I, Emmanuel, was born in 1960 in Kumasi, the central part of Ghana, and grew up to become a devoted Muslim. Truck driving was my profession from 1976 until the day I met the Lord Jesus.On 9th December 1991, while I was on one of my normal journeys something abnormal happened to me. My truck had a problem that I could not fix. So, I decided to sleep and go to the next town the following day to find a mechanic.
While I was sleeping in the night a Man, who I can now describe as Jesus, dressed in brilliant white appeared to me and said, "Follow Me and I will show you where you can get the power you need for life." Though out my life, I had felt that there was an emptiness which I had sought to fill with cultic powers. When He said, "Follow me," I followed Him and we arrived at a place where I saw people singing and praising God. This place was a church and He told me to join them. I refused and said, "That is a church and I will not." He did not force me; He left me.
I awoke briefly and came back to myself. I went to sleep again and He came back to me again. We went to the same place and I refused for the second time. He left me again.
After I awoke a second time I decided not to sleep again, but I could not stay awake. When He came the third time, we arrived at the church. The Man and I joined the people who were singing and praising God. It was more than eight hours before I woke up and came back to myself. I was afraid. I got a mechanic to fix the truck and when I went home I never shared this with anybody.
In the night, around 3 a.m. on 10th December, 1991, the Man came again and said, "Go out and testify about Me." I opened my door and stepped out and began to shout in our community and tell people about Jesus, even though I didn't know much about Him. Later, I met a woman evangelist who shared the gospel with me. She explained why Jesus came to die on the cross and I accepted Christ.
After accepting Christ, I decided to go to a Bible school so that I could learn more about my new found faith. I found one Bible school which taught faith theology. While I was in that school, I became friends with a Baptist minister and I started to fellowship with New Life Baptist Church in Somanya. I became the leader of this church and was accepted into the Ghana Baptist Convention, 31st January 1995, at our TemaVolta Baptist Association meeting.
When I became a Baptist, I applied for admission to the Ghana Baptist Seminary and was admitted in August 1996 and graduated in 1999. Eight months before beginning seminary, I met my wife, Felicia, when I went to speak in her church. We were married in December of 1996.
After our graduation, we responded to God's call to take on the role of home missionaries for the Ghana Baptist Convention Northern and Upper West Regions.
During our five years in the Upper West Regions, 42 new churches were planted throughout rural and remote communities, as well as 25 church pastors trained to preach. Other work included the establishment of a children's home to support orphaned kids, a 40 acre cashew farm for the unemployed, and a 15-seater bus for ministry.
In March 2005, we were called away from the Upper West to the North-Eastern corridor of theNorthern Region in Ghana. During the first three years, 162 churches have been established, 2500 persons baptized, and more than 2000 persons are currently awaiting baptism. In addition, there is on going training for 200 church caretakers, continued outreach to new communities, and the beginning of communal farming projects, as well as a successful radio program which shares the gospel to a Christian, atheist and Islamic audience every Saturday morning.
I continue my evangelistic and church planting work with the support of my loving family, balancing my ministry and quality time spent with my wife, Felicia, and our four daughters: Olive Jane - 9, Waldine - 7, Cindy - 5, and Nellie - 3.
Our Vision is to see 400 churches planted bythe year 2010, 800 leaders trained and a Christian school in the community built.
Please pray for this vision to be realized.
