Spotlight
What have you been up to since 1980?
I returned to Motown for sixth form (L6A), and went on to the University of Ghana in 1984, where I read Economics and Political Science. I Joined Lever Brothers Ghana Ltd (now Unilever) in June 1988 as a Trainee Manager assigned to the Volta Region, and resigned in 1991 as the Sales Operations Manager. I joined the US Embassy as Personnel Assistant, but after a one year stint there, I responded to the call of God and joined full time Christian Ministry.
What made you swap the corporate world for the Church?
The deep void in my life was filled after being invited to a Calvary Road program by Herman des Bordes (who although a year behind us became a very close friend) during which I gave my life to Christ. After serious jamming pre-University with all the ‘bad boys’ in our year group, reality hit hard. Somehow it was like a Damascus experience and I was literally taken out from the ‘world’ with very deep unique experiences that isolated me.
Did you have a calling?
I was not even sure of the calling then kraaa…, I was just a young man who had found the love of his life and was not prepared to let go at all. I believe that when God calls you into the ministry as a pastor, one of the first things that he puts on you is a burden: A burden for people, a burden for your flock – sensitivity, empathy, or a connection to your flock – a calling to minister to PEOPLE in a specific way.
In this part of the world, when people are in trouble, almost the first person they call is their pastor. Somebody has health challenge they call the pastor. Marriage problems, they call the pastor. Financial problems, they call the pastor. And so the pastor hears all these things, and no pastor who is called will hear these things and gloss over them. You go to sleep with the burden of the people; you pray about it; you wake up worried about them considering what is going on with their lives; How are they coping? How are they going to pay their children’s school fees? How are they going to build their business again?
So, I guess the intensity of the burden on your people becomes the intensity of burden you minister with. And that is it – you get hit by the burden of the people. The swinging emotions with joy and sadness. When somebody dies, you are shattered. When somebody has a wedding, you are excited. When somebody has a baby, you are excited. When somebody loses their baby, you are shattered. One moment you are happy; next moment you are shattered. One moment you are hopeful, next moment you are fearful. That is the burden God puts on you.
Power House Ministries (PMI) celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year. Can you tell us a bit about the early years and how you are celebrating this milestone?
PMI is 25 years!!! Sometimes I can’t believe I have ‘survived’ for 25 years. It’s a story of “Plenty GRACE paa”!!!!
Setting up and running a church is extremely complex and places you under intense pressure and exerts a heavy toll on you emotionally. In the early days, my own inadequacies (I had no formal training in pastoral and church administration) and moral limitations made me question whether I could do the long haul of placing myself under strict personal discipline, observation and scrutiny by the world. Most importantly, I had no money, no ministry friends and no properties or stable income. I also had a very young family. All I had was a deep relationship with the Lord and a deep conviction to do the Lord’s work and to obey His call.
It’s been a tough but rewarding journey! The church exerts demands on your family, your personal finances, and your spiritual warfare. It’s extremely hard work, and we often work late hours – especially when there are big events happening. However, I have had a great team supporting me; the whole team is involved and give so much of their time and effort to get things done.
We are excited to be celebrating 25 years of the Lord’s Grace! Our preCOVID-19 celebrations included monthly activities to herald the Anniversary service which was scheduled for the first Sunday in July 2020, but our focus has shifted to more human development programs. We currently are working on a documentary video to chronicle our history and some of our activities. Hopefully this will be aired soon on all media channels
What made you choose Chorkor as your base?
Our location is the result of a series of events that I now see as Divine Providence. We moved to the KG1 cluster of schools purely because that was what was available after all our search. After six years in the classroom further searches proved futile and our only opening seemed to be our current location.
Any charitable/mentoring activities/ programs etc?
Following from the example of many orthodox churches our programs have gone beyond a church service and we have embarked on training camps to drive literacy and education, offering scholarships to all categories of students. Our education budget has been huge and over the 25-year period we have seen over 600 young people through education at all levels particularly SHS and Tertiary level.
Shepherds Summit – monthly College for Leadership training.
Marriage Ministry Network International – monthly marriage and family outreach.
Meal for Life: EASTER outreach feeding 1000’s each year.
Health Fair –blood donation to Korlebu Blood bank and provision of lifeline medical care to people who otherwise may never go to the hospital.
Read for Life – An outreach to all JHS schools in the district to help improve their literary drive and offer scholarships to deserving students.
Samaritan Purse – A life-line outreach program for non-church members.
KIDS (Kids in Divine Service) program – an outreach to children in need, feeding and clothing them and providing them with logistics and mentorship for their basic education. Each Sunday all Kids are given free meals of breakfast and lunch and Special Kids parties are held at least three times a year to allow all Kids to freely interact and play in an environment of godly fun.
Women Empowerment – empowering women to be economically self-reliant.
Total Woman conference – quarterly program to the girls and women to train them to assume responsibility for their purpose in life, regarding ministry, career, family, home and raising the next generation.
Rhema Word: A Sunday outreach program on CITI FM every Sunday at 7.00am.
H2O program (Health and Hunger Outreach) addresses the basic needs of the community and feeds all who desire a meal and provide some basic medical consultancy services by resident medical staff every Sunday.
Wonder of Worship Outreach: Quarterly music, dance, poetry outreach concerts.
This is not the first time in church history where the church has had to find ways of fellowshipping privately out of public view. Our faith is not daunted and we still believe in and affirm the Lordship of Christ. COVID-19 has threats and challenges but also provided opportunities for growth and development. Our focus on digital leadership has still kept us relevant and enabled us meet the needs of the local church and beyond into a more ‘global’. Now we stream our services online and use social media to spread the gospel and reach out to our members.
Hhmmm…… there are many very good pastors who never get limelight attention for their sacrifices, but the misdeeds of the few get all the headlines! Our Shepherds Summit PMI’s contribution to a cure for the malady that leads pastors astray, and we aim to reach out to many ‘young’ pastors to equip them with the experiences of many seasoned and older ministers.
Ministry unfortunately presents a very challenging and very competitive environment. Bad examples and role modelling by ‘some men in a cloak’ coupled with a poor law enforcement regime breed this kind of canker among the religious fraternity. My advice by no means exhaustive, that may help some ‘younger’ ministers, includes;
- Always keep ‘reminders’ of who you were before you ‘became’.
- Live modestly and HELP IMPROVE OTHERS.
- Master your theology and pursue service to God above all.
- BUILD CHARCTER and avoid trying to impress with your gifts and talents.
- Keep relationships with your seniors in ministry – they hold you accountable.
- Keep relationships with your peers in ministry – to sharpen you to do more.
- Keep relationships with those who look up to you – be an example to them.
- Never try to replace God in the lives of the people you lead.
- Do not be enamoured by titles or position.
- Be content with who you are. Avoid trying to be accepted by men.
What’s life outside the Church for the Arde Acquah’s and is there an unfulfilled ambition left to achieve?
Family life has been amazing and I have been truly blessed with a remarkable soul mate Cynthia, and three amazing kids; who have been very supportive of my ministry. And all of them are very actively involved in church.
I lead a very quiet life spending almost all my time in church and at home. Very little social interactions and that makes me quite mischievous (ask Nii Darko Asante, the only one whose mischief deserves commendation)
My ambition is to grow my love and passion for the Lord and for people, and to encourage and empower more people to live a fulfilling LIFE, and develop a tradition of godliness and excellence. I guess it’s to help people achieve significance and leave a lasting legacy for the next generation.
Finally, what’s been the interaction with GC to date?
I must commend GC for all the support and I genuinely wish I could mention some names (but unfortunately, I do not have their permission to do so)
Especially over the past three to five years, I have been truly humbled by many of GC who have visited to share fellowship (some of whom have joined and many of whom are now my ‘evangelists’) and have generously and ‘secretly’ sent support donations to support various activities. And frankly I have loved the free-spirited fellowship of GC each time they have come around to share fellowship. I am eternally grateful and also deeply humbled.
I must mention that the support from our former president, Dr. Nii Darko Asante and our current president for life, Caroline Andah has been very gratifying.
1E, 2E, 3E, 4A1, 5A1, L6A, U6A
Cadbury House
