Living Hope Assemblies of God Church

The Living Hope Assemblies of God Church in situated in Kansingo, Bolgatanga and is under the Bongo district in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Bongo is one of the poorest districts in Ghana.

The church was founded in 1978 by the late Revd Peter Yinimi Ndanga alongside six other churches he previously established in Bolgatanga.  Revd Ndanga went to be with the Lord in December 1978 at the age of 48.

The church is currently pastored by Thomas Ayine.  Thomas was trained in England at the International Bible Training Institute in Burgess Hill, West Sussex from 2003-2005 where he successfully obtained his Diploma in Theology.  He has also trained at the Victory International Bible Training School in Bolgatanga for two years. 

Thomas has a disability which has resulted in him losing the use of his left arm which came after a motorbike accident in December 1991.

A history of the work

Some years ago the church acquired three acres of land for future development and decided to use part of it for building a Resource Center for people with disabilities.

In 2005 funds were provided to start the work on the Resource Centre and MRCT were able to provide some financial help for bags of cement to be used for the flooring.  The charity also maintains financial support by providing funding for the new church building development project which is currently in operation.

The church continues towards making their building accessible for all people with a disability and funding is still required to make this vision a possibility in the future.

MRCT has also provided funding for Thomas to purchase a computer which has greatly benefited his church and community work with people with a disability.  A motorbike was also recently funded which is used to transport Thomas around the local area to attend speaking engagements.

Current News about the Church

Living Hope Assemblies of God church has between 50-60 active members which mainly comprises of families and children. Most of the congregation works in farming which is the main funding source for all their individual needs.  This work includes crop and animal rearing. Crops range from Maize, Beans, Ground Nuts, Rice, Sweet Potatoes, Peppers, Tomatoes and Millet.  Millet is the main crop and a bag of it can feed a family of four people for one month.  Animal rearing includes chickens and guinea fowl.

Women often work on “Sheer Butter” extraction from trees and also work in rice production which brings in some income to their families.

Generally members of Living Hope Assemblies of God church have very little personal income which is often dependant on the changeable weather conditions with their farming activities.  Last year there was little rain which resulted in a famine with many families going hungry for long periods of the year.  Even with these climatic and personal difficulties each family gave financially to the church, as they are committed givers.

Because of the work limitations in Bogatanga most young people move away from the area to seek out alternative employment opportunities.

Pastor Thomas is very committed in his Christian faith and seeks to serve the Lord in all areas of his work and ministry in Ghana. He is actively involved in his church work on a day to day basis and also provides weekly pastoral support to people attending the Resource Centre in Bolga.   He is also a volunteer administrator for a “Widows & Orphans” ministry and secretary and youth president for the Sunday School Superintendent and Evangelism Team.