CITY OF REFUGE

Front Row left to right:, Miracle, J.J. and Caleb Back Row: Paul, Stacy Justice, Johnbull and Rosemary

Lydia, Families beloved live in cook.

I have spent the past week at  City of Refuge Children’s Village. Johnbull and Stacy Omorefe are the founders of City of Refuge which has several ministries and several in the planning stages.  It has been such a blessing to see  God at work in their lives. Johnbull and Stacy were married in 2002 and some years later, while Stacy was pregnant with their third child,  the couple decided that John’s three younger siblings would become part of their family after the loss of his parents.  It was remarkable to see how beautifully their three sons, J.J., Caleb, and Justice and  Johnbull’s siblings  Rosemary, Paul and Miracle have blended into one large happy family.  John’s brother, Nosa and their cook, Lydia complete  the Omorefe family. Fellow shipping with this family felt much like being at home.  The hustle and bustle in the morning to get everyone to their destinations, picking up the house, laughing, teasing, tattling, eating, and kissing boo boos structure the day.  However, unlike most families there are the other orders of the day such as  visiting the school to make sure everything was going well, taking children and teachers to the hospital or doctor, staff meetings for the homes and  school, going to the market for beads to make sure the single mom’s at Seven Continents have supplies and so much more.   This couple is so busy working for the Kingdom of God but do not seem to miss out on opportunities to love and encourage each other and those around them.  I love it.

Johnbull and Stacy have huge hearts for  the children they are ministering to currently and to future residents of the children’s village. Planning rescues for children that have been sold into slavery is always on their minds.  They have a desire not only to rescue children from human trafficking, but to educate the masters involved in buying these children from desperate parents. They have been working with some masters who use boys as young as age three to dive and untangle their nets from the canoes they are fishing from,  and children who have been sold as domestic or sex slaves. Some of the masters after hearing their hearts and listening to the Omorefes explain why this is so wrong and devastating to the children of Ghana, and children all over the world, have been touched to the point of handing over the children.  Rescuing these children who are sold because their families are so poverty stricken would be an endless task as the masters would only buy other children to replace them, so rescuing them is not the cure. As they talked, it became very clear that they understand the great importance of reaching out and educating everyone involved in this cycle that is scarring so many lives.

Future Water Purification Building

Their vision to stop human trafficking has blossomed into other ministries that help single mothers.  They are in the process of starting a water plant that will produce pure drinking water that will be sold in small sachets and will employ only single  mothers, allowing them to care for their children.   Water sachets are sold every day on the streets all over Ghana and theirs will have a message about human trafficking. They also employ single moms at Seven Continents making jewelry and handbags.  It is called Seven Continents because the issue of human trafficking and poverty is worldwide with over 27 million slaves in our world today.

We passed the building that will be used to process the water on our way to Freedom Street which has six homes, 5 in different stages of planning and building and 1 which is now home to some of these children.  Each home has a room for the girls, a room for the boys (each with their own bath room), a room located in the center of the home for the house parents, a kitchen, a large hall for dining and recreation, and porches on both ends of the house.  Joseph and Teresa are the first house parents at City of Refuge Children’s Village and are such beautiful people. This home, like Johnbull and Stacy’s home is filled with the sounds of happy children.

Joseph and Teresa, First House Parents on Freedom Street

I have tried to imagine leaving my home, frightened, not knowing what was happening to me, being thrust into a world of slavery where you are used to do household chores, farming chores, being used for sex, diving to untangle nets which many times ends a young life, taking their last breath as they dive into the murky water.  I cannot fathom the emotions that must  overwhelm you and then as the instinct to survive kicks in you just live day to day accepting your fate.  For some the tragedy starts all over, familiar feelings once again overwhelming you and revealing  the ache to go home that has been buried deep inside your soul  because you have been sold again.
Hopefully you will be one of the children blessed enough to be taken by the Omoferes. Once again you do  not know where you are headed or what this new place holds for you. You are taken into a home where nothing is as it has ever been.  You are introduced to your new parents, given a bed, food, hugs and prayed for.  Still not sure what is happening or what will happen in the morning, you fall asleep because you are so mentally and physically drained.    You  wake to the smell of food and other children’s voices and there is more food, more love, more prayers and you are taken to school to meet your teachers.  You spend the day meeting other children noticing that they are laughing, playing, studying and you begin to relax just a little still somewhat unsure.  Then day after day you are treated with respect, shown kindness and it begins to sink in that you are home, you are safe and you are loved.  The day that you realize that this is not a dream is the day your healing begins. God bless you Johnbull and Stacy for having His heart and putting it into action, for sacrificing and doing it with a spirit of joy. 

We visited the school, Faith Roots International Academy, appropriately named.  While the school is not yet complete, it is filled to capacity, with a waiting list. There are 121 students enrolled in the school and eight new classrooms in the planning and fundraising stages. Along with the new classrooms they will be adding a library and computer lab.  Outside the school is a soccer field and basketball court.  During our stay we volunteered in the classrooms assisting teachers, worked at their school store, and played with the children during break time and after school.  They are so sweet, happy and all at different stages of healing. It was so beautiful to watch them study, laugh, play and relate to one another and the staff at the school and the village.  Some live at the children's  village and some come to school  from the village of Doryumu on school scholarships.  Their studies are very important to them I learned as they shared their dreams of becoming doctors, nurses, pilots, preachers, teachers, and so on. I don’t have the words to explain what it does to your heart seeing what God is doing here for these children through the school and it is inspiring to see Johnbull and Stacy at the school and village daily providing these kids with hope for their future and so much love.  

Rebecca Vanderford, volunteer playing with the children during their  break.

They shared a story about being in one of the villages. They were meeting with the Chiefs of the villages, and they were in the middle of a drought. As they were telling them about God, the Chiefs began to question why if their God was real He would allow them to suffer from such a terrible drought.  They said if their God was so great, they should pray for rain. Johnbull and Stacy prayed, Ok God, you have heard them, now will You show them who You are and make it rain. The winds started picking up, the clouds began rolling in, it started  thundering and lightening and soon rain was pouring from the heavens. They said it rained for two days after they prayed. We laughed as they shared about sitting in the car watching Kung Fu Panda, waiting for the rain to stop. But literally I had goose bumps as they told this story thinking about the faith they have and how God showed Himself to the Chiefs of he villages.  They did  not hesitate for one minute to call upon God or believe that He would do it! They are warriors for the Kingdom of God.  Their faith and trust in God is being used to change the lives of so many.

They plan to build a church which will be called The Refuge.  Their vision for the church includes many outreaches. John shared his heart, and how it is Kingdom Culture, coming down from Heaven and being lived out here on earth, that will change people. Jesus did not preach religion, but the Kingdom of God and that if we can just grasp that way of living that Jesus taught, we would be so effective wherever we are. As he spoke, or I should say preached, I  became excited about how this church would like their other ministries affect so many lives.

 I hope to return  to City of Refuge Children’s Village in years to come and be in awe of what God has done.  I know that He will provide all that they need to fulfill the visions He has birthed in them.  I know that many orphans and child slaves will be swept from the snares that Satan has laid for them and be brought up in the knowledge and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Johnbull and Stacy hope to be self supported in the future, but they are still working towards that point. They are fully dependent on God to provide the funds for everything they do in the City Of Refuge. Please visit their website, www.cityofrefugeoutreach.com, to learn more about this precious couple and the work that they are doing for the Kingdom of God and how you can help a child.