The Love of Christ

By The Rev Rebekah Neumann

On Friday, August 4^th we concluded another week of reading camp. For me, it was another birthday spent in Ghana. Why do I come? What difference does it make? Why does Ghanaian Mother’s Hope (GMH) exist?  I come because the love of Christ compels me, the commands of Christ convict me, the call of Christ commands me. I believe this to be true for GMH as well.

When all is said and done, our camps will have served 50 teachers with a two-day training session and 240 children (90 this past week, and 150 in September at the end of their regular school term) this year. Teaching here is very hard. The average teacher earns less than $30.00 a MONTH. There is no paper for children, very few books, no learning aids or devices. They have very few materials. Hand drawn posters line stained concrete walls under leaky roofs. Class sizes are outrageous (think 97 students in class 3 – that’s third grade, in one room, 60+ in class 2, in one room). There are no teachers’ lounges and no benefit packages and little professional development. Teachers here feel forgotten and unappreciated due to their low pay and the reality that the government does not truly invest in things that could have an impact on children’s learning and performance.

During our week of reading camp, we group children by reading ability, with no more than 22 in a class. Our children enjoyed 4 different student books and 4 read aloud stories. These are children who are loved by parents but have not had the experience of sitting on a lap and hearing stories read aloud. For 5 days our children handled books and heard stories. We reaped the blessing of smiles, twinkling eyes, laughter, bright little faces engaged with the process of learning to read. They sang songs, learned poems, made art projects. They learned that reading is fun, that learning to read pays a dividend, that God has not forgotten them.

The love of Christ compels us to share our wealth, our resources, and His love with those who so desperately need to know they are not forgotten. We demonstrate to these little ones that God’s love for them is real; to Jesus they are not “just village children,” they are children for whom God has plans and purposes. The commands of Christ convict us to love our neighbors as ourselves. The call of Christ is always to come, follow Him. In our obedience we will know joy and blessing.

This week’s joy has been smiles and giggles, small black hands rubbing our white skin, and feeling our fine and silky hair. This week’s blessing has been to witness one small miracle after another as we have loved on teachers and children in this country called Ghana. I believe each child and teacher who was involved is better for the experience. I believe that, but I KNOW this – I am better for it, I am blessed beyond measure because of it. 

On Friday, August 4^th, 90 children received gifts of books and bowls and candy. I (We) received the biggest gift of all, our hearts filled with the blessing, love, and joy of Jesus, and the knowledge that when we heed his call we can make a profound difference in the lives of people He loves so very much.