My Preaching Work in Ghana in 2024
By Osamagbe Lesley Egharevba
Preamble
On Friday, 19th July 2024, I had the opportunity to travel to Ghana, West Africa, with some American preachers for a six-week preaching trip. The evangelistic team includes Wayne Seaton (Tennessee), Stephen Walker (Tennessee), Nathan Peeler (Florida), and Justin Atkins (Indiana). The preaching effort lasted from 19th July 2024 to 29th August 2024. During this period, we had the opportunity to visit and preach in over 30 churches of Christ in Ghana. Souls were converted and churches were strengthened. This report is a summary of the trip.
My First Contact With The American Brethren
I began the publication of Unmasking Sophistry Magazine in April 2021 to defend the Christian faith (Philippians 1:17) and refute religious errors propagated by men (Colossians 2:8). I initially started by sharing the magazine via email and WhatsApp with people I have their contacts. A year later, in April 2022, I created a website for wider circulation of the journal (www.unmaskingsophistry.com). The creation of this website made it possible for many more people to access the magazine while others stumbled upon it by serendipity.
On the 3rd of October 2023, I received an email from a brother (Chris Reeves) in the United States of America for the first time. In the email, Chris mentioned that he had got a link to my website and magazine from Wayne Seaton. Chris expressed his appreciation for my work and mentioned that he had previously visited Ghana on preaching trips with Wayne Seaton and Stephen Walker. Before the 3rd of October 2023, I did not know about Chris Reeves or Stephen Walker, and I knew very little about Wayne Seaton since I had read in the past about his work in Ghana, but I had never corresponded with him. I only corresponded with Timothy Seaton who is the son of Wayne Seaton. When I received the email from Chris, little did I know that an opportunity was about to be opened for a great preaching experience and to meet these men in person. Although I have not met Chris Reeves in person yet, I hope to meet him next year (2025), God willing.
After I received Chris’ email, I thanked him. I also wrote to Wayne Seaton to thank him for sharing my journal with his friend, Chris. I then requested that Wayne include me in his next preaching trip to Ghana. On the 2nd of April 2024, I got an email from Wayne after I released my magazine for the second quarter of the year. Wayne said: “Hi Lesley, Thank you for your latest issue of Unmasking Sophistry. You do a great service for Africa. Will you be able to join us on July 18 through August?” Indeed, that was the beginning of my travel plans to Ghana. All plans were set and all 5 of us (Wayne, Steve, Nathan, Justin, and I) were supposed to arrive at Kotoka International Airport, in Accra, Ghana about the same time (7 am) on the 19th of July. Unfortunately, Wayne, Steve, and Justin had their flights delayed for some days due to a weather problem and a software issue from a third-party contractor. Wayne and Steve did not get to Ghana until Tuesday night (23rd July) and Justin did not get to Ghana until Wednesday morning (24th July). However, Nathan and I made it to Accra on the 19th as planned and started the work.
Arrival at Kotoka International Airport
On Friday, 19th July 2024, Nathan Peeler and I arrive at Kotoka International Airport, Accra, Ghana at about 7 am. The Ghanaian brothers (Felix Adjei, Dan Arthur, and Prempeh Agyemang) were already waiting for us at the airport, and upon our arrival, we met them. Felix preaches at Otuam, Dan preaches at Cape Coast, and Prempeh attends church at Asuofua in Kumasi, Ghana. Upon arrival at the airport, we began our journey to Otuam and Apam where we preached for one week. It took us about 4 hours to get to Otuam from Accra with Brother Prempeh driving. Brother Dan did not go with us to Otuam but another brother, Divine Agede, a gospel preacher from the Volta region of Ghana joined us on the way to Otuam. We got to Otuam and after eating some rice and stew with meat, we rested until the next day.
Preaching in Otuam and Apam
The next morning, there were lectureships in the churches of Christ in Otuam and Apam. The original plan was for Wayne, Justine and I to speak at the church in Otuam while Steve and Nathan were to speak at the church in Apam. However, since only Nathan and I were around and the lectureships were already scheduled with topics assigned to all the team members, Nathan and I had to fill the gaps and speak at both churches that same day. In Otuam, Nathan spoke on the book of Daniel while I spoke on the church’s responsibilities to the preacher, and in Apam, Nathan spoke on the Restoration Movement while I spoke on the Lord’s church today. The lectureships were great at both congregations with many questions from the audience to which we gave scriptural answers. In attendance, there were about 100 people in Otuam while Apam church had about 150 people present.
On Sunday, 21st July, I worshipped at the same church in Otuam where I taught the Bible class and gave the sermon while Nathan went to preach at another church nearby in Dago. In the evening of that Sunday, Nathan and I travelled to Apam where Nathan spoke on how God helps us in different situations, and I spoke on the individual responsibilities towards church growth after which we travelled back to Otuam that night. On Monday, the 22nd, we did door-to-door preaching in Otuam in the morning with the Ghanian preachers, and in the evening, there was street public preaching (what we call open-air or outdoor preaching in Nigeria) in various locations including Etsibedu, Aboano and Hweda. Nathan and I went to different locations where we both preached using very large speakers to reach the audience members of the community. My topic for that evening was “God’s plan of salvation for man.” In all our travels and preaching in Otuam and Apam, Brother Divine of the Volta region as well as Brother Felix of Otuam church were very helpful in the interpretation and the coordination of activities. There were various local preachers from other congregations who were also invited to join in the preaching and they helped with interpretation at various times since none of us could speak the local languages of Ghana that were mostly spoken there (Twi and Fante).
Men’s Training And Lectureship in Apam and Okyereko
On Tuesday, 23rd July, I travelled to Apam to await the arrival of Steve Walker while Nathan remained in Otuam. Steve and Wayne arrived at the same time in Ghana but while Wayne went to Otuam to meet Nathan, Steve came to Apam to meet me, and we both stayed in Apam for the remaining days of the week in which we visited churches in the area and conducted a men’s training class for the men in Apam church of Christ. Justin arrived Ghana Wednesday morning, and he came to Apam to see Steve and I before going to join Wayne and Nathan in Otuam that morning. From Wednesday to Saturday, Steve and I had a men’s training class every evening at the church of Christ in Apam while Nathan, Wayne and Justin had a preacher’s training class in Otuam for the remaining days of the week. There were at least 10 men on each of the nights in Apam. During the day, we visited some churches in some villages around Apam. In one of our visits to one of the churches in the Apam area, we preached to some young people and 4 of them got baptized. Wayne, Nathan and Justin also had some baptisms while working in Otuam. For the men’s training in Apam, I taught a series on Authority while Steve did a series on Marriage and the Bible character of Boaz.
Two brethren in the church at Apam were always going out with us to preach. They were Ibrahim Adams and Solomon Acquah. But it happened that they did not agree with the Bible’s teaching on the use of the Lord’s funds. The church in Apam uses the Lord’s funds for funerals, weddings, tertiary education graduation, as well as other ceremonies as they come up among the members. We saw this practice clearly written on a bulletin posted on the church notice board in the building. Steve and I requested to meet with the men of the church on Saturday morning to discuss it and they agreed to meet with us. At the meeting, we stated that the Lord’s funds are to be used only as God directed – for preaching the gospel (Philippians 1:5), grooming the saints (Ephesians 4:12; Matthew 28:20) and helping needy members of the church (I Timothy 5:16; Acts 4:34-35; Romans 15:25-26) and that social events like graduation, weddings, etc. are individual responsibilities. However, they did not agree with us that such ceremonies are not part of the work of the church. They argued that the church in Jerusalem buried Ananias and Sapphira when they died in Acts 5:1-6. One of our responses was that if the example of Ananias and Sapphira is an authority to spend the Lord’s funds for funerals, then that would authorize the church to spend her money on the funerals of disfellowshipped members of the church since Ananias and Sapphira were both punished by the Lord after they sinned, and they died. The brethren in Apam would not fund the wedding or graduation of any erring member, but the same passage they use in defense of church support of social ceremonies is directly the opposite of what they do. They did not agree to this but insisted that they were right in using the Lord’s funds for the aforementioned ceremonies. After meeting with them for about 2 hours on Saturday, Steve and I travelled from Apam to Okyereko for a lectureship. Wayne, Justin and Steve also travelled from Otuam to Okyereko for the same lectureship and we all met there. That was the first time I got to see Wayne. Solomon Abidi is the preacher at this church. At this lectureship, Wayne taught on division, addressing some institutional issues in Ghana while Nathan spoke on the organization of the church. However, there was a bit of disturbance as Solomon Acquah from Apam church was present at this lectureship and was not pleased that Wayne, while teaching, opposed the unscriptural use of the Lord’s money for ceremonies such as funerals, etc. He expressed his disagreement and was confronted by Wayne. During the intermission, Wayne tried to get Solomon to study this issue from the Scriptures, but he said he was too tired after Wayne got his Bible. He eventually left the venue upset before the end of the lectureship without giving any scriptural justification for his position on why churches must pay for social events like funerals.
Preaching in Cape Coast
After the lectureship on Saturday, we travelled to Cape Coast where we preached for the next 7 days. At this time, Brother Prempeh had returned to Kumasi where he lives, so we had Brother John Arthur drive us to our various destinations throughout our stay in Cape Coast and Takoradi until we left for Kumasi. The work at Cape Coast included door-to-door evangelism, radio preaching, lectureships, question-and-answer sessions and visitations. Nathan, Justin, and I were on air with Dan on his radio programme at 5 am on Sunday where we answered Bible questions from the radio audience who phoned in. After that, we visited a nursing school to meet with some students and worshipped with them and we proceeded to various churches to teach and meet with them. At Cape Coast, we were at different churches for the whole week. Wayne and Justine were at the church in Esuekyir, Steve was at the church in Ntranoa and Nathan was at the church in Wiamoah. I was at the church at Nkanfoa where I preached the sermon on Sunday and taught every evening from Monday to Friday on Bible Authority. Brother Ben Nkrumah, a preacher from Sun City was with me every night as I travelled to Nkanfoa church, and I enjoyed his company. The church at Nkanfoa was receptive and very good to me and I enjoyed my time with them. They even gave me a plaque. There were not less than 80 people present each night.
Our work during the day included travels to various places where we preached the gospel. On one of the days, we travelled to a village called Brease where we preached and baptized a young man after he listened to our preaching. Another woman was also baptized at Ntranoa one of the days we went out for door-to-door preaching. We had a question-and-answer session with about 15 gospel preachers on Monday, 29th of July at Esuekyir in which we received questions on issues about Institutionalism – how gospel preachers should be trained, and the work of the church. We also visited Efutu Senior High School to see the headmistress for an opportunity to preach the gospel to the students in the school and she allowed us to preach to them. The work in Cape Coast ended on Saturday, 3rd August with a gospel lectureship at the church in Esuekyir. There were about 100 men in attendance for the lectureship. Wayne, Steve, Nathan and Justin spoke at this event on different topics under the theme “Authority.”
Preaching in Takoradi
We left Cape Coast on Saturday, the 3rd of August after the lectureship at Esuekyir and we travelled to Takoradi. Justin did not go with us as there was no room in the van to accommodate one person. So, he stayed back with Dan at Cape Coast for just one night and featured in his radio programme the next morning as well as worshipped with the church in Esuekyir before he and Dan came to join us in Takoradi on Sunday evening. We stayed in Takoradi for 10 days and we preached there throughout this period. The local preacher there is Robert Jackson. There are other preachers in this area as well that we met and worked with as Robert introduced them to us. The preaching efforts in Takoradi included gospel lectureships, door-to-door evangelism, open-air street preaching and question-and-answer sessions at different churches.
On the first Sunday (4th of August), I and Wayne worshipped at the church at Asemasa, Nathan worshipped and preached at the church at Sankor, while Steve worshipped and preached at another church close to Asemasa. Wayne taught on Giving while I gave a sermon on using one’s talent from the parable of the talent in Matthew 25:14-30. There were 40 people in total. There were lectureships at Asemasa and daily public preaching at a village called Chavene where we planted a new church and worshipped with them before we left. We had baptisms during our preachings in these areas. During one of these days, Justin and I did some preaching at Sankor and 2 people gladly received the word and got baptized – a man and a woman. On the last 2 nights before we left Takoradi, we visited a church close to the hotel where we lodged in Busua and taught them about Marriage as some of the members were having marital issues.
We had some challenges with the terrible state of the roads leading to the villages we preached in Takoradi. At one time, our vehicle was stuck in the mud when we were going to preach in the evening at Chavene and we had to trek to the venue of the event so as to meet up with the preaching schedule. Another challenge was with the members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church who were predominant in the Chavene community and were very hostile to us. On one of the days, they blocked our way with their car as we were going to preach for about an hour until some passerby came to speak to them aggressively before they got out of our way. There was a 2-day lectureship at Asemasa church on the 11th and 12th of August on the themes: Authority, How to Study the Bible and Marriage. Steve, Wayne and I taught the lessons since Nathan and Justin had returned to America. Nathan left on the 8th while Justin returned on the 12th of August. The work in Takoradi came to an end on the 13th of August and we traveled to Kumasi on Wednesday, 14th August with brethren Tachi Menson and Dan Arthur from Ghana joining us.
Preaching in Kumasi
In Kumasi, we had the opportunity to preach in various churches. The churches include Nkwantekese, Asuofua, Abrepo, Achiaise, Esaso, Trede, Barekese, etc. On Thursday and Friday (15th & 16th August), we had lectureships at Nkwantekese church of Christ. Steve, Wayne and I all spoke on topics relating to Authority and Marriage. In the evening of these days, Steve, Wayne and I all spoke at the churches in Achiaise, Esaso and Barekese. I had two very amazing Ghana brethren who travelled with me to these churches and helped with interpretation – they were Justice Chiah and Emmanuel Appiah. On Sunday, 18th August, we all worshipped at Asuofua church of Christ – there were over 300 members at this church. Wayne taught the Bible class and Steve gave the sermon while I conducted the Lord’s Supper and Giving. Around 1 pm of the same day, I taught the youths of this same church about maintaining the purity of the church (this was the only time in my six weeks of preaching in Ghana that I taught in a church without having to use an interpreter). We spent the whole week conducting a men’s training class at Asuofua church in the mornings, teaching from the book of Matthew and addressing the AD 70 doctrine. In the evenings, each of us travelled to different churches to preach there. For the next three evenings (Monday – Wednesday), I taught a series on individual and church responsibility as well as the work of the church at Asuofua church while Wayne was at Abrepo for that period. On Thursday and Friday, Wayne came to Asuofua and I went to Abrepo to teach – I spoke on man’s need for authority in religion for the remaining two days. Steve spent the whole week going to Trede preaching and teaching the word every evening. Asuofua church was amazing. The teaching was well received, and the church was happy to receive us. They even gave us gifts as we departed Kumasi on Saturday morning.
Preaching in Sun City
We left Kumasi on Saturday, 24th of August for Sun City (a journey of about 6 hours). Unfortunately, our vehicle broke down on the way and we could not fix it. We could not get to Sun City that day and we had to lodge in a hotel around the area where our car broke down. The next morning, we were able to locate a church around where we worshipped. It was the church of Christ meeting at Lowcost. Wayne taught at this church on the individual and church responsibilities while Steve gave the sermon. After the service, we proceeded to Sun City in another vehicle, and we got to Sun City late at night. We only preached in Sun City for 3 days (Monday – Wednesday) and at two churches – the church in Sun City and the church in Stone Quarry. Wayne, Steve, and I preached at these churches turn by turn. On Monday night, Wayne preached in Sun City church while Steve preached at Stone Quarry church. On Tuesday night, I preached at the Sun City church while Wayne preached at the Stone Quarry church. On Wednesday night, I preached at the Stone Quarry church while Steve preached at the Sun City church. We taught on individual and church responsibilities and matters relating to Bible authority and what God wants all Christians to do. During the day, we did some door-to-door preaching and visitation to strengthen some brethren.
Departure From Ghana
On the 29th of August, Wayne, Steve, and I travelled from Sun City to the airport in Accra. Brethren Tachi, Ben and Dan travelled with us to the airport until we passed the boarding gate to fly to our various countries. I got to Nigeria at about 10 am on Thursday (Nigerian time).
Challenges
There were some challenges we faced on this journey but we thank God it did not hinder the work.
The delay in the flight of Wayne, Steve and Justin caused some hiccups but Nathan and I were able to close the gaps by God’s grace.
Some of the team members got a little bit ill which made them unable to go out for about a day or two.
Opposition – We heard about some brethren in Ghana who were spreading the information that we are false teachers simply because we teach that the Lord’s funds should not be used for ceremonies – but none of these accusers were ever willing to meet with us face to face to discuss the issue. Rather, they were busy spreading falsehoods about us and discouraging people from attending our programme, but that did not discourage us one bit as we kept spreading the truth even more.
Doctrinal Issues – There is also a concept in Ghana called “Progressive repentance.” I heard the term in Ghana for the first time. This is the idea that those in sin may be baptized while still in sin and they may repent of that sin later at their convenience. This seems to be popular in Ghana but we correctly taught that repentance is necessary before baptism (Acts 2:38). Institutionalism is also another problem in Ghana as many believe that you cannot have a preacher without a Bible college. So, they would not recognize anyone as a sound preacher except such who has attended a preaching school. We correctly noted that the church is God’s preaching institution – I Timothy 3:15. There is also the idea that Christians should not partake of the Lord’s Supper if they have sinned. We emphasized that Christians should not live in sin, and if we sin, we should repent and pray for forgiveness and then partake of the Supper (I Corinthians 11:28). These were some of the doctrinal issues we had to deal with.
We had challenges sometimes with bad roads and our vehicle breaking down many times and we had to keep fixing it. In all of these, we did not cease to declare to the Ghanaians the whole counsel of God (Acts 20 27).
Conclusion The preaching efforts have been a wonderful opportunity for me. I believe that the efforts were fruitful, and our influence exceeded the number of churches that we physically visited. This is because many of the lectureships and programmes in Ghana had people from other congregations that we could not visit attend the event. And so, our preaching efforts were not limited to the members of the churches we visited but were way more than the churches we visited. Barnabas and Paul were said to be “men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 15:26). I also think that Wayne, Steve, Nathan and Justin are men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord. I pray that God would bless our efforts in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
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