More on the Children's Center ~ In Jake's Words

In Jake’s words…

Today was a day filled with sadness and heart break, but also a crystal clear vision from God. As we drove down the streets of Apeguso all I could think about was the song called “Yours” by Steven Curtis Chapman and the lyrics that say “I walk the dirt roads of Uganda and I am reminded that every child in Africa is yours.” The roads to Apeguso, Ghana were made of a rich, dark red clay that were surrounded by bush on both sides.
 

It seemed like we were on the road forever until we finally reached the little village tucked back away in the bush just off the red clay road.
  

I was on my way to meet a young boy named Israel. Israel has HIV, is an orphan, suffers from epilepsy, and was recently badly burnt by fire. I had seen the pictures and heard his story, but nothing in this world could prepare me for what I would see on the streets of Apeguso.

As we approached an isolated mud hut I was told that this is where Israel lived all alone.
 

As we opened the door a young boy appeared who was so ashamed of himself and his surroundings he could not lift his head to look at us in the eye.
 

His entire body screamed Help me, I am alone, I am afraid, and I am ashamed. My father has died, my mother has run away, and I have been neglected by this fallen world.

It was the first time in five years that I was lost for words and simply wanted to cry. I wanted to cry and ask God why? Why allow this type of suffering? Why allow this type of heart break? Why allow a child to be alone, afraid, and ashamed? 

Then I felt God reverse the same questions that were stirring in my emotions and my own head right back to me. “Jake,” God seemed to ask, “Why would you allow this boy to be alone? What will you do to meet his needs? How will you provide him an earthly family and teach him about his true Father above? How will you raise his chin and provide him eyes of hope?”

It was so clear right then. Over the last five years my wife and I have dreamed about opening a children’s center in Ghana where the most vulnerable and hurting children could be loved. Where God could provide the least of these an earthly family and a loving setting to be taught about our great Savior.

Just an hour earlier I was sitting with the Ahodwo Architecture Firm discussing the plans of the children’s center we want to build in Asikuma. Everything seemed too easy until we came to the cost of the project. The total cost for Phase 1 of the project, which is the children’s home that will provide a family to those suffering and alone, would cost $130,000.

A couple months ago Kingdom Cares International received a surprise gift from our home church, Cornerstone Church in Ames, Iowa, of $40,000. When I received that gift I was sure that would be plenty of money to complete a children’s home. However, that would be too easy and require very little faith. I know the vision that God has given me for the home and I know God has shown up in big ways in the past. I felt as though God was saying to me, “Are you willing to take that step of faith and see Me provide once again?”

I gave a tentative yes to the architects, but yet doubt filled my mind as I made the trip to Israel’s house and village. Even as I sit here in the Ghana airport writing this post doubt covers every ounce of me. I know Satan will put those thoughts in my head and he will try to put up road blocks in our path. Tonight I got a call about someone disputing the land which now means we have to go to the land’s register office to make sure the land is clear and free. This just delays the project by a week or two and fills my mind with doubts and second thoughts.

I am sure we will face more roadblocks and question things more than once, but that is what faith is all about. I know God wants us to take a gigantic step of faith and to not just speak the verse that what seems impossible according to men is entirely possibly with God (Matthew 19:26), but to actually live it out in our lives.

The entire vision of the project is to develop five acres of land into an entire youth complex that will include the children’s center, a school, and a recreational area that will have a soccer field, basketball court, and playground. We want this to be where the children go and it will be our opportunity to impact their lives for Christ at an early age. The entire project will cost roughly $250,000 to complete. We are only focusing on phase I at this point and that is the development of the children’s center so we can care for children like Israel.

We have the first $40,000 thanks to Cornerstone Church and pray that all of you reading this post will choose to play a part in serving the vulnerable children and being the family that God intends for every orphaned child.

Below we have included all of the architectural drawings for phase I of the project. If you have additional questions please feel free to call me at 515-291-1542 or email (jake@kingdomhoops.com).

I always have great fear and reservations when I look at something so big. However, I know the vision God has given me. When God started the journey five years ago to Africa some of the first words I read were from David Platt in the book “Radical”. It said when you start in on something that in no way can be accomplished by man, and the only way you will make it is if God shows up in a big way, you then know you are walking in the footsteps of God.

God Bless,
Jake Sullivan

Donations can be mailed to Kingdom Cares International – 315 Ridgewood Drive, Huxley, IA, 50124 or you can donate online by going to www.kingdomcares.org and click on the donate tab at the top of the screen. All donations are tax deductible and you will be sent a receipt following your donation.
 

Israel's Story and the Birth of a Children's Center

I introduced you to Israel in this post...

Our in-country worker, Wisdom, was able to accompany Israel to the hospital to receive treatment for his burns while Jake and the team were in Cape Coast on Monday.

Israel & Wisdom

Yesterday Jake and the team were back in Asikuma, and as promised, the two ladies from Israel’s village came and got Jake and took him to meet him. In Jake’s words he said that meeting Israel and seeing first-hand his condition and the reality of how he lives was the saddest, most upsetting encounter that he’s ever had in all the times he’s been to Ghana.

The two ladies had found Israel living here….

But have since been able to help him get into this mud hut…..

where he now lives all alone and sleeps on the dirt floor….

he weaves together these fans and sells them to survive…

As it turns out, Israel is epileptic. He was cooking for himself one night, had a seizure, fell into the cooking fire, and that is how he got the burns. His father has died. His mother, is in fact not dead, but ran away. He has HIV. Because of all these stigmas the community has abandoned him. He looks at the ground when you talk to him, unsure of his worth.

Kingdom Cares gave 500 cedis ($250) to the women who are helping defend Israel’s cause. They will use that money to get Israel to the nearby hospital in a neighboring town each day for the next weeks to have his wounds re-bandaged. Next week the mental nurse will be at the hospital to evaluate Israel’s epilepsy and write a prescription for the appropriate medicine. Today Jake recruited a woman within in the community to cook for Israel and make sure he is getting to eat each day. KCI provided the woman with funds for her help and to cover the cost of his food. The two women advocates in the community will continue to monitor Israel and ensure that all these details play out as described. Thanks to some of the teenage boys on the current KCI team, Israel now has a handful of clothes to wear which he has on in the pictures.

My heart is so heavy and burdened for this young man. This all just doesn’t seem like even coming close to being enough to help ease his suffering or the torment and loneliness he must be feeling inside.

 

With Israel’s situation in full view, I think it is now the appropriate time to tell you about a project that KCI has had in the works for a couple of months. Israel’s situation has become another one motivating us to break ground and get moving on what I am about to share.

Earlier this year, our church – Cornerstone Church of Ames, decided that they wanted to take up a free will offering one Sunday with a very specific purpose in mind. Every single penny from this offering would be given away to local and global organizations who were reaching out to the poor, needy, oppressed, overlooked, ignored, and disadvantaged. Kingdom Cares International was informed ahead of time that we would be one of the organizations receiving a percentage of whatever the offering was. Our pastors and church leaders had no idea what to expect….no idea how much God’s people would give. They gave the congregation a few weeks notice of when the offering would be, and they listed off the different organizations that would receive percentages of the offering. The Sunday of the offering arrived, the money was tallied that next week, and in total our church body gave over $250,000 in an offering that day. Unbelievable. I have goosebumps just typing it. That next week Kingdom Cares International received our percentage of the offering which ended up being $40,000!!! Almost immediately God specifically laid out what to use the money for.

For children like Israel.

And Emefa.

And Emmanuel.

And George.

And….the list goes on and on.

A children’s center. A place in the community where we can meet needs. Hand out a meal a day. Ensure children are getting access to medical care and help to administer the medicines they've been prescribed. A place to take in true orphans in dire situations like Israel….give them a place to live, help care for their needs, sponsor them in school, love them in action. A place to share the gospel and give out the fullness of real hope.

In addition, we need a place to house our short and long-term missionaries. We currently have two interns from the U.S. that just arrived to live in Asikuma and volunteer for KCI for the next 6 months. They are staying at the lodge in Asikuma, but it would be much more ideal if they could live and serve out of the same place….the children’s center. Same for our family. We would love to make this center a place that we could stay in during our frequent trips to Asikuma.

With Cornerstone’s donation in hand, it has enabled us to start on the project right away. Over the past few months we hired architects from the Kwahu area in Ghana to begin drawing up the plans. Jake met with them earlier this week to review the drawings and to begin picking out the more detailed pieces of the home such as how he wants the security wall done and what kind of burglar proof windows he wanted to choose.

There are two chiefs in Asikuma, both whom fully support KCI’s ministry to the community. We found out on our last January trip that one of the chiefs was considering donating 5 acres of land to KCI.  Yesterday Jake and the team went and met with him.

The chief finalized the donation of the land, the land was commissioned (which is the official agreement between Jake and the chief and is the customary time for Jake to present a gift to the chief) and tomorrow the land will be surveyed. The children’s center will sit on 1 of these 5 acres. Friday the bulldozer will come in to clear the land, and next week construction starts! I told you we were moving on this! :)

There are numerous ideas of how to develop the rest of the land in the future, but for now we are focusing on the children’s center.

Jake will be writing a blog post on more of the details of the children’s center when he gets back, but for now you can picture it as a big, giant house. There will be 6 bedrooms for house mothers and orphans, 1 bedroom for our long or short-term missionaries, and 1 guest room for non-live-ins (like our family when we visit), bathrooms, kitchen, etc.

The project total looks like it is going to be $130,000. The $40,000 we received from our church has enabled us to start right now, and will likely be able to fund the first few months of construction. We are choosing to trust God to provide the rest, just as we did in our adoptions. The good thing about Ghana construction is that everything is paid in cash. So if you don’t have the money the work just stops until you get more money. They don’t do loans or credit cards or anything – you only hire workers as you can pay them in cash. If you don’t have the money you don’t hire and the project just sits. We are trusting in faith that this project won’t just sit. 

Those In Need

Jesus doesn’t say to the poor, ‘Come find the church,’ but he says to those of us in the church, ‘Go into the world and find the poor, hungry, homeless, imprisoned,’ Jesus in disguises.

~Shane Claiborne, Irresistible Revolution~

*****

Yesterday was dedicated to Jake and the team visiting with families, children and individuals in need in the Asikuma area and determining how Kingdom Cares International can best assist them. Look deeply into their faces, read their honest and humble pleas, and feel the impact of what our King whispers over them to us, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Their stories…

The Ekavi Family

This family had been living in Togo, Africa when the father, who worked for the military police, was tragically killed during fighting. After her husband’s death, the newly widowed mother relocated the family to Ghana which is where she was originally from. They had been living in HoHoe, Ghana for 8 months when a tribal war broke out in their village. The opposing tribe came in and attacked their home, burnt down their house, and also burnt down the widowed mother’s shop where she sold cooking supplies and utensils to make a living. After the attack she and her family fled their village and ended up in Asikuma. Since then, in order to survive she has been borrowing from the community and has become in debt to community members in Asikuma. Our in-country worker, Wisdom, often makes appeals to his church to provide the family with cloth and other necessities. All of her children had to drop out of school due to lack of funds. When the mother explained their situation to Wisdom she shared that she often felt like committing suicide when she looked at her hopeless situation and that she could not provide education for her children. One of the faith-filled women in the community from Wisdom’s church met with the mother and introduced her to Jesus. She accepted Him as Savior and was baptized at the end of June!

We had learned about the Ekavi family by email back in June, and since then we were able to secure a $2000 sponsorship for them via a family in Jake’s Kingdom Hoops program. Yesterday Jake was able to meet with the Ekavi family in person and take care of dispersing the funds appropriately. The $2000 was able to provide and cover:

~School fees for all of the children. Daniel, the oldest (16 years), had ambition to attend a specific senior high school that specializes in agriculture and science. Janet, 13 years old, will now get to continue on with her high school education...she had just completed junior high school when she had to drop out. Christian (11 years) and Courage (4 years) were both in basic school needing assistance for their uniforms and books. Admission starts in September for all of the kids.

~Gave the mother start-up funds to open up a new shop and sell her cooking utensils and supplies again. This will be the main income for the family. The agreement is that KCI will sponsor this year of school for her children so she can get her business going again. But next year she will be responsible for paying their school fees with her business income.

~Paid off the mother’s debt to the community members that she borrowed from. There can become quite a stigma attached to this as you can imagine so KCI wanted to ensure that she could get a free start.

*****    

HIV Cases

In a neighboring village to Asikuma called Apeguso, HIV is running rampant. Our in-country worker, Wisdom, had met two ladies in the community who have hearts captivated by Jesus and have been helping to care/defend HIV orphans, and are actively promoting HIV awareness and education. The plan is that Jake will get to go around with these ladies on Wednesday of this week and meet more of the children they are helping. For now, they have brought KCI two cases of orphaned children with HIV who desperately need financial assistance. It has been determined that the total care for 1 year for an HIV orphan will be approximately $2400. That would cover their HIV medicines (over $100/month for the best medicines – health insurance in Ghana does not give these patients access to the BEST medicines…so this is a cost beyond what is covered by insurance), medical care, schooling, food, and assistance for their caretakers…

The first child KCI has pledged sponsorship for is Anita who is an HIV orphan being cared for by her elderly grandmother…she is pictured here with one of the two ladies in the community helping to defend her cause….

The second is Israel, an HIV orphan who’s mother and father also died of AIDS. Israel is 15 years old and because of the social stigma of HIV he has literally been living in the ‘bush’, fending for himself with no one to care for him. He was unable to come and meet Jake yesterday because he was ashamed that he only had one pair of shorts for clothes that he wears every single day. Jake took the following pictures off the computer that the two women had brought with them. Israel recently fell into a fire and has severe burns which obviously need medical attention.
 

There is a hospital in Koforidua which the ladies believe will treat him. Kingdom Cares donated 200 Ghana cedis to get Israel the hospital visit. Jake was able to gather up some clothes from some of the teenage boys on the team in Ghana currently with him, and they put a little suitcase of items together for the ladies to take to Israel. Jake hopes to get to meet him on Wednesday.

Joyce is an HIV orphan who lives in Asikuma and is being taken care of by her aunt.  KCI is hoping to raise $2400 for her support.  She has not had any previous access to medical care.

*****

Princella

In July we had received an email from Wisdom about Princella. She was having troubles in school because she was appearing to be mostly deaf. KCI sponsored her to go and get a hearing test back in July. It was found that she was not completely deaf, because when they put a hearing device on her and tested her she completely lit up with a huge smile plastered all over her face….with the aid she could hear! However, her family was not able to buy her the hearing device which cost 400 Ghana cedis ($200). Yesterday Kingdom Cares International donated the funds needed so the device could be purchased for Princella.
 

*****

Alfred

When Jake arrived in Asikuma on Friday he received from Wisdom a hand written letter in brail which had been translated to English. The letter was from a man named Alfred who was hoping to come to the hotel to meet with Jake and ask for KCI’s assistance. Jake got to meet Alfred yesterday and heard his story. Alfred explained that he had suddenly gone blind at the age of 18. Tragic as it was, God came to him one night and spoke to him about his condition. What Alfred heard from God: “You may be physically blind but you are not spiritually blind. Use what I’ve done to you to share the gospel.” And so, Alfred is a missionary. He brought his brail Bible with him and told Jake to pick out any verse in the Bible and he would read it to him. This is not the best video because of the all the background noise - it’s really hard to hear….but it will paint a picture for you of what it is like to be Alfred….

Alfred’s desire is to go to a specialized blind school in which he can get his social worker degree and pastoral training degree. But he needs a special typewriter to type in brail. He can’t do actual college level work handwritten in brail….the typewriter is a necessity if he wants to further his education.  The total amount needing to be raised for Alfred is $2500...$1200 of that covers the typewriter and the rest would cover his school fees. 

*****

Seyrum

Seyrum’s father brought him from a neighboring village to seek KCI’s assistance (in the picture he is being held by one of the ladies who cares for HIV orphans). It is believed that Seyrum was deprived of oxygen during the birthing process. Jake said his condition seemed to be like a version of cerebral palsy. Seyrum has normal breathing but can’t move his own body parts, yet he laughed and giggled when Jake tickled him and interacted with him. Seyrum’s father asked if KCI could provide assistance to purchase a special medical chair that can help Seyrum to sit up on his own and hold his neck in place. The chair can be picked up at a local hospital and costs only 50 Ghana cedis which is $25. Kingdom Cares was able to give the family 60 Ghana cedis to cover travel to the hospital and cost of the chair.

*****

The Donkar Family

Eight months ago the father of this family passed away unexpectedly. The mother was left with her 2 month old baby (at the time) and 4 other children to care for. We received word on her desperate situation back in June via email from Wisdom. That same day, Jake received an email from a mom in his Kingdom Hoops program. She said, “God has put it on my heart to donate $2000 to KCI. But I don’t know if I should donate it now or save it aside to come to Ghana as part of a team sometime in the near future.” Jake forwarded her the email of the Donkar family and said the decision was up to her, but that this was a need he had just gotten that same day. The Kingdom Hoops mom knew God was giving her an answer and she donated the $2000 in sponsorship of the Donkar family. One of the best supports we can provide widows is giving them capital to start their own business. The Donkar’s are living in a decent house that had been earned by the father which just happens to be right along the roadside. Momma Donkar wanted to go into selling fresh fish for reasons that she could do so right from the roadside….not having to leave her house or her children during the day. In order to do this she needed to purchase a small freezer to keep the fish in. Yesterday KCI was able to purchase the freezer for Momma Donkar as well as the first round of fish to get her going on selling. KCI also sponsored each of her children for the year in school. When the children went to get dressed for the picture taken above, it was noticed that the little boy in the red could not get one of his arms through his shirt. Upon a closer look Jake realized that the little boy’s elbow was extremely swelled up and enlarged.

When Jake asked about it he was told that it happened by some sort of accident about a month and a half ago. Now the little guy won’t let anyone touch it, let alone wash it, because it hurts so bad. While Jake was inspecting it he did touch it and said it is on fire temperature-wise. The plan is to take him to the medical clinic in Asikuma today and it seems likely that he may have to make a visit to our ever beloved FOCOS hospital after that depending on the diagnosis......





Chief Jake

My boys made it safely to Ghana! Today was a celebration in honor of Chief Nana's 20th year as Chief of Asikuma. Nana, of course, is the one who led us to Asikuma where the majority of our ministry now takes place. Today Nana inducted Jake as 'Chief of Mercy and Needs' of Asikuma and Doug as 'Chief of Development'. They were taken through the entire traditional ceremony to become chiefs.

It is a blessing and honor to serve the children and families of Asikuma, and yet we know that THEY have enriched, changed and blessed our lives and perspectives way, Way, WAY more. And as I watch my husband's new life in Christ unfold onto amazing paths that we could have never envisioned, I know that behind all that choice African fabric and fancy sandals is a servant heart. Over the next week he'll be found sitting in the dirt holding sick and hungry children, praying over elderly grandmothers left to care for orphans, and helping widows to start businesses to create income. Jake's example reminds me that the best leaders don't live as kings...they live as servants.

Medical Clinic: Usage and Updates

One of the first things Jake did when he got to Asikuma a few days ago was go and visit our other girls (who we now consider our “adoption messengers”) Yaa and Adjoa.

In case you are just joining our blog, Yaa and Adjoa are two little orphaned girls in the village that we had started adopting last August. They are the reason we even began the Ghana adoption process again in the first place. Then, a few months later their aunt had decided she could care for them, and did not want to relinquish them for adoption. God orchestrated the timing of it all so perfectly that not even one day had passed when we received word on two other orphaned girls that had just been brought to one of the orphanages our agency works with. We just happened to be the only family in the program who was paper-ready and had set preferences to be matched with two children in their age range. From there we accepted the referrals of the two new girls, Jennifer and Florence, who we are adopting now! Yaa and Adjoa will always hold a special spot in our hearts, and we are thankful we can still be in their lives and care for their needs, even though adoption is not part of that at this point. Last trip Jake and I began an educational sponsorship for Yaa and Adjoa so that they could attend school. Adjoa is going to soon be matched with a family on my sponsorship waiting list, and Jake and I will continue to sponsor Yaa.

Jake said that as he walked up to their house to visit them on Sunday, Yaa was out playing and she saw Jake coming from quite a distance away. He said Yaa took off in a dead sprint running towards him, with a huge smile. Then when she reached him she jumped into his arms and nestled right in. Talk about melting Jake’s heart! Upon seeing Yaa, Jake immediately noticed that she had a very bad infection and fungus-like substance growing out of one of her ears from the inside and that she was also running a fever. The next day he took her to our medical clinic to have her ear checked out. Upon her examination Nurse Mark discovered that she was running a very high fever and that her ear drum had burst b/c of the infection. He said in a way that was good because the ear drum burst to push the infection out of her body. But he said that if she would have gone another 24-48 more hours without medicine it could have turned into staph infection - and if that would have happened she would have likely died. Jake was pretty upset about that, but thankful that he was there in Asikuma at this point in time so he would know to take her in to get checked out (the aunt simply isn’t educated enough to know this was an urgent medical problem, and she wouldn’t have been able to pay for the care). It’s frustrating how totally preventable/curable sicknesses here can become fatal. Jake said it was also sad because when the nurse’s aid was taking Yaa’s measurements the nurse asked Yaa for her full name (not in English – in the village’s main language called Ewe). Yaa just kept responding by saying “Yaa” and the nurse kept asking her name and didn’t think Yaa could understand what she was asking. Eventually Jake realized what was going on and he told the nurse’s aid that Yaa doesn’t have a last name (because her mother has died and father has abandoned the family so they consider there to be no ‘family name’ left). That detail of Yaa and Adjoa’s lives still stings Jake and I because we know how close they were to being adopted. But, we trust God’s Sovereignty and hand in their lives. He has a plan for them, and we will follow His plan to have them remain in Asikuma. Jake did go and bring Yaa’s aunt to the medical clinic so that Mark could explain to her how to administer Yaa’s medicine. Our Foundation paid for Yaa’s medicine which was 12 Ghana cedis – a mere $6.

Jake said that the medical clinic has been packed from day to day. He says from about 8am-1pm there is a non-stop flow of people. The majority of the patients are children - infants to 8 year olds. He snapped this picture of the waiting room on Sunday and he said there was a line out the doorway.

Jake had also realized that the paint on the outside of the building and surrounding gate wall had already worn off and that the place looked really dingy. He found out that the men who had went and bought the paint last time had bought a cheapo paint that washed off in the rain. This time he sent some of our Kingdom Hoops boys into ‘town’ to buy an oil based paint that wouldn’t rinse away. Our team then spent an entire day cleaning the clinic up. They weeded, painted, and put up the sign that still hadn’t been installed and was just laying against the concrete wall.

Jake said an army of ants had also gotten in and taken over the storage/medicine room. So they cleared out all the medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, and went and bought a really strong chemical spray to clear out the bugs. Then they cleaned and wiped it all out and restocked the shelves.

A missions team from Lutheran Church of Hope (Des Moines) also dropped off medical supplies to our clinic today. They were in Ghana working with Globe Serve and going around to rural villages doing malaria prevention. They had planned to meet up with Jake to view our projects in Asikuma. Here are the nurses of the clinic stocking the new supplies. Betty (in blue) is the head nurse and oversees the clinic and whole staff.

It is our hope that we can eventually work together with Lutheran Church of Hope to create a medical campus consisting of our clinic/birthing center, radiology, orthopedic center, dentists, and eye doctors (this was all spurred by Doug Vander Weide, one of our regular tripsters and member of LCH). Obviously we are still in the initial brainstorming stages, and this was their first trip to see our clinic.

The main project for today was to sod the outside of the clinic. Jake thinks this will help with the bug problem and also, all the patients have been tracking dirt in because it surrounds the entrance of the clinic inside the outer gate next to the sidewalk. Very unsanitary! They brought in a load of black dirt this morning to go underneath the sod….

Spreading black dirt...

And they are just getting ready to lay the sod as we speak (yes, you are getting these updates in real time!). I should have a picture of the sod installed later today.

With all of the medical situations that have come up this trip (and more that I haven’t blogged about yet), it has been clear confirmation from the Lord that this clinic is definitely making an impact on this community!

Update from Jake in Ghana: Sponsorships!

Well, apparently God is ready to start our sponsorship program. The team made it up to Asikuma on Saturday. Yesterday Jake was led to a young family by our hotel owner’s wife. [She, ‘M’, is turning out to be very knowledgeable of individuals in the community who are in dire need.] The family she led Jake to yesterday lives somewhat near to where the ‘baby in the bush’ was found, which is an entirely different section of Asikuma that is….well….back in the ‘bush’ (jungle-like area)….completely secluded away from the town center.  Here's a snapshot of the team walking there.

It is likely that we would have never even known this section existed had it not been for ‘M’ and ‘K’ (our in-country staff member) who both had decided separately that this was the trip the team should be taken there. This area of Asikuma is so far away from the other area we are normally in that it is actually governed by a different chief, who Jake and the team also got to meet on this day.

The original reason Jake was led to this family was to meet a young boy, 8 years old named Emmanuel, who is really suffering. The medical problem is this: he was just recently circumcised a few weeks ago which is obviously very late. Jake was told through a translator that he wasn’t circumcised sooner because the family had no money. Then a few weeks ago a woman was going door to door performing circumcisions for families who have no money (oh my!) so his family had him circumcised. Afterwards a massive infection took over his entire genital area, so much so that he cannot even walk or barely move. Jake said it is the most severely grotesque and sad thing that he has ever seen….the swollenness and infection is unimaginable. I can’t even fathom the pain and unsanitary conditions this boy experienced going through that type of circumcision. Right now he sits all day with this cloth wrapped around him, naked underneath – he can’t move, and clearly he is not eating well…

Immediately after meeting Emmanuel Jake called the nurse on staff at our medical clinic to ask him to come make a house call for Emmanuel. Mark, the nurse, came to Emmanuel’s home immediately, examined him, and then went back to the medical clinic to retrieve the proper medicine to treat the infection. Nurse Mark brought back the strongest antibiotic that our medical clinic had. Emmanuel will drink the medicine 3 times per day for 7 days. Mark also brought him a pain killer to be taken twice per day for 7 days. Nurse Mark will visit Emmanuel each day over the next month to ensure he is healing properly and that he is taking his medicine correctly. Our Foundation covered the cost for the medicine and the cost of care for Mark to check on Emmanuel. The total cost was 50 Ghana cedis which is a mere $25. It’s almost sickening how far our American dollar can go to make such a huge impact on the lives of the people in this country.  Emmanuel with his medicine...

This was the first time that Jake has really gotten to be around Nurse Mark for a good chunk of time, observing him in action. Jake was very impressed by his professionalism and also noted that Mark has a huge heart for the people, is passionate about his work, he is a believer in Christ Jesus, and is very knowledgeable regarding disease and medication. Later on Mark went through the entire storage room with Jake and explained each medicine in stock and what it treated.

Jake also met the rest of Emmanuel’s family….his little brother, Solomon who is 6 years old….

And Emmanuel’s mother who has a newborn baby….

In the family there is a total of 6 kids (of which Jake met 3 – Emmanuel (2nd born), Solomon (3rd born) and the newborn). The husband/father does substance farming (which means he produces just enough food to survive for his family) – he gets back to the house each day late at night. The wife/mother used to wash dishes for a neighbor for work up until she had the baby. Emmanuel and Solomon are not going to school because of the family’s poverty. Here is a picture of their house…

As Jake and I have talked back and forth, he continues to stress to me that the injustices and oppression happening in this area of Asikuma are far beyond anything he has ever experienced yet in Ghana. He keeps telling me that no words or pictures can actually describe what the team is experiencing. This has really kicked the wheels in gear regarding a sponsorship program. It’s time – the prompts are there from the Lord. 

Jake has been crunching the numbers to come up with the right fee for our sponsorships since it seems that God is ready to start this. Jake says that World Vision charges $360/year but that a lot of that goes towards administration costs. He thinks we can keep our sponsorships much lower because we don’t have those costs. The number he has arrived at for children in Asikuma is $150/per year/per child.

$37.50 of that covers their enrollment/school fees at Godwin International School in Asikuma (which is 75 Ghana cedis for the year – the exchange rate right now for the U.S. dollar is almost 2 to 1). [Note: this is not the governmental school that we have been making upgrades on. This is a well-established school in Asikuma that has a great reputation for producing scholars.] Jake is bringing Godwin, the school master, to meet Emmanuel and Solomon’s mother on Wednesday morning. From there Jake will pay the school fees in person to Godwin for the boys, and he will do it this way for future children identified.

The rest of the $150 fee left over after school fees would cover school uniform, medical assistance (such as the medicine purchased for Emmanuel) and other basic needs – food, school shoes, etc.

In addition, we would structure the program as World Vision does theirs so that if additional needs arise for an individual child/family we could present the need to each sponsor family. For example, like providing an additional one-time gift as a microfinance loan to help the family create consistent work and income.

Families in the U.S. will have the opportunity to send over pictures/letters/care packages to their sponsored child any time our team is headed to Ghana. And, with our frequent trips to Ghana, and reliable in-country staff members that we now have, updates on the sponsored children can be easily done. At the very least families could expect updates on each trip Jake or I attend. Jake will have one of our in-country staff members managing the program and checking up on the sponsored children while he is away.

So, it looks like this is off to a start! And, I can happily report that a sponsor has already been matched up with Emmanuel and Solomon!!!!! This particular family had contacted me to be next in line for sponsorships since George’s was presented, and they jumped at the chance to help Emmanuel and Solomon. Love it!

You can watch the blog for future sponsorship opportunities, or contact me personally if you want to ‘stand in line’ for when the next one arises. :)

She's back; Christian's fund; Sponsorships; Boy with Compound Fracture; Asikuma Library/Comp Center Updates

She's Back!

 

My mom arrived home from her trip to Tanzania a few days ago!!!!! She has just begun blogging about her trip…you can read her stories and see photos from her 2 ½ week adventure at her blog here: http://odlemountain.blogspot.com/

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Christian's GRACE Fund

 

Thanks to all of you who have so kindly donated to Christian’s GRACE (Generosity Results in Adoption for Children Everywhere) fund. The current tally is at $3702. [To see the original post with details click HERE.]  God keeps telling me to hang on and we will eventually get to that $4000 mark! From here, I will no longer be doing tally updates, but will let you know once we reach the goal!

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Sponsorships

 

I had a handful of people contact me about wanting to be George (and family)’s sponsors! That was quite exciting! I ended up matching him with the family who contacted me first. For those of you who are interested in sponsorship, it is probable that more children like George will be identified on our trips, but we prefer to allow God to lead us to the individual cases. This is not going to be a quick/immediate program that we will set up (if it even becomes a ‘program’). It will take time. In the mean time, there are many children in Ghana in need of sponsorship who have already been identified and placed into an actual sponsorship program through our adoption agency - Adoption Advocates International. Our agency does adoptions, but their first priority in-country is family preservation which happens through humanitarian efforts. Adoption is always the last option. Keeping a family together is the first aim. Specifically, our Ghana program coordinator, Anita, has many children identified in Ghana who are *SO* in need of educational sponsorship (like George and his sister are). I cut and pasted a little excerpt below off of one of Anita’s recent/awesome/thought provoking blog posts:

Orphaned and vulnerable children need education in order to survive their circumstances. Period. You can give it. There's a million and one different organizations with sponsorship programs (of course I recommend Adoption Advocates International). Children in other countries don't take education for granted like our kids do. They cherish it as if it were gold. They beg for it. It's all they would want for Christmas (if it were their tradition to ask for anything for Christmas). I CONSTANTLY have people writing me from Ghana asking me if we can add more kids to our sponsorship program, but I can’t sponsor the ones I already have waiting…. [You can read the full blog post here]

These educational sponsorships through Adoption Advocates International are at $35 or $40 per month. If you can consider it, contact Anita for more information: anita@adoptionadvocates.org

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The Boy with the Bone Through His Arm: Update 

 

Had a few people wondering about an update on the boy with the bone through his arm. Also, so I can stop referring to him as that, his name is Dotse. :) On June 5th we received this email from our in-country staff member, ‘K’:

Hello Jake,

Glory and honor be to the Ancient of Days. Yesterday, Dotse and I went to the hospital in Koforidua as planned. We went straight to Dr. Abdul Rahman, and after surfing through the boy's hospital folder, he gave us Friday, July 6th, as his admission date and might be operated in that first week of July. We could not meet Dr. Ofori-Atta in Koforidua, as he told me on phone to rather meet him with the boy today at 8:10 at Akosombo VRA hospital. He would like to check the severity of the case, and then advice Dr. Rahman as to what to do or how to go about the whole thing. It means that I am mailing you from the hospital right now and we have just got out of Dr. Ofori-Atta's office. He says he would communicate with all you guys about it.

Regards,
‘K’

Jake was not happy with that proposed admission date, and emailed the doctor directly:

Dr. Ofori-Atta,

‘K’ just informed me that the boy Dotse would not be able to have surgery until July 6th. Can I ask why it takes so long to get him for the surgery with such a severe fracture? I totally understand that things in Ghana work a little differently than in the United States, however, I am curious: If I personally lived in Ghana and my own biological son had a fractured arm, would it take that long to have a surgery to get it fixed? I am just trying to understand the process as God continues to lead us in helping as many youth as possible.

Thanks,
Jake Sullivan

From there the doctor and Jake exchanged a handful of brief emails, and Jake was told to have Dotse at the hospital instead on June 15th. ‘K’ got him there, only to be sent home because there were no available patient beds….the update from ‘K’ that day (June 15th)…..

Jake,

Dotse and I are just back home. There are still practically no free beds at the male ward to admit him. St Joseph hospital is the only of its kind here and thus the hotcake! Always full of patients. He carried out a review on Dotse and advised him to keep taking the drugs. On the way coming home, he claims to be feeling much much better now and the pains have increasingly reduced! We thank God in all things, Jake! In summary, Dr. Rahman is still referring us to the first week in July for a new appointment; for this reason that it is in that week many previously admitted patients would be released. It is also worth informing you that he says we have to pay a cash deposit of GHC 1000 on that appointment date before Dotse could be accepted. We count on the Lord for help and only he knows things we do not know.

Regards,
‘K’.

I always like to include the exact email communications so you can really see how things ‘work’ in Ghana. So, as of right now, Dotse is still scheduled to be admitted on July 6th, but even that sounds like it might not be the actual operating day. We were really hoping that we would have our adoption decree by now so that Jake could be in the country this first week in July (to file our I-600) and go with Dotse to the appointment (but we don’t have the decree yet). Dotse continues to need someone to stand up for him and be his voice. Otherwise, we fear that he will continue to get the run around. There is a praise surrounding Dotse’s situation and that is that two families who read of his situation felt led to contribute to his hospital fees.  Right now the admission fee of 1000 Ghana cedis (which is $600 U.S.) has been covered, as well as the costs for his 'drugs' which is Osteocare - a bone strengthening supplement, the recent transportation costs for the hospital trips, and other small fees. We still don’t know how much the actual operation will cost. For right now, July 6th is the day to keep in mind for Dotse.

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Asikuma Governmental Primary School Enhancements

Finally, I wanted to include the following update on more progress with our Asikuma school enhancements and library project. I last left off here as I detailed what was accomplished on our recent March trip.

In order for the students in this primary school to pass the entrance exams into secondary school (to go to high school), they must be proficient with use of the computer. Until now, they had no running computers to practice/learn on (you may remember this post from a previous trip in which we observed that students in a school similar to Asikuma’s were learning the computer keys off the chalkboard). An exciting update from ‘K’….

Saturday, June 23rd:
Jake,

We constantly give glory to God, in whom we have the strength for every kind of good deed he is using us to do.

Here are a few exciting news for you :D. The six(6) computers are in since yesterday and I have sent them to my house for the mean time. This because Sampson hasn't finish with painting the inside of the rooms and I'm still waiting for him to do that. Also, that same yesterday, we erected the big sign for the school and all are looking really beautiful here - just so glad:D!!!

Next is that, the electrician I have got has succeeded in bringing the power in both the KCI-CYBERCAFE and the second room this afternoon. It is now left with Sampson to finish with the painting, then I send the computers in, as I'm already in contact with one ISP (internet service provider) that claim can get our computers connected. They asked me to call again on Monday for confirmation :D, then, they could send an engineer down maybe in the week to fix those.

‘K’

A few pictures....the sign...

The electrician at work. :)

The computers!

 

The computer center will double as an internet café and printing center (eventually) in which the public can pay a small fee to use. The internet café is a very typical service in the less rural parts of Ghana, but the first of its kind here in rural Asikuma! The computer center will also be opened up to neighboring schools to use for a small fee.

For those of you who donated to this development for the school back in February, it was only by your donations that we have been able to bring this computer center/internet café into reality. Your donations bought these computers, and your donations are what we have used to pay the electricians, Sampson, and numerous other workers who are completing this labor. Again, THANK YOU!

We are hoping that the computer center/internet café piece can get finished up in the next few weeks so that our team of August 2012 tripsters are able to officially stock the library shelves with the donated books! So far we’ve shipped a little less than half of the donations and they are ready and waiting in Ghana. However, we still have close to 5000 POUNDS (!) of school supplies and books that are packaged up and waiting in Jake’s office to be shipped. When gas prices went up, shipping for these tubs alone was estimated to be $12,000-$16,000. Good grief! We are looking into a couple of organizations who may be able to help us ship them for a fraction of that cost….still working on that.