Watch these students and school leaders share their testimonies of how these materials have brought a deeper understanding of discipleship and salvation.
New Growth After Reopenings in Ghana
In January 2021, school doors across Ghana swung wide open to welcome back students after almost a year of closures and online education. Desks were rearranged to six feet apart while new handwashing stations installed throughout the schools stood at the ready. Students’ faces looked excited to learn, their masks revealing their smiling eyes. Reopening hasn’t been easy for many schools around the world. Fluctuating enrollment numbers, convincing teachers to return to the classroom, and having enough cash flow to keep the school afloat—these are the main business concerns of our partner schools in Ghana. Yet, new growth is happening in their students’ hearts and spirits.
Deborah Sekyi, Ghana’s Program Lead Christian Transformation and Training Officer (CTTO), explains how reopened schools have inaugurated a new era of Christian Transformation (CT) activities. It’s been an unexpected yet welcomed transformation in the wake of the pandemic’s shutdowns and reopenings.
“For a majority of schools pre-pandemic, it was a struggle to establish in-class devotions. Instead, leaders would opt for school-wide chapel services. They’d say there wasn’t enough time, or it was better to do congregational-type gatherings since it was easier to move on with academics afterward,” she explains. “But now, with the need for social distancing, schools are wanting in-class devotions.”
For the CT Team, they couldn’t be more excited. “We dream every classroom would begin their day with fellowship and devotions, now that’s coming to fruition,” Deborah shares.
Partnership with Bible League Ghana
Because of the peaked interest, Deborah and the CT Team have been on the hunt for materials and Bibles to supply to the willing schools. Through a partnership with Bible League Ghana, devotional materials called ‘Friends Forever’ and ‘So Choose Life’ have been distributed to 320 partner schools in 5 regions collectively, totaling over 7,600 copies. “To make sure teachers are best equipped to facilitate these devotions, we’ve designed and run trainings for teachers and school leaders. We also interviewed students to find out the impact these materials have made in their life and collected their transformation stories,” tells Deborah.
When thinking back to school closures, the interruption of education is at the forefront. But for many of our partner schools’ students, their discipleship was also affected and put on hold. As schools in Ghana have steadily begun to reopen, the hunger for spiritual growth hasn’t diminished. With the support of incredible partners like Bible League Ghana and committed school proprietors and teachers, students can chase their dreams again with Christ at the center of their education.