8 Lessons Learned in our 18 Years of Ministry in Ghana:
In 2024, City of Refuge Ministries celebrated 18 years of ministry in Ghana. In our annual anniversary celebration, our children and staff shared ways that God has changed their lives through City of Refuge Ministries. As we have reflected on their journeys and ours as well, here are a few lessons we have learned along the way:
• The Role of Education in Breaking the Cycle of Poverty
Education is one of the most powerful tools to end the cycle of child trafficking and poverty. We have seen firsthand how the education provided to a person can literally give them the freedom to dream and then enact a brighter future. City of Refuge Ministries offers an education to hundreds of children every day through our school, Faith Roots International Academy, continued support through their senior high education, and into their vocational and university years.
Never Underestimate the Power of Hope
Children who have been rescued from unimaginable circumstances need hope more than anything else. They need to recognize that their lives have a purpose and can begin to see that played out in the way they are cared for, nurtured, discipled, and loved. Offering them hope through faith, education, and community support brings lasting change.
The Importance of Preventative Measures
While rescue work is crucial, the ministry has learned that focusing on prevention (through awareness, education, and community empowerment) is equally essential to stopping child trafficking before it happens.
God’s Timing is Perfect
Looking back over the past 18 years, we can see how God’s timing has been perfect in every circumstance. Each challenge has led to growth and the struggles have made it possible for us to make a greater impact that we could have ever imagined.
Families are Intended to Be Together
God’s model for the family was always intended to be a mother and father caring for their children, surrounded with extended family who love and support each other. However, in a fallen world, we have seen the evil that can be played out in the family unit through the trafficking and labor of small children. Because of this, we have also seen the hurt and struggle that our rescued children have faced in not living with their birth families. This was a hard lesson for us to learn, but also a gift of a lesson to learn as we opened the door for safe and healthy reunification of children back into their birth families (with support and only in safe situations). Some of our children will remain with us throughout their lifetimes, but many have been reunited and have found success in being back with their families. This is also why our preventative women’s programs are so important to us—to keep the family together. We are blessed to have seen many reunified and many more kept together.
Miracles Come in All Sizes
We have seen some huge miracles over the years—healings, financial miracles, the right person at the right time, yeses when there should have been nos. Some of our favorite miracles aren’t as easily spoken about or seen—the child that begins to trust again through holding a hand in friendship, a smile when there hadn’t been one before, choosing to believe in a good God when they have seen the evils this world has to hold, reading at age 13, making a friend when shyness ruled. We have learned to accept all the miracles that God sends our way, and we recognize each one as a gift of our good and faithful Father.
Discipleship is the Key
Ghana is known as a Christan nation, so many have asked why it was so important to start a Christian ministry in Ghana (despite the issues of trafficking and child labor). We have seen that the issue isn’t necessarily that people don’t know about God, it’s that many don’t know what it looks like to be a disciple of Jesus. That has been one of our greatest privileges over these years—to be Jesus in the big and small moments of life, to disciple our children, our staff, and our co-workers, and to walk out the love of Jesus day in and day out (even in our mistakes).
Restoration of “The Least of These” Restores Us All
By far, the largest piece of work that we do at City of Refuge Ministries is called “Restorative Care”. Our hope is that when children join us at the CORM Children’s Village, that they can be restored holistically. This is why our ministry focuses on not just the academic component, but the medical, spiritual, physical, and emotional elements of a child’s well-being. Throughout our years of work with children in need of restorative care, one of the greatest lessons we have learned is our own need for restoration. Each and every one of us cannot be made whole by ourselves—we are in desperate need of a Savior. For every single moment where evil seems to prevail, we can lean on a Savior that has already won the battle.
For a season of hardship with a child that doesn’t seem to see an end, we can trust God’s good hand at work in that child’s life and in ours for as Psalm 27:13 says:
“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”
It’s His redeeming love, His relentless pursuit, that reminds us and restores us all. For this, we are eternally grateful.
Hundreds of children have passed through the borders of the City of Refuge Ministries Children’s Village over the course of these past 18 years. We have learned so much and continue to live open-handed to the lessons God wants to teach us. He has been so faithful, and we look forward to the lessons to come, for His glory and His fame.
