The Scripture Union Ghana has cut sod for the construction of a $7.4 million campsite project at Pepawani near Aburi in the Akwapim South Municipality of the Eastern Region.
The ultra-modern multi-purpose project, situated on 14.2 acres of land, comprises a 1000-seat main auditorium, a 1000-seat multi-purpose hall, dormitories, and 13 chalets.
It also includes facilities such as the 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 camp meetings.
Also, it would help positively impact the lives of more young people through discipleship.
Speaking at a community durbar at Pepawani-Aburi to unveil the project, Morgan Fianko Asiedu, Esq., Council Chairman of SU, said over the years, Scripture Union has 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.
Lawyer 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 and the fear of God for the benefit of the community and the nation.
Rev. Derek E. Koomson, General Director of SU, said the project was a testimony to how God was using SU to reach the rest of the world.
He noted that the project was an opportunity for the two parties, including 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 involves the construction of a 1000-seat main auditorium and other facilities, is estimated at a cost of $4.9 million, while the entire project is estimated at a cost of $7.4 million.
Rev. Koomson also disclosed that the campsite would be available for use by churches for their activities, adding that other similar projects will take place across the country after the completion of this one.
The Most Rev. Dr. 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 the lives of young people in 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 materialized.
Nana Kwafo Kwasi Wiafe, Kyidomhene, Pepawani, thanked the leadership of SU for the project, urging the children and youth to make good use of the facility when it is completed to acquire knowledge.
Mr. Seth Kwame Acheampong, Eastern Regional Minister, commended SU and urged it to use the facility to positively impact the lives of young people to ensure that they grow to become responsible citizens.
Scripture Union Ghana is a national, autonomous, Evangelical Christian Organization and the largest para-church, 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.
