Articles labeled: real life church

Finally some heartwarming news for once. Vanessa Anderson, a 15-year-old from Maple Valley, Washington, isn’t content with texting her friends and hanging out on MySpace all day. Instead, she’s on a mission to take a trip to Ghana, West Africa, along with a 40-foot cargo container filled with medical supplies, reading materials, and more:

Dream big, he told her. Don’t just think about taking a suitcase full of school supplies or children’s vitamins. Think about taking a cargo container full of supplies, one that could be used — when emptied — for a classroom or a clinic.

Vanessa took his words to heart.

She’s now spearheading an effort to raise $16,000 by the end of this month to buy the container and cover the cost of shipping it to Ghana.

It will go to Bamboi, a place that is just now getting electricity and where residents walk long distances for water.

For Vanessa and others making the trip, it’s more than just a faraway place in a strange land.

There’s a personal connection.

Nana Kwaku Dapaah II, a member of the church who lives in Maple Valley with his wife and the youngest of his two sons, is from that area. Dapaah, an immigrant who travels to Ghana several times each year, is paramount chief of the Mo tribe, about 100,000 people who live in northwest Ghana. Living and working in the United States allow him to take opportunities to his people that they wouldn’t otherwise have.

Anyone interested in donating to this worth cause can send a check to Real Missions, P.O. Box 1511, Maple Valley, WA 98038.