Ghana:

A Household of Faith

By Don L. Searle

When missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints started teaching his family, Isaac Kojo Botwe made it clear from the beginning that he was not interested.

“I would abandon them in the sitting room, go into the boys’ room, and smoke my dirty pipe,” he says, laughing as he recalls what followed. Soon he decided that he really ought to listen to what the missionaries were saying. Not long afterward, he decided that he needed to give up that “dirty pipe” and live the Word of Wisdom.

Elder Mark Owusu, one of the missionaries who taught him, remembers that Isaac Botwe had his children gather his pipes, his tobacco, and his coffee—and then he set fire to the lot of it!

Isaac, his wife, Frances, and their children of baptismal age came into the Church together in 1987. Today, Isaac is bishop of the Takoradi Ward, Cape Coast Ghana Stake. His family has an extensive history of service to the Church. So, too, does Mark Owusu, who has served in a variety of teaching and leadership positions since his mission.

In many ways, what has happened in the lives of the Botwe family and Brother Owusu parallels what has happened to many people in Ghana during the 18 years since the Church officially arrived.

The Beginning

Joseph William Billy Johnson is one of those people. He has been a member of the Church from its beginnings in Ghana.

In 1964 an associate gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and some Church tracts that had been sent from Europe. When he read a tract containing the testimony of Joseph Smith, he recalls, “I was inspired,” and when he read the Book of Mormon, “I knew it was true.” He began to preach the gospel truths he had learned. He wrote to Church headquarters, and President David O. McKay encouraged him to continue studying the scriptures and to be patient and faithful until missionaries could be sent to Africa.

Billy Johnson persevered for 14 years despite persecution. He built congregations to whom he taught the gospel doctrine he found in Church books. As nearly as he knew how, he tried to direct his congregations according to Church practices, yet he understood that he did not have authority to perform its ordinances.

Often he felt directed by the Spirit; he was sustained at times by visions and dreams. His son was named after Brigham Young because of a dream in which that former President of the Church offered encouragement. Brother Johnson learned about salvation for the dead after deceased relatives appeared to him in dreams and asked him to be sure they would have the opportunity to receive baptism by proxy.

“I drew inspiration from the pioneers,” he says. Reading of their struggles to build a haven in the western United States where they could worship in peace, he longed for the day when it might be possible to enjoy this same blessing in Ghana.

When Latter-day Saint missionaries arrived in 1978, after the revelation extending the priesthood to all worthy male members, hundreds of Ghanaians he had prepared were ready to be taught and baptized.

Despite the hardships he endured, Brother Johnson, now patriarch of the Cape Coast Ghana Stake, rejoices at the opportunity he had during all those years to help prepare others for the gospel. “Whenever I see in conferences the number of people who have been baptized into the Church, I start weeping for joy at the great work the Lord has done.”

Spreading the Truth

There are many pioneers in the Church in Ghana. Some of them were baptized while studying or working outside the country, then returned home to share their newfound truths with family and friends.

Monica Ohene-Opare was baptized as an exchange student in New York in 1979. She married shortly after returning home and helped convert her husband, Emmanuel. Each of them has since held a variety of Church callings. Currently, she is president of the Primary in their ward, and he is president of the Accra Ghana Stake. But their most important leadership contributions may have been in family life.

Sister Ohene-Opare knows that their five children have been blessed with an opportunity that was not available to her: they are among the first generation in Ghana to grow up in the gospel, “and it has become part of them.” She says she is grateful that they have its high standards to help them confront their challenges.

Emmanuel Abu Kissi’s experience with his extended family is typical of Church growth in Ghana—one person’s testimony becoming a catalyst for the faith of others.

Emmanuel was studying medicine in London when LDS missionaries contacted his family. His wife, Benedicta Elizabeth, was healed of illness and depression through a blessing they gave her. In what they taught, Emmanuel found answers to questions that had troubled him for years. The Kissis were baptized in 1979.

Both became stalwarts in the growing Church on their return to Ghana. Brother Kissi was a regional representative for several years and is now a counselor to the president of the Ghana Accra Mission. But in the beginning, he probably had no idea how much fruit would come from seeds he sowed in his own family.

Emmanuel introduced his younger brother, Stephen Abu (their last names differ because of Ghanaian traditions in naming children), to the gospel while Stephen was visiting in Accra. After his baptism, Stephen returned to Abomosu, their isolated home village, and began to “organize” his own family, as he says, teaching them the gospel. His teaching extended to friends, and when missionaries were finally sent to the village, there was a group of people waiting to be baptized.

From that beginning came the Abomosu Ghana District, which now has more than 600 members. With two branches in the village, Latter-day Saints are a significant portion of the population. Two miles up the road, a new meetinghouse is under construction for the branch in Sankobenase.

Making Better Marriages

Another important area in which the gospel has helped Ghanaians is in family relationships. Traditionally, Ghanaian men rule rather than lead in marriage, often spending much time outside the home. But many Latter-day Saint men and women are becoming leaders by example as they apply gospel principles in marriage.

Several years ago, Philip Xaxagbe (the Xs are pronounced like Hs) was working in Nigeria, so deeply involved in his job that his family life was withering. He was troubled by drinking. He and his wife had drifted apart, and each was secretly contemplating divorce when she met the missionaries. Philip agreed to listen to them. “It seemed that everything they were teaching me I had heard somewhere before, but I didn’t know where.” He was baptized after a dream convinced him that if he did not accept the gospel, he would eventually be separated permanently from his wife and daughter.

Since returning to Ghana in 1992, he has shared his faith with loved ones and friends and has seen three members of his extended family come into the Church. He currently serves as president of the Christiansborg Branch of the Accra stake. President Xaxagbe credits the gospel with saving his marriage and his spiritual life. “All I am now, I am because of the Church.”

Many Ghanaian members know that attending the temple would strengthen them and their families. Agnes Adjei, Relief Society president in the Koforidua First Branch, Koforidua District, withdraws a small, folded piece of paper from her purse and says reverently, “I am a temple recommend holder.” It may be many years before she can visit the temple, but she has hope of fulfilling that dream. The cost of travel is a barrier for many Ghanaians. Ato Ampiah, stake clerk in the Cape Coast Ghana Stake, says wistfully: “One thing I would love is to be sealed to my family in the temple. Perhaps sometime I will have the opportunity of kneeling at that altar.”

Doe Akua Afriyie Kaku, Relief Society president in the Ola University Ward, Cape Coast stake, is one of the few Ghanaians who has been sealed in the temple. That opportunity has helped her try harder to live worthy of the celestial kingdom, because she now understands more fully that “you can’t make it alone.”

It is necessary for a husband and wife to be one, she adds, and “if there is some misunderstanding, you definitely cannot kneel together to pray and feel right about it.” Instead, couples who humble themselves can receive help in resolving problems as they listen to the Spirit. Listening to the Spirit makes a noticeable difference in the lives of faithful families, she says.

That noticeable difference helps the Church grow. Ghanaians watch as neighboring Latter-day Saint families become stronger, and they want to know what it is about the Church that makes this happen.

A Time of Trial

There was a time, however, when it appeared that the Church had a very limited future in Ghana. It is impossible to tell the story of Latter-day Saints in this country without explaining what has come to be known as “the Freeze.”

In June 1989 the government banned all public worship, proselyting, and other activities of the Church. Members believe the ban was motivated by widely distributed misinformation about the Church.

In Abomosu, civilian authorities and soldiers escorted President Stephen Abu to the meetinghouse, where everything in the building was inventoried, the keys were confiscated, and he was warned that members were forbidden to use both that property and the Church farm outside the village. Priesthood leaders in other areas of Ghana had similar experiences.

Worship in the home was not expressly forbidden, and members began holding services on a family basis. “But you could not sing loudly, or you would be picked up,” President Abu recalls. He was among those who were jailed or punished after being accused of violating the ban. Some members were evicted by landlords. Despite the risk, however, priesthood leaders continued in their roles as shepherds, quietly visiting individuals and families to lend them strength.

In November 1990, apparently satisfied that Latter-day Saints could contribute to their society, the government lifted the ban. Joyously, Ghanaian members spread the news from home to home. Young Ghanaian missionaries serving in their own country had been honorably released at the beginning of the Freeze, but except for a few who had married or were out of the country, they eagerly returned to finish their missions.

Many members now look back on that period as a blessing that strengthened their faith and brought new spiritual opportunities. John Buah, who has served as a counselor to two mission presidents, notes that “after the Freeze, good people wanted to know more about the Church.” Curious to find out if things they had heard were true, they asked LDS friends or neighbors—and accepted the resulting invitations to learn about the gospel. Many of these people were baptized.

Today, “those who have the opportunity to know the Church want it in their communities,” Brother Buah says. They see not only its strengthening influence on families, but also the solutions it offers to social problems that Ghana is trying to resolve—immorality and teen pregnancy, drinking and drug use, for example.

In 1994, when Ghana’s president, J. J. Rawlings, received Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder J. Richard Clarke of the Seventy, who was serving then as Africa Area President, members saw this as recognition that their religion is an important influence in the lives of many Ghanaians. It signaled the opportunity at last to display their faith as openly as do citizens of other faiths.

Daily Challenges

Public recognition does not mean, of course, that the path for Ghanaian members is always smooth. They struggle with the same economic and educational difficulties faced by others in their country.

Ghana is a country with great potential for development, yet it is struggling to find the needed financial resources. Although there are too few jobs to go around, the abundance of small businesses shows that Ghanaians are willing to work hard at any available opportunity.

Latter-day Saint businessman Kweku Anno of Accra gestures toward the men working under the metal sheds of his manufacturing enterprise. “Every one of them has a cousin or a brother who needs to be trained.” If he sent out word that he wanted 10 workers, Brother Anno says, there would be 100 outside his gate before the day ended.

A mechanical engineer, he designed the simple, sturdy concrete block- and brick-making machines built in his shop. Brother Anno estimates that each machine will provide jobs for four people. His own business enterprises support 52 people.

Bishop Holbrook Christian MacArthur of the Cape Coast First Ward estimates that 80 percent of the members in his ward are either unemployed or under-employed. Some 30 percent of the men are out of work—mostly younger men who have not yet established themselves in vocations or careers. Like Latter-day Saints elsewhere in Ghana, members of his ward have banded together to organize cooperative businesses ranging from construction work to selling food products made of cassava, an important Ghanaian crop.

Their perseverance in spite of setbacks is a manifestation of the faith of Ghanaian Latter-day Saints, the bishop says. Sometimes in interviewing members, he learns of problems that would be daunting to others. “But just give them a little encouragement, and they will ignite. They will look up to their God. They have a faith that God works in his own due time.”

This kind of faith gives Ghanaian members confidence that their Father in Heaven watches over them. One day, Beatrice Ashon withdrew five million Ghanaian cedis (about US $4,500) from her bank in Accra for use in her business enterprises. Apparently, someone was watching. That night, a gang burst into her home, fired several shots, tied up a relative, and locked a group of visiting children in another room. The gang demanded Sister Ashon’s money and also stole some household goods. But no one was hurt. Police learned later that this same gang had killed victims in other incidents. Sister Ashon believes everyone in the home was protected by the power of God.

After the robbery, her businesses failed because of the loss of the money. “That was a very big test,” she says, “but we are happy.” She is persevering in the gospel and looking for ways to begin again financially.

The scarcity of jobs and the financial difficulty of starting out as a couple make many young Ghanaians put off marriage. But Kofi Opare tells other returned missionaries in their mid- and late twenties that it’s a mistake to delay. “You have to forget all the hardship, and do it.”

At 26, Kofi was about the average age for a Ghanaian bridegroom. Like most young member couples, he and his wife, Theresa, had a legally binding traditional marriage. He visited her parents and brought gifts—money, in place of the customary alcoholic beverage; cloth; a hymnbook for Theresa; and her engagement ring.

That ceremony took place in December 1994, but Kofi and Theresa chose not to live together as husband and wife until they could have a formal wedding at an LDS chapel in June 1995. They wanted the influence of the Church in their married life from the very beginning. In the interim, they dealt with practical details—saving cash for all the costs of starting a household and securing a place to live.

Theresa has a steady income from her seamstress shop, but Kofi has to take part-time work as he can get it. Despite this, Theresa says, she and Kofi felt that “you have to make a bold decision” and go ahead. But a wise Latter-day Saint man, she adds, will find a woman in the Church who understands the eternal purposes of marriage and will not demand material things. “It takes two to make a team, to make a marriage work.”

Raising the Level of Literacy

Literacy can be another challenge for members. While English is the official language of government and business in Ghana, it is a second one for most citizens, who learn a local African language in their homes. Many who have had the full benefits of education speak English, perhaps another European language, and several local languages. But schools are run by private (usually religious) groups, and fees push education out of reach of some Ghanaians. Thus, they are not prepared to learn skilled jobs, to interact with people from other areas, or to feast on the scriptures.

Because of this, literacy classes are common in stakes and wards, districts and branches throughout the country.

Alice Sackey, Young Women president in the Accra stake, has great confidence in younger members of the Church: “I see that we will have strong leaders in the future from our youth.” She says their participation and their obedience to the gospel are outstanding, but in her responsibility for the young women, she finds the need for special help with literacy. “Some of them don’t attend school. But we’ve made it our goal that every one who passes through Young Women will know how to read and write English before she goes into Relief Society.”

Cecelia Oduro, Cape Coast stake Relief Society president, points out that those who are unfamiliar with English are handicapped in studying the gospel; they cannot “get the message by reading for themselves.” But she has seen people who were intimidated by the need to learn English rejoice later as they became fluent enough to discover the treasures of the scriptures on their own.

Members for whom literacy was never a problem have set an example of feasting on the word of God. Returned missionary Ronald Adjei Danso of Accra says that if he did not “dig” constantly in the scriptures, he would have difficulty meeting the spiritual challenges of life. Edmund Frempong, a former bishop and now a high councilor in the Accra stake, joined the Church partly because the gospel solved his theological puzzles. “I found that the teachings of the Church were systematic and reasonable. Everything that is true must appeal to reason.”

Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation, he says, encompasses and clarifies the concept of life taught by his Akan tribal ancestors—that we came from a spirit world and will go back there after this life. “That is what my forefathers were trying to explain.”

Overcoming Error

Members still face the challenge of misinformation and erroneous thinking about the Church. False impressions linger in the minds of many Ghanaians.

The majority of Ghanaians are Christians, though there is a significant Muslim population, and many still practice native religions. While long-established Christian religions are well represented, numerous small, independent churches emphasizing one biblical teaching or another have sprung up in Ghana. In many ways, this religious atmosphere in the country is a blessing, Church members say. Children begin learning about Jesus Christ at the elementary school level, and moral values are an integral part of education.

In this religious atmosphere, however, it has been easy for the idea to persist that Latter-day Saints are not Christians because their doctrine is different. Monica Ohene-Opare runs a school, and some parents have withdrawn their children upon learning that she is a Latter-day Saint. Others have been pleasantly surprised by LDS beliefs about Christ heard in Primary songs that she taught their children in classes.

Kenneth Kobena Andam, president of the Cape Coast stake, says the idea that Latter-day Saints don’t believe in Jesus Christ is losing its credibility. Many Ghanaians “now recognize that ours is a Christian church. And they recognize by the way we live that we have something special.” In fact, he says, the teachings of the Church have become well enough known that people expect higher standards of behavior from Latter-day Saints.

Also, the old criticism about the Church being a “white man’s church” is being overcome. In the early days of the Church here, the idea was spread that people of another race and culture had come to Africa to exploit its people yet again. But Ghanaians who valued newfound gospel truths would not be dissuaded from baptism, and those who felt the Christlike love radiated by LDS missionaries could not believe they had come to exploit. Today, Ghanaians lead the stakes, wards, districts, and branches in their country, running Church programs so well in many instances that they might serve as casebook examples for members anywhere.

The Effect of Example

The loving example of Ghanaian members has a powerful effect on their friends and families.

Phillip Ohene, now serving as clerk of the Koforidua Second Branch, says his LDS employer “talked to me about the Church through his actions. He would tell me the thing, and I would see him doing it himself.” This example helped Phillip decide to investigate the gospel. In shaping people’s attitudes about the Church, he says, “What they hear is not so important. It is what they see.”

What John Sule-Bukari’s Muslim parents saw made them feel good about their children’s involvement in the Church. John, his older brother, and two older sisters are Latter-day Saints. Their parents, John says, are pleased about the ways the gospel has changed their children. One of his sisters and his brother have served as full-time missionaries, and John, second counselor in the Young Men presidency of the Koforidua Second Branch, hopes to go next. To do it, he will have to work around his obligatory two years of national service, which can range from military training to school teaching.

Perhaps the example of members like these stands out because of the way the gospel shapes their responses to the challenges and tests of life.

Latter-day Saints are given unique opportunities for spiritual growth through these challenges, says Jonathan Koranteng, first counselor in the bishopric of the Tesano Ward in Accra. Some churches teach that people who come to God will have all their problems resolved, he says, but we should be grateful that all of our trials in this life are not taken away. “They are a part of our Heavenly Father’s plan, meant to prepare us for a better future.”

Brother Koranteng, who has experienced a heavy share of adversity, notes that Lehi said there will be opposition in all things (see 2 Ne. 2:11, 15). “I only pray that I will have the courage to withstand everything that comes my way.”

Fortunately, says Sister Kaku of Cape Coast, the Saints have the best of help in meeting their challenges. “If you have the Spirit, you are able to live the gospel wherever you are.”

Thinking of Church members scattered across the earth, she says, “We share the same gospel, unity, love—everything.” While there may be differences of color, “when the Saints meet, these are wiped off. The Spirit is the same. The Spirit makes us one.”

Photography by Don L. Searle

The Gospel Doctrine class in the Tema Ward.

Below, from top: Phillip Ohene of the Koforidua Second Branch; flowering plant; Emelia Ahadjie, first counselor in the Accra Ghana Stake Primary presidency; Kweku Anno designed this brick-making machine. Right: Emmanuel Ohene-Opare, president of the Accra Ghana Stake, and his wife, Monica, Primary president in their ward.

Below, from left: Jonathan Korantang, first counselor in the Tesano Ward bishopric; view near Koforidua; Edmund Frempong, high councilor in the Accra Ghana Stake. Bottom: Stephen Apeaning Abu, president of the Abomosu Ghana District, and his wife, Margaret.

Left: Primary children and their teacher in the Tema Ward. Above, from top: John Sule-Bukari, Koforidua Second Branch; Cecelia Oduro, Relief Society president in the Cape Coast Ghana Stake.

Above, left:Primary children in the Takoradi Ward. Above, from top: Emmanuel and Benedicta Elizabeth Kissi at the site of their new hospital; traffic on Akpakpa Road; Bishop Charles Bessa-Simons inspects crops on land allotted to members for family gardens; Doe Akua Afriyie Kaku, Relief Society president of the Ola University Ward.

Kenneth Kobena Andam, Cape Coast stake president, and his wife, Janet.