Episcopal Trip to West Africa
– October 2012 –
The Rt. Rev. Brian W. Keith
W
est Africa continues to see progress for the New Church. As I noted in a
recent report on the Ivory Coast, they are expanding and creating new
congregations outside of Abidjan, the capital city. Ghana at this time is more
stable. There are some exciting developments in Togo and Benin, the countries
immediately to the east of Ghana. (See photos on page 412)
This trip to West Africa was primarily to attend the regional clergy
meetings there and perform some ordinations and dedications, in addition
to providing general support for their uses. The clergy meetings were held
October 22-24 in Ghana. My wife Gretchen and I traveled to Togo on the
preceding weekend and Benin on the following weekend.
A feature of this trip was the presence of the Rev. Brad Heinrichs, pastor
of the Carmel New Church in Caryndale, Ontario, Canada. Usually at regional
meetings we don’t “cross-pollinate” much, so local uses can be the focus and
to save on travel expenses. But there can be real benefit in giving some North
American clergy the experience of visiting the Church around the world. It
can also be a useful stimulus in the local meetings.
We met Brad at the Frankfurt airport, then flew together to Accra in
Ghana. Brad, hobbled by tearing some tendons in his ankle shortly before the
trip, had an interesting time of it since that part of the world is not exactly well
set up for those on crutches or otherwise physically challenged.
The day after we arrived, we traveled to Togo for the weekend. Brad set off
to Asakraka, several hours north of Accra, where the Rev. Martin Gyamfi, our
regional pastor for West Africa, has a congregation and probably the largest
school (kindergarten through junior high) in our system. We returned to
Accra during the week for the regional clergy meetings there.
On the second weekend, Brad visited Togo and preached in the new Lomé
church building, while we journeyed to Benin, just east of Togo, for the first
time. A wonderful connection occurred as the school children in Caryndale
had collected books and educational materials for the New Church schools in
Asakraka and Tema, which Brad carried in two large suitcases.
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