The Difference

Pictured: A group of new young leaders poses with Pastor George (second from right) outside the Ducie church.

A few years back I thought I could do everything in the ministry. I thought I was strong, young, and energetic. I had a strong motor bike to move from village to village to do everything for the ministry.

Frankly speaking, in some villages I used to do the order of service, teach songs/hymns, lead the Bible study, preach, and other duties. A meeting without me or other pastors coming from town was impossible. I never thought of the idea of raising leaders (from the churches) to help in the ministry because I thought all was right.

It took the grace of God for me to be aligned well in a vision to raise leaders. It seemed an impossible task to seek out and train emerging leaders to bring a dynamic Christian witness to a generation often disillusioned or polarized by ethical, economic and even political differences. After I was trained and enlightened more on raising leaders the burden seemed to be heavy for me. I wished (it would only take) a week to raise leaders or impart my knowledge of leadership. But that was impossible; it takes time and patience. To be sure, there are challenges, but my story of hearing and answering the call has always been a story of my determination in overcoming obstacles. As Paul reminded the early church, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus “(Philippians 3:14 NRSV).

Identifying emerging Christian leaders and equipping them for service continues to be at the heart of my ministry. Even though it is in the early days, yet I am currently seeing the difference in all the village churches. The people understand the vision very well, and we are all working as a body towards achieving our leadership goals.

Now all the churches can boast of somebody who is responsible or has risen to the occasion to lead the church in one way or the other without solely relying on somebody to come from somewhere else to lead them. Even though some are in the leader’s training and are still learning, they lead Bible studies, do order of service, read the Holy Bible in Waali (see picture, right), sing hymns/songs, and have somebody even preach or share the Word of God at their meetings and church services. The churches are producing their own leaders and serving as a community for their growth.

A young emerging leader called Emmanuel from Ducie and others from that church are doing wonderfully in the healthy leader’s training. Ducie is our biggest church, and the team of the emerging leaders there needs to be commended. Emmanuel is Chakali by tribe, and he speaks the language very well. He is married with two children, a boy and a girl. He leads Bible study well in the Chakali language, and even translates most hymns into Chakali to enable the church to sing them. He was part of the team chosen to help in the translation of the Holy Bible into the Chakali language.

This applies to all our churches now, and we are equipping each other, growing together daily. And I am feeling confident in my spirit that better ministry awaits the Church of God (Holiness) Ghana.