The Scripture Union, Ghana, has cut sod for the construction of a $7.4m campsite project at Pepawani near Aburi in the Akwapim South Municipality of the Eastern Region.
The ultra-modern multi-purpose project, situated on a 14.2 acres of land comprises a 1000-seater Main Auditorium; 1000-seater Multi-Purpose Hall, Dormitories and 13 Chalets.
It also include facilities such as Administration Block, Sports and Fields, Prayer Garden and reserves, and Gate House with parking.
Dubbed, the “Children and Youth Development Campsite,” the project seeks to provide accommodation for members of SU and end its reliance on public schools during mission activities.
Also, it would help impact positively the lives of more young people through teachings.
Speaking at a community durbar at Pepawani – Aburi to unveil the project, Reverend Morgan Fianko Asiedu, Council Chairman of SU, said over the years, Scripture Union had hosted its children and youth camps predominantly in public Senior High Schools across the country.
That, he explained, was no longer feasible considering the difficulty in securing such facilities.
“The difficulty of relying on public school facilities and the high cost of using private commercial facilities necessitated the need for SU Ghana to develop a campsite for the ministry,” he said.
Rev Asiedu said the camp would, therefore, provide accommodation for its members during activities and reduce the financial burden on the Union.
He added that, when completed, the campsite would help imbibe in the children and youth, far and near, a sense of uprightness for the benefit of the community and the nation.
Rev Derrick Koomson, General Director of SU, said the project was a testimony of how God was using SU to reach the rest of the world.
He noted that, the project was an opportunity for the two parties – the SU and the Pepawani community to strike a bond of friendship for the benefit of the youth and the larger community.
“We are not just coming to construct a building, but also to train the young ones in the way of Christ so they will grow to become responsible leaders for society and the country,” he said.
Rev Koomson indicated that the first phase of the project, which involved the construction of a 1000-seater main auditorium and other facilities, estimated at a cost of $4.9m, would commence in June 2024, while the entire project duration was five years.
Rev Koomson also disclosed that, the campsite would be available for the use by churches for their activities, adding that nine of similar projects were taking place across the country.
The Most Rev Paul Kwabena Boafo, the Presiding Bishop of The Methodist Church, Ghana, described the campsite as an “intentional project in investing in the young and the youth.”
He said the project would help transform lives of young people of the community and its environs for society, the Church and the world.
He assured the SU of the Methodist Church’s support to ensure that the project materialised.
Nana Kwafo Kwasi Wiafe,Kyidomhene, Pepawani, thanked the leadership of the SU for the project, urging the children and youth to make good use of the facility when completed, to acquire knowledge.
Mr Seth Kwame Acheampong, Eastern Regional Minister, commended SU and urged it to use the facility to impact positively, the lives of the young to ensure that, they grew to become responsible citizens.
Scripture Union Ghana is an Evangelical Christian Organisation which started as a school and Bible study movement in the early 1950s.
It has, since the early 1970s, grown beyond the boundaries of traditional evangelicalism into a hybrid – an evangelico-charismatic movement.
GNA
