With the economy in its current state, it’s safe to say that most of us trying to keep our heads above the rising tide aren’t thinking philanthropically.
For Ledyard resident Peter Weber, however, the time to give couldn’t be any better. He recently traveled with a missionary group out of Gateway Christian Fellowship in New Haven to Accra, the capital of Ghana, to offer medical, emotional, and spiritual aid to the overwhelmingly large impoverished population. For Weber, and Missionary Coordinator Jennifer Santiago of East Haven, the trip was a return visit. The seeds for their work were sown the previous year.
“Last year we had done a medical outreach and had worked with an orphanage there,” Santiago explained. “So this year was all about building on that. We went into...a fishing village in Ghana called Chokor. It’s a very impoverished town, so all of our concentration on this particular trip was in that area with the hopes of possibly establishing a small church and being able to build relationships that will allow us to invest in that particular town in the years to come.”
The “team” as they called themselves, was made up of 23 people from all over the New England and tri-state area with most hailing from parts of Connecticut, but some from as far away as New Jersey, New York, Boston, and other parts of Massachusetts. Their goals were simple, if not lofty: to partner with the existing ministry, Royal House Chapel, and the Rev. Sam Korankye-Ankrah, and form a relationship with the townspeople, and administer medical and spiritual aid to those in need through a full day of medical outreach and three nights of “open air” crusades.
Weber explained that while he acted as the team’s chief photographer, he was also somewhat of a team leader as around 20 of the team members were in Ghana for the first time. The leadership and knowledge that Weber and Santiago provided was key in helping the group reach one of its main goals of traveling into the village in small groups of two or three and getting to know the people. And while the trip lasted just eight days, the work done and the memories made will certainly last much longer.
“I met this 24-year-old man named Abraham,” Weber said, “and I guess he had polio as a young boy and he said he used to just crawl around on the ground with his hands until a missionary group from Belgium came and were able to get him a wheelchair when he was about 12 years old. He used the wheelchair to take advantage of some form of public transportation to travel to Accra where he sells things and makes about $1 a day. I talked to him for quite some time and really broke the barrier and in that short time got to know him. He really opened up his life to me, so that was pretty special.”
Santiago also found the people extremely warm and open and explained how a chance meeting with a single mother on one of her walks through the village turned into a life-altering event.
“I was really moved by this small boy, Christopher,” Santiago explained. “He was suffering from what appeared to be cerebral palsy but…there were several reasons why this was so touching to me. One being the overwhelming love that this mother had for her child, especially when you see in situations like that, that so many of these types of children get abandoned. Just seeing the love she had for this child and requesting prayer daily was special, and we saw improvement in him as the week progressed.”
She continued, “Each day I got to see her and administer to her and her child and the last night, at the open air crusade...she allowed me to hold her child. I just sat there holding this child and praying and my heart connected so much to Christopher, it broke for him. And I knew that was why I had gone to Ghana, there was no other reason, it was to meet him and hold him and love him with the love of the Lord and to pray and believe that he will be normal again, he will be able to run and play like the other children.”
Aside from being a warm and open people, which made it easier to connect with them, Santiago said the people of Ghana also have an incredible entrepreneurial spirit. While many of those in need accepted help, they didn’t necessarily want a handout—they wanted the tools to be able to do things themselves, something Santiago found quite admirable.
Weber also commented that while he was surrounded daily by at least 30 or 40 people who were barely scraping together a living, he never felt threatened or in danger even though he was quite noticeably carrying around a camera worth thousands of dollars. He did, however, receive plenty of requests from people wanting their picture taken.
While most of the more personal experiences were had walking through the village and talking to various people, perhaps the message being put forth by the team was best disseminated through the open air crusades.
“Again, partnering with Royal House Chapel, we had a sound system set up with speakers and lights and everything so that we [could] be seen and the people would take notice,” Santiago explained. “We had music and worship going on and we had speakers up on the stage. There was also a time of ministry and prayer for the people who were there as well. It was all done outside under the elements, no tents or anything, so we were definitely praying that the rain would hold off and fortunately we were blessed and it did. There were so many people that were there listening and taking it all in.”
Santiago explained that at first some townspeople were a bit wary of the set-up, but by the end of the first night she estimated that there were at least a couple hundred people sitting and listening. Little by little, the message spread and by the final night there was not an empty seat left around the stage.
In addition to their medical and spiritual outreach, which, in all cost about $78,300—each team member was responsible for their own expenses as well as a portion of the medical expenses—Gateway Christian Fellowship also purchased a large, 15-person van through Royal House Chapel for their elderly ministry and packed it full of donations including new clothes, medical supplies, books, school supplies, and computers.
So with all of their support and thousands hearing their message over the course of the eight days and approximately 600 to 700 receiving medical treatment during their all-day medical outreach, one might assume that these were the biggest achievements of the trip. Santiago felt otherwise.
“We really want to invest in this area, so we want our presence to not be overwhelming,” Santiago explained. “So many times you hear about organizations that come in and they try to fix things instead of just trying to be a part. We definitely did not come in with the mindset of, ‘We’ve got the answer!’ It was more of just partnering; we want to really build relationships, we want them to really recognize who we are so that when we come back next time to this same area, there is a relationship established and there is trust established. Our hope is to eventually build a school there and possibly a children’s home, but we want to [accomplish it] through relationships and trust.”
After traveling back home and taking some time to reflect, both Weber and Santiago said they were very thankful for their experiences and are eager to travel back to Chokor next year to continue their effort.
“We were amazed to be able to see some miraculous things happen just praying for people,” Santiago said. “It’s a really neat experience when you see firsthand God’s work in somebody’s life. It’s not a story you hear, you actually see it and experience it for yourself. It had a profound impact on me just realizing that God does touch people and heal people and just being able to be an instrument of his love to reach the people of Chokor, it was an amazing experience…It was proof positive that God still moves and he still loves people. It was witnessed and confirmed over and over again during that trip and it was a life-changing experience for myself.”