Billy Johnson—Ghana

Waiting for the Lord in Cape Coast, Ghana

Do Not Be Discouraged

In 1968, in the West African nation of Ghana, Joseph William Billy Johnson was sure he had found the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Four years earlier, his friend Frank Mensah had given him a Book of Mormon and other Latter-day Saint books and pamphlets. Like its neighbor Nigeria, Ghana had no congregation of the Church. Frank had wanted to change that.

“I feel you are the man I should work with,” he had told Billy.

Since then, they had organized four unofficial Latter-day Saint congregations in and around Accra, the capital of Ghana. Having contacted Church headquarters, they knew about the Church’s reluctance to send missionaries to western Africa. But LaMar Williams and others had encouraged them to study the gospel and gather with like-minded believers. When they learned that Virginia Cutler, a professor from Brigham Young University, was in Accra to start a home economics program at the University of Ghana, they started a weekly Sunday school with her.

Billy loved sharing the gospel. He worked in the import-export industry, but he wanted to quit his job and devote more time to missionary work. His wife did not share his faith. “This church is so new,” she said. “I don’t want you to resign.”

But Billy was anxious to preach more. “There is something burning in me which I cannot hide,” he told her.

Religion had long been important to Billy. His mother, Matilda, was a devout Methodist, and she had raised him to have faith in God and to love His word. At school, Billy would often find a private place to sing hymns and pray while the other students played. One of his teachers took notice and told him he would someday become a priest.

As Billy got older, his faith was affirmed by remarkable dreams and visions. Shortly after Frank Mensah introduced him to the restored gospel, Billy was praying when he saw the heavens open and a host of angels appear, blowing trumpets and singing praises to God. “Johnson, Johnson, Johnson,” a voice called to him. “If you will take up my work as I will command you, I will bless you and bless your land.”

Not everyone had accepted Billy and Frank or their beliefs, though. Some people had said they were following a false church. Others accused them of not believing in Jesus Christ. Their words hurt Billy. Wondering if he had been led astray, he began to fast. After three days, he went to a room in his house where he had hung portraits of the presidents of the Church on the wall. He kneeled down and prayed to God for help.

“I would like to see these prophets,” he said. “I want them to give me instructions.”

That night, as Billy slept, he dreamed that Joseph Smith appeared to him and said, “Very soon missionaries will come. Prophet McKay is thinking of you.”

Another man also approached him and introduced himself as Brigham Young. “Johnson, we are with you,” he said. “Do not be discouraged.” Before the night was over, Billy saw every latter-day prophet down to George Albert Smith.

Billy’s desire to devote more time to sharing the gospel soon led him to quit his job and move to Cape Coast, a city southwest of Accra, where he planned to farm and start a new congregation. His wife did not support his decision, so rather than move with the family, she divorced Billy, leaving him to care for their four young children.

Billy was devastated, but he found support in his mother, Matilda. She had her own doubts about Billy quitting his job and moving the family to Cape Coast, wondering if he could be successful in a city that already had many churches. But Billy was her only living child, and she depended on him for her well-being, so she went with him.

Matilda now shared her son’s faith. When Billy had first told her of his new beliefs, she had not taken them seriously. But after seeing how those beliefs changed him and the people he taught, she realized that her son had found something special. She knew she and many others would be blessed when the Church came to Ghana, and this knowledge gave her courage.

Once the family settled in Cape Coast, Matilda cared for Billy’s children while he established his new congregation. She also gave him moral support and encouragement, lending a hand when she could to strengthen the congregation.

“No matter the circumstances, no matter the future,” she affirmed, “I am prepared to fight an honest battle for the Church.”

See the full text in Gospel Library for notes and source citations.

Gathering Believers to the Cocoa-Shed Church

By early 1972, Billy Johnson’s congregations in and around Cape Coast, Ghana, had grown to include hundreds of faithful members. Among the most devoted of them was Billy’s mother, Matilda. Jacob and Lily Andoh-Kesson and their children, who joined the group soon after Billy’s arrival in Cape Coast, were also committed members and friends.

As his congregations grew, Billy had found an old building that had once been used to store cocoa beans. Now the space was filled with benches, a few small chairs and tables, a pulpit, and a long pew against a wall. Some people around Cape Coast mocked Billy and his followers for meeting in the rundown building, calling them “the cocoa-shed church.” But the growing number of believers did not mind meeting there, even when rain leaked through holes in the roof and everyone had to bunch together or use umbrellas to stay dry.

Billy did his best to make the humble building welcoming and comfortable. He hung a sign between the two double-door entrances that read “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).” A mural of Christ on the cross graced one wall, while a mural on another wall showed the Savior with arms uplifted and the words “Come unto Me” above His head. Pictures of Joseph Smith, the Tabernacle Choir, and other Church scenes dotted the walls, which were painted a light blue.

Lily Andoh-Kesson kept the building clean. She arrived there early in the morning to prepare it for meetings. She saw angels there, she told her daughter Charlotte, and she wanted the angels to have a clean place to be.

Billy’s congregation met morning and evening three times a week for worship services, which were filled with hymns, dancing, clapping, prayer, shouts of praise, and sermons. Sometimes Billy preached with his young son Brigham sitting on his shoulders.

When he preached, Billy taught the principles he had learned from reading Church materials, like the thirteen Articles of Faith, and shared stories of Latter-day Saint pioneers. But most of all he loved teaching from the Book of Mormon.

Billy believed that missionaries would come someday from Church headquarters, yet he feared that his followers would grow discouraged while waiting for them. Some people had even left the group after critics of the Church told them that Latter-day Saints did not like Black people and would never send missionaries.

Occasionally, Billy’s tireless preaching got him in trouble with local authorities. He was accused of spreading falsehoods because he testified that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the only true church on the earth.

One time the police arrested him, but before they could take him to the station, he looked around, hoping to see a familiar face—someone who would go with him and the police. At first, he saw no one. But then he spotted a young bystander named James Ewudzie, a family friend.

James was weeping as he approached Billy. He was not a member of Billy’s congregation, but he placed a hand on him and called him “Sofo,” the Fante word for priest. “Do not worry,” he told Billy. “I will go with you.”

After being led to the station, Billy quickly engaged James and the police in a religious discussion. Four of the police officers warmed to his message and believed his words. The head of the police also struck up a friendship with Billy, and before long, the officers released him and James. Later, the head of the police invited Billy to teach gospel lessons to the Cape Coast police force every Friday morning.

James, meanwhile, had a dream that he met Billy at the meetinghouse. Billy asked him to kneel, and after he did so, light shone through the roof. James closed his eyes, but the light still illuminated him. Then he heard a voice slowly call his name.

“I want to bring my Church into Ghana,” the Lord said. He urged James to join with Billy. “If you help him, I will bless you and I will bless Ghana.”

James knew what the Lord told him in the dream was true, and he followed His command.

See the full text in Gospel Library for notes and source citations.

Whether You Believe It or Not

In 1974, in Cape Coast, Ghana, Billy Johnson saw the pictures and names of past Church presidents on the front page of a local religious newspaper. Beside the pictures were articles disparaging the Church and its leaders. The newspaper was clearly trying to sow doubt among the members of Billy’s growing congregation.

Billy and his fellow believers had been criticized for their faith in the restored gospel many times before. Some people heckled Billy for abandoning the religion of his youth. They said the Saints worshipped Joseph Smith and did not believe in God. Others pointed out that no Black men held the priesthood in the Church and mocked Billy and his followers for wasting their time.

It was hard to stay faithful amid such attacks. A year earlier, members of the congregation had grown frustrated that after so many years, no one had come to baptize them. Billy had immediately asked his followers to join him in fasting and prayer. As they did so, some people felt a powerful impression that missionaries would soon come to Ghana.

Although this impression had reassured the congregation, the persecution had not stopped. Some members worried when they saw the newspaper criticizing the prophets, not knowing what to do. Billy prayed with them and urged them not to pay the newspapers any mind. “Just throw them away,” he said.

But Billy too was feeling weak. One night, he went to the meetinghouse to pray. “Father, even though I believe the Church, that this is the true Church on earth today,” he said, “I need more strength and more confirmation to testify about the Church.”

He pleaded with the Lord to reveal Himself. Then he fell asleep and dreamed that he saw the Salt Lake Temple, full of light, descending from heaven. The building soon surrounded him. “Johnson, don’t lose faith in my church,” the voice of the Lord said. “Whether you believe it or not, this is my true church on earth today.”

When Billy awoke, he was no longer troubled by the persecution. “Father has spoken,” he said. “I will not be afraid anymore.”

In the days that followed, Billy’s faith felt stronger whenever he heard someone criticize the Church, and he worked to fortify his fellow believers. “There will be a time the Church will come up,” he testified. “We will see the beauty of the Church.”

See the full text in Gospel Library for notes and source citations.

Weeping before the Lord

Around this time, representatives from a Protestant church in the United States came to Cape Coast, Ghana, looking for Billy Johnson. They had heard that Billy had performed powerful miracles, and they were hoping to persuade him and his followers to join their church. About four thousand Ghanaians in forty-one congregations called themselves Latter-day Saints. Billy oversaw five of the congregations. The representatives needed someone to take charge of their Ghanaian congregations, and Billy struck them as the right man to lead.

Billy and his followers agreed to worship with the visitors at a community center in the city. The Americans greeted them with gifts of soap and cosmetics. “You kind people must be our brothers,” they said, “and we should be together.” They urged Billy and the others to stop waiting for the missionaries. “They are not coming.”

One of the visitors urged Billy to join them and be a leader in their church. “We’ll pay you,” he said. “We will pay your ministers.” They also offered to help Billy visit the United States and promised to supply his congregation with musical instruments and a new church building.

That night, Billy invited the visitors to stay in his home while he considered their offer. Being as poor as he was, he took the proposal seriously. But he did not want to betray God or his own faith in the restored gospel.

Alone in his bedroom, Billy wept. “Lord, what should I do?” he prayed. “I have waited for so long, and my brothers have not come.”

“Johnson, don’t ever confuse yourself or your members,” a voice told him. “Stay fast to the Church and very soon your brothers will come and assist you.”

Billy ended his prayer and left his bedroom. Soon, one of the guests emerged from another room. “Johnson,” the man said, “you are not asleep?”

“I’m thinking how to sort out things,” Billy admitted.

“Brother Johnson,” the man said, “I wanted to come and knock on your door to tell you your church is organized already. I should not confuse you.” He said the Lord had revealed this truth to him. “I should only be a brother to you,” he said. “Keep up with your church.”

“The Lord has spoken to me too,” Billy said. “It is the Lord’s church. I cannot give the church to anyone.”

Representatives from other American churches came later with similar offers. Billy rejected them all. Soon, leaders from his own congregation learned that he was refusing money and gifts from the Americans. Enraged, the leaders burst into his home. “These people have come to help,” one of the men said. “They’ll pay us.”

“I will not sell the church,” Billy said. “If it takes me twenty years, I will wait for the Lord.”

“You don’t have money,” one man said. “They want to pay us.”

“No,” Billy said, “no.”

The men seemed ready to beat him, but he refused to change his mind. Finally, they backed down, and as they left, Billy embraced them one by one. The last man broke down in tears when Billy took him in his arms.

“I’m sorry I’m hurting you,” the man said. “Please ask God to forgive me my sins.”

Billy cried with him. “Father,” he prayed, “forgive him.”

See the full text in Gospel Library for notes and source citations.

Tears of Joy

One evening in June 1978, Billy Johnson returned to his home in Cape Coast, Ghana. He and other members of his congregation had been fasting, as they often did, but the fast had done nothing to lift his spirits. He was tired and discouraged because more believers had stopped worshipping with him and returned to their old churches.

Billy longed to feel spiritually and emotionally strong again. A couple of months earlier, a member of his congregation had told him about a revelation she’d had. “Very soon the missionaries will come,” she had said. “I have seen white men coming to our church. They embraced us and joined us in worship.” Another woman announced that she had received a similar revelation. Billy himself had dreamed of some white men entering his chapel and saying, “We are your brothers, and we have come to baptize you.” Afterward, he’d dreamed of Black people coming from far and wide to join the Church.

Still, Billy could not shake his discouragement.

It was getting late, but he couldn’t sleep. A strong impression overtook him to listen to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on the radio—something he hadn’t done in years.

He found the radio, a brown model with four silver knobs near the base. The radio crackled to life as he turned it on. He fiddled with the knobs, and the red pointer glided back and forth across the dial. But he couldn’t find the broadcast.

Then, after an hour of searching, Billy finally made out a newscast from the BBC. The reporter announced that the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had received a revelation. All worthy men in the Church, regardless of race, could now hold the priesthood.

Billy collapsed, bursting into tears of joy. Priesthood authority would finally come to Ghana.

See the full text in Gospel Library for notes and source citations.