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This
town is the capital of the Brong Ahafo
Region in Ghana. It is housing the main
campus of the proposed university of the
Catholic Church. The Forestry School in
the town is being up-graded into a tertiary
institution, and will form the School
of Natural Resources for the University
of Science and Technology. The proposed
university of the Methodist Church will
have a campus only 40 miles away from
this town. The tourism potential of the
region is found to be attractive, and
therefore hotels and catering homes are
being encouraged in this capital. It is
perceived by some of the town planners
that this town could be a gateway between
the rest of Ghana and Ivory Coast as the
Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS)
builds up. These are some of the information
I gathered as I interacted.
Rt. Rev. T. Ampah-Briant, Bishop of Sunyani
St Anslem's Cathedral Church, PO Box 23,
Sunyani. Tel. 61-7205 or 61-312; Fax:
61-7203
I visited this Bishop by an appointment.
Before he became a bishop, he had inherited
the position of the parish minister from
his father. He has been bishop for three
years. He attended the latest (1998) Lambeth
Conference where he had the opportunity
to visit East London and became a guest
of an Anglican Bishop in East London.
He was getting ready to hold the first
Synod meeting in few weeks time. He invited
the local and independent Churches to
join the regional body of Churches
I
always took a small number of local and
independent Church leaders with me during
these visits in Ghana.
Dr Kwasi Nsiah-Gyabaah, Principal, Sunyani
Polytechnic, PO 206, Sunyani. Te. 061-7052,
Ext.120
He noted that the Polytechnic could enrol
(for the current year) only 200 out of
800 qualified students, because of inadequate
space. We discussed the possibilities
of Church and Academy co-operation in
the areas of development projects in the
capital and regions. This included renovation
of parts of Church buildings to serve
also as lecturing halls, student hostels,
and skills-development shops. We saw a
scope of a joint work, to meet the need
of the community, the Polytechnic, and
the frustrated but qualified students.
Rt. Rev. James Kojo Owusu, the Catholic
Bishop of Sunyani.
He shared the history of the Diocese,
and recent developments in the Diocesan
set-ups in the Catholic Church in the
Region. The Diocese currently has a homeless
project for the young, energetic, low-income,
homeless people. This Bishop came through
as a very experienced and thoughtful elder.
He did employ the expertise of a key architect
of the Kumasi Municipal Council to design
the new cathedral building which he has
built.
Bishop Donkor, of the independent Churches.
He had come through a period of trials
and difficulties in providing services
in the local communities. He sees the
work of the Churches in angles and at
levels. He recollected a challenge given
to the Ghana Churches when a political
leader stated that ''if the Churches in
Ghana will not mature enough and even
make laws for Ghana, then the Government
will make the laws and everybody including
the Church will have to obey - whether
they like it or not''
Mr R K Sarfo-Kwarteng, Regional Police
Commander, A Deputy Commissioner/Commander
of the Ghana Police.
He urged the Church leaders in my team
to encourage their congregations to give
useful information to the police to combat
crime and atrocities in society. He felt
very strongly on the essence of law and
order, even though he has respect for
the Christian faith and the saving grace
of God which the Churches proclaim. He
commented to the effect that if all people
will obey the Bible, then there will be
no need of the police force. In his duties,
he allows and in fact encourages a Wednesday
morning Christian devotion/service within
the large number of the police-force under
him.
Mr Baryeh - the Regional Lands Officer
I explained that I had come to his office
to greet him because I see him as a care-taker
(pastor) of God's resources and people.
He is of another faith, but was challenged
by the statement and opened up to a more
friendly discussion.
Mr Dansoh - the Regional Forestry Officer
He informed that the Sunyani Forestry
School had been up-graded to a tertiary
institution in Ghana, and made the School
for Natural Resources of the University
of Science and Technology. We discovered
in our discussions that he was being entrusted
by God with the care-taking of about 10
- 20% of the wealth of the region. He
was keen for a longer time of fellowship
which my limited time could not permit.
The Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship
International (FGBFI)
I attended and shared very briefly on
'The place of the Church in the field
of development' at the monthly session
of the Sunyani Chapter's of the Full Gospel
Businessmen Fellowship International (FGBFI).
This was highly appreciated.
Seminar : The connection between the
community Church and the realisation of
the capacities/divine provisions in the
creation/economy
I provided a seminar on the above topic
for about twenty people from the Churches,
and later with some individuals and smaller
groups. The Grace Christian Ministry (Church)
of Sunyani and the Sunyani Community Development
Association assisted with the organisation
of this seminar.
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