Compassion International Ghana-The Victorious Life Chapel

Compassion International Ghana-The Victorious Life Chapel International example.


On Saturday, 4th March 2006, Compassion International opened its Ghana office at North Ridge in Accra.
Even though the NGO has been operation since 1952, it started operating in Ghana in 2004 with the aim of seeing children as assets of God who needed to be released from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty to enable them to become responsible and fulfilled Christian adults.
This, it was to do in several ways and forms including sports, health, educational and other social intervention activities.
In Ghana, the international NGO is partnering with some local churches through which they executed their programmes and projects for needy children.

These churches have been mandated to select 50 per cent of the children in need from within their churches and another 50 per cent from various communities for sponsorship programmes.
President of Compassion International Dr Wess Stafford revealed on the day that so far the NGO had touched the lives of more than 700,000 children through scholarships and other services in various countries worldwide.
As the largest Christian Child development organisation worldwide, it has more than 65 denominations and thousands of local church partners in 24 countries in Africa, Asia, Central America, the Caribbean and South America. In Ghana over
Dr Stafford was right when he argued at the launch of the Ghana office that, “it is believed that development started from the stomach”.
This the NGO sees as the core reason(S) why children in need are provided with food ration, apart from other educational, recreational and religious opportunities.

On the launch day, then Minister of Women and Children's Affairs, Hajia Alima Mahama called on all stakeholders to help fight against child abuse in the country.

This was, and is because the current rate of child abuse needed urgent action to help alleviate the suffering and pain of innocent children, who get sexually abused, battered and sold into slavery.

Her speech was delivered by Ms Elisabeth Obeng Yeboah of MOWAC. As part of pragmatic efforts at tackling issues of poverty, the former Minster called for a collaborative effort in fighting the menace of child abuse in totality.
Her commendations for Compassion International for their initiative and subsequent pledge by the Ministry to provide better opportunities and future for Ghanaian children was therefore in the right direction.
This I say because, Compassion International Ghana, on Friday, 30th August, 2014, climaxed its innovative one week-long football tournament at the El-Wak stadium in Accra which marked the beginning of the annual National Soccer Festival of the NGO.
The massively attended event brought together Under 12 and Under 15 female and male teams from Compassion International Ghana camps across the country to compete for honors.
The Country Director of Compassion International Ghana, Mr. Padmore Baafour Agyapong, lit the colorful Olympic flame after it had gone round the El-Wak stadium playing pitch by the captains of the six participating final teams to the admiration of the kids.
“Since July 2005, we have partnered with 216 churches in the Greater Accra, Eastern, Central, Volta and the Ashanti Regions to help provide the spiritual, emotional, physical and economic needs of over 56,000 children in Ghana” the Country Director revealed.
He added that, “Come July 2015, Compassion International Ghana, CIGH will be ten years to God’s glory and to commemorate this milestone, we have planned a year-long activities under the theme, CIGH @ 10: The Child remains the Heartbeat”.
“Among the activities to commemorate this memorable and outstanding achievement in CIGH history is the organization of the National Soccer Festival to promote physical health and social development of children while encouraging the spirit of friendship, teamwork and discipline that is being thought in the classroom” Mr. Baafour Agyapong said.
As a Sports and Political Journalist, his comments were reassuring, especially so when political and sporting leadership in this country has failed.
Last Saturday, 13th September, 2014, one of the Compassion International Ghana projects, Victorious Life Child Development Centre, under the Victorious Life Chapel International in Kumasi climaxed a week long health programme as part of activities by the church to combat the soaring scare of cholera and Ebola in the Region.
Under the theme; “We are all at risk to Ebola and it’s danger” the event was addressed by a Senior Medical Officer at the Kumasi South Hospital, Dr Angela Frempong who called on successive governments to desist from politicizing health issues.
Her clarion call was timely and appropriate because health issues as we all know are very sensitive to the core of national development and therefore politicizing it becomes inimical to the citizenry.
I listened to her with rapt attention, her resolve to entreat all to contribute his or her widow’s mite towards the fight against the soaring scare of cholera and Ebola in Ghana.
Dr Frempong lamented the high numbers of the outbreak of cholera in the country, describing it as “a shame to be recording and grappling with Cholera at this age and time”.
Adding that, “the outbreak is like a pastor grappling with adultery”.
“It’s time for politicians and decision makers to be bold enough to enforce laws aimed at fighting the canker.” she charged.
One couldn’t agree with Dr Frempong any more, considering that political leadership has over the years succeed in only deli-dallying with the issues of health in this country.
Her call on the public not to sit back, rather, “people should take precautionary and personal safety measures such as cleanliness and eating hot and healthy foods to ensure their own safety from contracting the disease” was also in order.
Because after 57 years of independence, it’s a shame that the nation is saddled with cholera and with the death, toll rising by the day across the country, having hit the over 10,000 mark since the outbreak in August this year, and still counting, it’s incumbent on all to join hands in the fight against the disease.
It was gratifying to note that the Victorious Life Child Development Centre in collaboration with Compassion International Ghana also organized a sensitization workshop on Ebola for over 200 caregivers in selected communities in the Region.
The idea obviously is to prepare the people ahead of any eventual outbreak of the deadly disease in the country.
“Ebola is scary. It’s therefore appropriate for the people to take a serious view of it against any outbreak”. Dr. Frempong sounded.
It was therefore not a surprise that she expressed profound gratitude to the Church and Compassion International Ghana for what she called, “shinning leadership example towards health”, and called on others to emulate them.
The Head Pastor of the Church and Coordinator of the Victorious Life Child Development Centre, Pastor Lowell Thomas El-Burkson, was full of praise for Compassion International Ghana, adding that, “it’s a heavenly call for the church to be involved with other community and social services apart from preaching the gospel”.
Arguing that after Godliness is cleanliness and therefore if the people are not healthy, they cannot soundly absorb the gospel.
To him the church therefore embarked on the week-long Ebola and cholera awareness and sensitization programme as part of its contribution towards ensuring better health in the region and by extension the country.
With the support of Compassion International Ghana, the Church and the CDC, within that the week, engaged in general health screening which included, environmental health, body cleaning, that is, how to take care of the hair, teeth, as well as hand washing techniques among others.
Pastor El-Bukason revealed that, to ensure the sustenance of the medical outreach programme, the Church under the Child Development Centre with support from Compassion International will be distributing toothpaste and other food and nutritional materials to keep the campaign going.
According to him plans are far advanced by the church and the CDC to go into grass cutter farming, teak plantation and many more social interventions aimed at also creating permanent jobs for the people.
If all NGOs, such as Compassion International Ghana, could take just a step towards bettering the lives of the neglected Ghanaian child, am sure that there will be little or nothing at all for government to do, to the extent that Ghana would be a better place to live.
Of a truth, Compassion International Ghana has so far been very compassionate, and the story of Victorious Life Chapel International project, at least substantiates my claim.
Writer is a Sports and Political Freelance Journalist.
Ashanti Regional Chairman, GJA.
Email: Lbukarson76@yahoo.com