Welcome to the Aussie Outpost's Wider Church support page on Ghana. Here you can find out what we know concerning the continuing work of the Lord in Ghana (especially from a Particular/Reformed Baptist perspective).
What's on This Page:
INTRODUCTION:
Ghana was the third country in the world where Aussie Outpost began to have fellowship with other believers in the wider church context. We have never actually met any of these believers face to face, yet strong relationships have developed and continue to develop.
AUSSIE OUTPOST MAIL GROUP POSTINGS ON GHANA - GENERAL:
Listed below are links to posts in the Aussie Outpost Mail Group relating to Ghana. These are updates of a general nature on Christian work in Ghana, including news of the churches and missions listed on this page, news of opposition, etc.
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To view these messages you will need to join the Aussie Outpost Mail Group:
Grace Baptist Mission - Outpost BookAid (26 April 2003)
Grace Baptist Mission - May/June 2003 Update (19 July 2003)
Grace Baptist Mission - Update (6 October 2003)
Grace Baptist Mission - Update (13 December 2003)
Grace Baptist Mission - December 2003 Update (15 December 2003)
General News - Wider Church View (21 October 2005)
Grace Baptist Mission - January/February Update (2 April 2006)
Grace Baptist Mission - March/April 2006 Update (26 April 2006)
GRACE BAPTIST MISSION - SHALOM INDIGENOUS FOUNDATION:
Shalom Indigenous Foundation (Baptist Mission) is a ministry found in Ghana, Africa. It is headed by Pastor Noah Quarshie. This page is devoted to the work in Ghana, providing you with information that will both assist you in praying for the ministry, as well as providing support in a number of ways, including financial support and through the Outpost's BookAid scheme.
A little further on you will find an account of Noah Quarshie and the ministry in Ghana. For the moment this is how Pastor Quarshie describes the ministry in Ghana:
'The goal of our ministry here is to make the Gosple of our Lord Jesus Christ known to Ghanaians and Africans as a whole. To establish New Testament Baptist Churches, to provide relief services to the needy. This is accomplished through Evangelism, Christian Education, Church planting, Youth ministry, Orphan ministry and general relief ministry. The ministry is guided by a Director and an Executive Board here in Ghana and in the USA.'
Rev Noah Quarshie: The Man Who Persevered:
written by Mrs. Ina June Tenace Germain
I first heard about Rev. Noah Quarshie from a friend and member of my church who was also the president of the school where Noah had attended. He asked the congregation to pray for Noah as he was going back to his country, Ghana, to serve as a missionary there. I took this friend’s recommendation seriously and began to pray for him. At first my prayers were sporadic. Over the years they became fervent. Never did I think those many years ago that he would become a close friend and that I, with others, would go to his church in Ghana as a missionary. My husband was to help him continue to build his school. I was going to teach the students in that part that was already in operation.
Rev. Noah Quarshie was called by God to build a school in Ghana, Africa. The Lord’s purpose in fulfilling this dream through him was that each student would have the opportunity to serve, like himself, a missionary to his or her own country.
From the beginning both he and his family have paid a high price to accomplish this project. The cost to his family and himself has been, more than once, sacrificial while carrying out this project.
Noah was born in 3/2/1946 to a farmer who insisted his son follow in his steps, but also to a mother who had higher aspirations for him. She wanted him educated. An uncle settled the matter, took him to live with him, and saw that he attended school. But at fourteen, when his father died, he had to return to the farm to help support the rest of his five siblings and his mother. He would hire out to other farmers and thus make sometimes at daily labor $.50 a day. In addition he and his mother grew green peppers, made, and sold hot pepper relish. At that time one cedi was equal to one dollar in U.S. money. This was before the devaluation of money due to political upsets. He continued going to school and finished elementary training. His Mom helped with the farm work. She was industrious, but fragile. She tried to get her brother to help by taking care of the laborers she had invested in to get the work done. He refused. She had to go and look after them. She stopped everything she was doing to oversee the laborers.
Still no money was left to save for further education. It seemed like a hopeless situation. Nevertheless, in 1966, he applied to a technical school to learn an area of electronics. His heart’s desire was to go into the business field. He was not accepted. No reasons were given for the refusal.
This was a crucial point in his life. Poverty, he thought, had condemned him to spend the rest of his life working on a farm without any chances of advancement. Even then he didn’t own his own land. It was the family’s and had few acreages.
He would not give up. He kept persevering.
When his mother was in her forties, she was bitten by a snake. She told the people what had happened. They paid no attention. She got dizzy and died.
Everything in Noah’s life was at a standstill. His mother had been his staunch supporter. Heartbroken, he became dumbfounded at her death.
He left the farm and went to stay with “Auntie,” his mother’s sister. The Ghanaian people are close knit families who take care of their own. He found a job working at the Brigade.
He had gotten a job by the help of his cousin , but within two weeks he was offered a better job. It was operated by the government. They feed the country’s poor by producing food at lower cost. Thus it was made available to these people. Too soon the job closed. He then became employed in a garment factory as a laborer. This job also folded. He never received the last two weeks wages.
Again his hopes were dashed.
Then he was hired at the Department of National Lotteries. Here he had a dependable income. But he still desired an education. In 1967 he applied again to a course in accounting and bookkeeping and was accepted.
In 1969 after his job at the lotteries, he bought himself a radio. At that time he was going to a church where they continually held memorial and thanksgiving ceremonies. In the meantime, he continually read his Bible as he had been taught in the Methodist elementary school. Something kept stirring within him that no Bible messages were given in this church. He also found discrepancies between what he was reading and what he felt he was receiving there. Consequently, he stopped attending these services or any church. Instead he would listen to his new radio.
On November 16, 1969, instead of going to church he decided to listen to local music on his radio but he turned to a different station than usual which was ELWA: (Eternal Love Winning Africa) from Liberia. A hymn, “Immortal Invisible God and Only wise,” enticed him to listen to “Back to The Bible” speaker Theodore Ebb. He preached on John 3 about Nicodemus and how he came to The Lord. Noah related to him because he also was an unsaved religious man like Nicodemus. Right there on that Sunday morning he accepted The Lord.
Instead of going to work the next day he went and met the pastor in charge of counseling and correspondence of the radio program, Pastor David Jacobs. He directed him to a Bible believing church, Christian’s Borg Baptist Church. Noah listened and went to the mentioned church as suggested. When he got there, Mr. Jacobs was there. He gave him an excellent reception and told him that he wanted to see if Noah would follow his advice. He introduced him to the pastor.
Noah, now twenty-three, became active in the church. He also began to take Bible Correspondence Courses and an evangelistic training course from a Baptist missionary to Ghana, Miss Larkin. He completed the elementary, intermediary and advanced courses. He began to serve in that church in a greater capacity as a Sunday school teacher, a deacon, and a choir member. His testimony was published in The African Challenge and he continued his studies. Yet he still hungered and thirsted for more biblical knowledge. But having exhausted all the available Bible courses, he returned to training in accounting.
In 1971 desiring to submit himself to biblical truths, he became convicted that gambling was wrong. He resigned from his job at the lotteries.
Then in 1972 he received a certificate and that year he registered at the London School of Accounting. The Royal Society of Arts Examination Board offered a challenge for a higher grade. He took it and passed. He was determined to continue his education in a greater position.
He saw an advertisement in a Christian magazine, Christian Beacon, published by the International Counsel of Christian Churches which read: “Training Christian warriors.” Noah applied. At this time he was teaching accounting. In order to qualify for admittance to the program, he had to pass an exam for English language. Here he procrastinated. But he did pursue one of the sweetest woman a man could know. She encouraged him and continually kept after him until he had taken the exam. He got both the 500 points needed to pass and a letter of admission in June 1974. The same year he was married. When he got the admission slips, he realized his wife, Adelaide, could not accompany him to the USA. Despite this disappointment, he matriculated to a distant college in a foreign land. To pursue his hungering and thirsting for more knowledge of The Bible, his new bride of a few days had to be left behind.
In the fall of 1974 when he arrived at JFK Airport, he was not met by anyone. The school was in New Jersey. Alone with his baggage, he asked directions to Cape May where the school was located. Without mishap he arrived safely. Since it was 2:00 A.M., all hotels, resorts, and church buildings were closed. Everyone seemed to be asleep. He sat under a canopy, which reminded him of home, and felt comforted.
God was watching. He sent a miracle. The headlights of a car appeared. It was the police and he asked what he was doing there. Noah answered, “I’m from Ghana.” He took him to Christian Admiral Hotel. There Miss Trato, the woman who he had done his correspondence, met him. The scholarship was only for tuition . He had to pay for his schooling. Later he was given odd jobs. Some donated money for his board. One organization helped him while he was in Seminary. Through the effort of Dr. Wendell Kempton. They went bankrupt after a year; they had to stop their support.
All this time he was trying to get his wife to the states. He never succeeded. This separation was to last eight and half years.
Times became difficult. He found that he couldn’t work with some Baptist missions because they did not work with “nationals.” Then came the point where the Director of the Baptist Bible School of Theology, today Baptist Bible Seminary, Dr. Millheim asked him to go to Churches of past graduates of the Seminary to present his vision to their churches for support . Here Noah’s calling became clearly visible to him.
Then a Dr. Williams recommended taking him on as a missionary. This support would come through the local church to Noah. His theme was: “A Great and Effectual Door is Open to Me and There Are Many Adversaries.” It was based on the Scriptural reference in I Corinthians 16:9 and also on Proverbs 29:18: “Where there is no vision a people perishes.” His aim was the “training of nationals, to educate people to be missionaries to their own people.” Noah knew that in order to train others you must be properly educated yourself. His goal was training, church planning, youth ministry, youth camp ministries, orphanage ministry, farming, and general relief work. Having this expertise themselves, the graduates could then open the door of opportunity to their own people through education. This was Noah’s burning desire that knowledge, especially of The Bible, be made available to his people so that they could better serve their own.
This was the burden he carried for his people; the message of hope he brought to them.
Pastor Bartholomew from Clark Summit in April, 1983, became aware that Noah was teaching Sunday school from his manuscript. He suggested and later arranged publication of Noah’s material. Miss. Trato paid for the 4,000 copies.
He finished his necessary schooling. His country was in trouble and in dire need. He began preparations to return. Then The International Council of Christian Churches realized he was serious about returning to his country. They helped him purchase his ticket home.
He arrived in Ghana during one of the worst famines that the country had known. There was no food. At customs a military lady asked him, "Why are you returning here now?". Most people were trying to get out of Ghana. She thought he was crazy because of the state of the country.
He answered her, “This is the reason why I was educated and have returned so that I can help my country.”
Soon his wife was pregnant. And the disastrous affairs of the drought, the worst year of farming in 1983 in the history of Ghana, caused him to realize he had to return to The United States for food and financial aid.
Pastor Bartholomew became interested in Noah’s burden and Ghana’s affairs. He helped form the Out Reach Ministries. Food distributors donated food for Ghana. The churches in USA raised the money, about a $2,000 or $3,000 for shipping costs. Noah distributed the food to the churches in Ghana.
He also became part of a youth ministry that began to grow into the thousands. His desire was to train them to be Bible believers. Too soon, disagreements brought that to a close.
Again Noah faced disappointment. He felt he was being asked to compromise his beliefs. The group would not accept his stand. He left.
He stood firm in his belief that God was doing something in his country for his people. Someone suggested that he needed a permanent place for his family and him to stay and to continue the work. He also wanted to house those visitors interested in his dream. Later he paid $2,000 for a piece of property that had a concrete shell. He gave $400.00 down payment, donated by a couple, and paid $500 a month. He used part of the land for God’s work and built the shell into his home, adding bathrooms.
He had no church when he moved to Madina- Accra in 1987. He realized a visitation program was needed. Noah and Adelaide invited others to a Bible group in a 6 foot by 20 foot space. About 25 to 30 people came. The next week the number increased to 65. In the area where he raised pigs, he knew he would have to use to build a church. He offered eye glasses to people and started a women’s ministry. When the chief of a tribe came for glasses he learned that Noah needed land and he sold him some. For sixty dollars, he gave Noah land about five miles away to pen the pigs. Noah used that property to build the church. Noah hired someone to look after the pigs; this man told him the pigs were dying. Later Noah learned he had been selling them. Noah figured he should sell the rest of them himself.
In 1989 he started the mission agency to oversee the work. Someone suggested he buy land at Teshie, Accra. The chiefs gave him 5.41 acres.
This was the start of his dream of a school to train national missionaries.
Another missionary, introduced through Dr. Bartholomew of the Out Reach Ministries, started to coordinate Noah’s support through the present chairman of Grace Baptist Mission - Ghana.
In 1993 this organizations raised funds to send an American missionary to help. The church started a training program for twenty-five pastors who wanted to serve The Lord. But another disagreement followed and most of Noah 's support was stopped.
Noah felt he was back to step one. Still he pressed forward, refusing to accept defeat.
Many of the pastors left the class. Noah felt his dream was dying.
He trusted that regardless of any support being withdrawn God would keep His work going. And He did.
Noah sold part of the land the chief had given him. He now had two children to feed plus the school to build, and the farm needed help. The property had to be sold to keep the family going and to put up "a pastoral guest house." He wanted them to have a quiet time away from home. He called it “The Prophet’s Chambers.”
In 1992 someone donated enough money to start the school project, and the library on the land at Teshie, Accra. In 1999 the school board decided that since there were not enough pastor’s enrolled to make it feasible, a high school was started to birth pastors for college.
This was to become Pastor Noah’s door of hope.
Still he faced adversity. Yet he never gave up the calling. When many dropped Noah’s support, two men, Mr. Earl Livingston, and Mr. Jim Nash continued to believe in Noah’s dream. This kept Noah’s project going. They kept encouraging him not to give up but to go to the smaller churches. Dr. Denny , Director of Grace Baptist Mission International, gave Noah a contact with the Front Royal Baptist church of Virginia. The pastor gave him a magazine The Sound of Grace. After reading, Noah obtained information about contacting a man in Warsaw Indiana for help. His efforts proved fruitless. Noah contacted the editor. He told him he would meet him in five minutes. Noah almost cried. Pastor John Reisinger came and told Noah, “Yes!” He would help him. This man was “God sent.” Pastor Noah had attended his congregation. When one church dropped their support, this man paid one year support in advance. He also was instrumental in opening the door of support from other churches all over. This continued until Noah was able to maintain his dream of building the school and having students.
Now they have a high school with about forty-five students where I had the pleasure to teach. The school is neat; the teachers outstanding; those in authority are exemplary.
They are, also, in the process of building a new establishment that will house one thousand needy students. One hundred thousand dollars is needed for completion. Anyone interested in this worthy project can contact him by writing to Rev. Noah Quarshie, in care of Baptist Institute of Professional Studies, P.O. Box OS. 187, OSU-Accra, Ghana, West Africa. His e-mail is bips@ghana.com. or to Grace Baptist Mission – Ghana, P. O .Box 1649, Frederick, Md. 21702.
Noah has other accomplishments. He has written two books: A Bird’s Eye View of The Bible and How To Study The Bible. He also has a radio program, directs the King of Kings Children’s Club and pastors a church.
He has had to be tough, if he had not he could never have weathered the storms as he did. My husband and I came to love him , his wife, and his children dearly.
NOTE: All materials in this biographical account are copyrighted and cannot be used without the permission of the author. Used here by permission of Noah Quarshie.
Photos from Grace Baptist Mission Ghana:
Below are a couple of photos relating to the ministry in Ghana.
ABOVE: Bible Memory Contest in January 2003
ABOVE: Fellowship of Sovereign Grace Baptist Churches International
Ghana Conference - March 3002
ABOVE: The School Building Project
ABOVE: At the School site and a group of orphans.
ABOVE: Receiving a donation
How Can I Help Grace Baptist Mission?
Perhaps you are wondering what you can do to support the ministry in Ghana? What you can do is one or more of the following:
Please let us know if you have been able to support the work in Ghana via email at:
nrbcpastorkev@yahoo.com.au. Also contact us if you have any other ideas of how people might be able to assist the ministry.
Contact Details for Grace Baptist Mission:
You can visit the ministry's web site for more details at www.gracebaptistmissionghana.org It has recently been renovated/updated.
Ghana Contact:
Bible Baptist Church
Box os 187, Osu, Accra
Ghana, W.A.
Email: bips@ghana.comUSA Contact:
Grace Baptist Mission - Ghana
P.O. Box 65
Clifford, PA, 18413
Phone: 570-222-9758
570-906-0896
WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?
Perhaps you are wondering what you can do to support the ministry in Ghana? What you can do is one or more of the following:
Please let us know if you have been able to support the work in Ghana via email at:
nrbcpastorkev@yahoo.com.au.Also contact us if you have any other ideas of how people might be able to assist the ministry.
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10/10/2006
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