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Your Big Church Festival Impact, One Year On
In the Savannah region of Ghana, lives are being changed, communities are growing stronger, and local churches are bringing hope where it’s needed most.
Last year at Big Church Festival, Jesus led and you moved.
Together, we came alongside 747 children living in poverty in the Savannah region of Ghana, partnering with Compassion's local church partners to help ignite lasting hope and transformation.
One year later, we're seeing the impact.
We're seeing churches reach more children. Communities gain access to safe water. Families find support. Children grow in confidence. And through it all, local churches are sharing the love of Jesus in places where that witness can come at significant cost.
So, what difference has your support made? And why should we continue this journey together, following Jesus’ lead in caring for children, the most vulnerable to the devastating realities of poverty?
Together we’re seeing:
1. More children being reached than anyone expected
When a Compassion project opens, children are registered gradually as sponsorship support grows. Normally, it can take years for a new project to reach the point where it can register additional children and meet wider community needs as well.
But something remarkable has happened in Ghana.
Florence Sena Amponsah, Senior Manager of Programme Support for Compassion Ghana, shares that progress which might normally take five years is now happening in around two.
“Our partnership with Big Church Festival has enabled new Compassion projects in the Savannah Region of Ghana to get off the ground and grow quickly. When starting new Compassion child development centres, it normally takes an average of five years for a project to reach a stage where the needs of children and the wider community are being adequately addressed. Thanks to the incredible response from the Big Church Festival partnership, we expect to achieve this in approximately two years from the date these projects first opened.”
All nine Compassion church partners opened in the Bole cluster during 2024 have already grown to around 250 registered children. Four new church partners have since opened in the area, creating opportunities for even more children to receive support.
Behind every number is a child with a name, a family and a future.
“God bless you for the acts of kindness and love,” shares Florence. “The impact is amazing and we continue to record testimonies of God's goodness every single day because of the work you are doing.”
And there are still thousands of children waiting. You can move with Compassion and sponsor a child in the Savannah region of Ghana.
2. Mums like Linda experiencing help and hope
Children's television presenter and Big Church Festival host, Gemma Hunt, sponsored Eva through the festival last year. Eva shares the same birthday as Gemma’s daughter, creating an immediate personal connection between the two families.
Reflecting on visiting the Savannah region and meeting Eva, Gemma explains, “I knew that I was coming to meet Eva, but I didn't know that I would make such a connection with her mum. Even though our lives look completely different, our mothers' hearts are exactly the same.”
"I am so happy our daughters share the same birthday,” adds Linda.
“Before, I had a lot of trouble because I have seven children. There was never enough to eat. My local church said they were opening a project that would help children go to school. Every day I would pray that it would help us. By God's grace it has.
“Eva is now a part of the project. Her health has improved thanks to the quality and variety of the food she eats. She is also getting a good education. I hope that Eva will continue to flourish, thanks to the programme."
3. Children growing in confidence and connection
One of the most encouraging changes has been harder to measure but impossible to miss.
When some of the projects in the Savannah first opened, many children struggled to interact confidently with one another. Opportunities for play, friendship and social development had often been limited.
A year on, project staff have noticed a visible difference. Project worker, Jennifer, reflects how “the children get a chance to come to the church projects every week. This is where the children get to socialise, they bond, they play a lot learning together ... We now have families who are hopeful for the future of their children. They are really thriving.”
Rev. Lyn Weston, Compassion UK’s Chief Partnership Officer, adds, “At Seripe Child Development Centre, we met some of the same children as last year. One year on, they’d grown so much in confidence, in vibrancy and in joy. When FaithChild and DC3 led the children in some rapping they just joined in. All the children were bouncing up and down and praising the Lord. It was just incredible.”
4. Safe water becoming a reality
In Maluwe, one of the communities connected to Compassion's local church partners, access to safe water has been a daily struggle.
The community has around 3,000 residents. Existing water sources have been unreliable, and long queues mean children are often late for school. Women and girls can face safety risks when travelling to meet basic sanitation needs.
That's why a borehole funded through Big Church Festival support is currently being installed.
For families in Maluwe, this isn't simply a construction project. It's the difference between uncertainty and security, sickness and health, lost opportunities and new possibilities.
For children, it means more time in school and less time searching for water.
"I am very happy having water closer to me. I had to sometimes wake up at four to join the queue to fetch water, which also delayed my farming activities and getting my children ready for school. Now I will have more time to spend on economic activities and I am very happy for that." Local mum, Maluwe
5. Churches sharing both physical water and living water
In the Savannah region, around 90% of the population in the communities are Muslim. This is very different to the south of Ghana which has a Christian-majority.
Here, local church leaders faithfully serve their neighbours with humility and compassion, often in places where openly following Jesus can carry significant social cost.
When Pastor Samuel arrived to lead the Church of Pentecost in Maluwe just six months before a recent Compassion visit, he could not have imagined the changes he would see. Speaking with Christian leader and Links International CEO Joe Gisbey, he reflected on the remarkable transformation that has taken place in the community.
More children are attending school. School facilities have been improved. Children have received support for health needs that previously went untreated. Families have been able to improve basic living conditions.
As practical needs are being met, relationships are deepening.
The church is demonstrating God's love through action while continuing to share their hope that’s been found in Jesus.
In the words of one local leader, the Church is bringing both physical water and living water to the community.
6. New initiatives launched reaching newborn babies
The impact isn't only being felt among school-age children.
Since Big Church Festival 2025, seven of the projects where we support children through Compassion's Child Development programme have been able to launch our Mums and Babies programme.
And what’s more, eleven additional projects supported by the Big Church Festival partnership are planning to launch the Mums and Babies programme later in 2026, including nine in Daboya and two in Bole.
In a region where extreme poverty leaves mums and babies isolated and vulnerable, mums are now being kept safe during pregnancy, receiving vital pre and post natal check-ups. With the first 1,000 days of life critical, babies are receiving vital vaccinations, vitamins, nutritional supplements and growth checks.
By investing early, local churches can help families build stronger foundations long before children are old enough to join Compassion's holistic development programme.
7. The next generation captivated by God’s heart for justice
The exciting thing is that the impact of this partnership isn’t only being seen in the Savannah region of Ghana. God is moving and changing hearts in the UK too. One thing we loved about Big Church Festival last year, was how many children and young people came alongside a child in poverty through their family beginning a sponsorship journey.
Gareth, who works for Big Church Festival, shares about the impact sponsoring Hadi has had on his sons.
“As a family, we wanted to help our boys, Bear and Beau, understand that the world is much bigger than the one they experience every day. We wanted them to see that not everyone has the same opportunities or resources that we do, and that following Jesus means loving people we may never even meet.
“When Hadi's profile arrived, we gathered Bear and Beau around the kitchen table and opened it together. They were both so excited—it almost felt like we'd been given another child! They immediately wanted to know everything about him: where he lived, how far away Ghana was, and when they might meet him. Bear loves maps, so we found the Savannah Region together and talked about where Hadi lives. Since then, Hadi's photo has had pride of place on our fridge, and the boys ask about him regularly.
“The biggest surprise has been how naturally our boys have embraced Hadi ... I expected the sponsorship to remain something Mum and Dad cared about, but Bear and Beau genuinely care about him. Bear now enjoys writing his own messages, and they both love sending videos and letters. Watching their hearts grow in compassion has been one of the greatest gifts of this journey.”
The need remains great
Despite these encouragements, the need across Ghana's Savannah region remains significant.
While Ghana has made progress in reducing poverty nationwide, the Savannah region remains one of the country's most disadvantaged areas. The region's Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) stands at 0.326, nearly three times higher than the national average of 0.113. As a result, more than a third of people living in the Savannah region (36.7%) are classified as experiencing severe poverty. Many families still lack reliable access to safe water, quality education, healthcare and economic opportunity.
Thousands of children are still waiting for the support that could help change the trajectory of their lives. The need is great. But God's Church is moving.
Move with compassion and sponsor a child in the Savannah region today
This year at Big Church Festival, we're championing children more than ever
Jesus welcomed children, valued them and made time for them.
That's why, when children face the injustice of poverty, we’re called to reflect His heart and move with compassion.
When a child is cared for, it sparks a ripple-effect of hope. Children and young people are discipled to become change-makers, families are strengthened, and whole communities experience and drive transformation.
And that transformation is exactly what’s unfolding in Ghana’s Savannah region.
As we gather again at Big Church Festival, let's celebrate what God has already done. And let's come expectant for what he'll do next.
Words by
Zannah Kearns and Becca Corbett
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