Finding Yakubu
By World Vision Artist Angela Donadio
I was recently in Ghana, West Africa, for speaking and music ministry with my husband, Dale. Having traveled to Africa several times for missions and humanitarian work, I had chosen to sponsor a child in an area I knew we would be able to visit. On July 25, 2012, we had the wonderful privilege of meeting our sponsored child, Yakubu, in Kpachelo, Northern Region, Ghana. Michael, the Program Director, picked us up at our hotel and took us to the World Vision Office in Savelugu. Michael shared his story of joining the World Vision Team after working with Ghana Health Services and seeing the work World Vision had done to eradicate guinea worm by drilling wells. We met up with Teni and Lydia, who joined us for the visit.
We arrived to the sights and sounds of village women greeting us with “the welcome song”! They sang all the way down the road into the village where 150-200 members of this community had come to meet us, and were now singing, dancing, and celebrating our arrival. A member from The National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), served as our host and interpreter for the day. We walked to greet the Chief, and when they told him I was a World Vision Artist, he requested that I sing! I sang the worship chorus, "How great is our God", before we returned to the community to greet them and explain our visit. I shared with this primarily Muslim community how the love of Jesus Christ motivated me to speak and serve on their behalf, singing for them as well. It was wonderful to see the difference World Vision has made in their lives.
World Vision brought 5 or 6 boys for us to choose from to see if we knew our sponsored child! We guessed wrong the first time but should’ve trusted our instincts! They made us "official Dagoombas, presenting us with matching outfits that they put on us while our sponsored child sat next
to us.
We met Yakubu’s family, visited their home, presented gifts, and received a basket of eggs as their expression of gratitude. We then went over to the school where there were about 200 kids at the end of school. I read a Christian illustrated book, "Seek and Save The Village" and handed out 50 books to the older ones who could read. The World Vision team helped me to give out bubbles and stickers, and we ended our visit by visiting the Mayor. It was day we won’t forget, and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to represent World Vision and play a small part in improving the quality of life for the people in Northern Ghana.
Angela has been in full-time ministry since 1994 as Worship Pastor at River of Life Worship Center A/G in Spotsylvania, Virginia, where her husband Dale is Lead Pastor. Embracing a new, God-directed season in her life, she travels as a worship leader/artist, speaker, and advocate for missions projects in Africa. Visit Angela's website at www.angeladonadio.com
