JoinGlobal Missions: March 2018

Sunday, 18 March 2018

ANGELIC VISITATION By: Apostle Jerry Otoyo

It was just a month after my 19th Birthday that I left Oron in Akwa Ibom State for Bible School training at Amasiri, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Coming from a Jehovah’s Witness background, I was denied the family support and moreover, my pastor was not also in agreement as he and the Church were not ready to be financially committed with my Bible School training.

It was the earlier encounter I had with Jesus and the express direction from Him in relationship with my training that kept me going with a determined faith. Prior to my departure for the training, I had managed to convince my pastor about the calling of God upon my life and the need to be train for the task ahead. He prayed at his office and released me to face my future mandate though he and the Church Board were not going to be financially committed to my welfare.

Hearing from God directly gave me more boldness and assurance that He was not going to disappoint me even when my family disowned me and the Church with my pastor choose not to be in support.

With three of my Christian friends (Joseph, Moses and Ime), I set out on 7th January, 1991 to Amasiri, Ebonyi State in order to begin a new page in my life. We got to the Bible School at around 5pm and however; we were able to submit our forms and through with the registration process.

Ime Antai was to begin his second year while Joseph, Moses and I were the freshmen on Campus and ready for our first year in School. I still remember a question in the form that says: “Who is sponsoring you in the School?” without a blink of thought in my mind, my answer was: “GOD” in capital letters.

For months in the School, I was facing lots of financial and logistic challenges but I have just one song in those days that I sang every morning, afternoon and evening. It says: “The joy of the Lord is my strength”. I can clearly say I was the happiest person on Campus in those days; this was so evidence that other students envied my joy positively and the School authority also recognizes it to the glory of God.

One day, I was very hungry and it was the season for the ripened of mangoes and at the Primary School in the opposite direction to our School Hostel, there were so many stands of mango trees planted within its compound. During our free period, I decided to go to the Primary School compound in search for some mango so I could eat for the day. The Primary School compound was very big that I have to walk almost one kilometer to where these mango trees were planted.

I went there alone and climbed one of the trees searching for ripped mangoes but found none. After about five minutes of searching, there was no one ripped fruit on sight that I could pluck to satisfy my hunger at that moment. Just then, I saw a seemingly old woman coming back from the farm. She had a basin on her head with water bottle and a knife in it. At that moment, that was all I noticed about her. I didn’t pay any attention on her as she was not my reason for being there in the first place.

Then as she reached the mango tree were I was on, I heard a young female’s voice from beneath the tree’s branches, she said to me with a melodic sound: “Please, can I eat with you?” I looked down and it was the woman but this time, she was like a 25 years old young lady a shinning dark complexion. That again did not border at all nor shift my focus from what I was there for. But as I look up again in search for (at least one) ripped mango, I found one well-ripped mango just over my head. Indeed, this was really the miracle I've been searching for but then; there was a request from this woman standing in wait right beneath the three I was on.

Without thinking about the state of my hunger and this fortune of finally finding one ripped mango after a very long and diligence search, I plugged this mango and in response to this woman’s request, throw it down to her and said “Have it.” For the next few seconds, I kept on searching and again, none was found. Then without me concentrating on her presence still at the place, I heard the same voice again saying “Please, can I have more?”

Beloved, at this very moment, I saw another well-ripped mango just in front of me so again; I plugged it and again gave to her. This time I said in my heart, “Let me just give this to the woman so that she can leave me alone.”

At that point, one of my colleagues in School then came around on the same mission and having seen that I had ripped mangoes given to this lady; he quickly climbed up and joined me on the same tree. Joseph, though younger than me, he was very forceful in nature with a go-get character.

As soon he gets on the tree, he started shaking its branches and both ripped and unripe mangoes where forcefully plugged down to the ground. The woman still standing by went and picked one ripped mango from these plugged mangoes. I heard my colleague shouting at her and saying: “Put that mango down!” but she said in responded to him: “Please, just this one.” But he insisted with another command: “No! I said put it down!” This time, the lady’s response was soft as she said: “Okay, let me put them at a saved place for you.” But my colleague reacted angrily: “I said drop it right there!”

The lady then drop the mango at the very spot she picked it from and gently carried up her basin on her head and left. It was at this juncture that my colleague turned to me and said: “I notice something about that woman that concerns me so much.” So I asked him: “What is that?” He softly said to me: “When I came here and was climbing the three, the woman I saw was a very old woman and now the one going is a young lady. Could she be an angel that God have sent to save us from this difficult situation?”

Truly speaking, it was at this moment that it occurred to my consciousness that I had the same experience about her and I responded to him: “It is true, when I myself saw her coming out of the bush, she was an old woman but when she reaches here, she changed to a young lady.” It was then that my colleague said a prayer: “Oh God, if she is an angel that you have sent to deliver us from this difficult situation that we are going through, please sent her back to us.”

God was really out to do something with us as He answered this simple prayer without any delay. It wasn’t up to five second after that brief prayer; we saw her coming back to the same place. I was truly spelled bound and couldn’t say a word but my colleague then said to her: “Please, take everything as much as you can!”

Looking back, I became sad remembering her action then. The woman quietly picked only one unripe mango into her basin and as she turn to go; I summed up courage and asked her: “Sister, please what is your name?” I was shock at the way she responded to my question. She started by laughing for few seconds and then asked: “Do you really want to know my name?” And I said: “Yes.” Then she responded thus to me: “I know that you are hungry. But whenever you are hungry, don’t say that you are hungry. Only say, ‘I am glorious’. My name is GLORIOUS.” Just by saying this, she left without saying good-bye.

It was around 6pm by this time and we were so dumbfounded and spelled bound by the experience to the point that; we didn’t even know what to do next neither did we feel the hunger in us anymore despite not haven’t eaten since morning.

I also noticed that as she was leaving the only mango with her was the unripe one she took at my colleague’s request. The two I gave to her earlier were not seen and I didn’t notice a moment that she ate them when she was there.

About a minute later, another colleague of ours in School joined us, and coming from the direction the lady went; and then we asked him if he has seen any woman going in that direction and he said: “No”. We then narrated our experience to him and he said: “Truly, she was an angel sent from God”.

Where is that my colleague who was with me during this experience today? It is a long story...

Saturday, 17 March 2018

ONE CANNOT BE ALONE IN THIS DIVINE BUSINESS By: Apostle Jerry Otoyo

You Are Not Alone

In response to the following posting on Facebook by a colleague in ministry:

“Any pastor that feels, thinks or believes that

every other pastor is in error but only himself is teaching the truth is

actually in error.”

As an educator, I didn't feel fine in just post a passing short comment but ceased this opportunity to give a little bit of education in line with this posting.

The following was my response and I do hope by reading through, you will be encourage to stand out for God and His kingdom’s business.

The truth is that there are so many on our ministerial platforms who are ignorantly in serious errors while others lives in errors they've knowingly accepted in order to feed their stomach; however, God still have His remnant who will never bow to generalized falsehood.

Elijah genuinely thought he was alone after Jezebel challenged him but God said "No!" It isn't so, there are seven thousand remnant in Israel alone who haven't bowed to Baal-(I Kings 19:14, 18).

THE TRUTH IS: 

ONE CAN NEVER BE ALONE IN THIS DIVINE TASK BUT THESE REMNANTS ARE TRULY FEW!!!

Friday, 16 March 2018

FOCUS ON ROAD SAFETY IN GHANA

By: Jerry Otoyo

Accident do not happen by chance because, they are avoidable if proper caution is really taken. My empirical observation traveling around all the Regions of Ghana and outside the country for decades now has revealed that all road accidents could have been avoided if one or both parties involve were cautious.

It doesn't matter the amount of effort put in by the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) in keeping us safe, if we the road users do not take precaution to curb the menace, we’ll still be prone to avoidable accidents.

Global statistics have shown that over 1.2 million lives are lost through road accidents, while in Ghana, averagely, 2,000 lives are lost yearly to this menace. Road accident is said to have killed more African citizens than malaria.

In the world were over 50 million populations who survived road accidents are either seriously injured or maimed yearly, and the fact that vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists are accounted as half of global accident victims, a lots of responsibilities rest upon the instituted authorities to really up their games in providing safety measure in curving this occurrences.

Here in Ghana, Motor, Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) is a Ghana’s Police wing responsible for ensuring compliance with the rules and laws on our Roads however, we’ve been witnesses to oblivious violation of simple Road Construction Regulation which calls for a clear sign for diversion and caution where work is on-going.

The MTTU and the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) must be swift in their responds to tackle disorders on our roads. It is no more justifiable losing our country’s valuable resources on daily bases through road accident that could have been avoided if proper cautions were headed to.

United Nation affirmed that 4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is spent on road accident by countries around the world; enough to sound a wakeup call unto action for institutions like MTTU and NRSC.

It is estimated that there were 20,444 road accidents in Ghana alone with a total of 2,076 individual reportedly died in 2017. This figure certainly represented the reported and recorded cases because; there are several others who haven’t gotten to the Police.

So far in this year 2018, over a 130 people have already lost their lives through this same way and the authorities are still watching. The recent death of a Ghanaian Dancehall Diva (Ebony Reigns) seems to have sound as a wakeup call to the authorities who seem to have slept over their assigned duties over the years. Positive debates have been ignited on our media houses with our airwaves discussing the way forward. I truly hope that we will take a dispassionate approach during these debates to secure a lasting solution in stopping this canker that is eating our future up.

These debates have suddenly ignited growing concerns among the populace recounting the rampant occurrences of fatal accidents on our Ghanaians roads. Notable among many is the George Walker Bush Motorway, a Road name after the former United State’s President due to the role he played in securing for Ghana the Millennium Challenge Account with the construction of the this Highway as part of its compact.

Since its inauguration on the 15^th February, 2012; over 3,000 accidents have occurred in the past six years. Almost 300 lives lost with close to 2,000 people either injured or maimed on this 14 kilometres stretch. 60% of these accidents involved pedestrians who are crossing the Highway which calls for the construction of more foot bridges to aid pedestrian crossing.

It is my opinion that our roads needs adequate CCTV cameras where drivers involved in over-speeding and traffic lights violation could be monitored and brought to book. Functional traffic lights are also a major challenge that we need to overcome. Driving under the influence of alcohol and stress has also contributed to some of this unfortunate canker in our society. Towing trucks recently became a political issue as government decided to impose tax on its usage in Ghana. Thanks to the public outcry which was generated by this action; the authorities were compelled to suspend its implementation.

The breakdown of heavy duty trucks and other vehicles on our Roads has also contributed to the lost of many lives. The availability of these towing trucks strategically stationed with emergency response contacts will also help in bring down the rate of accident.

GOVERNMENT HAVE NO EXCUSE

There is no excuse for the government not to commit themselves to the quest of securing safety on our Roads. The institution of Road Fund in 1997 was aimed at securing good maintenance and rehabilitation of roads in the country. 21 years down on, potholes on our road have become common phenomenon that seems to have come to stays with us.

Within the period of January to June, 2016 alone, Road Funds generated a total of Gh¢ 627.4 million as recounted by the then Minister of Roads and Highways, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini. He also pointed out that the Government had projected to reap from that sector alone Ghc1.2 billion by the close of that year.

The absurd manner some of our Accident Respond Team extricates trapped victims is another area we must look into. Most of our Regional Accident Respond Teams cannot boast of adequate equipments for the extrication of trapped victims thus; many lives that could have been rescued missed their ‘Platinum Ten Minutes’.

Instead of looking into the above factors as avoidable evil that plagues us and is extinguishing life out of vast human resources God has blessed our nation with, we are rather spiritualizing these occurrences. Truly, I can say that it is the grace of God that keeps us going out and returning back to our families on daily bases. However, as a government and people, we need to sit up. This is 21^st Century for goodness sake!

EBONY’S UNTIMELY EXIT, RECOUNTING OUR LOST

By: Jerry Otoyo

Ghanaians woke up on 9^th February, 2018 to the sad news and sudden exit of a twenty years old Ghana’s rising Dancehall Diva, Miss Priscilla Opoku-Kwarteng known in the Music Industry as: EBONY REIGNS. Her painful demise happened on the night of 8^th February, 2018 at Bechem Government Hospital, Brong Ahafo Region after being involved in an accident that took place at Nyamebekyere near Mankranso in the Ahafo Ano South, a District in the Ashanti Region, Ghana.

Ebony father, Nana Opoku Kwateng confirms that his daughter went to visit her mother, Madam Beatrice Oppong Martin at Sunyani, Brong Ahafo Region. Since Madam Beatrice returned from London for over a month before this time, Ebony was said to have gotten no chance to visit her mother due to tight schedules within the industry. It was on her way returning to the Accra after the visit that she met with her sudden and untimely death.

It was reported by COP Ken Yeboah, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander that the Jeep with registration number AS 497-16 which EBONY REIGNS and three others were travelling on crashed against a VIP Luxurious Bus with registration number GT 3232-17 at Nyamebekyere near Mankranso where the Dancehall Diva with two others lost their lives leaving many hearts of her teaming fans and family members broken.

It was also confirmed on one of the Country’s major Radio Station, Citi FM that two out of the three persons who travelled with Ebony in the Jeep died which includes: her assistance (Francisca Nkansah Kuri, aged 27) and a military man in uniform (Lance Corporal Vondee Francis Atsu, aged 29) as revealed by DSP John Adusie, the Divisional Commander of Mankranso Police Station. No casualty was reported of any passenger in the VIP Bus. The Driver of the Jeep (Mr. Chartey Oko Pinehad, aged 29) was the only survivor and unconscious on arrival at the Hospital but currently responding to treatment.

The Road accident that ruthlessly took the life of young Ebony was not the first which this country has experienced. Incidence of this nature keeps reviving the ugly memories of cruel-some acts that accidents has inflicted on Ghanaian Act Industry as great and promising stars keep dying through occurrences that could have been avoided.

In Ghana, road accidents have claimed so many lives of those who were so talented in one field or the other. Zeroing on to the Art Industry with the latest exit of EBONY REIGN, this article aims at throwing some lights on the talent whose lives were cut short due this avoidable menace.

Not too long ago, a 29 years old Dancehall Musician, Emmanuel Kojo Quayson who was known in the Music Industry as: Vybrant Faya lost his life at the 37 Military Hospital after being involved in a fatal accident along Tema Motorway on 23^rd October, 2016. He was a citizen of Tema in the Greater Accra Region having been born to Mr. Samuel K. Quayson and Miss Theresa Ackon on the 13^th April, 1987.

Terry Bonchaka who was also known in his real life as Terry Nii Okang Mensah Adjetey died at the young age of 21 through same fate at Tetteh Quarshie Interchange on 29^th October, 2003. He was a rising popular Hip-life musician who died on his way back from performing at an event held at the University of Ghana, Legon. As a grandson of the then Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, Peter Ala Adjetey, Bonchaka’s sudden passing shook the entire Music Industry and indeed, the nation.

Terry Bonchaka grows so rapidly to become the face of Dancehall Music with a unique fusion of indigenous instruments that made his genre so outstanding. This youngster had a great future to live for but was cut off before his peak.

Zuzzy Williams who rose so sharply in the late 90’s with her presence being felt in almost every movies stared in Ghana with advertisers and television programme producers all hunting for her services died at age of 23 on 8^th September, 2005 in a tragic accident that took place in Accra. Her dead shook the foundation of film industry in Ghana and throws the whole nation into a state of mourning.

Kwame Owusu Ansah was one of the greatest male actors in Ghana who starred in most of Nigerian and Ghanaian Movies. It is believed that actors like Majid Michel, John Dumelo and host of others were inspired by this icon whose life was cut short while he was about to make the greatest move in his life.

He was the Media Director for Madhaus Incorporation, it was a new music label in Ghana then but his live was cut shot through another fatal accident on 2^nd May, 2008 along Accra – Tema Motorway.

The recent tragic accident which took the life of EBONY REIGN opened up fresh wounds to the past heroes whose lives were cut short through avoidable road accidents. Crystallising our roads are plaguing lawlessness and indiscipline which have been grievously overlooked by instituted authorities. We’ve watched recklessness on our Roads growing to becoming acceptable behaviour with madness that is continually bedevilling our society.

In this particular case of Ebony’s demised, Police report reveals that there was heaps of sand meant for rehabilitation on the road. The Jeep’s driver on trying to avoid it swerved onto the opposite lane and grazed the nearside portion of the on-coming VIP bus, plunging into this fatality. An act of recklessness on the side of those contracted to work on that road.

Hours after the unfortunate occurrences, another accident was reported to have occurred at the same spot where Ebony and two others died. The sad aspect is focus of our media discuss and phone calls on Radio Stations being directed to Prophets from Churches in trying to unravel the cause of her death instead of dealing with the visible recklessness on our road. Time to act is now!