Bringing Hope to Orphans Through the Word of God
By Gwenda Trapp
What can bring peace to the heart of an orphan? The children at the Joseph Project, an orphanage run by Source of Light Togo, are putting their hope in the Word of God. Repeatedly, when questioned about what has brought hope to their lives, the children emphasize the teaching of God’s Word.
Sika Yawo, Source of Light Togo’s National Director, is especially sensitive to the plight of orphans and needy children. He lost his father as a teenager and had to work to get school fees to complete his high school education. When he started working with the orphans, he did not have a facility for an orphanage. From 2007 to 2009, Sika would recruit families in the village to help care for the needy children, and he would help with their support as he was able.
Sika is a native of the village of Sika-Condji, where the orphanage is located. His family donated a piece of land for the orphanage. They built buildings and began housing orphans in 2010. In the same year, they erected a shed roof for a church. (Since then, a church has been built on the orphanage grounds.) A garden area was prepared, and the children assist in growing food items, such as corn, peanuts, and cassava. These crops help to provide for the needs of the orphanage. The village of Sika-Condji is near the Mono river which frequently floods. Sometimes the garden produces well, and other times the garden floods, and they lose their crops. Thankfully, the orphanage has been spared total flooding. In a recent time of flooding, there was a dormitory building on a small square of the orphanage property where everyone gathered until the water receded.
The orphanage offers the basics of food, clothing, shelter, and an opportunity to go to school. But the youth realize that they are receiving the most important thing— encouragement from the Scriptures that bring hope. Repeatedly, the youth point to the Word of God and the impact that it has had on them. They share that the Word of God “unites us,” has “changed my life,” is “doing good things for me,” it “helps me live the Christian life,” has taught me to “live with other orphans in love,” has taught me “the love of God,” has given me “consolation,” has “transformed my life,” and has given “great hope in Christ.” Three of 17 children filling out questionnaires shared that they received Christ at the orphanage. They mention being fed physically, but they emphasize that it is the spiritual food that gives them inner hope, comfort, and peace.
The orphanage is staffed by pastors, deacons, and older women who serve on a volunteer basis, receiving small stipends when funds are available. The orphanage has morning devotions with the children before they go to school. Source of Light makes Bible lessons available for the children, and they have a church at the orphanage where the children can easily attend services.
One of the orphans, abandoned as a child of eight when his parents died of HIV, is now 21 years old and is in an apprenticeship for welding. His name is Kossi. He said he was wandering around the village one day when he met Sika, and Sika invited him to attend the Bible classes. After about three years, Kossi was accepted at the orphanage. Kossi shared that he has other relatives, but stated, “they don’t care about my life.” He lives in the city now, where he is doing his apprenticeship, and attends Sika Yawo’s church. He still relies on support from the SLM Togo ministry for his apprenticeship.
Kossi has a heart for the orphanage. After finishing his apprenticeship, he wants to help anyone else at the orphanage who is interested in welding to learn the trade. He would like to see them form an association of welders in Togo. As God gives him opportunity, he would like to help the orphans have access to better food and clothing. He would also like to build a small dispensary for first aid for the orphanage. When asked, “What is the most important thing that you learned from living at the orphanage?” Kossi responded, “I especially learned how God, through His Word, transforms hopeless people into people of great hope in Christ.”
Isaiah Bernasko, our SLM Director in the Ivory Coast, also has a heart for orphan children. He and his wife, Mansah, do not have children, but they run an orphanage where they have raised many children. Because of the way they care for them, one might not at first realize the orphans are not their own children. As they live together, the children are being mentored in Christ. Some of “their children” are now adults and are helping in the service of the church and the Source of Light ministry, such as Jeremiah, who went to college and is now being trained to lead the ministry one day.
Martha, another one of the children, went to culinary school. After graduation, she interned at the Airport Restaurant where she was hired to work after her internship ended. She has since married and is living in the town of Dimbokro with her spouse. They have started a church in this town that is slowly growing.
There was a child, who lived near Isaiah and Mansah, named Tina. Tina was deaf and mute. Her living situation was not good. She started attending Sunday school at Isaiah’s church. Over time, Isaiah realized that she was forming bad habits. He began to pray for Tina. He arranged for her to go to a school for deaf children and is helping to raise support for her schooling. She is now doing well in school. Isaiah also supports 27 orphans living far away from him.
Isaiah has shared that “the orphanage work is not easy, but it is important because it glorifies Christ when the children grow up knowing Him.”
