Eric and Alex

Eric's brother Alex and his wooden plaque

Eric and his fingerpainted fish

Eric and his fingerpainted butterfly

Eric and his watercolor painting

I wrote Eric a letter before I went to the Village of Hope, and I brought him the letter when I met him. He was such an amazing young boy. I had him in my seventh grade art class. We did watercolor paintings and fingerpaintings. He was quite the artist. During the week he asked me if I could draw him so he gave me a beautiful picture of himself as well as a picture of a butterfly to draw. I plan on drawing the pictures and sending them to him. He was such a joy to have in my class, and I enjoyed sending time with him. I learned that he is one of five boys. His parents died, and so he was forced to live on the streets for three years. His oldest brother who is now in school at a university tried hard to keep the five brothers together. During the day they would try and sell what they could while at night they would sleep on the streets. As you can imagine this was extremely hard for the boys, but they managed to stay together until finally a Christian family found them living on the streets. They ended up at the Village of Hope orphanage. Eric is so full of joy and love, and you would never be able to tell that he had to endure such hardship. He was such a blessing!

My Trip to Gomoa-Fetteh, Ghana

Eric, Vida, and Diana

I am excited to share with you my incredible experience in Ghana at the Village of Hope Orphanage. The Lord is working in amazing ways in the lives of the children, and I was able to see His hand at work through my visit at the orphanage. I would like to sincerely thank you for partnering with me through financial support and prayer to make this ministry possible. I could not have done this without you, and I thank the Lord for all of you.

As we made our way to the Village of Hope, men, women, and children trying to sell an assortment of food, toys, papers, etc. surrounded our bus desperately trying to make some money. Everywhere you looked there were small stands with people selling anything and everything as well as all types of buildings partially built without the means of being finished. We arrived at the Village of Hope after an hour and a half drive from Accra, the capital of Ghana, to Gomoa-Fetteh.

After we unloaded all of our luggage and storage bins full of art supplies into the guesthouses where we would be staying during our visit, we went to meet all the children. I had been anticipating this moment from the day I had committed to come to Ghana, and I could have never imagined the amazing blessing of meeting all the children and their warm responses to each of us.

The children came to greet us with open arms full of love and eager to have their pictures taken with all of us. There was such joy and hope in their eyes that could have only been from the presence of the Lord in their lives. I came to the Village of Hope desiring and willing to share the love of Christ, yet that is exactly what I received from the children in all their loving embraces. The children taught me so much about what it is to be a follower of Christ through their love they gave so freely to all of us without expecting anything in return, through the way they gave so generously of what little they had, through the way they wholeheartedly praised and thanked the Lord for all they had, and through their sincere and genuine spirits so eager and willing to serve.

By far the best part of my entire experience in Ghana was all the time I spent with the children, which made it so hard to leave all of them. Before I went to the Village of Hope I did a drawing of three children from the orphanage, and I brought a copy of the drawing to give to Kerine, Vida, and Diana when I met them. They loved it and were so thankful. I also got several other requests from the children to draw them as well.

The Art and Music Camp was so much fun and went really well. There were about two hundred children from pre-school to eighth grade involved in the camp, and they had a great time creating art, singing, and dancing. Our team consisted of thirty people including the American and Ghanaian teachers and volunteers. Most of the classes were taught at the school, Hope Christian Academy that is located at the Village of Hope. I taught art classes for first through seventh grade that included watercolor, finger painting, card making, scratchboards, create-your-own stickers, wood plaques, and canvas and paper murals. We had three classes a day each an hour long Monday through Thursday and only one class on Friday because we had to get ready for the festival showcasing all the art, music, and dancing from the week. We decorated the church building with all of the children’s artwork and watched all the dances that they worked so hard all week long to learn. There was music from the drums, flutes, and xylophones accompanied by the children’s voices that filled the church for the festival. It was amazing, and after the program we all gathered around and danced to all the music.

The name of the Lord is truly praised at the Village of Hope, and another blessing was hearing all the children sing songs of praise to God with all their hearts at the top of their lungs. It was awesome to see the children being taught the scriptures through their devotions each day in the morning and at night as well as church on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. The letters the children wrote to me while I was there were so precious and encouraging with scripture. Francis wrote “May God who gives generously to all without finding fault richly bless you in all you do. And also remember, all things work for good for those who love the Lord, and for that matter, continue to do the great work that you are doing in the name of the Lord and love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.”

Francis and all the children at the orphanage loved me with the love of the Lord and made my experience so rich and full of blessings that my heart was overflowing with joy. The night before we left after the church service, they called us up front to praise God for us and lift us up in prayer. They all stood up and sang the song “We love you with the love of the Lord,” and the adults and house parents stood around us and prayed for our safety as we traveled home. In that moment as tears streamed down my face my heart was so full of love for all the people and overwhelmed by their thankfulness and love for all of us.