Ghana

THE country of Ghana is located in the huge, westward bulge of the continent of Africa. It lies just above the Equator, sharing its borders with Ivory Coast on the west and Togo on the east. With an area of 91,843 square miles, it is about as big as Great Britain. The present population is eight and a half million, of which 16,093 are Jehovah’s witnesses. This is the country that, until March 6, 1957, was known as the Gold Coast.

It is worth noting that the indigenous religion of the people of Ghana is based on animism. Because of this the question of the soul and what happens after death is of such importance here as to dwarf any other religious teaching.

Belief that inanimate objects have souls or are inhabited by spirits worthy of reverence has led to the worship of rivers, lakes and lagoons, notorious among them being the Prah, Tano and Densu Rivers,  Lake Bosomtwi and the Korle and Sakumo lagoons. Certain animals are thought to be the sacred embodiment of the soul of certain clans and are given appropriate reverence. Mountains, rocks, valleys, trees and vines have all been worshiped or held in superstitious awe.

When the Portuguese were forced out of the Gold Coast in 1642, the Catholic priests left with them. Before they left, however, they had introduced the people to the cult of Saint Anthony.

Today the pagan people of Elmina have built a shrine for the statue of Saint Anthony. They have named it Nana Ntuna (Grandfather Anthony). In recent times the old Bible that they claim came with the statue has disappeared from the hut, but the rosary and crucifix are still there. They have also created an attendant god, Brafu Kweku, for Saint Anthony. Isa (Jesus) is represented in the Ntuna Bum (Anthony’s Hut) in “what appears to be the powdered residue of very ancient wafers or communion bread left in a receptacle.”

Thus “Nana Ntuna, Isa and Brafu Kweku constitute the trinity of the Antoni-Bum worship, during the celebration of which lighted tapers or candles are placed round the statue and incense is burnt.” The Ntuna cult of Elmina is associated with the fruit of Christendom’s first attempt to Christianize a people who worshiped the animistic way.

Two centuries elapsed from the time of the Portuguese eviction before Christendom made another attempt to evangelize the Gold Coast, this time through the Protestant missions. As soon as the missionaries overcame the problem of acclimatization, which claimed quite a few lives, they committed themselves to a study of the native languages. Within a short time the Basel and Bremen missionaries had reduced the three main ones, Twi, Ewe and Ga, to writing. They followed this with translations of parts of the Bible into the vernacular languages, and by 1871 the entire Bible was available in print in Twi, Ewe and Ga.

These translations were so accurate, as far as the languages were concerned, that the Ewe and Ga ones are still the only translations in use, with very little revision.

One more commendable feature of their translations is the use of the Divine Name. This, rendered Iehowa and Yehowa, appears in the Hebrew Scriptures in almost all its proper places in all three translations. The Ewe and Ga translators did even better than that. They used the Divine Name in the Greek Scriptures, in  Ga at 2 Corinthians 6:17 and 18 and in Ewe at Hebrews 7:21; 13:6; 1 Peter 3:12 and in the book of Revelation wherever the expression “Hallelujah” occurs.

The early missionaries thus taught the people that the name of the God-in-Chief is Iehowa or Yehowa. They established schools and taught the people how to read. They also produced books and booklets setting forth simplified historical narratives of the Bible and encouraged their reading. All this helped to give the natives some basic information about the Bible and to acquaint them with the Divine Name.

After World War I education was given greater momentum in the Gold Coast. By this time the influence of the churches had grown countrywide, the few exceptions being the Moslem areas in the North. They had established more schools and even branched out into the commercial and other fields. Education and the churches were so linked up together in the minds of the natives that the churches were called Sukuu or School.

For this reason it was considered a mark of prestige to be formally baptized into one of the churches of Christendom. The educated ones identified themselves with this or that church, calling those whose names were not written in any church register backward, bush, uneducated and heathen.

However, despite this outward show of piety, the native churchgoer was the same inwardly. Baptism was cheap, available to anyone who made a verbal request, even on his deathbed. Changes that needed to be made to bring a person’s life in harmony with God’s will were of no consequence.

Many “enlightened” churchgoers continued to pay homage to ancestral gods. In many ways they participated in pagan festivals honoring the dead. Chiefs, who made food and drink offerings to ancestral gods, were accepted in the churches with a sense of prestige. To round off pagan festivities, these chieftains, accompanied by a large retinue, attended church services with drums and a lot of pagan paraphernalia to “thank God” with huge monetary donations, which were always welcomed by the churches.

Polygamy was no barrier to church membership, although polygamists and some chieftains were said to be barred from partaking of the Communion bread and wine. One’s standing with the church was really determined by one’s ability to contribute to the church fund, even as church burial and other services were decided largely by whether one’s membership dues were paid up or not.

 In the face of all this, it was no wonder that a few of the Africans in the 1920’s felt that the churches had been a big fraud. There were men in the Gold Coast at the time who were horrified at these things, who looked at the confused setup of Christendom and her teachings and wondered whether God was not capable of something better.

There was, for example, Eddy Addo, slender, copper-colored, aggressive and outspoken. He was active in the church, yes, but did not hesitate to confront the clergy about what he termed “an agitating thought in me over the frequent solicitation for funds.” There was J. B. Commey, demure and meditative, in search of truth. He had his shock when the Anglican priest told him that the church was a society and had its rules that did not have to conform to the Bible.

Consider also C. T. Asare, a rather meek and apologetic student, sincerely and honestly seeking to worship God. See him across the table as he faces the priest in a pre-Communion interview. Hear the priest demand the payment of his church dues as a condition to being served the Communion. Bashful Asare shifts his gaze. With difficulty he explains that he is a student and hence covered by the special dispensation absolving students from the payment of church taxes. Now hear the priest order him out, at the top of his voice, adding: “You don’t think I eat as I work?”

There were other men in the Gold Coast who earnestly sought after the truths of God’s Word, like I. K. Norman. He was young, witty, with good education and a fine material future in the civil service. But young Norman was far from pleased with the religion he was brought up to accept. Despite his natural sense of humor, he took religion seriously, so much so that at the risk of his job he wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Liverpool, challenging the Trinity doctrine in plain terms. Imagine his disappointment when a chaplain wrote to him to say that the archbishop was too busy to attend to his letter. Imagine his disgust as the letter goes on to urge him to get baptized immediately and says that after that everything would open up to him!

These were men who wanted to know the right way to worship God. They had found animistic paganism unsatisfactory, and Christendom had failed them.

JEHOVAH SENDS FORTH THE LIGHT

“For a certainty . . . God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.”​—Acts 10:34, 35.

 That, exactly, is how the small group of truth-hungry people of the Gold Coast felt in the year 1924. They had been groping in darkness, sighing and groaning over all the detestable things that they knew were being done in Christendom and in heathendom.

At that time one of Jehovah’s anointed servants arrived to help them learn the truth of God’s Word. He was Claude Brown, a West Indian who had migrated to Canada. He was an International Bible Student during the first world war and spent some time in jail in Canada rather than violate his neutrality. Toward the end of 1923 he left the city of Winnipeg in Canada and sailed to Sierra Leone. There he teamed up with W. R. Brown, who had arrived from the West Indies six months earlier to declare the good news of God’s kingdom to the people of West Africa.

Claude Brown spent about three months in Sierra Leone giving Bible lectures and getting acclimatized to West Africa. It was in early 1924 that W. R. Brown dispatched him on a lecture tour of the Gold Coast and Nigeria.

Before leaving Sierra Leone Claude Brown obtained information about a Sierra Leonian family living in the Gold Coast. Although Accra, capital of the Gold Coast, was at that time a city bustling with 43,000 people, Claude Brown was able to locate the family. The Coles, as they were called, proved to be very hospitable and accommodated this ambassador of God’s kingdom in their home.

They owned a complex entertainment palace called the Merry Villas. The main theater was built like a cinema hall and had a seating capacity of about 400. It was mainly used for a manually operated merry-go-round, which could be dismantled and removed to make room for other functions in the hall. Already Merry Villas was famous for being the city’s ideal spot for public lectures and gatherings. Claude Brown obtained the use of the hall for his Bible lectures, the first to be given in the country by a representative of Jehovah’s anointed servants.

He had brought with him large posters advertizing the lectures. By hand he filled in the details of place and time and kept busy sticking them on public buildings, private houses and on public notice boards.

Reading public notices in those days, a sign of literacy, boosted one’s prestige. So very soon Claude Brown’s posters began to attract the attention of a large section of the population of Accra. The literate and the semiliterate flocked around them everywhere. What the posters said startled them. Soon a number of  the people who read his posters were echoing the question: “Where are the dead?” “If the good ones are in heaven and the bad ones are in hellfire for a fact, why do we live in fear of the dead?”

It is worth recording here that some of the men who had pondered over the points raised by Claude Brown’s posters, like J. B. Commey and Eddy Addo, refused to go to church that day, to be sure that nothing interfered with their going to the Merry Villas on time to hear the strange international Bible expositor.

By 2:30 p.m. the hall was more than half full, and when the talk started, there were no less than 500 people present. It was a distinguished audience, made up of prominent clergymen, among whom was J. T. Roberts, founder of Accra High School. Present also were Mr. E. Ayeh, headmaster of Bishop Boys School, Lawyer T. Hutton Mills, who later became a minister of state and Mr. John Buckman, later secretary to the Provincial Council of Chiefs.

There was no elaborate speaker’s platform or pulpit, as these folks were used to seeing in the chapels of Christendom. There was just a writing table, on which was spread a clean white tablecloth. On this lay the speaker’s Bible and reference books.

Claude Brown made a brief survey of his audience and then introduced his talk. He pointed out the fact that death is a universal problem and hence the propriety of the question “Where Are the Dead?” He emphasized the fact that death is not a blessing but a curse, the result of disobedience, and hence its disagreeableness to human nature. The audience could not but nod in agreement.

The speaker then pointed out the heathen concept of where the dead are. He also stated the Protestant view of heaven and hell, and the Catholic addition of purgatory. Now, appealing to the reasoning rather than the emotional faculties of his audience, he showed how these views were all inconsistent with one another and, worse yet, in direct conflict with the Scriptural doctrine of a resurrection. Since they were thus opposed to teachings of the Bible and inconsistent with the love of God, they must be in opposition to the Author of the Bible, Jehovah God. If they were in opposition to Jehovah, the God of truth, then they were false.

Now the speaker proceeded to stress the need to go to God’s Word of truth for a reliable answer. An eyewitness writes: “I could vividly remember the ‘hum’ of approval from the four corners of the hall when the lecturer quoted Acts 2:29-34 to refute the teaching that  the ‘ancient worthies’ went straight to heaven at death.”

Step by step the speaker explained from the Scriptures the condition of the dead. After using many scriptures to prove his points, he concluded his talk.

One eyewitness reports: “Happily, all his questions and questions from others were skillfully and Scripturally answered.” Another eyewitness said: “If ever first impressions were indications of coming events, then from that first forceful lecture, it was evident that the truth had popped up for a permanent stay in the Gold Coast.”

After a second lecture, on the subject “Can the Living Talk with the Dead?” young Eddy Addo took great interest in what had been said. From then on he worked closely with Claude Brown, helping him to complete and put up advertizing posters for other lectures in the series. In the days between lectures Claude Brown busied himself distributing books on the streets. Crowds of people surrounded him at the Post Office Square, on Bannerman Road, near the Merry Villas, where he lived, and everywhere he went, taking literature and asking Bible questions.

Some of the people who attended his lectures in Accra formed themselves into a discussion group. They entreated him to remain in Accra and help them with Bible classes. Much as Claude Brown would have liked to do that, he had a mission to visit Nigeria with the same series of lectures. So in a few days’ time he left, assuring them that he would request Brother W. R. Brown in Sierra Leone to send someone who could settle permanently in the Gold Coast to help them.

That is how it was that 1924, the year that saw the installation of electric lights in Accra, also saw the installation of a different kind of light, spiritual light, in the Gold Coast.

THE TRUTH TRAVELS COUNTRYWIDE

Claude Brown’s lectures and literature distribution set in motion a chain reaction that propelled the truth across the country at a terrific speed. A few experiences of the old-timers will serve to illustrate this.

J. O. Blankson, a pharmacy student, had first said that Claude Brown must be a fool to challenge the doctrine of the soul’s immortality. He attended a lecture by Brown and found that the ones uninformed were on his own side of the argument. Of course, he changed sides. At a subsequent lecture he obtained the book The Battle of Armageddon and devoured its contents with real gusto. On the endsheet he wrote: “I thank God for this great message that I have been able to  receive. May he encourage me to understand. John Ottoe Blankson, 5th November, 1924.”

“The truth made me buoyant,” he writes, “and I talked it freely at our pharmacy school.” One day he decided to accompany a student friend to the Anglican Trinity Cathedral, where confirmation lessons were being given. At the end of the lessons he asked a question on the Trinity. The instructor had no answer for him. He went there a second time and asked another question, with the same result. On the third occasion he met the priest himself, who later became the Anglican Bishop of Accra. Again buoyant Blankson raised his question on the Trinity. This time there was an answer, and it came with fumes of rage. “Get out of here!” the priest demanded. “You are not a Christian; you belong to the Devil. Get out of here at once!”

Back home he wrote to the priest and invited him to a lecture at the Palladium Cinema Hall and there, if he was sure that the Trinity doctrine was correct, to propound it. He did not have to wait long to find out the reaction of the clergyman. One morning he was called to the office of the principal lecturer of the pharmacy school. The man looked disturbed, and Blankson sensed trouble.

“Blankson,” he called out, “did you write a letter to the Reverend Martinson?”

Blankson’s heart thumped. With hands clasped behind him he managed to reply, “I did, Sir,” and then felt strengthened to stand his ground.

“All right,” the instructor said. “I don’t want you to talk. Sit down there. Here you are​—paper, pen and ink. Write an apology now, and give it to me. I will see to it that the Reverend Martinson gets it and that the matter ends there.”

Blankson sat down, took the paper and pen and wrote: “Sir, My instructor has asked me to write an apology to you and I am prepared to write the apology provided you will admit that you teach false doctrines.”

Upon reading it the instructor said: “Look here, Blankson, is this what you want to write?”

“Yes, Sir. That is all I can write.”

“All right. In that case you are going to be dismissed. How can you speak against the priest of the government’s church and hope to remain in the government’s employ?”

“But, Sir,” Blankson spoke up, “you are our instructor. When you give us lessons and there are points we do not understand, do we not ask you questions?”

“Of course you do.”

 “Well, Sir, that is all that took place. The gentleman was teaching us the Bible and I asked him a question. If he is unable to answer the question, why should I be made to write an apology to him?”

Blankson was not dismissed. The apology was not sent. He continued to enjoy the respect of the instructors and, of course, to preach the truth in the school with all freeness of speech. He graduated in 1926 and was sent to Salaga in the Northern Territories, where Islam and animism ruled. And, of course, the truth went with him, clear to Navrongo, near the northern border.

Such was the zeal and enthusiasm with which those who embraced the word in those days went about preaching and distributing literature. The result was that by 1935 I.B.S.A. literature had penetrated into many towns and even invaded remote peasant villages in the country.

ORGANIZING FOR EFFECTIVE SERVICE

True to his promise Claude Brown sent word to W. R. Brown in Sierra Leone about the wonderful results of his lectures in the Gold Coast. He also told of the desire of a number of interested persons to start classes for Bible study in Accra and Koforidua. Immediately Brother W. R. Brown arranged for Brother Obadiah Jamieson Benjamin to proceed to Accra. He arrived in May of 1925.

Brother Benjamin was a young man of twenty-six years, a native of Sierra Leone. He was tall and thin, with a slight forward incline and a swanky gait. He was an eloquent orator, educated in Greek, Latin, French and English. He was one of the first ones to come into the truth in Sierra Leone as a result of Brother W. R. Brown’s lectures in 1923, and had made good progress by 1925 so that when the call was made, he was willing to give up his job as customs officer and come to the aid of the interested persons in the Gold Coast.

In Accra, Brother Benjamin was directed to Mr. E. Ayeh, whose home had become the center for the people who were waiting for the promised help. Immediately Mr. Ayeh sent word to them. The classes were then started in the flat of Mr. Ayeh on Kofi Oku Road.

Sometime in August of 1925 Claude Brown stopped in the Gold Coast on his return journey to Sierra Leone. How happy he was to see the interested people doing so well in Bible studies! He spent a few weeks with them, giving lectures in both Merry Villas and  Palladium Cinema Hall. At one of these lectures he invited the willing ones to take a supply of the tract Ecclesiastics Indicted and distribute them free to anyone who was willing to have a copy. Almost all in the audience rushed to get copies. Beginning from the gates of the hall, they distributed them all over the city, some actually going from house to house with the tracts. Thus in 1925, for the first time, the natives of the Gold Coast were aided to have a share in the house-to-house distribution of the message in printed form. It is worthy of note that this was the tract containing the resolution connected with the third trumpet blast of judgment messages against false religion, released at the Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A., convention July 20-27, 1924.

During a visit of W. R. Brown to the Gold Coast in 1927, he spent some time in Accra building up the friends. Then he continued to Koforidua for the same purpose. There he celebrated the Memorial with the friends, interviewed those who desired baptism and took the qualified ones to a nearby stream and immersed them. That was on April 27, 1927. These were the first to be baptized in the Gold Coast.

In 1932 Brother W. R. Brown toured the country again, visiting Kumasi in Ashanti and the coastal twin cities of Sekondi​—Takoradi. He came back in 1935 with the transcription machine and equipment for showing the slides of the “Photo-Drama of Creation.” The Gold Coast press gave this visit excellent coverage so that halls were always packed full. At one time 2,000 turned up to listen to him. By the end of this tour, firm congregations had been established at four centers of the country.

SOME WRONG DEVELOPMENT

The zealous distribution of literature throughout the country meant that many individuals would receive literature who would not be able to associate with any congregation of Jehovah’s people. The result was that a number of persons who read the books and recognized the message to be the truth tried to practice a religion based on what they had read. This became particularly so in the early 1930’s. Hitherto the message had gone only to people who had had some schooling and were able to read English. Now the humble rural folk who had been chafing like beasts of burden under the yoke of Christendom embraced this message with wholehearted appreciation.

Many of these people had become so frustrated in Christendom that they had stopped going to church.  Their church dues had accumulated to amounts that they knew they would not be able to pay in their lifetime. They were poor and lived simple lives that involved very little handling of money. But now they were in debt, and they knew that, if they died, their relatives would be made to pay every penny of it before they were accorded church burial. One can imagine, then, the readiness, the eagerness, with which these folks accepted and wanted to worship according to the way of the truth.

Sampson Nyame and his friends organized these people into some kind of church, with headquarters at Osino in Akim Abuakwa, near Sampson Nyame’s home. They believed that they were working with the I.B.S.A. and so called themselves “Bible Students” and “Bible Expositors.” Interested persons who were amazed at the adroitness with which they handled Scripture texts gave them the Twi name “Bible Nkyerasefo,” literally “Bible Interpreters.” The name sounded good to the leaders, since it more or less translated the English “Bible Expositors.” Later on, the organization came to be called “Gyidi” or “Faith.”

Without any knowledge of the organizational structure of Jehovah’s witnesses, Sampson Nyame, M. K. Twum and W. Otchere incorporated into their church a lot of unscriptural Adventist and Pentecostal traits. During group prayers some claimed to have received the holy spirit and spoke in tongues. At Nkwatia the members became suspicious of that spirit and prayed to Jehovah that, if indeed it was his holy spirit, then they would like it to come upon every member of the group and not just a few. After that none of them received that kind of spirit.

This sort of “weed” did spread rapidly and gained large followings in Akim, Krobo, Kwahu and Ashanti areas. The curious thing, though, was that the leaders of this organization were in constant contact with the Bible study group and literature depot at Koforidua. Brother A. W. Osei, a colporteur in charge of both the group and literature depot at Koforidua, regularly visited a number of these groups with Sampson Nyame and placed with them I.B.S.A. publications for their congregational use. However, no attempt was made to organize them into proper Bible study classes or congregations along I.B.S.A. organizational lines until the close of the 1930’s.

CHRISTENDOM FEELS THE PINCH

It was not to be expected that the clergy of Christendom would take the assault on false religion without  scheming some kind of foul reprisal. Most of the people coming into the truth back there were from the flock of Christendom and were doing so because the truth exposed the clergy to be workers of fraud. These men felt that they had been duped all their lives and regretted having paid monies to support the clergy. In this circumstance, it was only natural that they would take the hard-hitting truths and hurl them at the clergy with vindictiveness, and in a manner that people coming into the truth now may term rather tactless.

In December of 1930 a Brother Norman sent a Golden Age article on Christmas to the editor of the Gold Coast Weekly Spectator. The man reproduced the article in full in his paper. In January of 1931 Brother Norman followed this with another article, entitled “Holidays and Their Origins.” That was also reproduced. A few weeks later a reader from Peki wrote in the paper challenging the clergy to come out to either refute or support the statements made in the articles. Of course, there was no answer, while the anger of the priests brewed against the brothers.

In June of 1931, a lawyer-publisher of a paper called Vox Populi urged Eddy Addo to write an article on witchcraft. It happened that Christendom was divided on the subject and had set up a committee of clergymen to look into it and advise as to whether or not witches exist. The article was entitled “To the Witchcraft Committee.” It contained quite a few exposés that the clergy must have found enraging. Nevertheless, from faraway Sekyedomase in Northern Ashanti, Eddy Addo received a letter dated July 27, 1931. It said: “Sir, I have read with the keenest interest your article of 27th June under the subject ‘To the Witchcraft Committee’ and from the bottom of my heart I say I congratulate you, Mr. Addo. . . . I have the same sentiments in opposing witchcraft and have oftentimes cited the very same topics you refer to in your article to those saintest of saints who deny the existence of witches and their doings.”

It was not just the stinging blows of the truths that angered the priests. They were losing members. For this reason they came to hate the brothers and did all they could to oppose them. At Jamase, about twenty-five miles north of Jumasi, a white Catholic priest violently assaulted Brother Noah Adjei in an uncontrolled fit of anger. In other places they instigated mob action or sought the aid of the local authorities to chase the brothers out of town. At Obuasi in 1932  one Catholic priest tried that with very interesting results.

Obuasi was a flourishing gold mining town in Ashanti. Michael Firempong, a police constable helped into the truth by I. D. Anaman, had been promoted to the rank of corporal and transferred there to be in charge of the railway station. He was not long in Obuasi when the town became saturated with literature, some of which found its way into the mission homes of Christendom’s churches.

One morning Firempong was witnessing to the railway station master, a member of the Catholic Church, when a Roman Catholic priest showed up. “Are you the one distributing these Communist publications?” he asked. “The other day some of these books found their way into the Mission House, and I had the pleasure of making a bonfire out of them. You are spreading Communist propaganda in this town. I shall see the mines manager about your activities.”

True to his word, the priest wrote a lengthy report warning of Communism at work in the town, saying that there was need to “nip it in the bud” and that the tall police corporal in charge of the railway station was the agent. The mines manager immediately forwarded the report to the chief commissioner of police in charge of Ashanti. He, in turn, sent it to the commissioner of police in charge of the district of Obuasi.

One morning Firempong was called to the office of the commissioner of police. The commissioner demanded copies of the books he had been reading and distributing in the town. The corporal obliged with a parcel containing Deliverance, The Harp of God, Light, Government and several booklets. He prayed and continued in the ministry.

Three months later, when he had been transferred to Tarkwa, the books were parceled back to him with a note from the commissioner saying that nothing communistic was found in any of them. Pages of the publications had been marked, ticked and underlined in many places. Apparently the commissioner circulated them among high government officials for their reading and observations. Of course, Corporal Firempong was overjoyed to see that the schemings of the Catholic priest had resulted in the reading of the publications in high government circles.

There were many such incidents throughout the country in which the clergy’s efforts to stifle the truth failed. Telling their flock not to listen to the brothers did not avail them anything; it only generated curiosity and questions. One frustrated Anglican priest went to  Brother J. B. Commey in Accra, protesting: “Why don’t you stop this nonsense? You make the women ask me foolish questions.”

After a while the clergy saw that they could not match the symbolic locusts who were wreaking havoc to their religious pasture. (Joel 1:4) Nor could they keep the symbolic horses in check who were stinging them left, right, back and front. (Rev. 9:7-10) Therefore, in one desperate move the Protestant organization called the Christian Council sought the aid of the colonial government to pronounce Brother W. R. Brown, who was directing the work from Nigeria, a “persona non grata.”

Following that, an undeclared ban was placed on further importation and distribution of the Society’s publications. This they did by invoking Section 27(1) (a) (ii) of the Customs Ordinance of 1923, which empowered the Customs authorities to seize and detain any “books, newspapers and printed matter, which in the opinion of the Comptroller (subject to any direction of the Governor) are seditious, defamatory, scandalous or demoralising.” All Watch Tower Society and I.B.S.A. publications were put under this category. That was in 1936. Christendom’s clergy rejoiced. They believed that they had killed the work of Jehovah’s witnesses.

BAN AND RESTRICTIONS

The ban on W. R. Brown’s further entry into the Gold Coast was not communicated to the brothers at the time the decision was made. How did they get to know about it? Brother Brown himself explains:

“We remarked in last year’s report [1936 service year] that we had determined to put in more hours this year and, if possible, to triple last year’s output of books and booklets. We therefore planned to make a record drive on the Gold Coast with the sound car, beginning with the ‘Battle Shout’ period, October 3-11, 1936.

“An order was sent to Brooklyn for 20,000 Who Shall Rule the World? booklets and 20,000 Government booklets, to be landed on the Gold Coast. On the first of October we left Lagos by boat with sound car and 40 cartons of books and booklets to arrive at Accra a day before the period. On the steamer’s arrival at Accra the sound car and 40 cartons went ashore before the immigration officer arrived on board. When the officer did arrive all foreign passengers appeared before him with their passports. I handed in mine, was told to wait until he was through with the passengers, after which I was called and informed that I would not be  permitted to land on the Gold Coast. When the brethren ashore, who were expecting me, heard of it, they called on the immigration officer with sixty pounds cash as a deposit toward my landing, but that was refused. On the following day I was placed aboard another boat with car and baggage and sent back to Lagos and was compelled to pay the return trip.

“Later on we were informed that the so-called ‘Christian Council’ there had decided that the Society’s representative be debarred from further activities on the Gold Coast because of the response given to him a year ago by the people and the daily papers when Judge Rutherford’s lectures were delivered to a crowded house of approximately 2,000 souls.”

On February 17, 1937, the brothers petitioned the governor, Sir Arnold Hodson, asking for the release of the shipment of books that were sent to the Gold Coast a month after Brother Brown was denied entrance, but which were banned by the customs authorities. They were in the custody of the comptroller of customs. The governor’s reply came, dated March 18, and said that the publications were seized under the laws of the Gold Coast and that he had no intention of reversing the decision of the comptroller of customs in that matter. Later, in June of 1937, the 69 cartons containing 22,245 pieces of literature were burned.

The branch office in Lagos immediately directed the brothers in the Gold Coast to contact a lawyer to see what could be done to get redress in law.

What was wrong was not the Customs Ordinance as such but, rather, the prejudice and malice with which it was being applied. By the look of things the comptroller of customs and his officials were well insulated against prosecution in the application of the ordinance, and that was by the discretion of the governor.

On August 24, 1937, the lawyer wrote to Brother Brown in Lagos enclosing copies of the correspondence between him and the government. He said:

“It is clear that owing to certain consequences likely to follow, the gist of the matter submitted for the Governor’s consideration was not squarely faced in the Colonial Secretary’s letter. It is therefore open to us to take such steps as may induce the Government to give us a satisfactory reply. Further, although I have not given up the idea of addressing a formal petition to the Governor on the whole subject, it is most unlikely that, unless outside pressure were brought to bear upon the Gold Coast Government, any voluntary step will be taken in Accra to satisfy and compensate the Gold Coast branch of your Society.”

 He then talked of a survey he was undertaking to assess public opinion in connection with the publications and the activities of the brothers in the country. This he hoped to incorporate in the petition. He drafted the petition and had the brothers check it. When approved, it was put in final form and presented to the governor. The reply came on January 26, 1938, saying: “His Excellency has carefully considered the petition of your clients, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, Gold Coast Branch, and is not prepared to make any such general declaration as requested in paragraph 18 of the petition.”

SOUND CAR UPSETS THE ENEMY

Later W. R. Brown sent S. Ogunde to the Gold Coast with a sound car to use in spreading the Kingdom message. The very novelty of the sound car in the country, coupled with the traditional African curiosity, immediately ensured the success of the campaign. People lived simple lives in those days and had much time on their hands, while recreational facilities were very limited, particularly in the rural areas. The African rushed onto the street at the sound of anything unusual. Among such relaxed people the sound car, with its strange music and sermons featuring “the voice of the European,” just drew the crowds. Although many among them were only curious rather than really interested, their numbers well advertised the activity of the sound car. How did the clergy react to this? Brother Ogunde reports:

“The inscription ‘Kingdom Message’ on the loudspeakers, which was the first of its kind to be seen on the Gold Coast, angered the clergy, and they became terrified when they heard the broadcasting of Judge Rutherford’s lectures. They moved the authorities to persecute us in that we were several times called on the police superintendents in both the Central and Western Provinces and cautioned not to operate the sound car. Seeing there was no law to prevent us from operating it, we went on witnessing in other places, leaving the capital towns. In one instance the licensing officer at Takoradi, Western Province, threatened to cancel our car license if he again saw the loudspeaker on our car, and we did all we could to prevent his seeing it.”

In discussing the overall results Brother Ogunde’s report goes on to say: “Those of goodwill showed great interest and appreciation of the Kingdom message by the sound car, and in three months we placed over 100 bound books and over 20,000 booklets. At the  bidding of Satan through his visible religious agents, the Gold Coast government has now framed mischief by making a law under which no motor vehicle on the Gold Coast must be fitted with any loudspeaker without first getting a permit from the authority.” That ended the campaign with the sound car.

TRANSCRIPTION MACHINES AND SPEAKING TRUMPETS

Before Brother Brown was put out of the country at the time of his brief visit in 1938, he was able to leave three transcription machines and sets of phonograph sermons with Brothers A. W. Osei and J. B. Commey. With this new equipment the brothers could reach many towns and talk to great multitudes at a time.

At Konongo, in 1944, Police Inspector Doe rounded up a number of brothers and detained them at the charge office without any charge being brought against them. This became almost a weekly affair, just when the brothers were getting ready to go out in field service. One day the brothers confronted the inspector in his home. The man brought from his library the book Government and the booklet Universal War Is Near. He spoke of how he enjoyed reading them, how he would never like to part with them because they were very good, spoke the truth, and so on. The brothers told him it was the same message in those books that they preached.

“I know,” he said.

“Why do you make trouble for us, then?”

“The Catholic priest is the one making trouble for you.”

“Why?”

“He says two of his members have joined you and unless you are harassed out of town, his church will collapse.”

“Do you agree with him?”

“What he says is true, but I know I shouldn’t cooperate with him. In fact, I am no more going to.”

Brother Eric Adu Kumi reports that from that day on, Inspector Doe gave them no more trouble. As a matter of fact, he allowed the brothers to receive their mail through the police letter box at the post office so that the enemy might not destroy any publications coming to them.

At the close of the 1930’s there were only three transcription machines in the country. So the brothers devised something for themselves. They cut and soldered  sheets of tin or any metal of that sort into large funnels, which served them as speaking trumpets. These the brothers called “horns” or megaphones and used them in addressing large crowds in the villages and towns. About the device, Brother K. Gyasi, who had a lot of experience in its use, says: “It was very effective in reaching for distance and happened to be the most powerful loudspeaker for us in those days.”

Wherever the speaking trumpets went, people rushed out of their homes, even leaving their meals half eaten, to hear the Word of God from the “curious horn.” With it the brothers were able to open up the work and start congregations and groups in much of the then unassigned territory. It helped the brothers, too, in that the many interesting and sometimes violent experiences strengthened their zeal and faith. Brother Anaman remembers the following:

Sometime in 1943, when his father had retired from the service of the Presbyterian Church and was at Kwanyaku, his hometown, he decided to pay him a visit. He sent messages to J. O. Blankson and E. K. Paning to join him there to work that territory.

One morning at about 5 a.m. these three brothers took the megaphone and went to the border dividing the so-called Christian quarters or “Salem” from the rest of the town and started shooting a lecture into the air. “Salem” became agitated. Opanin Birikuran, presbyter of the Presbyterian Church, and the Presbyterian schoolmaster came out of their homes. The presbyter pounced on Brother Anaman and seized the megaphone.

“You are not allowed to preach here,” he said.

“Why?” Anaman demanded.

“This territory belongs to me. You go to the heathens.”

Anaman turned to the schoolmaster and asked, in English: “What was wrong with what I was saying?”

“It was indeed an intelligent exposition of the Bible,” the man replied.

“Why, then, should you prevent us from preaching?”

The presbyter, who did not know any English, cut in and said: “I say you get out of here! You have no right to speak here. This territory is mine!”

“Do you own the people in it as well?”

“Yes, they are my sheep. You move away!”

Brother Blankson came in and explained that in such circumstances Jesus’ instruction to “shake off the dust” of their feet was appropriate. “Here we are, then, shaking off the dust of our feet. We go to the heathens. But, know you today that on the judgment  day it will be worse for you than for Sodom and Gomorrah!” With that they went to the heathen side of town.

The experience left the presbyter in the grip of a morbid sort of fear. At sunrise he went to Brother Anaman’s father and protested to him, saying that Anaman’s son and his companions had cursed him and that they ought to be made to remove the curse. The retired clergyman rebuked the presbyter for hindering the preaching of God’s Word. By some strange coincidence, the presbyter died, suddenly, the next morning. Brother Anaman reports that “great fear fell on the people and doors began to be freely open to us.”

On the whole, the heathens in the villages were favorably disposed to hear the message. Nevertheless, they occasionally made trouble for the brothers. At Akoti, a village near Asesewa in Krobo territory, Brother E. T. Quaye and others were beaten up and thrown into a dirty cell in the chief’s palace for preaching God’s judgment against heathen gods.

BIBLE INTERPRETERS CHANGE TO PURE WORSHIP

One activity that brought the blessing of Jehovah on the organization was the correcting of the so-called Bible Interpreters. This took place beginning with the last three or four years of the 1930’s. There had been isolated efforts previously, but now it was made an organizational policy to help the Interpreters to add knowledge to their zeal and direct their preaching to the right end. A concerted campaign was therefore mounted to that end.

It was not easy, but through love and patience the truth won. As a group they made the changeover, with the exception of a few individuals who fell by the wayside. None of the few who refused to make the changeover could perpetuate the organization. The “church” of the Bible Interpreters, therefore, ceased to exist as of 1940 onward.

Their leaders, Sampson Nyame, W. Otchere and M. K. Twum, all took up the pioneer service. With this blessing came additional shepherding responsibility. It meant that all of a sudden the organization had become flooded with illiterate rural folks. They needed to study God’s Word in order to attain maturity. But how, unless they could read for themselves?

There were many of the educated brothers who had genuine love for these rural folks. They organized literacy classes in the congregations and in private homes, beginning, notably, with the year 1937. The  progress was just marvelous. Some did progress within two months to the point of being able to read the Bible. Some even went on to learn to speak, read and write English, and with distinction.

Such ones became very useful in the organization, serving in various positions in the congregations as well as looking after congregational meetings, which were, in those days, based mainly on English publications.

Another problem arose, now that the friends were told to do away with the Christendom practice of tolling bells to signify times to assemble for congregational worship. How were these village folks, most of whom were illiterate, going to know when it was meeting time?

Well, the simplest answer was to ask one of those few who owned a watch in such rural society to be at the Kingdom Hall on time, so others could tell the time by his arrival. Another way was to go back to the rudimentary sundial. The folks were to listen for the tolling of the village school bell, which chimed the hours between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. They would then mark the points of the shadow of their house, a tree in front of the house or some such stationary object at the various hours and thus gain some knowledge of the “progress” of shadows in relation to the passage of time.

Similar arrangements were made to help them know how to keep record of their field service activities and report them to the congregation. Of course, as more and more of the friends became literate and bought watches, the problem began to fade away.

The whole arrangement received Jehovah’s blessing so that by 1946 the number reporting field service had increased from less than 50 in 1936 to 500 who were working in 33 congregations.

WORLD WAR II INCREASES DIFFICULTIES

When war broke out in 1939 the authorities made the already stringent measures taken against the brothers even more unbearable. In this circumstance, some of the brothers, notably those in Kumasi who were already branded “stirrers of the hornets,” decided to carry the battle to the foe rather than wait and fight with their backs to the wall.

Thus in 1939 when the Consolation magazine started a series of articles entitled “The Pope and the War,” Brothers Anaman, Blankson and Quansah decided to mail all forty distributor’s copies they were receiving to prominent clergymen and government officials in the  country, including the governor. This they did beginning with the issue carrying Part One of the series.

A few weeks after this special distribution a policeman called at the office of Brother Anaman. The commissioner of police, a member of the Roman Catholic Church, wanted to see him, he was told.

Shortly after this, J. G. Quansah also called at the office of Brother Anaman. When he was told of what had happened he raced to the police station, reaching there before Anaman and the constable. He followed them into the commissioner’s office, where they met the hostile, grim-faced police boss seated behind his desk.

“Did you send me this?” he asked, holding forth the Consolation magazine. His countenance was indeed threatening. The question was directed to Anaman, and Quansah stood impatiently as he uttered the words: “I am one of those who sent it.” With the last word still on Anaman’s lips, Quansah shouted from behind:

“I am one of them, too, and here is Part Two of it!” As he spoke he let the new magazine flop on the commissioner’s desk.

The chief of police was taken aback, completely flabbergasted. Obviously he had planned to bully his way with threats in hope of cowing the brother into submission. He never anticipated such audacity on the part of Jehovah’s witnesses. He fumbled through his speech as if he had missed his cue in the drama. He only took down the addresses of the brothers and let them go, much to the astonishment of the junior officers.

The Gold Coast press at the time was very liberal and favorably disposed toward the cause of the brothers. In his report on the 1939 service year the branch overseer for the area had this to say:

“Another way in which the witnessing is being done here, a way which the Lord himself has undoubtedly opened, is through the press. A regular column is reserved daily for our articles headed ‘Face the Facts.’ Reproductions of Brother Rutherford’s writings are made, and these, not only made the Hierarchy become mad, but also howling, as the Scriptures say they would do. Many through the press have learnt the truth.”

Opposers used the Catholic Voice to parrot the lie that the brothers were Communists propagating disrespect for the British government. This brought plainclothes policemen to the Kingdom Hall at Kumasi during one meeting. The brothers recognized the strangers for who they were and put on an extemporaneous  program for their benefit. In question-and-answer form the meeting went like this:

Q. “There is report that you people disrespect and disregard the British government and are trying to set up your own kingdom. Is this true?”

A. “No! The British government is a man-made government, like any other government on earth today. What we want is God’s own kingdom from heaven.”

Q. “Does not advocating God’s kingdom constitute a seditious act?”

A. “How can it be? The kings and queens of England themselves pray for God’s kingdom to come, do they not? ‘Thy kingdom come,’ they recite in the Lord’s Prayer. Can they be chaged with sedition?”

(The policemen nodded discerningly. The program continued.)

Q. “But why should you attack the Catholic Church in particular?”

A. “Look at the introduction to the King’s own Bible, the Authorised King James Version. There we read: ‘So that if, on the one side, we shall be traduced by Popish Persons at home or abroad, who therefore will malign us, because we are poor instruments to make God’s holy Truth to be yet more and more known unto the people, whom they desire still to keep in ignorance and darkness. . . .’ So, you see, the king of England himself and his scholars agree with what we say, that the ‘Popish Persons’ of the Catholic Church desire to keep people away from ‘God’s holy Truth’ and in mental darkness. And then to malign us because we dare undo the damage they have done and continue to do, is unjust. Surely this is the only reason why the Hierarchy sends policemen after us.”

Again the policemen nodded in assent. After an hour of such lively discussion, the policemen became like the officers sent to arrest Jesus​—they returned without making an arrest.​—John 7:32, 45, 46.

The next day Brother Quansah met the corporal on the street. He said: “We have put in a good report for you. Only your enemy is the Catholic Church.” No more plainclothes policemen were seen at the meetings.

THE WAR EFFORT

On June 16 of 1941 the governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Arnold Hodson, caused to be published in the Gazette an ordinance known as “The Compulsory Service Ordinance, 1941.” Under it “every male British subject and British protected person and person treated as if he were a British protected person who has attained the age of eighteen years and has not attained  the age of forty-five years and who is ordinarily resident in the Gold Coast,” was liable to be conscripted for compulsory military service.

In 1940, the brothers in Kumasi translated the November 1, 1939, Watchtower article on “Neutrality” in Twi. Mimeographed copies went to many of the Twi-speaking congregations in the country. They followed this in 1941 with a translation of a Consolation article entitled “Whom Do You Fear?” which was also distributed to the Twi-speaking congregations.

In 1941, the Kumasi brothers arranged to spend several weekends studying these articles with the brothers at Safo and Asonomaso. Thus fortified with knowledge, they were able to decide for themselves what should be done in harmony with their stand of neutrality with regard to the war and the governor’s declaration. They refused to contribute to the fund being collected to buy Spitfire airplanes for use in the war. This caused resentment against them to burst forth in the form of persecution.

The enemy sought to incite the chiefs of Kwahu to bring persecution on the Witnesses. Clergymen, prominent church members and other influential men in the area misrepresented the brothers before the paramount chief. They were said to be persons who had rebelled against the king of Ashanti and had had to flee from his wrath. Such people, it was said, had been welcomed by Jehovah’s witnesses into their midst in order to subvert authority in that area.

The paramount chief sat in council with his subchiefs to discuss the matter. They had almost decided to expel the refugees and ban the activities of the native Witnesses when the chief of Obo stood up and said, in substance: “These people are preachers of God’s Word. They do not force anybody to listen to them, nor to join their church. They are different from all the churches we know and it may well be that they are the true worshipers of God and that God is backing them up. You should watch out, therefore, what you do to them. As for me, I shall not join in anything that may amount to fighting against the will of God.”

That frightened the chiefs and brought the meeting to an end. Nevertheless, seeing that they were collectively defeated, some of them began to plot against the brothers in their own towns. The chief of Nkwatia was particularly active in this. He got two brothers thrown into jail for two months and on his instigation Brother Anaman was picked up and interrogated by the police a number of times.

Here too the brothers were misrepresented before the  district commissioner. He summoned them to his office at Mpraeso and questioned them. When they explained their neutrality to him he greatly disappointed the persecutors. He said to the brothers:

“I know that is the stand of Jehovah’s witnesses in England. Go home, but be sure not to discourage others from supporting the war efforts.”

The enemies continued to agitate until they got the paramount chief to summon the brothers before him again. This time the brothers were accused of failing to pay tax. Imagine the situation when right there all the brothers produced their receipts for the current basic rate (community development tax). That silenced a number of the opposers, since they themselves had not paid this basic tax.

It was here that the captain of the chief’s army, traditionally called Osafohene, stood up and said to the assembly:

“You well know that we also have gods and fetishes who impose certain taboos and restrictions on us. As the saying goes, ‘No one forces another to set aside the taboos of his fetish.’ If, therefore, these worshipers of Jehovah say that war is a taboo by the decree of their God, I say that we should leave them alone. We should be careful not to force them to violate the laws of their God.”

THE OUTCOME OF PERSECUTION

Now, what was the outcome of persecution? In many ways the persecutions proved to be a blessing to the work in the country. For one, it sent many of the displaced brothers into isolated territory to open up the work. This resulted in the starting of many new congregations, besides the strengthening of old ones.

For another, it once and for all put down the opposition from the twin villages of Safo and Asonomaso. Many of the townsfolk had expected that when the brothers came back from prison they would make a lot of noise in the town and go about returning evil for evil. When they did not do that but, instead, went from house to house greeting and chatting with all, the villagers became astonished. Many ears began to be opened to the good news. That was not all.

Following the persecutions serious adversities began to overtake some of the leading ones of the persecutors, adversities that the superstitious minds of the animists readily connected with the persecution of the true Christians. One of the main engineers of the beatings at Asonomaso, Opanin Kwabena Saara, fell off a tall Funtumia (rubber) tree and died. Two of the court  officials who tried and mocked the brothers died mysteriously. Police Sergeant Fodwoo, who said that he himself would throw J. F. Rutherford into jail if he were in the Gold Coast, was dismissed three days after he made that statement.

These and many other things the heathen opposers put together and said, ‘Indeed, God is with those people!’ Some came into the truth as a result, as the following shows.

Two messengers from the Asantehene had gone to see the chief of Asonomaso. After their official business they stopped by a middle-aged man and his wife who were enjoying the evening breeze outside their home. The messengers said: “Please, Older One, we want to ask about something but, first, are you, please excuse us, a native of this town?”

When the man answered that he was, they went on to say:

“Some months ago, Nana, the king of Ashanti, arrested a number of the Jehovah’s witnesses who refused to pay the war tax. Nana himself slapped some of them, but, as you well know, no man lives at whom ‘He Who Sits On Gold’ [the king] so much as points a finger. So, please tell us. How long was it after those men got home did they die?”

They were assured that none of the men died. They replied: “Well, we do not believe that you know what we are talking about.”

The man explained that he knew, that he was the son of the chief of Asonomaso and that one of the men so treated by the Asantehene, Kwadwo Owusu, was his brother-in-law. Pointing to his wife, he said: “Look, his sister!”

The men were astonished. “We now know that those men are, indeed, servants of the true God. We shall have to report this to the Mighty One and warn him to watch out in case he ever again has to deal with Jehovah’s witnesses.”

The man’s wife, Akua Kwatema, was then a superstitious pagan. She had never thought of the matter from that angle. Now she considered the situation very seriously. “If there is a God who can rescue his servants from the wrath of the gods of Ashanti, then He is the God to worship,” she concluded. She immediately associated with Jehovah’s witnesses and has served faithfully until this day.

Shifting to another subject, we would like to relate a convention experience. Brother B. A. Quaye, a blind brother from Koforidua, tells of how he managed to be at the 1944 convention at Swedru. He had no money  on him to pay the fares but had enough food to last him the journey one way on foot. He decided to be there, even though the distance was some seventy miles.

He was able to convince another brother who had decided not to go because of the “no money” excuse to agree to walk there with him. They started a week ahead of the convention. Before they got to Swedru the number going on foot to the convention had increased to about twenty. How did it come about?

Well, as they spent the nights with brothers on the way, the endeavor of this blind brother astonished and encouraged many of the able-bodied brothers and sisters who had decided to stay behind for the lack of money to join them on foot. This they did and they were richly blessed at the convention. The hospitality of the brothers who heard of the experience at the assembly enabled these brothers to return by train or lorry after the convention.

A YEAR OF VICTORIES AND SURPRISES

Early in 1947 the brothers in the Gold Coast decided to hold a convention in Accra. They would leave no stone unturned to get the ban on Brother Brown’s entry into the country removed, to allow him to attend the convention. They appointed Brother J. G. Quansah their secretary and assigned him to petition the governor on their behalf.

On March 6, Brother Quansah submitted the petition. Although he had never had any formal legal education, his petition was acclaimed a masterpiece. What a joy it was to all of them when on March 25, 1947, Mr. G. Sinclair, acting for the colonial secretary, wrote to Brother Quansah, saying:

“I am directed by the Governor to inform you that the Immigration authorities are prepared to allow Mr. Brown to enter this country.”

This was communicated to Brother Brown in Lagos and within two weeks he was in Accra. He says: “Imagine how happy I was to see my children in the Lord and to attend the convention!”

Instead of the small group of Witnesses that he had seen in the country in 1935, there were 800 publishers and interested persons assembled in the Palladium Cinema Hall.

UPHOLDING THE CHRISTIAN STANDARD OF MARRIAGE

An important point discussed at this convention was the Christian standard of monogamous marriage. Prior  to 1947 a number of the brothers (not the majority by any means) were living in polygamy. The standard of Christian morality as laid down at Galatians 5:19-21 and elsewhere in the Bible was respected and they endeavored to adhere to it. However, polygamy was not clearly associated with adultery. This was largely due to the fact that in African society polygamy is just as honorable as monogamy.

Finally, the January 15, 1947, issue of The Watchtower appeared with an excellent article on marriage. The magazine plainly stated that “plurality of wives” is not for Christians.

Friday, April 4, 1947, at the assembly in Accra, Brother W. R. Brown gave a ninety-minute talk on marriage, based on the material in the January 15 Watchtower. Immediately that became the talking point of the assembly. For the first time polygamists were refused baptism and those already baptized in that condition were told to clean up in order to be acceptable in Jehovah’s organization.

Accepting the Christian standard of marriage meant great changes and adjustments in the lives of the polygamous ones. Nevertheless, the willingness was there, along with the desire to please God. In harmony with Jehovah’s mercy the Society dealt very patiently and kindly with them. Under normal circumstances they were given six months to straighten out their affairs. The majority of them showed appreciation for this, as is evident in the following comment of the then branch overseer:

“It was very encouraging when everything was straightened out, to find that the number of persons who refused to adjust their lives according to the Christian way could be counted on one hand. So now as Jehovah prospered the brothers in making new disciples, these were coming into Jehovah’s organization with a clear understanding of all the Scriptural requirements.”

GILEAD GRADUATES ARRIVE

Good news came at the conclusion of the assembly when Brother Brown announced that two graduates of the eighth class of Gilead were assigned to the Gold Coast and would arrive in the middle of June. The applause that greeted the announcement was simply deafening. Then when Brother Brown added that “the next time I visit you, your number will be, not 800 but 8,000,” the brothers could not contain their joy.

The ship carrying the Gilead graduates, George Baker  and Sidney Wilkinson, arrived exactly on schedule, docking in Takoradi harbor on June 17, 1947. They had their first taste of what awaited them in the country when, on disembarking, Brother Baker had his personal library of the Society’s publications seized from him under the Customs Ordinance. The brothers who had gone to the harbor to meet them soon brought them up-to-date on what had been going on in the country, which made the incident over Brother Baker’s books seem quite insignificant. At any rate, the warm welcome accorded them by the brothers helped them to overcome that initial shock.

APPEALS FOR GREATER FREEDOM

It was on September 11, 1947, that the Society was informed in Lagos that the Gold Coast Legislative Council was due to meet on Tuesday, September 16. This meant that the brothers had only five days to get before the governor and also before all the elected members of the council the first petition on which they had been working.

They worked hard and, by telegram, airmail and other means of fast communication, succeeded in placing copies of the petition as was planned. Meanwhile, copies of the petition and covering letters had been mailed to the king of England, the British prime minister and the secretary of state for the Colonies. At this same time the branch in London had arranged for each of the congregations in the British Isles to send one letter of appeal as a congregation to the Gold Coast government. In addition to that, individuals were urged to write as private, freedom-loving citizens, expressing disgust over the Gold Coast government’s attitude toward Jehovah’s witnesses. The brothers in England took this up and flooded Government House in Accra with some 1,500 pieces of mail protesting the refusal to allow the Society’s literature to enter the country.

By the middle of November, 10,496 persons had signed their names to a third petition, saying: “We have no cause to complain of the activities of Jehovah’s witnesses, or the contents of their publications, which are not subversive but directed to the highest welfare of the people.” The signers included many prominent educators, chiefs, lawyers, clergymen, journalists, businessmen, and so forth. The formal presentation took place on November 17, 1947.

But now the month of December was here, and on Friday the 19th Brothers Knorr and Henschel landed at  the Accra airport. These visiting officers of the Society were interested in the problems arising from the colonial government’s attitude toward our work. So, besides attending the convention, they spent time calling on government officials such as the comptroller of customs, members of the Legislative Council and the director of education, who reviewed the books prior to prohibition. However, no one would point out specifically what was in our publications that was objectionable.

During the visit of Brothers Knorr and Henschel a convention was held at a theater called the Palladium. The assembly was well organized and the two graduates of Gilead now stationed at Accra did much to help in this regard.

On Sunday morning Brother Henschel delivered the discourse on baptism. Following that the candidates were taken in hired buses to the beach. In the little privacy provided by the coastal coconut groves they changed clothes and were immersed in the rough Atlantic breakers. By actual count, 171 were thus baptized.

There were 950 brothers in attendance at the assembly and well over 800 of them engaged in the field service, advertising the public meeting and also going from house to house with the book Children, which was admitted into the Gold Coast. Information walkers were well organized and handbill distribution continued right up to the time of the public meeting. The throngs of people that daily traverse the streets of Accra knew that “Permanent Governor of All Nations” was the title of the public talk to be delivered by Brother Knorr.

The lecture was attended by a record crowd of 1,353, with hundreds listening from outside the hall. Brother Knorr spoke in English and the talk was translated into Twi and Ga.

In his closing remarks the president of the Society gave the brothers good counsel on how to carry on the work despite the handicap of censorship. He encouraged them with God’s Word and then surprised everybody by saying: ‘Beginning January 1, 1948, just a few days hence, the Gold Coast field will operate as a branch.’ Brother A. G. Baker was to be branch overseer, assisted by Brother S. Wilkinson.

What good news! The brothers kept up the applause throughout the rest of the session. Thus ended the convention, with everyone keenly looking forward to the blessings of a branch organization.

Before Brother Knorr left West Africa he outlined  in writing the procedure the brothers were to follow in the battle to get the unjust restrictions on the Society’s publications removed. Among other things, he mentioned that during his interview with Dr. Danquah, a lawyer, the suggestion was made that the Society arrange to have the matter raised in the British House of Commons. Dr. Danquah cited the example of a book called How Russia Transformed Her Colonial Empire, written by Socialist George Padmore. His Majesty’s Customs seized a consignment of this publication addressed to lawyer Ako Adjei of Accra under the same Customs Ordinance. The raising of the matter in the House of Commons in July of 1947 was all it took to cause the secretary of state, Mr. Creech Jones, to inquire into the matter. The result was that the book was in free circulation in the Gold Coast.

Accordingly, Brother Knorr wrote to the British Isles and instructed the Society’s branch office to do everything possible to get the matter before Parliament.

On January 14, 1948, Brother Atwood of the Nigeria branch wrote to Sir Gerald Creasy, who had then assumed duties as governor of the Gold Coast, and raised the point of the petition that was meant for him but which was presented before his assumption of office. The governor sent a kind reply to say that the request was receiving his careful consideration.

With the same date, January 14, 1948, Brother Atwood also sent a letter and a copy of the book “Let God Be True” to each of the elected members of the Gold Coast Legislative Council. After discussing the history of the battle at some length the letter said:

“It is hard to understand how any reasonable person could proclaim this publication to be ‘seditious, defamatory, scandalous or demoralizing.’ Yet that is apparently the opinion of the Comptroller, and despite the plea of more than 10,000 citizens, the book is banned. I take the opportunity of presenting you with a copy of this book for your careful consideration.”

It was not until December 7, 1948, after many months of hard work, that Brother Baker wrote: “Seventeen different publications are now granted entry.”

This was bound to produce results in the field, and it did. By the end of the 1949 service year, literature placements had increased from 23,724 the previous year to 124,462. Bible studies had increased from 168 to 569 and there were 2,053 publishers as against 1,134. Now there were sixty-five congregations and four circuits instead of forty-two and two respectively. Truly the victory was Jehovah’s.

 THE NORTHERN TERRITORIES OF THE GOLD COAST

In many respects the North differs greatly from the South, so much so that it might well have been an entirely different country. This territory takes in a little more than a third of the total land area of the country, but it is very much less populated. The colonial administrators took very little interest in this part of the country, partly because of its more inhospitable climate and also because the territory is practically devoid of any mineral resources or timber. The result is that the North still remains the region where customs are, to a great degree, affected by superstitions of pagan and Islamic religions.

Some preaching had been done in this territory in the late 1920’s and in the early 1930’s by Brothers J. O. Blankson and C. S. T. Caesar, in such places as Navrongo, Wa, Gambaga, Tamale and Salaga​—a famous slave market in Portuguese times. But this was mainly to educated government officials from the South.

In August of 1949, following the Kumasi assembly, Brothers Baker and Wilkinson toured the region to survey the territory, but it was not until the 1951 service year that the Society succeeded in getting one regular pioneer, E. K. Konu, to move to Tamale, the administrative capital on the North. Brother Konu was appointed a special pioneer. Two months later E. A. S. Anson was assigned as a special pioneer at Yendi, sixty-three miles east of Tamale.

At the “Press On to Maturity” assembly in 1952, the brothers were thrilled with experiences related by the special pioneers working in the North. Very few of the people of the South have visited the North and the vast differences in culture and landscape make the North a fascinating, even intriguing country to most southerners. From the reports good progress was being made there, but the need was yet great. So the Society arranged to send more special pioneers into the territory.

These worked hard despite the less favorable conditions in the North. Some of them bought themselves bicycles in order to be able to cover the vast territory assigned to them. Sometimes they had to cycle fifty miles and more to visit and strengthen isolated publishers. They learned the native languages and taught some of the interested persons they found how to read and write, some also learning English.

One of such zealous natives who embraced the truth and became very useful in the local congregation is  S. K. Adama of Lawra. We meet him in his small tailoring shop dressed in a loose outer garment over a pair of European trousers, with a fezlike, handwoven cap on his head. There is a glow in his round, handsome face as he welcomes us with vigorous handshakes. His smiles reveal a perfect set of teeth delicately filed. And now he tells his story on the theme “Bible Truth Sets Me Free from Satan’s Prison.”

It was in 1953, when he was only nineteen, that he heard one of the special pioneers preaching the Kingdom good news in Lawra. What was said sounded too strange to his ears to register anything on his mind, but he was struck by the frequent recurrence of the name Jehovah throughout the sermon.

When it was over he asked the pioneer who that Jehovah might be. A further witness was given him about the true God. When Adama went home he told his relatives: “Today I met a man who told me that there is a God whose name is Jehovah.” What was the pagan old-timers’ reaction?

“To them this was no news,” Brother Adama says, “because the Dagartis have many that are called gods and so Jehovah could be the god of some other people.”

In a few days’ time the pioneer called back on him. He was moved by the sermon on the qualities of the true God and what Jehovah has purposed to do for mankind on earth through his kingdom. He recognized the message to be the truth. But he took no stand for it. He left Lawra for Accra, where he had another opportunity to investigate the message of Jehovah’s witnesses.

When he became even more convinced that Jehovah’s witnesses have the true religion as a result of what he heard and saw of them in Accra, he went back to Lawra. To his disappointment, the pioneer had left Lawra for Tumu, sixty-nine miles away. He was able to convince his brother of the truthfulness of the message. The two of them decided to travel the sixty-nine miles to Tumu to look for the pioneer.

Just at that time someone gave them the address of the circuit overseer. They communicated with him, and almost immediately he wrote back to assure them of a visit. Within a few weeks he arrived, accompanied by two special pioneers assigned to Lawra. In a short time a small group of the natives were baptized.

The old men of the town did not look on this with favor. “They took away our wives,” Brother Adama relates, “and told us to stop serving Jehovah because they could not tolerate their daughters being married to worshipers of a ‘foreign god.’ But that did not deter  us. So they went to the paramount chief of Lawra and said to him: ‘These boys are bringing other people’s tradition and customs to our town. You should see to stop them.’”

Chief Karbo investigated the matter and told the old men: “I am chief but I have no authority to stop people from worshiping which god they choose.”

“The old men were disappointed,” recalls Brother Adama. “They cursed us and said we would be dead in a few days because we had forsaken the tradition and customs of our ancestors.”

“Well, three days passed and none of us had died,” Adama observed. “Instead, we had obtained a plot of land to build a Kingdom Hall in the name of Jehovah.”

“What?” the opposers said in amazement. “Are you boys still alive to build a house for your God Jehovah? Indeed, he must be the Almighty God.”

“The older men therefore came to acknowledge Jehovah to be the true God and, although they did not come to worship him with us, they refrained from persecuting us. Our wives eventually dedicated their lives to Jehovah, and Jehovah continued to prosper our congregation.”

Many such experiences strengthened the special pioneers working in the North. Also encouraging them were the occasional visits of busloads of brothers from the South, usually at circuit assembly time. At one time Accra congregations bought bicycles and sent them up North through the Society to be used by the special pioneers. Others sent used clothing to be distributed among the needy ones there. All this was very much appreciated.

EXPANSION

There was no question about it, the need for vernacular literature was great. Arrangement was therefore made to translate “Let God Be True” into Twi.

At this time T. A. Darko had been baptized. He had been in contact with the truth since 1938 but had remained a devout Presbyterian until he read “Let God Be True” in 1948. This person knew Twi, English and Ga very well and was interested in translation. Before his baptism he had begun, on his own initiative, to translate “Let God Be True” into Twi. He intended to move to the Presbyterian stronghold of Akropong in the Akwapim hills and use the book to teach the churchgoers the truth.

After his baptism word reached the branch overseer about his interest in translation and so the Society  invited him to Bethel to do full-time translation. That was February 1, 1949.

Into the busy year of 1949 were crammed two district assemblies, one at Kumasi and the other in Accra, at the King George V Memorial Hall, now Parliament House. Brother Atwood of Nigeria visited the country as zone overseer in connection with the second assembly.

The combined attendance at these two assemblies showed 2,719 more persons than the number of publishers in the country. A total of 404 persons were baptized at the two assemblies, bringing the figure for the year to 806.

The work was growing so rapidly that by August 1949, 71 percent of the 2,053 publishers were new, that is, persons who had accepted the truth since the establishment of the branch. This, needless to say, brought an additional load of shepherding. The Society therefore arranged for more Gilead-trained missionaries to come in.

First, W. C. Walden and G. L. Covert arrived in February 1949. In September of the same year, three more missionaries arrived. Brother G. F. Burt of the tenth class had been unsuccessful in gaining entry into Kenya, his original assignment, so he was reassigned to the Gold Coast. The next two missionaries were John Charuk and his brother Michael, Canadian graduates of the eleventh class.

ANOTHER BLOW TURNED INTO VICTORY

Brothers Knorr and Henschel scheduled themselves to visit the Gold Coast for the second time, in 1952.

With eagerness Jehovah’s witnesses throughout the country looked forward to the visit. This time the number of publishers had grown to 4,446, compared to the mere 575 of the year 1947. Every one of them would love to benefit by the counsel and talks of the Society’s president and his secretary, so, as in 1947, a national convention was arranged to be held in Accra, from November 21 to 23.

To the surprise of everybody, the Old Polo Grounds, British Crown land, was released for the convention! This was a spacious seaside plot just opposite the Supreme Court and the King George V Memorial Hall. No finer spot in all the Gold Coast could there be!

Twenty-eight miles away nearly 2,000 pieces of bamboo were cut and these were hauled to the Old Polo Grounds. A mammoth-sized kitchen with room for  twenty cookstoves was the first completed frame. Grass mats set off the departments and walled in the offices, while palm branches provided shelter overhead.

The speaker’s platform was beautifully constructed and decorated. A canopy was built on it to provide shade. From this hung cut-out letters spelling the theme of the assembly, “Press On to Maturity.”

As time drew near, food and other supplies started to pour in from up country. Three five-ton truckloads of yam and one of plantain came from 185 miles north, along with ever so many other provisions to keep the 150 cafeteria volunteers busy. Added to this was the work of finding rooms for the 6,000 delegates expected from outside Accra.

Advertising was handled with zeal. Three hundred posters were pasted all over Accra and its suburbs. Large billboards were placed at prominent intersections. Two fifty-foot signs gave full particulars of the public talk entitled “It Is Time to Consider God’s Way,” to be delivered by N. H. Knorr, president of the Watch Tower Society.

Now came the news that the visas for Brother Knorr and Brother Henschel had been canceled!

“An interview was granted by the prime minister, Dr. Nkrumah. The matter was explained to him, and he said that about two weeks previously our missionary work was discussed at a cabinet meeting. The decision reached was that our missionary activities would be allowed to continue as they were but no more missionaries would be allowed into the country. He was told that Brother Knorr and Brother Henschel were not coming here as missionaries but only to visit us for a few days. At the conclusion of the interview the prime minister stated that he would take the matter up with the minister of defense and external affairs. Later a secretary in government said that the matter had been considered and the final decision was that visas were refused and a cable to that effect had been sent to New York.”

Since it was final that Brothers Knorr and Henschel would not be permitted to attend the convention, the next important highlight of the convention was the release of the book “Let God Be True” in Twi. Oh, how the Twi-speaking brothers had looked forward to this publication in their own language! What progress it would help them to make in gaining accurate knowledge! And how it would help them conduct better home Bible studies!

But, even here, the possibility of making the release a reality was seriously threatened. How? The ship  bringing the books had arrived too late for them to reach the assembly!

Accra has never really been a harbor and, in those days before the building of the Tema harbor, ships had to line up about a mile offshore and wait their turn to discharge their cargo by means of the very slow canoes that ferried to and from the shore. This resulted in ships waiting off shore for days, and each captain was careful not to lose his place in the queue. The shipment of literature, it was learned, had arrived two days before the convention and was not due to be unloaded for at least seven days! What could the brothers do?

The branch decided to contact the comptroller of customs and ask for his assistance. Considering the battle that had raged between the customs department and Jehovah’s witnesses in the past, it took real faith to approach with any optimism the very head of this department for help. But the branch overseer did.

Brother Baker explained to this European official that over the past three years translation had been going on on this important publication for release at the assembly. And now there it was, held up a mile offshore while the assembly was going on. Could he help?

Immediately His Majesty’s Comptroller took Brother Baker to his assistant at the beach and explained the situation. He instructed the junior officer to take two canoes from the fleet doing the unloading and row Mr. Baker to the captain of the ship. We let Brother Baker tell the rest.

“Due to the sea swells it took us a while to reach the ship. Once alongside it, I realized that I had to get to grips with a rope ladder while the canoe popped up and down on the swell. I could not remember receiving training in Gilead School for this!

“With some palpitation I eventually clambered over onto the deck to find the captain waiting to know what all this was about. After my explanation, he replied: ‘That quantity of cargo would not be listed on our sheet. I have no idea where it could be.’

“I asked if we could have a search of the place. He agreed, and several of the crew set off in different directions. Ten minutes went by and nothing had been found. Then the captain called out: ‘Is this it?’

“Over I hurried and, true enough, he had found the cartons. The hatches were opened and the crane lifted them over the side. Within an hour we were rowing back to shore. Imagine the joy of everyone when the book was released as scheduled at the assembly!

 “We were all very much disappointed in not having Brother Knorr and Brother Henschel with us for the assembly, but it all worked for a greater witness in the end. The newspapers for the next few days had much to say about the government’s action.”

The press comment was voluminous, a great witness indeed, but what was even more gratifying about it was that there was not a single adverse comment about Jehovah’s witnesses.

Under such headings as “Give Reasons,” “Watch Tower Protests,” “Sad Blunder,” “Premier Nkrumah Not Pleased with Knorr Ban, Matter May Go to U.N.O.,” “Knorr’s Talk Knocked Out,” “U.S.A. May Query Knorr’s Case,” “No Freedom Here? Knorr’s Case Cited, Only Reds Do It,” “Face Facts About Mr. Knorr,” “Trial by Supposition,” and many others​—much was written that the British Crown must have found very embarrassing.

One editorial warned: “There is much more involved in the measures taken against Jehovah’s Witnesses. Freedom of the individual is at stake​—freedom of worship and of speech or thought is in danger.”

Another said: “There will be resounding repercussions, for the Watch Tower people are very loud and bold. . . . In itself the Knorr ban is a mockery of the claims of the United Nations on world citizenship. It is tragic. And that is saying the least.”

Many of the educated people suspected Christendom of complicity in the affair, as is brought out in the following newspaper editorial:

“It will not be unfair to suggest that soft influence may have been exerted from outside to keep Knorr out of the country. That source may even be Christian, for the Church seems to have fallen upon vicious days of mercurial competition; and the Watch Tower people seem to be winning.”

In the early morning hours of November 26, 1952, a plane touched down at the Accra airport with Brother Knorr on board. He knew that he would not be allowed entry into the country, so he had arranged for some of the brothers to meet him at the airport. He reports:

“While the brothers had expected me four days earlier, when I arrived at 3 a.m. the branch servant and several others from the office were there. For forty-five minutes I keenly enjoyed discussing the situation in Accra with them.

“The thing that gave me so much joy was to learn that they had a wonderful convention just the same. Eight thousand brothers had come from all parts of  the country to Accra and a tremendous witness was given.”

Earlier, Brother Knorr had written a letter that was intended to be read to the conventioners. Since it was received too late to be read at the assembly, the branch circulated the contents to all the congregations, with the date of November 25.

Although Brother Knorr began his letter by saying, “It is with deep regret that I write this letter,” he was full of encouragement and Christian admonition to the brothers. He said:

“Do not let this matter disturb you, neither let it cause anger to well up in your hearts. These men in government have the authority . . . to refuse visas to those whom they do not wish to have in the country. It is part of their work and, of course, their responsibility. . . . Our being with you would have brought great joy, and we could have . . . aided you in the service you are doing. But if this Christian service is refused to you by the government, please do not let it disturb you at all.

“Your dedication of your life is to Jehovah God, and you are not one of Jehovah’s witnesses because of any man in the organization or any group of men. You are slaves of the Most High. You are interested in just one thing whether Brother Henschel and I are there to tell you about it or whether you read it yourself in the Lord’s Word, and that is to glorify your Father who is in heaven. . . .

“Please go ahead in your preaching of the good news peacefully, calmly and in the spirit of Jehovah. . . . I hope the effect of this restriction upon Brother Henschel and myself as to coming into the Gold Coast will be most wholesome to all of you. I sincerely hope the effect will be to make every one of you more zealous and more determined to reach more people with this good news of the Kingdom, arranging more Bible studies, house-to-house witnessing and increased activity in every field of service. . . .

“May your zeal be expressed during the coming year of 1953 by worshiping Jehovah in holy array. . . .

“Show your love to all people in the Gold Coast by bringing to them the ‘good news’ of God’s Kingdom, which is the only hope for the world. May Jehovah’s rich blessing be with all of you as you do this, and may you maintain your integrity and share in the vindication of Jehovah’s name and Word. Brother Henschel and I send our love to the whole congregation.”

 Quite an inspiring letter. We came through the 1953 service year with a 21-percent increase in publishers and a new peak of 5,181 publishers.

FILM ACTIVITY

We move on to October of 1954 when the Society started a countrywide film activity with the picture “The New World Society in Action.” Since electricity, even till now, is available only in the main towns, the Society had to purchase, not only a projector, but also a generator and other electrical fittings plus a Land-Rover to transport it all to the remote parts of the country.

By the close of the 1955 service year, 109,496 persons had seen the film at fifty-nine showings. It did help to break down opposition and prejudice, as is evident from the comment of a Methodist Church leader who said:

“I never thought much of your church until I saw the film. I have ever since been telling my members to listen to what Jehovah’s witnesses teach.”

The mention of the year 1955 brings us to the Triumphant Kingdom assemblies of that year. It was certainly encouraging to see over twenty delegates leave the Gold Coast to attend several of the ones held in Europe. A few of these delegates knew no English nor any European language at all. All the same, they were greatly built up by what they saw and what they experienced by way of the European brothers’ hospitality and the love and unity of Jehovah’s organization. They returned with a deeper appreciation for the truth and for their obligations to their fellow Christians.

Following the European assemblies the Gold Coast branch scheduled a national assembly with the same theme at Accra, November 17 to 20, 1955. Again the government favored us with permission to use the Old Polo Grounds.

Brother Henschel was to attend this assembly and a visa had to be obtained for him. Would there be a repeat of the 1952 episode when visas were denied Brothers Knorr and Henschel? There was a long delay after the application was made and this caused a bit of anxiety. However, after persistent follow-ups, the visa was issued, just in time for it to be cabled to Brother Henschel to enable him to include the Gold Coast in his itinerary.

The very first session of the assembly saw 7,000 in attendance. This increased steadily to a peak of 14,331 at the public talk. The number baptized was 926.

 ADJUSTMENTS IN THE OVERSIGHT

When Brother Baker left as a result of ill health, Brother Knorr assigned Brother G. F. Burt to look after the administration of the branch until other arrangements were made. Brother Burt did so up until June 27, 1956, when Herbert Jennings arrived and was appointed branch overseer.

Brother Jennings, a Canadian national, was baptized on October 22, 1950, and started regular pioneer service in March 1952. He was appointed circuit overseer in January 1955 and, seven months later, was called to attend the twenty-sixth class of Gilead, from where he was assigned to the Gold Coast. Brother Jennings was only twenty-five years of age when he arrived here, but even at that time he was balding. Since baldness, like gray hair, is associated with advanced age in African society, this proved to be an asset in his work.

It was in 1956 that the Society was placing emphasis on maturity here and, of course, that required capable oversight. Prior to 1956 the concern seemed to have been for numerical growth, and we did grow this way. Now there was need to train the publishers to reach out for greater responsibility in the organization. That meant, for instance, coming to grips with the problem of illiteracy by teaching the publishers how to read and write instead of assigning two or three illiterate folks with one literate publisher to go from house to house, or telling them to record field service activity by keeping pebbles and sticks in different sacks to represent reports of the various features of the field ministry.

Another problem that needed attention was keeping all the publishers active. For a few years back it had been noted that the pace of increase in publishers had slowed down, even though many new ones were being baptized. The increase in publishers in the 1953 service year was 21 percent. In 1954 it dropped to 16 percent, then to 7 percent the following year and 4 percent in the first eight months of the 1956 service year. This was cause for concern.

A study of the problem revealed that a number of individuals were rushing into baptism without a real appreciation of the responsibilities that go with dedication and baptism. Such ones had not gained sufficient knowledge of Jehovah and his purposes upon which to base a sound, rocklike faith. As a result, they would publish for a while after baptism and then drop out of service.

The remedy offered was expressed in the May 1956 issue of the Informant Supplement in an article headed  “Examination to Be Required for All Immersion Candidates.” The article placed responsibility on congregation overseers to examine personally each immersion candidate sponsored by their congregations to make sure that the individual was not hindered by an improper marriage or some other unchristian conduct. Each candidate was expected to have a basic knowledge of the truth, acquired through a thorough study of “Let God Be True,” and a clear understanding and appreciation of what dedication and baptism means and one’s obligations before Jehovah on becoming baptized. When a candidate was approved, the presiding overseer filled out and signed a Qualified for Baptism form. With few exceptions baptism was restricted to assembly time, and no one was baptized at such assemblies without first presenting at the immersion department a Qualified for Baptism form duly completed and signed by his congregation overseer. While it cut down on the number being baptized, it ensured that those who were being recognized as Jehovah’s witnesses were truly qualified.

GOLD COAST BECOMES GHANA

On March 6, 1957, the British government granted full independence to the Gold Coast. Now the country was free from colonial domination, an event that brought great jubilation to all who had cried for “Self-Government Now!”

As might be expected, a lot of things of colonial origin, such as Bonds and Charters and Dispatches, including the “list of approved Missionary Societies,” were consigned to the archives and museums. Why, even the name Gold Coast was considered to be of colonial origin and was thrown overboard. From then on, the country was to be Ghana. With independence came a constitution that provided that “No law shall deprive any person of his freedom of conscience or of the right, freely to profess, practice or propagate any religion, subject to public order, morality and health.”

Perhaps the greatest problem that needed to be overcome was that of illiteracy. In 1957, 61 percent of the 6,727 publishers could not read nor write. Up until that year learning to read and write was largely left to individuals, and some of the zealous ones did well in learning on their own. Perhaps this accounted for the fact that literacy was nearly 40 percent in the organization, while for the country as a whole it was less than 30 percent.

Arrangements were made for establishing literacy classes. Visiting literacy classes is always a thrilling  experience. At a humble village Kingdom Hall you meet earnest folks, some old and some not so old, grouped around a pressure lantern and poring intently over the pictorial lessons. Some have failing eyesight and a few are wearing glasses. Now see the old sister there trying to recall by a chain of associations the meaning of what the instructor is pointing at on the chart. And now see the glow on her face as she is able to interpret the printed page into spoken language. The instructor feels so warm about it that he spontaneously applauds and the whole class joins in. As the months go by, she makes progress with the group. On our next visit we meet her adjusting and readjusting her glasses as she grapples with the more advanced textbooks. On another occasion we meet her trying to steady the point of a pencil with fingers that are gnarled with years of hard work on the farm with the hoe. See her as she struggles to make simple strokes and dashes and circles. They don’t look very good, but she must be commended. She has made progress. Imagine her joy as within a year she is able to read God’s Word for herself and write her own field service reports and personal letters.

It was with such diligence that Jehovah’s witnesses tackled the problem of illiteracy in the organization. The classes were closely supervised and conducted in an atmosphere of Christian love. This won the praise of a number of governmental officials, as in the case of one mass education supervisor in the Western Region who visited the classes of a congregation that had been able to teach twenty to read and write in less than a year. He was moved to say: “Indeed you are a different people. . . . If your spirit was manifested in other organizations, this country would soon have very few illiterates.”

MARRIAGE REGISTRATION

The next major project was helping the brothers to put their marriages on a sound basis. Ever since the country became a colony of Great Britain civil marriage laws of England have applied in the country alongside the unwritten laws of customary marriage. Both civil and customary marriages are recognized to be perfectly legal, although in law civil marriage is given precedence over customary marriage. By far the majority of our brothers up until 1957 had been married under the customary law. This meant that, although the marriages were legal, they were not recorded, except in a few cases where individuals had registered them with local councils.

 On July 4, 1957, the branch wrote to all the congregations explaining the need for marriages to be registered among Jehovah’s witnesses. The information was based on the material in the 1956 issues of The Watchtower dealing with marriage. At the time that meant that couples who had been married under the unwritten customary laws needed to have a civil marriage.

Now the majority of the local councils in the country are empowered by the government to register customary marriages. This is not the same as civil marriage, but it is just as binding, legal and properly recorded. So now it is left up to couples as to which way they want to get married, whether by the civil marriage arrangement or by the local council way of registering customary marriages.

KUMASI ASSEMBLY

Everything was ready for the convention in Kumasi to begin on March 5, 1959, as if no emergency had come up. But what about Brother Knorr?

By the divine will, there was no immigration trouble this time. Brother Jennings tells us:

“Brother Knorr arrived in Accra and passed through customs the evening before the assembly was due to begin. After spending Thursday and Friday going over things at the branch office, he and my wife and I flew to Kumasi to attend the assembly.

“Immediately upon arrival Brother Knorr was scheduled to give a talk at the foreign-language session attended by French-speaking delegates from Ivory Coast and Togo and Frafra-speaking delegates from Northern Ghana. The brothers were waiting when he arrived and listened attentively throughout the entire talk.

“That afternoon overseers were seated in the reserved section for a special program. Two half-hour discourses began the meeting and then it was Brother Jennings’ turn to give the brothers counsel on ‘Overseers, Keep Your Congregations Alive.’ Brother Knorr then spoke to the overseers on ‘Shepherding the Flock of God with Skillfulness.’ Citing King David and Christ Jesus as examples of faithful and skillful shepherds, he charged the overseers with the responsibility of assisting the new and weak publishers before ever any of them became inactive. After showing concern over the fact that many who went through baptism failed to continue in active service, he made clear the obligation of the overseers in reviving such inactive ones.

 “Sunday, the final day of the assembly, dawned bright and hot. During the morning various speakers from Bethel and congregation servants gave counsel and information on Scriptural subjects. Tape-recorded experiences and songs from brothers behind the Iron Curtain were also played, to the delight of the conventioners. All the talks on this day, as on all days of the assembly, were simultaneously translated into Twi, Ga, Ewe and Adangbe.

“At 12 noon circuit and district servants gathered for a special meeting, with Brother Knorr handling an enlightening and serious discussion on being teachers of the flock​—not just telling them what to do but setting the example by doing it with them. The afternoon program included a letter read to all for approval and adoption, expressing appreciation to the Society for the assembly, the visit of Brother Knorr and the new book, From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained.

“The final talk of the day was the public discourse, ‘A Paradise Earth Through God’s Kingdom,’ by the Society’s president. N. H. Knorr. How pleased and thrilled all were when the count revealed that 13,754, almost double the number of Witnesses in Ghana, were there listening to this interesting and important subject. The attentiveness and frequent applause revealed that the talk was thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated by all.

“Baptism was on Saturday morning and 460 persons were immersed.”

Brother Jennings recounts some rather comical experiences in connection with their trip back to Accra. Brother Kofi Kye had volunteered to take them in his car Sunday evening following the public talk. So, after saying the last good-byes and taking leave of the assembly, they got into the car and took off.

It was dark already and Brother Knorr showed by his questions that he was a little apprehensive about the driver’s finding the right way back to Accra. Brother Jennings reassured him, but the next thing they knew they were at the dead end of a street. What a way to reassure a stranger traveling after dark!

Anyway, the driver turned and managed to pick up the jungle road, but how could Brother Knorr be sure that that would take him to Accra? How relieved he was when, after four hours of motoring through the woods, a sign appeared that said “You Are Now Entering Accra”!

“Because we were traveling through the jungle.” Brother Jennings recalls, “Brother Knorr had everyone of us watching for wild animals en route, such as lions, panthers, and so forth. After 160 miles of forest the  total score of ‘game’ reported seen was a field mouse and a green frog which jumped three feet in the air for every foot forward.”

BROTHER BROWN RETURNS

In closing this part of the history let us flash back to the Palladium Cinema Hall at Accra, where a convention of 800 brothers is ending on April 6, 1947. There is Brother W. R. Brown giving his closing remarks to the audience and, in the midst of deafening applause, he says: “The next time I visit you, your number will be, not 800 but 8,000.”

In 1950, when there were enough Gilead-trained missionaries in West Africa to continue what he had started by Jehovah’s undeserved kindness, aging Brother Brown and his wife left Nigeria for home in the Caribbean Islands.

Ten years later, he was remembered by a prominent Nigerian statesman, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, whom he had known during his stay in Nigeria. Dr. Azikiwe had been appointed governor general of newly independent Nigeria and he invited Brother Brown and his wife to visit Nigeria in October 1960.

Brother Brown and his wife took the opportunity also to pay a visit to Ghana, and what an occasion for great joy it was for him to see that a number of the old-timers who fought alongside him in the early days were still going strong in the truth. And how many publishers were there in Ghana at that time? There were 8,172, according to the field service report for April 1960.

By the close of the 1950’s the Society had trained a number of Ghanaian brothers to qualify for various positions of responsibility in the organization. In that decade alone nine brothers and two sisters from Ghana went through Gilead and were assigned to four different countries.

KNORR AND HENSCHEL VISIT AGAIN

December 1970 brought with it another event of unprecedented blessing. Brother Knorr, eleven years after his last trip over here, decided to visit us again. He was coming with his wife and Brother Henschel. That was not all. They were traveling in company with 182 other visiting brothers and sisters from the United States, Canada and other overseas countries. The group was taking a tour of West Africa, arranged to conclude with a series of conventions along the West Coast.

A few months prior to the assemblies, there had been an outbreak of Asiatic cholera along the West  Coast of Africa. Health officials fighting to prevent the spread of the pestilence into areas under their jurisdiction had come to view all large gatherings with suspicion. For this reason city officials of Kumasi did everything short of outright cancellation to prevent the convention from occurring. Five different assembly sites were canceled, one after the other, on grounds of inadequate sanitation facilities. Then, just four weeks before the convention, permission was received to use the Sports Stadium, exclusive of Sunday. Hundreds of volunteers put their shoulders to the task and, following much of the setup of the 1967 assembly at the same location, even five days in advance everything was completed for the assembly to begin.

The Society, of course, was concerned about the health of the conventioners and counseled strictness on sanitation. This was scrupulously followed throughout, to the admiration of health inspectors. At Kumasi, where we had the greatest difficulty with the city’s medical officer of health, one of the health officials confessed that our attention to details in sanitation and health matters surpassed even what they themselves were able to achieve.

In Accra the difficulties started just a few hours before the program was to begin. As the crowds came pouring in, a health official, whose office overlooked the convention grounds, rushed up to the convention servant, Brother Danley, with a look of grave concern on his face. After some deliberations the authorities decided to cancel the convention, in view of the cholera threat.

After further discussion, reason prevailed. As it was pointed out, dispersing the growing crowd was not the solution to the problem. The convention was therefore allowed to go on as scheduled and many of the delegates visited nearby inoculation centers to be immunized against cholera. No cases of cholera were detected or reported at either assembly and only a few minor cases of illness were treated at the first aid departments.

Everyone was keyed up for what was the unusual about the “Men of Good Will” conventions, the presence of over 180 delegates from overseas. As two busloads of them filed into the Kumasi stadium, shouts of joy and a roar of applause broke out from the eighteen thousand then assembled. Hundreds lined up in the ramps personally to welcome and shake hands with the visitors. And in Accra the excitement was no less. “An experience we will never forget,” said one visitor. Another added: “We’ve never had such a welcome  anywhere we have been. I think I must have shaken eighteen thousand hands.”

Local Witnesses, on the other hand, were impressed by the humility and cooperation displayed by the visitors. Their willingness to wait their turn in queues and show consideration for others was amazing to many observers. Having lived under colonial domination until just “yesterday,” so to speak, the Ghanaian’s impression of the “white man” is just the opposite of readiness to serve. This is what was evident in the comment of Brother K. A. Odoom when he said at one of the special program sessions: “White people first came to this country as our masters. But ‘the truth has made us free’ and now we look on you as our brothers.” Surely Jehovah’s spirit is a uniting force.

One Twi-speaking sister said: “I have been in the truth for thirty-years. I have read about our foreign brothers. Now at last I have seen you.” And this is how one missionary put it: “Usually we go home on leave for rest and recuperation. This time, you came to us and we feel greatly refreshed and upbuilt by your presence.”

It would take pages to record all such expressions of appreciation and love. Without doubt, Brother Knorr spoke for all of us, visitors and visited, when he said: “Words cannot express my feelings at the wonderful expression of your love.”

It was during his closing remarks at the 1970 Accra assembly that Brother Knorr announced that the Ghana branch office, which had been built in 1962, would be expanded to double its present size, to provide adequately for literature storage and new printing facilities.

By January, following the Accra assembly, sketch plans for the extension were ready. Final drawings were submitted to the Accra city officials in May. Meanwhile, preliminary work, including the receiving of building supplies sent down from the Kumasi congregations, got under way. Permission to build was issued on July 29, 1971, and actual construction got under way immediately. Congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses in the Accra and Tema areas were invited to take turns in sending volunteers for weekend construction. There was a tremendous response from the thousands of willing-hearted ones, and from fifty to one hundred and fifty would turn up, working hard to push the project along.

We are grateful for the excellent spirit shown. As a result of all this fine volunteer effort and skill the extension was ready for occupancy by May 1972.  We were able to construct the new portion of the building for just half the cost of contracting with a local building company. This saving​—a generous contribution from our willing brothers and sisters—​is greatly appreciated!

The extension provides for our new printery and additional literature storage on the ground floor. The upper floor of this two-story building provides accommodations and other living facilities for an additional fourteen members of the Bethel family.

Between April and June printing machinery and supplies were shipped in from the Society’s factory in Brooklyn, New York, and a new printing press from the Heidelberg company in Germany. In the ensuing weeks our printery took shape. Complete equipment to produce The Watchtower in Ewe, Ga and Twi was installed. Preliminary printing began in July. By August, Kingdom Ministry was being produced and typesetting of the December 1972 Watchtower in three languages began.

The expansion and extension of activities of the Society’s Ghana branch will be of real benefit to the association of Christian witnesses of Jehovah throughout Ghana.

As we close our narrative of the history of Jehovah’s witnesses in Ghana from 1924 to 1972, it is certainly proper to acknowledge the part played by missionaries sent from Gilead School and others who came from overseas to help us. Not all of them came into the limelight of the history. Nevertheless, they all put up with various problems to make their contribution to the advancement of the work in Ghana.

Jehovah’s witnesses in this country are truly grateful to Jehovah and to his organization for investing so much in this country, not just in money and property but in human resources, to help honest-hearted people of this land to learn how to gain the goodwill of Jehovah while there is yet opportunity.

Looking back on it all, we cannot but marvel at the way Jehovah has magnified his own name in this part of Africa. If we recall the year 1924, when the lone witness of Jehovah, Claude Brown, went through the city of Accra pasting posters on walls and distributing handbills inviting people to a Bible lecture at the Merry Villas, to the year 1927, when W. R. Brown baptized the first handful of believers at Koforidua and Accra, through the fight legally to establish the good news under colonial autocracy and indigenous tyranny, to the year 1972, when we still possess our liberty as  witnesses of Jehovah God, we cannot but say: “Surely it is no man’s doing; it is the work of Jehovah.”

And so the 16,093 witnesses of Jehovah in Ghana, 16 of whom profess to be of the anointed remnant class, and the many thousands who, we hope, will yet join them as dedicated servants of the Most High before the outbreak of the “great tribulation,” will forever resound the words of the Bible book of Psalms, saying:

“O magnify Jehovah with me, you people, and let us exalt his name together.” “I will praise the name of God with song, and I will magnify him with thanksgiving.” “O give thanks to Jehovah, you people, for he is good; for his loving-kindness is to time indefinite.”​—Ps. 34:3; 69:30; 107:1.