Ghana (MNN) — One Ghanaian village is being reached with the love of Christ by means of a new library.
The Mission Society has been working in Ghana since 1987. They currently work to provide medical care, church planting, pastoral training, nutrition, and a children's library. The creation of the "Reading Town Library" in Ankaase, Ghana is an obvious step forward in the provision of children's literacy but will allow the ministry to maintain its reputation by continuing evangelism in an unobtrusive way.
"The Mission Society is interested in building relationships that can then allow one to introduce the Gospel to someone," says missionary Anne Gongwer with The Mission Society. "In a library, as staff interact with the children and care for them, they meet them right where they are."
At a basic level, the library provides everything that one might expect of a library. Books for all ages are available, catering to young children, teens and even adults. (There is even a nursing section which has attracted and drawn excitement from many local hospital workers.) Young children are especially prone to run to the building right after school — behavior which is duly encouraged by the placement of the library right between two school buildings.
Fewer older children come to the library on a regular basis, but they are in and out periodically. Gongwer notes that they seem discouraged as they recognize that their reading levels are low. It seems easiest to reach out to children who are in the beginning stages of learning to read, but The Mission Society has one goal for all children who enter.
"Our hope is to start out a new generation who will be in love with books and learning, and enhance their opportunity to become who God has made them to be."
In order to make sure this becomes a reality, the staff has taken on the role of being examples of Christ to all who enter. Gongwer says this is important because "not only can they help [people] with their phonetic understanding or their interest in creativity, but they can come right beside them and encourage them to walk with Jesus."
The library will likely serve to enhance literacy in the region and will hopefully draw many to Christ as the ministry continues to provide love and support for all who enter its doors.
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