Urgent need

 

John and the children of GMI September 2011 accepting the donations we took on our trip (me and little man Coen to the left)

Friends, family, blog-readers-who-never-comment-but-I-love-you-anyway, your help is needed.

On two of my 3 trips to Ghana in 2011, I had the chance to take donations to Great Mission International (GMI). We visited other children’s homes (this is a more pleasant way of saying orphanage) and this was by far the warmest of them. The children had little, but they were appreciative of what they did have. They were all smiles and giggles as they accepted toothbrushes, pencils and paper with excitement. Toothbrushes, pencils and paper. Think of it. Can you imagine American children smiling and giggling about these items? They were so appreciative and took turns accepting the items.

What was more appreciated on our part was the actions of the director, John. We arrived in a taxi with a trunk full of dresses, bottles, toothbrushes, and school supplies. Our past experience was that whatever was offered, was quickly swooped up. That was not the case here. John accepted the school supplies and toothbrushes, allowing us to distribute the toothbrushes, and kindly told us that he did not have need for the other items at that time. He told us that he would be traveling to a children’s home in another region and he knew that they needed the dresses. He then asked if he could take them to those children. His honestly was refreshing. Of course we didn’t care who used the dresses as long as they went where they were needed. He did take them and shortly thereafter, sent us a photo of the dresses being delivered to very happy little girls.

He is a man of his word.

This experience led us to work with him further and in partnership with the Stayton Rotary Club, we were able to help John build a library for the children in one of the small rooms at GMI. I should add, our connection with GMI all started with Feeding the Orphans and I cannot say enough good things about them and the family that runs the organization.

These are real, honest people.

The landlord of GMI, not so much. He has just told John that he needs to pay 2 year’s rent (this is how it is done in Ghana, 2 year terms paid in full) immediately or he and all 50 children will be evicted from the home. He also increased the rent. GMI needs $24,000 immediately. This will buy us all 2 years to find a more permanent solution.

If that is enough for you, donate here and specify GMI on your donation.

For more convincing…..

 

Below is copied from Lamb Family Adopts and personally verified by one of the directors of  Feeding the Orphans
I am just SICK! We got word yesterday of something we thought might happen but really hoped and prayed would not. While we were in Ghana, we learned that the landlord of the house (GMI) … was wanting to raise the rent. He values his property in an inflated way and thinks he could make more money if he rented to someone who was not housing the fatherless and vulnerable. Many have tried to negotiate with this landlord but have been unsuccessful. It seems that the landlord has now demanded that John Nyavor (father to the 50+ children living at GMI) go ahead and pay 2 years of rent upfront!! I don’t know about you but if my bank came to me and said, “We want the next 24 months of payments next week or you will be homeless”, I would not know where to begin. The rent for the next 24 months is $24,000 American dollars. Let me tell you a little bit about John Nyavor and GMI.

John, his wife Irene, and 2 small children live in a small room in the back house of the main house. John and Irene are parents to the 50+ children who live in the larger house. John has devoted his life to providing a home for these children while they wait for adoption or for those children who are not adoptable but need a place to live. GMI is a modest (no airconditioning, minimal lighting, and unpredictable power) home. It is a two-story building that has a 2 small gathering rooms downstairs, a bedroom/bathroom where the long-term volutneer rooms, and bedrooms upstairs. The two rooms downstairs are used for schooling and for eating. Here is a to a link where you can see actual pictures of the home. This home does not only provide the basic needs to children, but it employees “aunties” to help care for the children and employees a seamstress who teaches older girls the “trade” of sewing. This allow girls who might not have been able to attend school the opportunity to learn a trade so they can earn money themselves. He has also empowered some of the older boys who raise rabbits and chickens on the back of the property. The rabbits and chickens can be sold for profit as well as help provide protien in their modest meals at GMI.

One of the older boys at GMI wrote this about John: “John is a man who had influence me a lot in love and showing compassion for others. He love others so much that if he is left with His last pair of shoes and you need shoes He will give His to you.A humble young man he is with very discipline life, take wise decision at the needed time and give good examples for others to emulate. I remember when I was going wayward, He called me to advice me and told me the dangers of what I was doing so I got to turn away from that and that had motivated me ALL this while.John is a man who doesn’t talk a lot even if you do the wrong thing. He just called you to give you good counseling. If I want to talk about John I will run out of space. Thank you for counting on me to talk about John.”

Feeding the Orphans is the #1 partner with GMI. When you sponsor a child through Feeding the Orphans, this is one of the homes where those children live. FTO also has long-term volunteers who go and stay at GMI to help John and Irene with all of the children. Without this home and John’s guidance, many of these children would be homeless and orphaned.

$24,000 is a HUGE amount of money. I’m not going to lie, it intimidates me, it worries us. When you look at spread out to 480 people who give $50, it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. The landlord has told John Nyavor that the rent needs to be paid immedialtey or he will rent the home out from under them. John has been faithful paying his rent to this man. It is hard to understand why now this man is being so greedy. It doesn’t seem to bother him that these children will be homeless, many again. This man is SERIOUS and is not bluffing John.

If you wish, you may share this blog link. The Ghana adoption community is pulling together to do what we can to raise the funds for the rent. Many do not have extra money to give because they themselves are in the process of their own costly adoption so we are using social media and email to spread the word. If you do feel lead to donate, you can go to the Feeding the Orphans giving page. When you donate, you can write in the message box “GMI RENT” and 100% of the donated amount will go to the rent. Many years ago, John experienced something similar. He did not abandom the children. He and the children were kicked out of their current home and for a short while, they lived in a hallway. They will prevail!