In the upper eastern region of Ghana lives Mama Hawa, who is 68 years old. She lives in the rural northern village of Namankwa and has attended the Denudgu Central Nazarene church there since 2001. She is a small woman, but she now wears a large smile as she shows me her new home and the small piglets she is raising in one of the huts.
Mama Hawa wasn’t always smiling, though. The elder wife among four, she was frequently made to serve the younger wives even though custom dictates that the senior wife has seniority. Her husband often derided her for not bearing him sons.
“Because you have no sons, no one will take care of you when you are old. I should just throw you out of the house now!” he told her one day.
Ostracized by her family, she refused to eat and said she would die alone. Her local church, however, saw her need and reached out in compassion. They took a love offering to build Mama Hawa a place to live. Together they collected enough for a little plot of land and the cement to mix with mud and thatch to build a place all her own. Her pastor, Mathias Salifu, provided much of the labor.
I watch as she mixes a bit of water and flour to feed the orphaned piglets which were given her by a friend. Hopefully they will bring her a bit of income one day. Several children stop by to visit, and Pastor Salifu says that she has taught many of the children in the community about Jesus. With a new home and Christ's love in her heart, Mama Hawa now has a lot to smile about.
The Denudgu Church of the Nazarene, in Ghana, has been involved in various compassionate ministry projects. For example, the youth in the church cleaned up the litter in the entire market area. Often they go and visit the sick and elderly and help them with tasks like washing clothes or cooking food.
-- Monica Carr lives in Ghana, with her husband Phil and their three children: Phillip, Emily and Sarah. She has served as a missionary in Ghana with the Church of the Nazarene for the past five years, working primarily in the area of education. She is currently the education coordinator for the Africa West Field.