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Mission Society missionary Mary Kay Jackson is a  civil engineer who serves with Methodist Development Relief Services and Pure Home Water, two charitable organizations that focus on bringing safe drinking water to the rural poor in Ghana.

Here, Mary Kay tells the story of Abel, a youth from northern Ghana, and his relentless quest for an education.

Sampana Abel lives in Bolgatanga, in the north of Ghana. He completed junior high school last summer, and took his Basic School Certificate Examinations (BSCE) at that time. These examinations are the culmination of primary and junior high school in Ghana, and your score on the BSCE determines whether you will go to high school or not. Abel scored well enough in his exams to move on and received notification that he had a place at Bawku Technical High School. 

However, Abel has had a difficult childhood. His childhood home in the village was destroyed in a storm. His parents suffered from poverty and mental illness and were homeless for some time. Abel had nowhere to stay until a local woman took him in with the understanding that he would work on her farm and around her house. The work was hard and life was not easy. Often Abel could not go to school because he had to work. Lately, even though he’s not an orphan, he has been living in an orphanage run by a friend of mine, Mama Laadi.

No room for Abel
In Ghana, secondary education is not free. Most high schools are boarding schools, so in addition to tuition costs, money is needed for room and board. By the time Abel was able to pull together enough money for his school fees at the end of October, school had already started. When Abel showed up for class, the headmaster told him that the class was full and there was no room for him.

Abel tried to get into other schools in the area, but they were all full. A couple of schools would have been willing to take him into the freshman class, if Abel were willing to pay a bribe to make it worth the school administrator’s effort. Of course, Abel barely had the money for school fees, so he couldn’t afford to pay any bribes on top of that.

Against all odds 
While watching television one night, Abel and Mama Laadi saw a program sponsored by the Methodist Church Ghana. During the program, the show advertised the Methodist Education Unit and provided a phone number to call for more information about attending a Methodist School. Abel called and asked about schools in the Upper East Region and the potential for assistance to impoverished students. He was referred to his local Methodist minister, Very Rev. Samuel K. Bessa-Simons.

Very Rev. Bessa-Simons met with Mama Laadi and Abel and told him about the new Methodist Senior Technical School that opened in January in Sakote. This school was funded by Living Word United Methodist Church in St. Louis, Missouri.

While the Sakote school does not have boarding facilities, it turns out that Sakote is Abel’s home village! His parents are living there, so he will have a place to live and go to school. 

Dreams coming true
Abel is excited about the opportunity to get an education and promises to work hard. When I asked him what he wanted to be now that he will get an education, he didn’t know how to answer. He said, “I never thought I would have the opportunity to get an education, so I never thought about what I could be.” After some contemplation, though, he said he would like to become either a pastor or a teacher.

We may never know the number of lives we touch or the impact we have on others, but every once in a while, God gives us a glimpse of the difference we can make in one young man’s life.