Fred Guyan-Mante immigrated to Canada in 1985 and was living in Mission when he decided to help people in his birthplace.

He came from an impoverished village in Ghana that had a need for clothing, hospital equipment, and medical and educational supplies.

He approached the Global Emergency Missions Society (GEMS) – whose head office is in Abbotsford – to see what they could do.

The agency is headed by Indridi Kristjansson of Abbotsford, and the organization assisted Guyan-Mante in sending a 40-foot container packed with goods – also including computers and bicycles.

The villagers celebrated the delivery of the gifts with singing and dancing.

Later, Guyan-Mante thanked Kristjansson for the support.

“He said, ‘It broke my heart to see the need [in Ghana] ... You sent one container of goods, but I bring you five containers of blessings in return,’ ” Kristjansson said.

This story exemplifies the true spirit of GEMS, he said.

“We are there to encourage them (people in need), help them, meet their immediate needs ... and get them out of their ‘stuckness.’ ”

GEMS partners with other organizations in Canada and elsewhere to gather humanitarian goods and ship them overseas.

Their Lower Mainland warehouse is located in Langley, but they also have collection centres in Comox, Kamloops, Salmon Arm and Trail. Last year, they shipped 14 containers.

This included playground equipment for a daycare centre in Zambia, soup mix and medical supplies to Fiji and the Philippines, and construction material to Guatemala.

Kristjansson said it costs an average of $10,000 to ship a container. The funds to do this come from donations provided by individuals, businesses and churches.

GEMS’ latest project involves shipping an X-ray machine to the House of Healing in Campina, Romania, in partnership with the organization People Loving People (PLP) in Trail, B.C.

The House of Healing was built by and receives ongoing support from the Abbotsford-based Multi-Media Ministries Inc.

The four-storey facility includes a medical clinic.

A group of Trail doctors donated an X-ray machine, and volunteers have refurbished it. It will be sent by PLP next week to GEMS, which will then ship it to Romania along with several wheelchairs, hundreds of bags and boxes of clothing, and medical supplies also donated through PLP.

Kristjansson said GEMS’ goals is to provide “crisis relief with dignity.”

“These are wonderful people ... but often they lack the resources and, if we can be the link in the chain to provide for them, then all the better,” he said.

Among GEMS’ supporters are several agencies in Abbotsford and Mission, including Helping Hands, which donated 1,500 blankets last year; the Fraser Valley Gleaners, which provides dehydrated food such as soup mix; Seeds of Hope; and Seeds International.

For more information about GEMS or to make a donation, call 1-778-898-0426 or visit gemsbc.org.

For more details about Multi-Media Ministries Inc., call 604-855-3829 or e-mail multimediaadmin@telus.net.