Lausanne World Pulse – World Pulse Archives – World Pulse Archives

Dr. Theophilus Banfo Dankwa began his involvement in Christian work in 1971 with the Ghana Fellowship of Evangelical Students as a staff worker visiting the college campuses and encouraging a Christian witness. Initially a graduate in chemistry from the University of Ghana at Legon, Dankwa went on London Bible College from 1977-80 where he studied theology. Upon returning to Ghana in 1980 he became the regional secretary of International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) in English and Portuguese Speaking Africa. In 1993 he became the senior pastor at Accra Chapel where he leads a vibrant urban pastoral ministry in Ghana’s capital. World Pulse correspondent Aggrey Mugisha recently spoke with Dankwa in Harare, Zimbabwe.

How did you engage students in thinking about and considering missions in Africa in the 1980s and 1990s?
One [way] was to help students take an interest beyond the campus. We had a regional conference in West Africa. Meeting students from other countries was one way of broadening this interest. Suddenly when you heard about Sierra Leone, it was not just a name. You knew people you had met at a previous conference. We further encouraged students to pray for other countries by providing information about those countries. And we took an offering from the students at these West African conferences. Money moved from Ghana to Sierra Leone or Liberia. This created awareness of Christian work beyond one’s border.

In your view, are young people in Africa taking the challenge of global missions?
In both Nigeria and Kenya, missions conferences take place from time to time. Yes, they are taking the challenge. We see it wherever the graduates have gone. There is a growing interest of the students in world missions.

Given the socioeconomic conditions on the continent, is tentmaking the way forward for Africans thinking about missions? Before Eastern Europe opened, [the former Soviet bloc] gave scholarships to many Africans. I met Kenyan students in Romania, [and] others who went to the Soviet Union. One student was sent home to Ghana for preaching. Many students went on post-graduate studies, and while there they got involved in spreading the gospel. Going out as a traditional missionary is difficult for Africans given the local conditions. Most of those who have had a burden have gone as tentmakers.

Since becoming a pastor, how have you encouraged missions in Ghana and indeed West Africa?
I am involved in the leadership of a missions group called Pioneers Ghana, where I serve as board chairperson. Pioneers Ghana was started by one Ghanaian doctor and lawyer who had served in Mali for 7 years under Pioneers, a US mission sending agency. Pioneers Ghana sends missionaries to unreached areas of Ghana. So far those who have gone out with Pioneers Ghana have had some Bible exposure and orientation for the mission field.

How are missions and development work linked in your part of the world?
Missions and development are closely linked. One of the missionaries we support is concerned with a community to improve on the agriculture of the area. He wanted us to buy him a water pump so that the villagers could grow vegetables all year round. In predominantly Muslim areas when one becomes a Christian it is important for one to have means such to support themselves economically. Development projects ensure that people be less dependent.

What is your experience in Christian development work?
I serve on the board of World Vision Ghana. Every year as board members, we visit area development programs. On one such visit I noticed how involvement with the people to identify a project has helped alleviate poverty. They were working on the extraction of palm oil through loans they pay back. In one village since World Vision came, poverty in its worst forms is a thing of the past. They are able to send their children to school. A woman I saw had sent her son to the college. It all began with a small loan from World Vision. I noticed that the horizons of the people have been widened.

Any concluding remark?
Those of us in any kind of leadership should encourage short-term mission trips. I believe gradually a group will emerge of those who will go and preach the gospel, but will also help people improve their living standards.

July 20, 2001