It was an overwhelming flow of joy and thanksgiving at the Save Our Lives Ghana Orphanage at Anwiankwanta in the Bekwai Municipality of the Ashanti Region, when a van dispatched at the instance of the Archbishop Nicolas Duncan Williams drove into the care facility with help.
Like the anecdotal donkey saddled with supplies for the distressed soul in a desolate land, the mammoth donation of tons of rice, vegetable oil, canned tomatoes, mackerel, drinks, confectionaries, toiletries among others arrived at the brink of time when the orphanage was at its width’s end.
Overcome with emotions, founder and Mother of the home, Paulina Priscilla Opei narrated how the orphanage had been in prayers for the past two weeks trusting God for new supplies to cater for the resident orphans and the many families in the community who depend on the orphanage for their daily sustenance.
She disclosed, “We have been praying for the past two weeks for God to give us a constant flow of supplies because it’s not only about our children. There are children in the community we cater for and we have to share with all of them.”
“God is saving us physically and spiritually and that is why when we called on HIM, HE touched Papa’s heart to pressurize Bishop Nyarko to come. We need all these items to continue the work from Monday. So God has heard our prayers. “
Still in astonishment, she wondered how the Archbishop’s mission was directed specifically to her orphanage located in the outskirts of the Ashanti Region.
“We are not the only orphanage. In fact, there are so many orphanages even in the capital Kumasi but why this place. God is good!” she said in gratitude.
Madam Opei recounted how God’s word preached by the founder and overseer of Action Chapel International, the Archbishop Nicholas Duncan Williams, built her faith and continues to empower her to stand through challenging times of her ministry to orphans.
“God bless Papa’s heart and that of his entire team with more years because he has been an inspirational figure to me, through Dominion TV. For a long time, his messages have encouraged me to stand firm and stand strong to do this. We will beg Papa that God should lay it upon his heart to adopt us because there is so much we want to do,” she entreated.
Divine Intervention
Bishop of Action Chapel Int., Ridge Community – Kumasi, Bishop Franklyn David Nyarko who led the donation pointed out that the Archbishop Duncan Williams issued detailed orders on a ticket of urgency for the specific items to be immediately dispatched to the orphanage without delay.
“Our father the Archbishop is a spiritual person and a prayer person. He was insistent that this weekend we do this donation. So all these things we see here are from him and his prayers are with you.”
“You heard the testimony. They were praying to God for some support to come in otherwise they didn’t know how they were going to live from Monday going. This is a timely divine intervention and it had to take people like Papa the Archbishop Nicholas Duncan Williams who listen and hear from God, for us to get here,” he averred.
Bishop Nyarko told the gathering how the Archbishop has for many decades touched many and transformed countless lives through his Compassion In Action and Drug Rehab Missions and encouraged people to support such worthy interventions.
he appealed; “We are praying that the Spirit of the Lord stirs up the hearts of people across the globe to come and support orphanages like this who are doing very good things. You can see the progress and how they are picking people from very young years and catering for them till some have graduated from school and married with kids. It’s a testimony.”
Reflective Testimonies:
The manager of the home Badu Sarkodie, a proud product of the orphanage together with other mates who had visited the home where they were all raised, shared testimonies about the love and godly upbringing they enjoyed while under care.
It was a sobering and reflective moment listening to touching stories about how they and their siblings were taken into the home, some as young as 2 month old babies, their life’s journeys and how they had turned out to be nurses, teachers, accountants, managers, professionals in vocations and influential persons married with children and contributing meaningfully to society.
These are lives that could have fallen through the cracks and condemned to ruins but for the passion of a public health nurse who chose to obey a calling of God after a morning devotion encounter in 1993, to take in a child whose mother had died through pregnancy complications at the St. Martins Catholic Hospital, Agroyesum in the Amansie West District.
From Humble beginnings, Save Our Lives Ghana which started in a two bedroom accommodation, now caters for more than hundred orphans and children in the immediate communities including children with special needs, with the youngest in the home being 11 month old twins.
Gratitude and Appeal:
The founder of Save Our Lives Mrs. Paulina Priscilla Opei recounted how she has relied on the grace of God for the past 33 years, bringing hope to poor and vulnerable orphans, a majority being babies whose mothers died during child birth, often left malnourished and abandoned to die with the obnoxious beliefs that they were the causes of the death of their mothers.
Madam Opei who has won several humanitarian awards and global recognition for her dedication and passion to orphans, paid glowing tribute to institutions including MTN, the Student and Youth Travel Organization (SYTO), VIP Travel and Tours Ltd and the Ghana Private Roads Transport Union (GPRTU) as well as local and foreign philanthropists for helping her build a school and accommodation facilities for the orphans.
She however appealed for financial support to continue paying for the school fees, provisions, monthly allowances and hostel fees of orphans in the Senior High and tertiary institutions.
“Since we are committed to educating them as far as tertiary and wherever their minds can take them to, our biggest challenge is money. Our manager who also grew up here holds a Masters in Finance and many have gone through teacher and nursing training with others learning vocations. We have many fashion designers and there are others we are setting up to start their own businesses.”
Madam Opei further indicated she would be grateful if government could intervene with waivers and absorption of some operational and overhead costs including utilities and salaries of staff of the orphanage and its basic school
“Aside our management department which has a manager, director, a human resource officer and a social worker, we have teachers in our school who are degree and diploma graduates. They are supporting Ghanaians in Ghana and if government can absorb them and pay their salaries as it is doing for other teachers, it will ease our burden,” She beckoned.
“If government can also waive our electricity bills and provide us a bus to convey our children to school, it will help us,” she added.
Archbishop Nicholas Duncan Williams continues to reach out to millions across the world with his humanitarian outreaches and generous missions, profound acts that extend the hand of God to the lost, poor and vulnerable; demonstrating the tangible love of God materially and spiritually to the world.
His NGO, Compassion in Action, has built numerous ultramodern primary educational facilities, provided teaching materials, and supported orphanages and communities in dire need.
By: Ivan Heathcote – Fumador.
