learning to walk with Jesus on a regular basis. The Arm of Hope building was constructed with a flat roof with a half wall around it, as we could foresee the need for more space becoming a reality. Currently, we are adding a greenhouse-type covering over the previous roof, so there will be more space for Sunday Bible Club. Children will be able to meet in smaller groups with protection from the hot Ghana sun. We are also building a small office for Brother Philip, our missionary partner. This will give him the opportunity to move out of the shared office and have a better space for privacy and counseling. The main office is right by the library and computer lab, so this area is well-trafficked from morning till night. Thank you to all who have given to the Development Fund! We save money in this fund for opportunities such as this!   OUR STUDENTS Our Arm of Hope students are currently back in school after a delayed start in January. With 500 students in school and nearly 40 students in college, we are reorganizing our students into a database. This will be a huge improvement over our previous spreadsheets! We are currently working on data entry, and your new sponsorship photos should be in the mail soon! Arm of Hope is proud to announce that we have our first start-up business! Agnes graduated from a hair styling trade school last year and is now the proud owner of “Hope Alive Beauty Salon.” Through a loan from Arm of Hope, she is able to operate with top-of-the-line equipment right in the middle of our Arm of Hope community. In the future, Agnes will train other students as a way of giving back to Arm of Hope. We look forward to the future and the many other small businesses that will provide for our students and bless their community.    OUR OFFICE We are so thankful to Jen Fish, who managed our first year of bookkeeping with Arm of Hope. It was a year of learning, and she did it so well! This year the bookkeeping has been turned over to David Spayde. David is an accountant, and he travelled to Ghana with our team for the first time in December. If you have issues with your account and are referred to office@armofhopeinghana.org, David will be the one helping you! Thank you, David, for serving Arm of Hope in this way!  OUR CALENDAR May 21: Our family-friendly Arm of Hope 5k with awards, t-shirts, and prizes! Don’t miss it! October 1: Our annual parking lot picnic at Hope Community Church! Mark your calendar now! I am so grateful for all the ways God is using you to change lives in Ghana through Arm of Hope! Cheryl Zimmerman Arm of Hope Director |