Centre of Good News
April 26th, 2009, Seabreeze Church begins the Seabreeze Ghana Mission campaign for prayer and support-raising for my long-term mission in Northern Ghana to work with the Centre of Good News. Spending the summer in Northern Ghana last year was a heart warming and breaking experience. The sights, sounds, smells, and environment were strange, yet very familiar. All people are God’s people. My heart today is stretched for family and friends in the US and for those God has called me to live with and serve in Ghana. The following is only a snapshot of the vibrant and faithful work of the Centre of Good News, whom I will have the honor to serve under.
In July of 1991, the Center of Good News after being in existence since 1983, became an officially registered nonprofit with the Government of Ghana. Ghana is a country that has made great strides since gaining independence in 1957; however Northern Ghana has lagged the rest of the country on almost every front. This is what the US Government is reporting on the living conditions in Ghana:
“Over the past decade, Ghana has struggled to address rising levels of poverty, with nearly 40 percent of the population falling below the poverty level, and rates of poverty ranging as high as 70-80 percent in some regions [Northern]. This has been compounded by high inflation rates and lack of access to capital, technology, and the skills training that would enable the small and medium-enterprise sector to realize its potential for creating greater employment and income-generating opportunities for the vast majority of Ghanaians.” (reference African Development Foundation)
“Ghana Agriculture employs 60 percent of the work force, but a vast majority of farmers are subsistence smallholders. Environmental degradation especially in forests, is taking an increase toll on Ghana’s ability to sustain livelihoods. Natural resource stocks are degraded the equivalent of 10 percent of GDP per year and resource depletion is reducing GDP growth potential by an estimated one percent annually.
Health care delivery at the village/community level is weak. Maternal and infant mortality rates are high. Under five mortality has not changed in the last ten years. The mortality rate has remained at 111 per 1000 live births. Malaria is the cause for 40 percent of outpatient visits as well as 25 percent of deaths of children under five years or age. The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among high-risk groups, such as commercial sex workers, is as high as 60 percent. In the northern regions, most people live on substantially less than $1 a day and have limited access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities.
Another critical development challenge is the low quality of education. Out of every 100 Ghanaian school-age children, it is estimated that close to 90 will enter Grade One, but only 67 of these children will complete Grade Six. Of those completing primary schools, only seven will have the reading comprehension level of a child in Grade Six. Thus, access to quality basic education remains a major challenge in Ghana.
Food insecurity is a problem in Ghana, especially in the three northern regions. Low rainfall, poor soils, and low agricultural productivity are key factors to food insecurity in Ghana. These factors are further worsened by the subsistence nature of agriculture as well as low incomes, inadequate education and poor health status of the population. Most households lack stable foods for several months of the year, resulting in high rates of malnutrition.” (USAID, emphasis added).
The Center of Good News exists to elevate the living conditions of the very hospitable people of Northern Ghana; both physically and spiritually. Its goals are to publish literature, undertake social services and community development, to plant churches, and train leaders. Some of the projects that the Center of Good News, which is affiliated with an African denomination, has implemented are: a Child Sponsorship Program, completed a multipurpose facility, Ostrich Farming, a She-Goat Project, a Micro-Enterprise Department, Women’s Vocational Training Program, sanitation and water improvements, and many other project.
My goals as a long-term missionary are to build healthy relationships with Ghanaians by respecting their culture and each individual. I will be facilitating humanitarian and educational efforts in Ghana. I will be helping the administrative staff of the Center of Good News. I will be sharing the gospel and my walk with God, yet with gentleness and respect. God humbly allows each of us the choice: ask to be accepted by him or to reject him.