A moment of hope: Lipscomb students serve in Ghana
Chris Pepple |
Sometimes it is a face. Sometimes it is a voice. Something touches us and changes our lives forever. That’s what happened around the world on October 29, 2006, when The New York Times ran a photograph of a Ghanaian child forced to labor up to 14 hours a day for fishermen on Lake Volta. The accompanying article gave a voice to unknown children as the writer described the horrors of the child laborers living without the basic necessities of life. The reverberations of this story echoed around the world as Christians took notice and began negotiations for the children’s freedom. A Christian-run orphanage called the Village of Hope came into the spotlight when they began caring for the first seven freed children.
This summer, fourteen mission team members (twelve from Lipscomb) led by Lipscomb alumna Lindsey Bumpus traveled to the Village of Hope to offer support to the residents. The Village runs two campuses, one in Fetteh and one in Accra. The Fetteh campus is composed of seven houses. One married couple lives in each house with the orphans. The children call the house parents Mom and Dad and are given the secure feeling of being loved by a family. That’s the first moment of hope for many of them.
Lipscomb students knew that traveling to Ghana would not bring about a miraculous change in the lives of the children. Bringing moments of hope, however, offers stepping stones to a new life for many. The hope students offered came in many forms.
“Hope is knowing that no matter what your situation, God will protect you,” states Emily Bumpus, a Lipscomb University sophomore education major from Centerburg, Ohio. “I learned hope from the children at the Village of Hope. Each child came to the orphanage with their own story. Each story I heard tore my heart to pieces. I cannot imagine going through what these children have. However, they all love the Lord.”
Emily remembers one moment where hope seemed to come alive in an unplanned way. “One of the most memorable things we did was nothing that we had planned on doing before we got there. The orphanage has seven houses. There are about 15 to 20 kids in each house and they act as a family with the married couple that lives with them.
“We were in Ghana over Mother's Day and because these mothers do so much in raising twenty children, we felt that we should do something special for them. We had brought nail polish and lotions and one girl on our team is a massage therapist. We invited all the mothers to come to the church building one night and we set up a circle of chairs for them. We soaked their feet, gave them foot and hand massages, painted their finger and toe nails, and also gave them back massages. While we were doing all this, we got to listen to the mothers laugh and tell us stories about their lives. We also read to them Proverbs 31:10-31 because it describes them so well. We then sang them the song ‘We love you with the love of the Lord.’ The mothers kept thanking us and telling us that they had never been so pampered and had never even had a massage from anyone. Before they left, one of the mothers got up and told us that they would never forgot that night and told us to never forget it either.”
Lipscomb University alumna Lindsey Bumpus (’07) knows she will never forget the trip. “We focused most of our attention on building relationships with the children and parents, painting a house, making pavement stones, and doing evangelism work,” she states. “It’s amazing to watch a team go to the orphanage and see the kids each attach to different team members. I believe that the Village of Hope is the perfect name for that place. Every child comes from a different situation: whether orphaned, abandoned, destitute, abused, enslaved, or rejected. They all come to the Village of Hope broken and tired. We saw was how the hope of Jesus Christ changes lives in dramatic ways. These little children taught us what it means to hope in God: to trust that no matter what you’ve gone through, He is right beside you, wanting to bring you life and fulfillment.”
Alison Amburgey, a Lipscomb junior from Old Hickory, Tenn., agrees that the trip participants focused on building relationships, working in Ghana without losing sight of the people there. “Hearing the children's stories and seeing their faces just made a connection that lasts forever,” she states. “When I think of hope, I think of one child. While reading in the library one day, I met an eight-year-old girl named Mamalk. She was beautiful, but really shy. I could tell by looking at her that she had a rough past. Mamalk would search for me everyday. She would send other kids looking for me. We read in the library daily. We played umpay (a jumping game) together. I really just had so much fun spending time with her. One night at our devotional, Tommy Drinnen, the missionary there, told us some of the kids' stories. He said that when Mamalk came to the Village, her name meant ‘trouble.’ Her parents actually named her trouble. I was amazed that someone could name their child that. But after to coming to the Village, the director, Fred Asaire decided to rename her Mamalk. Mamalk means ‘New Hope.’ When I think of hope, I see Mamalk's beautiful smile. I see her innocence and her joy.”
Missionary Tommy Drinnen wrote in a July letter, “Each child is a new challenge and a new story waiting to be written. Each child is different, but value is the same…I have found that God, in the midst of having me in the big picture of caring for and growing the school and helping the orphans, is reminding me each day that each child can be helped, should be helped. It’s more to take on. Each child costs you something in time and energy and love. But the value of everyone is the same. I confess that it can be tiring—draining even—but we have all been called to help people that come across our paths—and we are being helped by others that God sends to us. I pray that you are a tool for someone who needs to know that they are valuable.”
The Lipscomb students traveling to Ghana were a tool for the residents of the Village of Hope who needed to know they are valuable. The Lipscomb students offered more than their time. They offered hope.