“I had a dream, but God’s vision is bigger than my dream.” With tears in his eyes Pastor Abraham Lermu Saaka (photo) described the incredible progress that has occurred in the building of the Redemption Children’s Home for orphans in Damongo, Ghana. On a cool Sunday afternoon on August 26, 2007 the newly built orphanage was dedicated and celebrated by the entire Damongo community. The new facility consists of five buildings, a boy’s and a girl’s dormitory with separate bathhouses, and a cafeteria and multi-purpose hall. This facility has been made possible by the American Lutheran Congregation of Oslo, Norway in cooperation with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and private donors in the United States and Norway.

Pastor Abraham, as he is known by all, began his ministry working with the Crusade for Christ International and taking the “Jesus” film to over four hundred villages. During his travels he noticed children who were orphaned and neglected. “God gave me a heart for children,” he says and so the initial dream of founding an orphanage began. From personal savings and friends at home and abroad, he was able to rent a primitive four room dwelling, staff and provide food for the orphans. In the first months of the orphanage over twenty-five children were brought to Pastor Abraham from surrounding villages. Many of these children were sick and would have died had he not opened the orphanage. Almost all of the children have been brought to the orphanage, often left or abandoned at the door. In one instance the mother of one of the first children brought to him died during birth. In the traditional belief system of the village this child was seen as being cursed or bewitched. The proposed solution was to have the child ritually killed so that the community could be cleansed of this evil. The relatives of the child’s mother learned of this and had the child brought to Pastor Abraham. Today Pastor Abraham has forty orphans in his care ranging from infants to age thirteen. His ministry is one of faith alone in the grace of God.

For the past three years the American Lutheran Congregation of Oslo, Norway (ALC) has been supporting three projects in this northern region of Ghana where a minority of Christians are spreading the love of God in Christ Jesus in an area dominated by Fetish worship, Animism and Islam. These projects consist of an orphanage, a Christian primary school and an Old Testament Bible translation team working in the local Gonja language of northern Ghana. The catalyst for this activity is the inspiration of one ALC family, who has roots in Ghana, the United States and Norway. During a summer visit to their home outside of Accra Jim and Mabel Killmer learned of the amazing story of Pastor Abraham and the orphanage from some missionaries who had worked in the North. This so inspired them that the very next day Jim took off with the family vehicle and one of Mabel’s cousins to make the fourteen hour trek from Accra to Damongo. Late at night after spending three hours on a rough bush road in the final leg of the journey they finally reached Damongo. The only directions to Pastor Abraham that they had were vague at best, “turn into the first house to the right off the main road.” That late night meeting has resulted in four mission trips from Norway and the US and a sharing in the gospel that has transformed partners and enlivened communities.In the days following the first meeting with Pastor Abraham, Jim Killmer learned that the Christian school that the orphans attended (New Life Preparatory School) had the walls of a building erected but no roof. Since Jim is by profession a contractor, he knew that he could put a roof on the school building.

In 2004 Jim and Mabel Killmer proposed to the ALC Council to allocate NOK 27,500 in benevolence to complete the roofing of the school. Three members of ALC also travelled to Ghana for this work and were joined by one volunteer from the states. In 2005 the roof was completed, classroom floors were laid, the walls were stuccoed and a water tank to collect rain water was set up. In 2006 another mission team from Norway and the US constructed outhouses for the school and land for the orphanage was purchased. A bore hole was drilled on the orphanage site that provides fresh water to the orphanage. In May of 2007 the foundations for the orphanage buildings were laid and work was begun on the buildings. The Redemption Children’s Home buildings are finished and already servicing over 50 children. Future plans may include additional dormitories, a caretaker’s house, and a guest house. In close proximity to theorphanage is an agricultural college that may prove to be a good resource for training and future support.