THE Adventist College of West Africa conducted its first field school of evangelism from July 11 to August 10, 1965, in Bekwai, Ashanti, Ghana. Thirty-five ministerial workers of the Ghana Mission took part. H. J. Welch, K. F. Mueller, and J. Onjukka comprised the teaching staff. Subjects taught were Bible doctrines, church leadership, and evangelism.
It proved to be a busy time for teachers and students alike. Classes met every morning. Two hours in the afternoon were set aside for practical home visitation and Bible studies for teachers and students. Two days after the beginning of the school an evangelistic campaign was started in the town of Bekwai. A keen interest developed from the start. Between 300 and 600 people attended every night, and in addition there were hundreds of children. Prayer requests came in by the dozens and soon hundreds of homes of interested souls could be systematically visited. On the second Sabbath worship services were held in the tent.
The high light of the meetings and the field school came on the fourth weekend, when the entire ministerial force of the Adventist Church in Ghana assembled in Bekwai for a few days of fellowship and an ordination service, conducted by T. Kristensen, president of the West African Union Mission. It was felt that the tent was inadequate for the occasion. There also arose the need to provide for a temporary church building or meeting place; so negotiations were started for the acquisition of a suitable place. The Lord was certainly leading, for in that very week a choice site was found with two large cocoa sheds and a bungalow on it. The owners were most eager to sell the property for a ridiculously low price. They allowed us to use one cocoa shed in the meantime for church services. We were able to open the shed Friday noon—then within a few hours the place was remodeled into an attractive meeting place with a seating capacity of about 700. On the following Sabbath this place was filled to capacity—it appeared as if a church had been miraculously provided, as if dropped out of the sky. God's guidance proved to be just wonderful!
The meetings were transferred to the new site and attendance did not drop. By the time the field school closed, more than fifty people had indicated a desire to unite with the church and had enrolled in a baptismal class. In addition, there were some 150 other interests to be followed up. Pastor Onjukka was left behind to carry on.
What was all the more wonderful to us was that these meetings were held in the rainy season in a tropical rain forest, but not once was a meeting rained out! God is certainly blessing the preaching of His Word, in season and out of season.
