In the heart of GREDA Estates in Teshie, Accra, lives Beth Wills, an American missionary and widow, widely known as Mama Beth.
When she first visited Ghana in 2010 with her husband, she did not know what to expect, but she was deeply impacted in many ways at the end of the trip.
She later found peace and compassion on her return to the country after the death of her husband of 32 years, and that completely changed the course of her life.
Today, Mama Beth and her organisation, “This Grace of Giving”, are focused on one mission – to transform the lives of underprivileged children, single mothers and widows.
Whatever their situation, Mama Beth told the Daily Graphic in an interview, she was committed to ensuring that they have food, clothing, shelter and education -- empowering them to take control of their lives.
From personal grief to purpose
Beth took up an early retirement from her career with an aerospace company in 1999, allowing her and her husband to devote themselves to missionary work.
Mama Beth during one of her visits to Fern House Orphange in Teshie
“My husband and I had missions in America. We fed the poor a lot. We did soup kitchens annually.
I was involved in crisis pregnancy care, which is what I was looking forward to doing here in Ghana — taking care of the girls and letting them have their babies, and going back to school,” she recounted.
The 78-year-old philanthropist believes her mission in Ghana is a fulfilment of a prophetic word foretold by an American evangelist decades ago that she and her husband would have a ministry, her husband would die and go to heaven, and she would finish the work.
She said she had resisted and rejected the prophecy, especially when the ministry was said to be in Africa.
However, on her return from a pilgrimage in Israel, she encountered an African pastor who needed help to build a church and dig a well in Ghana.
Mama Beth said she agreed to fund the project but insisted she would not visit Ghana.
This was before she and her husband visited Ghana on a mission.
The experience deeply impacted her.
Mama Beth returned to Ghana in July 2013, after her husband had passed away in April of that year.
The following year, she relocated to Ghana with everything, including her dog and vehicle.
"I was grieving when I came back. I wanted to find what God had for me, and the peace that came upon me, I knew this was it.
“One morning, when I opened my Bible, it was right there: ‘This Grace of Giving’ in 2 Corinthians 8:7," she recalled how the current mission was born.
Mama Beth initially kept her home in America as a vacation rental, but eventually decided to let go of all her property in the United States.
Now, she only returns once a year to raise funds and gather resources for projects, with the support of her network of friends and partners.
This Grace of Giving
“This Grace of Giving” is a multifaceted non-denominational Christian organisation registered in America and Ghana as a non-profit, providing spiritual and physical support to the disadvantaged and the most vulnerable people in Ghana since 2010.
Mama Beth (middle) with some of her adopted daughters after a lunch out on a Christmas eve
At the heart of the organisation's work is sharing the love of God with the people of Ghana in tangible ways – distributing clothing, shoes, food, mosquito nets, most often in remote communities and assisting with education and shelter for vulnerable young people.
“Our mission is focused on changing physical lives and well-being, and giving hope to people through the Christian scriptures so they can find their purpose on this earth and contribute to the development and well-being of their community," she said.
"We aim to transform lives; one child, one widow, one single mother at a time,” she stressed, adding: “Whatever God puts on our laps, we know He will provide the resources to execute it.
Transforming lives
Mama Beth and her team work closely with foster homes (orphanages), churches, and community leaders, investing in the immediate and long-term needs of beneficiaries, and creating lasting and sustainable impact.
Over the years, many young boys and girls rescued from various forms of abuse, teenage mothers, and girls facing the threat of forced marriage have seen their lives change.
"I want to see these girls and boys grow and become doctors, lawyers, teachers, or whatever profession they choose," she said.
At Fern House Orphanage in Teshie, one of the homes she supports, the children were excited to see her and her team.
The occasion was the organisation’s usual monthly donation of food, drinks and other provisions to the home.
The children danced and jumped to the rhythm of gospel music playing on a boom box with a Children’s pastor leading, sharing the word of God through songs, rhymes, and recitals.
“Say thank you to Mama Beth. She has been supporting us for many years,” Madam Comfort, the owner of the Orphanage with about 30 children, said.
Five boys of the home and a 15-year-old teenage mother are direct beneficiaries of “This Grace of Giving” education sponsorship, which provides them with anything they need to stay in school.
They are all at various levels of schooling, and one of them recently had a scholarship through a partnering organisation to continue his education in the USA.
Some of the beneficiaries of her charity live with her at Teshie.
One of them, Inna, a 15-year-old student of a private girls’ boarding school in Winneba, narrated how her life changed since her uncle brought her to live with Mama Beth in 2018.
“I feel so lucky and blessed because if I hadn't met her, I think I would be married off by now," she said.
Another beneficiary, Paul Abdulai, had spent his early childhood years as a cattle herd boy in northern Ghana, which delayed his education.
Mama Beth took him in when his uncle brought him from the north to the organisation’s mission house at Asesewa, the Upper Manya Krobo District capital in the Eastern Region.
Now in junior high school Form 2, Paul was full of gratitude to Mama Beth.
Plan
With a Mission House completed in Asesewa, sheltering some beneficiaries, staff and missionaries who visit from the USA, Mama Beth is now focused on raising resources to build a Sanctuary Village and a Safe House for girls escaping child marriage, victims of crisis pregnancy and persecuted Christians to help them find a place in society and meaning in their lives in Christ.
