Relationships Matter

As a young boy, I lived in Ghana with my family.
June 3, 2018

As a young boy, I lived in Ghana with my family. When I was in high school, one of my friends, Frederick Kobeah, introduced me to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. I became convinced that the Sabbath was Saturday when I began reading Steps to Christ, The Desire of Ages, and The Great Controversy.

I started personal evangelism by sharing tracts and going door to door before I was baptized. When I began reading those books, I realized that in the high school I attended, Osei Tutu Senior High School, we needed to worship the Lord on His holy day, that is the Holy Sabbath. I was in the boarding house at the high school, but  came home for holidays and when I did, I started sharing with my parents the new faith that I had found. 

My relationship with my siblings and my parents was very good, and when I said something they took it very seriously. We have the truth, but if we do not develop a right attitude, respect, and service, the truth that we have will go nowhere. Unfortunately, there was no Adventist church in the city, but my parents promised me that when an Adventist church opened nearby, they would join. 

I prayed God would send people to the area. Soon enough, Pastor F. Y. Adu Gyamfi went to the area to plant a church. My parents were baptized for the glory of God and today, half of my siblings are in the Adventist Church. 

When I became a pastor, I came to the understanding that without a good relationship, our preaching is nothing but noise in the ears of the people. In Gospel Workers, Ellen White asserts that “In Christlike sympathy the minister should come close to men individually, and seek to awaken their interest in the great things of eternal life. Their hearts may be as hard as the beaten highway, and apparently it may be a useless effort to present the Saviour to them; but while logic may fail to move, and argument be powerless to convince, the love of Christ, revealed in personal ministry, may soften the stony heart, so that the seed of truth can take root,” All this fruit bearing in my ministry is possible because of my personal devotion and the relationship I have with Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5). I have observed that without a healthy relationship with Jesus and people around us, nothing good can be achieved. Despite my busy schedule as a pastor, I have a daily communion with Jesus. He is my priority. I enhance my relationship with my family and others I serve by giving them quality time.

By Emmanuel Kumah, Pastor