From Ghana to Manchester: Faiths Act Volunteer Pastor Francis Asante-Boadu tells his story

As a minister of the Gospel, I had travelled to many places in Ghana and elsewhere to share the word of God. In Ghana I loved going to typical Ghanaian villages to meet the local people and encourage them to trust in God. As I moved from village to village I discovered that one of the killer diseases was malaria. Wherever I went I found that malaria was killing children, pregnant women and elderly people. I had compassion for them and sometimes I shared the little money I had with parents to send their affected children to the hospital for treatment. Some of them were in remote areas in such a way that it was difficult for them to reach the hospital. In one village I witnessed a couple, malaria had killed their three year old boy. I prayed and encouraged them to trust that God would give them another child.

When I came to the United Kingdom to study and heard about Faiths Act raising awareness about malaria and helping to eradicate the disease from Africa, my family and I quickly decided to volunteer and get involved even in a small way, because I knew how malaria shortens lives in Africa. As time went by I shared that vision with my congregation, Manchester Christian Fellowship and together with other faith groups raised funds in support of Faiths Act and the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, to provide bed nets to protect and save poor children in villages in Africa And we have committed ourselves to continue our involvement in this volunteer project to fight malaria.

In my recent visit to Ghana, I again went to villages where parents were unable to protect their children from malaria and I made contact with faith leaders who promised to educate the people regarding clean environment.

I would therefore, appeal to all faith groups to get involve in the eradication of malaria from Africa and other parts of the world.

Pastor Francis Asante-Boadu

Manchester Christian Fellowship

www.mcf.btik.com