Shepherding Orphans & Widows (SOW)

07/21/2012

One of our high school graduates, Elijah, has expressed strong interest in foregoing his dream of being a writer & artist, for what he believes is his calling to serve God as a pastor. We would love for him to gain a solid understanding of the Word, as the teachings our boys in Ghana are learning in their churches are incredibly 'spiritual' & extra-biblical, if not blasphemous, despite their "Christian" labels. Please keep him & us in your prayers as we help him navigate options; we would of course love to bring him to the States & see him attend Master's Seminary, but realize there is much involved in such an endeavor & we need to seek good counsel.

04/28/2012

SOW officially has a bank account set up for your donations & monthly direct deposit charitable gifts. Thank you for your support as our needs grow along with our 13 children & their dreams. We are so grateful to have the opportunity to share Gods love with them.

03/13/2012

Working on our presentation to the YMCA Men's Service Club in Encinitas, CA. We are so grateful to be their guests Wednesday night to have the opportunity to tell them about the children of Ashan & the mission of Shepherding Orphans & Widows.

03/12/2012

Our 13th teenager contacted us last month, recently sent away from Ashan Orphanage. His name is Gordon Bawa & I first met him at Ashan in 2004. He looks forward to beginning Senior High School next Fall, dependent on our ability to help him fund it. He is currently living in the city of Kumasi with a brother, working at the market hawking goods; this & hard labor are the only jobs easily available to children that we have found. Child labor is the norm here. Only 63% of children make it through 5th grade; 37% of children make it to high school in Ghana, with much fewer able to graduate because of unpaid fees. Only 3% of Ghanaians participate in higher education. It is our hope that all of our children who desire a college education will have the opportunity through our support & their hard work, and by God's grace, to pursue it. As a developing country, Ghana's industry is rapidly growing & they have many natural resources but too few Ghanaians trained to know how to manage them. Tom & I saw countless international business travelers in our hotel, from the US, Europe & China ready to exploit the abundant opportunities in Ghana. We see great hope for young, determined, God-fearing Ghanaians like Gordon & our 12 other children to become the future godly leaders of their country.

12/21/2011

John

12/19/2011

Regan & Emmanuel traveled with us on the 1 hour journey by tro-tro from Kumasi to Namong. Currently living there in a single room we are renting from a local woman for $8/month is Emmanuel, Isaac, Ransford, John (aka Bright) & Vincent. Mercy also lives a bit further out of the village in a place with her teenage brother. She walked to the boys' place to meet us.

12/19/2011

12/19/2011

Sights as we traveled from Accra to Kumasi and beyond