Ghana (MNN) ― Every Child Ministries' John Rouster says they're investing in future ministry in Ghana. They've brought on two missionary couples, Jim and Carolyn Driscoll of Staunton, Virginia, and Jerre and Ruth Ann Gowin of Crown Point, Indiana to the Haven of Hope.
They're excited "for men figures in the boys' lives, and just overseeing the general managing day-to-day. And then also the mothers at Haven of Hope--they're great mothers, and they really sacrifice a lot working with the children. I think Ruth Ann (Gowin) and Carolyn Driscoll will bring a warmness to the children's lives that they've not really experienced up to this time."
The Driscolls will begin working with the street children in downtown Accra and working at the Haven of Hope. Jerre Gowin, with a background in education, will be running the Haven of Hope Academy, and both he and his wife will be active at the home.
The women plan to work as mentors at the Haven of Hope Home. Their job will be to encourage more relationship between the house parents and the children they're caring for.
The Academy will benefit from Jim and Jerre's work experience in the United States. The facility has been growing, and ECM began construction this year on the second set of buildings, which will allow them to continue adding classes.
On the home front, both couples will be caring for children who desperately need a safe haven, a loving atmosphere, an opportunity for Christian instruction, positive role models and a chance to go to school.
Just last year, ECM opened a second home on their eight-acre campus which enabled them to double their capacity and to separate girls and boys in two separate homes. The operational cost of keeping the children at Haven of Hope is largely covered through child sponsorships.
But it's more than getting kids off the street. It's about building community of the future. Rouster says this intensive ministry can help heal broken lives and hearts. "There are 46 children there now, and not a one of them ever slept in a bed until they came to Haven of Hope. They had lived on the streets. This will just fortify the position of ECM of raising the children in a Christ-centered atmosphere."
