What is your earliest memory of going to church? Was the church building unique? Did it have a traditional spire and bells?

For most of us in America, the thought of our childhood church probably conjures up images of a stately building with the sign out front indicating what the week's sermon title would be. For most in Ghana, Sunday morning worship might be gathering outside, under the blazing sun, in plastic lawn chairs. Or if a village is blessed with a big mango tree, those plastic lawn chairs would be placed under the tree and the drums would signal the start of worship. Walls, windows, pulpits and steeples are not found in rural Ghana.

As Hope embarks on another Lenten season, we turn our attention to Christ and his sacrifice for our sins. We might even be driven to give up something as a reminder of penitence and the promise of a new start. And, we also use this time to look externally at how we can serve the world around us .., specifically how we can expand God's Kingdom in Ghana. Over the past few years, Hope has donated over $1 million to construct 142 new clean water wells in villages in and around Accra and Ho, Ghana, in West Africa. Now, most residents of these villages, including the village chiefs, want to have a church. They appreciate the critical fresh water they and their people now have to drink, but they also want the eternal water of life ... Jesus Christ. To help meet this need, Hope's mission partners in Africa, GlobeServe International and Pastor Sam Dunya, have been training and equipping pastors who now stand by, ready to serve and be deployed.

Hope's investment in this kingdom expansion is to fund the construction of church structures (and the furnishing for those churches and housing for the pastor) in 40 of the villages where wells have been dug and dedicated. What is exciting about this Lenten Outreach project is we are not just building a church structure. These new buildings will become a center of community life for the villages. A gathering place. Just $4,200 provides the church structure (think picnic shelter), the Bibles, benches, altar for the church and the housing for the church pastor. That's almost as much as a typical American receives in a tax refund.

Bidwell is typically very low on personal items for families (think anything that you buy at the grocery store that is NOT food). In particular, they are currently needing these items:

- shampoo/conditioner

- body soap

- laundry soap

- dish soap

- toothpaste

- deodorant

- toilet paper

- paper towels

- feminine hygiene products

- razors

- lotions

Here are some current needs for individuals or small groups to help with at Freedom for Youth:

Meals provided for youths Monday-Thursday evenings.

Male member of the YMCA to take young adult males to the downtown YMCA and work out with them a couple times a week.

North High School study table on Wednesday from 1:00-3:00 pm needs tutors (especially Mac users).

Need people who sew to donate fabric and make curtains for a room at one of our homes for adults men in the program.