rec0207-112356<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
James 1:26-27 (NASB)
\n<\/strong>26 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own<\/i> heart, this man’s religion is worthless.
\n27 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our<\/i> God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and<\/i> to keep oneself unstained by the world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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Kofi Sakyi<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n- @ 35, wife Alice, daughter Nhyira(Blessing), mother Comfort<\/li>\n
- Dad died when Kofi was 9. There were two younger children. Mom and he became street vendors; very poor and very difficult.<\/li>\n
- God gave him and his mother a vision to care for similarly situated children in her home village of Kromaim.\u201d\u00a2They began caring for the orphans in the village in 2001.<\/li>\n
- Micky and Ruthie sent him to technical school; Videographer<\/li>\n
- He and his mother use their resources to care for the orphans there.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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What Kofi does –<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n- If a parent dies or deserts and it is not possible for the remaining parent to care for the child, he seeks someone \u201d\u201csometimes another family member \u201d\u201cto provide a place for the orphan to stay. Generally, these families are unable to provide food or clothing. This host family receives nothing for their role.<\/li>\n
- He provides 2 meals (a bowl of rice) each day for each orphan; they are fed at the primary school at the edge of town.<\/li>\n
- He pays 2 cooks to prepare and serve the meals. Comfort rents 2 rooms at the school; one for cooking and one where the children eat.<\/li>\n
- Kofi tries to provide one set of school clothes each year per child, and clothes and shoes at Christmas and Easter. And, when possible, he tries to provide a meal and gift for each child in the village at Christmas.<\/li>\n
- Only primary and junior high school are provided in the village. Kofi monitors each child\u201d\u2122s education, and when a child completes junior high, if he thinks they would do well in High School, he sends them to a boarding school. He currently has 4 students in High School. There is also one young man in university.<\/li>\n
- For those unable or ill equipped to attend High School, Kofi is building a training center with a goal of having a teacher to train young people in trades and business skills. He plans to teach sewing to the women and probably auto mechanics to the men. He has purchased 4 hand operated sewing machines.<\/li>\n
- Kofi also provides the books necessary for school for all the orphans.<\/li>\n
- He provides very basic health insurance for each child.<\/li>\n
- So, when he assumes responsibility for an orphan, he provides:\n
\n- Two daily meals<\/li>\n
- Uniform and books for school<\/li>\n
- Very minimal health insurance (malaria, clinic, etc\u201d\u201cno hospitalization)<\/li>\n
- Some clothes and shoes<\/li>\n
- Practical training and\/or High School after the free junior high school<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
What It Costs<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n- The daily meals (rice) are about $800 month, plus the gas for cooking (@ $12 per bottle), the cooks\u201d\u2122 small payment, and food preparation items.<\/li>\n
- Clothes, shoes, and small toys for Christmas and Easter.<\/li>\n
- Insurance costs.<\/li>\n
- Boarding school for the 5 currently attending High School varies from about $160-265 per trimester per student, plus $90 \u201d\u201c110 for room and board per term.<\/li>\n
- University fees for 1 student are 1600c\/$454 plus apartment 70c\/$20 monthly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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Kofi has personally invested in the land & paid for the building<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- One 25×14 and two 14×14 rooms<\/li>\n
- About 6800c\/@$1800 for building thru September<\/li>\n
- Estimates to finish construction:2800\/@$750 for lintel, porch, toilet \u201d\u201cbut not the roof<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
His Priorities for ministry<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n- Each child\u201d\u2122s basic needs:\n
\n- Two daily meals, clothes, (very basic) insurance, education<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Building & Training Center<\/li>\n
- Well for the training Center \u201d\u201cthat the village can usecosts 12500c\/$3300, pump 3000c\/$800 (submersible)C1460\/$385 for tank fiberglass<\/li>\n
- Increase cooks\u201d\u2122 wages<\/li>\n
- Long Term: Primary School \/ Nursery<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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His message to Ellijay<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n- He is praying for Sponsors for Senior High students<\/li>\n
- Clean water for town<\/li>\n
- Tables & chairs for eating<\/li>\n
- Sewing machines<\/li>\n
- Funds for a teacher for training in business skills: Sewing, baking, auto mechanics, simple furniture (sofa, bed, etc); Palm oil business<\/li>\n
- Instruction in Basic English skills<\/li>\n
- Long Term \u201d\u201ca primary school<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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<\/p>\n
Our Assessment<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n- Kofi is a Christian and a businessman, who invests his time, money, and energy into these orphans.<\/li>\n
- The only contributions he receives are from a few individuals here in Ellijay and occasional gifts from a Ghanian pastor of a very small church in Kentucky.<\/li>\n
- The need is real; the vision is great; the children are greatly blessed through this ministry.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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<\/p>\n
Michael Parham<\/strong>, ”\u00a0Is there any other message you would like me to carry back to the church?”<\/span><\/p>\nKofi, “<\/strong>Yes. We haven’t met most of them and we know they are wonderful people. They have been caring for [some of the orphans] for quite a long time, and they have done a good job. It is not easy. It is one of the fundamentals for a Christian to do, and they are doing. They are doing a good work, and we thank them. We thank them so much because it’s just few people who have helped us. It’s just few people. My [people] have not been here, [even those who] have my name or my mother’s name; but constantly, they have helped us, constantly. We really appreciate them, we are debtors for all the good things they do on behalf of these children. We know their [funds] will not go to waste; God is going to replenish it to them in many [ways]. Whatever their needs are, they should have faith. God will meet their needs.<\/span><\/p>\nMichael Parham, “<\/strong>\u00a0Thank you. I will carry that message back.”<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
City Of Refuge Kromaim, Ghana Presentation by Michael Parham rec0207-112356 James 1:26-27 (NASB) 26 \u00a0If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. 27 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-messages","category-missions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2199"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2235,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199\/revisions\/2235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}