UNIVERSITY OF GHANA
COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES
RETHINKING PRAYER MOUNTAINS AS SACRED SPACES IN
CONTEMPORARY GHANAIAN CHRISTIANITY
BY
PHILIP KWADWO OKYERE
DEPARTMENT FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGIONS
JULY 2018
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA
COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES
RETHINKING PRAYER MOUNTAINS AS SACRED SPACES IN
CONTEMPORARY GHANAIAN CHRISTIANITY
BY
PHILIP KWADWO OKYERE
(10020275)
THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF GRADUATE
STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE AWARD OF
DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE STUDY OF
RELIGIONS
DEPARTMENT FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGIONS
JULY 2018
DECLARATION
This is to certify that this Thesis is the result of research undertaken by Philip Kwadwo
Okyere under the supervision of Rev. Dr. Abamfo Ofori Atiemo and Prof. Dr. Andreas
Heuser, towards the award of Ph.D in the Department for the Study of Religions,
University of Ghana.
PHILIP KWADWO OKYERE ………………………………………
(STUDENT) DATE
REV. DR. ABAMFO OFORI ATIEMO ………………………………………
(SUPERVISOR) DATE
PROF. DR. ANDREAS HEUSER ………………………………………
(EXTERNAL SUPERVISOR) DATE
i
DEDICATION
For the Lord Jesus Christ’s unimaginable protection, incomparable guidance and
abundant provision of spiritual and material resources thorough out my education, I
unreservedly dedicate this work to Him. Twereampↄn Onyankopↄn, aseda nka wo daa.
The work is further dedicated to my companion and dear wife, Mrs. Martha Okyere and
our sons, Cyril, John and Philip, for prayerfully supporting me, encouraging me and
tolerating my many days of absence from the house during my rigorous Ph.D journey.
To my parents, Mercy Mensah and Philip Badu, my siblings, uncles, nephews, nieces,
aunts, cousins and numerous relatives who have been superbly helpful to me in diverse
ways, I sincerely dedicate the thesis.
Last but not least, the research is dedicated to all my disciplined teachers, class mates
and other friends for being sources of motivation and blessing to me.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I acknowledge my immense indebtedness and heartfelt appreciation to my dedicated and
hardworking supervisors; Rev. Dr. Abamfo Ofori Atiemo and Prof. Dr. Andreas Heuser
for having the time, in spite their tight schedules, to meticulously supervise this work.
Their good sense of humour, encouragement, critical reading of the work, productive
comments and suggestions cannot go unnoticed. Mesrε Otwieduampↄn ne Ↄ domfoↄ
Nyankopↄn no nhyira ma mo ne mo abusuafoↄ nyinaa.
I also owe tons of gratitude and appreciation to all the lecturers in the Department for the
Study of Religions and in other Departments of the University, especially, those whom I
had the opportunity to interact with in one way or the other during my Ph.D journey.
To my field work respondents and all those who provided me with other vital pieces of
information such as pictures and statistics of the pilgrims to the Prayer Mountains, I say
a very big thank you.
I am sincerely thankful to my church, The Methodist Church Ghana, for permitting me to
study at Legon and also assisting me financially. The church absorbed 40% of the school
fees. I also owe heavy doses of gratitude to Dunwell Methodist Church, Jumapo, for her
good support.
iii
ABSTRACT
Notwithstanding the bourgeoning compendium of literature on Prayer Mountains
(PMs), scholarly discourse on them in contemporary African and Ghanaian Christianity
seems limited only to their role in enhancing pilgrims’ spirituality. Using Atwea Boↄ,
Ͻboↄ Tabiri, Abasua Prayer Mountain (APM) and Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer
Camp (NMOPC) in Ghana as contextual examples, this study argues that scholarly focus
on PMs as sacred spaces should not be limited only to the conventional thinking of them
as sites of transcendent spiritual experiences, encounters with God or appearances by
God. Rather, there are other aspects of PMs considered to be of academic importance
with social policy implications, but which seem to have fallen out of scholars’ grasp.
Therefore, the study generally focuses on rethinking PMs as sacred spaces in
contemporary Ghanaian Christianity. Specifically, the work attempts to examine the
continuity of Christians’ pilgrimage to PMs in Akan primal religious context. Also, it
explores the historical narratives of the evolution of PMs in Ghanaian Christianity.
Besides, it investigates how Pentecostal / Charismatic Christianity promotes the
appropriation of PMs as sacred spaces in Ghanaian Christianity. Last but not least, the
study examines the place of PMs in contemporary Ghanaian development discourse.
The research is theoretically anchored on Clifford Geertz’s social-anthropological
model. Methodologically, it is mainly a qualitative study. A diverse approach, including
historical, theological and phenomenological methods, was employed to guide the
collection and analysis of relevant field data.
It has been observed that in Ghana, pilgrimage to sacred mountains in Akan
primal religion appears to be a precursor of Christians’ religious pilgrimage to PMs. The
quest for identity construction is a paramount motivation underlying pilgrimage to sacred
mountains among the adherents of the two religions. Inspite of the continuity of the
iv
Christian phenomenon of PMs in Akan primal religion, the study underscores some
discontinuities. Moreover, the historical narratives of the evolution of PMs in Ghanaian
Christianity indicate that PMs as sacred spaces hardly evolve in a vacuum. They
gradually emerge and ultimately develop into Christian sacred sites through the interplay
of a diversity of religio-cultural, socio-economic and political forces. The study also
reinforces Pentecostalism as a modern religious phenomenon that has had a great
influence on global Christianity, including Christians’ pilgrimage to PMs. The
prevalence of imprecatory prayer rituals on the PMs, akin to some aspects of traditional
Akan religious practices, and the seeming endless theological contestations about those
rituals underscore their centrality and sensitive nature in Christian theology.
Furthermore, the study examines the interface between religion and development, with
special focus on the place and relevance of PMs in contemporary Ghanaian development
discourse.
In conclusion, the research presents two diametrically opposed standpoints with
respect to the sustainability of the PM phenomenon and its attendant pilgrimage
attraction in Ghanaian Christianity. Some of the findings suggest that the phenomenon is
sustainable, while other findings suggest otherwise. A rethinking of the conventional
understanding of PMs and the debate on the sustainability of PMs are possible markers
of the variability of the PM phenomenon in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ............................................................................................................... i
DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................... iii
ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................... iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ vi
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... xi
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ xii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................... xiii
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS OF SACRED MOUNTAINS STUDIED .............. i
CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Background to the Study ........................................................................................... 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................ 10
1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study ............................................................................ 10
1.4 Research Questions ................................................................................................. 11
1.5 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 12
1.5.1 Sources of Data ................................................................................................ 16
1.5.2 Defining the Population .................................................................................... 17
1.5.3 Sampling and Sampling Technique .................................................................. 17
1.5.4. Methods of Primary Data Collection ............................................................... 19
1.6 Theoretical Framework of the Study ...................................................................... 21
1.7 Literature Review .................................................................................................... 24
1.7.1 The meaning of Sacred, Sacred Space and Prayer Rituals ............................... 24
1.7.2 Distictions between Sacred and Profane .......................................................... 32
1.7.3 A Survey of Some Sacred Mountains in the Bible ........................................... 36
1.7.4 Prayer Mountains as Sacred Spaces in Ghana .................................................. 42
1.8 Significance of the study ......................................................................................... 45
1.9 Organization of chapters ......................................................................................... 45
vi
CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................ 47
SACRED MOUNTAINS IN AKAN PRIMAL RELIGIOUS CONTEXT:
ANTECEDENTS OF PRAYER MOUNTAINS IN CONTEMPORARY
GHANAIAN CHRISTIANITY ..................................................................................... 47
2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 47
2.2 History of Atwea Communnity ............................................................................... 48
2.2.1 Atwea Boↄ as a sacred mountain in Akan primal religious context ................. 49
2.3. Historical narrative of the founding of New Juaben State ..................................... 54
2.3.1 Ↄboↄ Tabiri: The embodiment of indigenous religious expression in the New
Juaben State ............................................................................................................... 58
2.3.2 New Juaben Traditional Leaders’ Annual Pilgrimage Rituals to Ↄboↄ Tabiri: A
Necessary Condition for the Continuous Fulfilment of Promises ............................. 60
2.3.3 The Ↄboↄ Tabiri Shrine and the Institution of Traditional Priesthood Services
in the New Juaben State through the calling and empowerment of Ↄkomfo Nana
Afua Tabiri ................................................................................................................ 64
2.4. Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 68
CHAPTER THREE ........................................................................................................ 69
THE EVOLUTION OF PRAYER MOUNTAINS AS SACRED SPACES IN
CONTEMPORARY GHANAIAN CHRISTIANITY ................................................. 69
3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 69
3.2 History of Abasua community ................................................................................ 70
3.2.1 Discovering Krↄbo Boↄ as a Sacred Space: The Evolution of Abasua Prayer
Mountain in Contemporary Ghanaian Christianity ................................................... 77
3.2.1.1 The Maiden Visit to Krↄbo boↄ and an Encounter with the Supernatural . 84
3.2.1.2 Kristomu Anigye Kuo: the pioneers of pilgrim movements to Krↄbo boↄ . 89
3.2.1.3 Other Prayer Camps and Christian Ministries on the mountain ................ 92
3.2.1.4 Appropriation of relics and prayer accessories on the mountain ............... 94
3.2.1.5 Sacredness through miracles .................................................................... 100
3.2.1.6 Other related prayer rituals ...................................................................... 104
3.3 The history of Nkawkaw ....................................................................................... 109
3.4 Discovering Ͻboↄ anim as a Christian Sacred Space: The Emergence of Nkawkaw
Mountain Olive Prayer Camp in Contemporary Ghanaian Christianity ..................... 111
vii
3.4.1 Customary Ownership of Ͻboↄ anim and its Tripartite Orientation .............. 111
3.4.2 The Confirmation of Ͻboↄ anim’s Sacredness by Theophanic Events .......... 113
3.4.3 The Transformation of Ͻboↄ anim into Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer
Camp under the Leadership of Evangelist Frank Kwadwo Gyasi .......................... 116
3.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 121
CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................ 123
THE INFLUENCE OF PENTECOSTALISM ON PILGRIMS’ APPROPRIATION
OF PRAYER MOUNTAINS IN CONTEMPORARY GHANAIAN
CHRISTIANITY........................................................................................................... 123
4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 123
4.2 A Working Definition of Pentecostalism .............................................................. 126
4.3 The Christian Faith as a Prophetic Religion: A Hermeneutical Framework of the
Influence of Pilgrimage to PMs on Society ................................................................ 127
4.4 The Establishment of Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches .............................. 130
4.4.1 Apostle James Kofi Marfo and the Narrative of the Establishment of Faith in
Christ Ministry International ................................................................................... 132
4.4.2 Apostle Prince Emmanuel Godsson and the Narrative of the Establishment of
Full Gospel Church of God International ................................................................ 135
Biography of Godsson ............................................................................................. 135
4.5 Influence of Salvation Ministerial Training College at Nkawkaw Mountain Olive
Prayer Camp on Christian Plgrimage and Pentecostal Growth .................................. 148
4.5.1 History of Salvation Ministerial College: Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer
Camp Campus ......................................................................................................... 149
4.5.2 Curriculum and Instructional Strategies ......................................................... 150
4.5.3 Spiritual Renewal Programmes Prior to Graduation / Ordination ................. 154
4.5.4 Church-planting Strategies of the Newly Ordained Ministers ....................... 159
4.6 The Institutionalisation of Pilgrimage to Prayer Mountains ................................. 163
4.7 Adherence to Holiness Ethics ............................................................................... 169
4.8 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 183
viii
CHAPTER FIVE .......................................................................................................... 184
PRAYER MOUNTAINS IN CONTEMPORARY GHANAIAN DEVELOPMENT
DISCOURSE ................................................................................................................. 184
5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 184
5.2 Antecedents of development in the thought of some early philosophers ............. 187
5.3 Some economic development ideologies .............................................................. 189
5.3.1 Socialist Economic Ideology .......................................................................... 189
5.3.2 Capitalist Economic Ideology ........................................................................ 190
5.3.3 Mixed-Economic Ideology ............................................................................. 191
5.4 The Indispensability of Religion in Development Discourse: A Paradigmatic Shift
in Development Models .............................................................................................. 196
5.5 The Extent to which Pilgrims’ Belief in the Sacredness of Prayer Mountains
Contributes to the Quest for Christian Eco-theological Discourse in Ghana ............. 201
5.5.1 Christian eco-theological discourse briefly explained ................................... 202
5.5.2 A brief survey of ecological / environmental filthiness in Ghana .................. 205
5.5.3 The interface between pilgrims’ perception of the sacredness of Prayer
Mountains and the heightening of their environmental sanitation consciousness .. 207
5.5.4 Replicating the notion of pilgrims’ sanitation consciousness at sacred sites:
The perspective of African Christian eco-theology as holistic and sustainable
motivation for environmental sanitation in Ghana .................................................. 212
5.6 The Appropriation of Prayer Mountains as Sacred Spaces and its potential for
Ecumenical / Interdenominational Networking in Ghana. .......................................... 218
5.7. An Examination of the Economic Significance of Abasua Prayer Mountain and
Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp .................................................................... 230
5.8 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 240
CHAPTER SIX ............................................................................................................. 241
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................ 241
6.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 241
6.2 Summary of the research ....................................................................................... 241
6.3 Conclusion: The Sustainability of Prayer Mountains as Sacred Spaces in Ghanaian
Christianity .................................................................................................................. 255
6.4 Recommendations ................................................................................................. 260
ix
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................... 262
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................... 283
Appendix 1: Interview Schedules ............................................................................... 283
Appendix 2: Photographs ............................................................................................ 286
x
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.1: A table showing categories of respondents and pieces of information elicited
from them ........................................................................................................ 21
Table 5.1: A table showing the statistics of pilgrims’ visits to Camp Three of APM from
the year 2002 to 2015 ................................................................................... 221
xi
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1: The portrait of Ↄkↄmfoↄ Nana Afua Tabiri, the traditional priestess of Ↄboↄ
Tabiri ............................................................................................................. 66
Figure 2.2: Ↄkↄmfoↄ Nana Afua Tabiri, in Kente cloth, and in a mood of possession by
the mountain deity, Ↄboↄ Tabiri .................................................................... 67
Figure 3.1: The late Rev. Abraham Osei Asibbey and Mr. (now Very Rev.) Isaac Yao
Boamah ......................................................................................................... 87
Figure 3.2: The late Rev. Abraham Osei Asibbey ............................................................ 96
Figure 3.3: The first chapel believed to have been built by the Kristomu Anigye Kuo ... 96
Figure 3.4: The special walking staff used by the late Rev. Abraham Osei Asibbey. ..... 98
Figure 4.1: Symbols of immprecatory prayers found in the forests of Abasua Prayer
Mountain. Pieces of wood tied with ropes to trees. It is believed to be some
pilgrims’ own way of binding and cursing their enemies perceived to be
responsible for their predicaments. ............................................................. 177
xii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AM Africa Mission
AMPM Abasua Mountain Prayer Ministry
APM Abasua Prayer Mountain
ARC Abasua Retreat Centre (An alternative name of APM)
CAC Christ Apostolic Church
CMs Christian Ministries
CNRMS Christian New Religious Movements
CoP Church of Pentecost
CPP Convention People’s Party
CPR Connexional Prayer Retreat
CT Camp Three
EMD Evangelism and Missions Division
EMRD Evangelism, Mission and Renewal Directorate
ERP Economic Recovery Programme
INRMs Islamic New Religious Movements
MCG Methodist Church Ghana
NATRMs New African Traditional Religious Movements
NMOPC Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp
NRMAD New Religious Movements from the African Diaspora
NRMs New Religious Movements
NT New Testament
ONRMs Oriental New Religious Movements
OT Old Testament
PAMSCAD Programme of Actions to Mitigate the Social Cost of Adjustment
PCG Presbyterian Church of Ghana
PCs Prayer Camps
xiii
PMCs Prayer Mountain Centres
PMM Prayer Mountain Movement
PMs Prayer Mountains
RCCG Redeemed Christian Church of God
SDGs Sustainable Development Goals
SMTC Salvation Ministerial Training College
WdGC William deGraft Centre
xiv
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS OF SACRED MOUNTAINS STUDIED
i
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Mountains are seen as the highest and most impressive features of the landscape
with an unusual power to awaken a sense of the sacred.1 This is because their remarkable
soaring summits, the clouds and thunder that swirl about their peaks, the life-giving
waters that flow from their heights and other features imbue them with an aura of
mystery and sanctity.2 In that aura, people of diverse backgrounds, both traditional and
modern, through pilgrimage, experience a deeper reality that gives meaning and vitality
to their lives.3 Thus as pilgrimage or awe-inspiring sites, mountains facilitate pilgrims’
encounter with a transcendent realm. This encounter is almost always tantamount to
pilgrims’ experience of power and complexity with perhaps a real touch of
unpredictability.4
Mountains, understood as sacred expressions of some deeper reality, have become
associated with the deepest and highest values and aspirations of cultures and traditions
throughout the world.5 The rationale behind this religio-cultural and social phenomenon
has been amply expressed. Norbert C. Brockman, for instance, observes that ‘the
perception that the sacred is associated with high places, that mountains point to a
heaven above and beyond the earth, is deeply ingrained in human consciousness.’6
Virtually all pilgrims around the world who appropriate mountains as sacred spaces do
1Edwin Bernbaum, ‘Sacred Mountains: Themes and Teachings’ Mountain Research and Development 26
(2006), pp. 304. Available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/4540647 [ Accessed 2 May 2013 ].
2 Bernbaum, ‘Sacred Mountains’, p. 304.
3 Bernbaum, ‘Sacred Mountains’, p. 304.
4 Veikko Anttonen, ‘Sacred’, in Willi Braun and Russell T. McCutheon (eds) Guide to the Study of
Religion (New York: T&T Clark, 2009), p. 272
5 Bernbaum, ‘Sacred Mountains’, p. 304.
6 Norbert C. Brockman, Encyclopedia of Sacred Places (second edition) (Santa Barbara, California: ABC-
CLIO, LLC, 2011), p. 347.
1
so as a result of their perception of those mountains as homes of the gods, as places of
revelation, as places to discover spiritual insight and as deities themselves.7
When sacred mountains are appropriated through pilgrimage rituals by adherents of
different religio-cultural traditions, those adherents attempt in diverse ways to construct
and attach different belief systems and identities to that mountain. This phenomenon
seems vividly expressed in virtually all settings, including Africa, where some sacred
mountains are regarded as extremely important in mapping out the people’s religio-social
and cultural identities. Examples include Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania8 and Mount
Kenya.9
Edwin Bernbaum reveals that the sacredness of mountains is manifested in three
general ways. The first is mountains that are regarded by particular cultures and
traditions as places of sanctity. These mountains traditionally referred to as ‘sacred
mountains’ have well-established networks of myths, beliefs, and religious practices
such as pilgrimage, meditation, and sacrifice. Primary examples are Tai Shan in China,
Mount Sinai in Egypt, and the San Francisco Peaks in the United States.10
The second is mountains that may or may not be revered frequently but which
contain sacred sites and objects such as temples, monasteries, hermitages, stones,
springs, and groves, or are associated with the activities of important holy persons.
Examples of such mountains are Mount Koya and Kobo Daishi in Japan. Great numbers
of people, for instance, visit pilgrimage shrines located in mountainous regions, such as
the Hindu shrine of Badrinath in the Indian Himalaya.11
7 Brockman, Encyclopedia, p.347; Robert H. Dalton, Sacred Places of the World: A Religious Journey
Across the Globe (Chandigarh, India: Abhishek Publications, 2010), p. 19.
8 Brockman, Encyclopedia, p. 347.
9 Brockman, Encyclopedia, p. 357.
10 Bernbaum, ‘Sacred Mountains’, pp. 304-305.
11 Bernbaum, ‘Sacred Mountains’, pp. 304-305.
2
The third is mountains that awaken in individuals a sense of wonder and awe that
sets them apart as places imbued with evocative beauty and meaning. Many pilgrims and
other climbers go to mountains such as Sierra Nevada in California, the Alps in Europe,
and other ranges such as Huang Shan in China for esthetic and spiritual inspiration and
renewal. They often regard these mountains as expressions of important values enshrined
in works of literature and art.12
The crux of this taxonomy of sacred mountains is that the perception of some
mountains as symbols of sacredness and aesthetics seems to be the justification for their
ability to attract pilgrims from different religio-cultural traditions.
Bernbaum further outlines and thematically discusses ten features or widespread
views of sacred mountains which underscore their potency and justification to attract
people in pilgrimage. The features are height, centre, power, deity or abode of deity.
Others are temple or place of worship, paradise or garden, ancestors and the dead. The
rest are identity, source, and inspiration, renewal and transformation.13
Each of these ten features or views brings together different ideas, images, and
associations to evoke the experience of a deeper reality. For the sake of simplicity,
Bernbaum illustrates each theme with a particular mountain. But in reality, he indicates
that these themes come in clusters inextricably linked to each other in complex ways.
The more views that gather like clouds around a peak, the more associations they bring
to bear, making the sacred mountain resonate with increasingly deeper significance in
various religio-cultural traditions including Christianity.14
The overarching influence of mountains which reverberate with increasingly
deeper significance in the religious cosmology of Christians has engaged the attention of
12 Bernbaum, ‘Sacred Mountains’, pp. 304-305.
13 Bernbaum, ‘Sacred Mountains’, pp. 305-307.
14 Bernbaum, ‘Sacred Mountains’, p. 307.
3
scholars such as Yeol Soo Eim15 and Yong Kwon Jung.16 Eim articulates a positive
correlation between the rise of the Prayer Mountain Movement (PMM) and the
bourgeoning Pentecostalism in South Korea.17 ‘The [PMM]’, in the words of Eim, ‘is an
indigenous Korean Pentecostal movement.’18 He clearly indicates the significant role of
Kumkang Mountain and Yongmun Mountain in the Pentecostal ministry of Yong Do
Lee and Elder Woon Moon Ra respectively. Lee and Ra were some of the early revival
preachers in South Korea who spent ample time in the Prayer Mountains (PMs) praying,
experiencing the Pentecostal blessings and positively influencing Pentecostal revival in
the country.19
The PMM contributes greatly to the Pentecostalism in South Korea in three
different channels: holding camp revival meetings at Yongmun Prayer Mountain,
sending students to various parts of the country for evangelism and spiritual renewal and
through literature. 20
Several reasons account for the rapid growth of the PMM in South Korea. First,
Christians are able to concentrate on prayer at PMs. Second, Christians who long for
spiritual encounters or experiences visit PMs. Third, Christians visit the PMs to seek
answers to their existential challenges. Fourth, the PMs have become the place where
some families of late spend their vacations.21
15 Yeol Soo Eim, ‘South Korea’ in Stanley M. Burgess and Eduard M. Van Der Mass (eds.) The New
International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Revised and Expanded Edition)
(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2003), pp. 239-246.
16 Yong Kwon Jung, ‘Korean Prayers: Evaluating the Prayer Phenomena at the Prayer Mountain Centres in
Korea’, PhD Dissertation (Asbury Theological Seminary, 2002).; Yohan Lee, ‘The Analysis of the Prayer
Mountain Phenomenon in Korea’, Dissertation (School of World Missions, Fuller, 1985).
17 Eim, ‘South Korea’, pp. 239-246.
18 Eim, ‘South Korea’, p. 240.
19 Eim, ‘South Korea’, pp. 240-243.
20 Eim, ‘South Korea’, p. 242.
21 Eim, ‘South Korea’, p. 243.
4
Jung has also investigated the indigenous prayer phenomena of Korean Christians
praying at the Prayer Mountain Centers (PMCs) in South Korea. He sought to find out
whether the Christians’ prayers at PMCs are an example of shamanistic syncretism or
they are an expression of indigenous Christianity. The research findings showed that
most indigenous beliefs and patterns of PMC Christians cannot be simply treated as
expressions of shamanistic syncretism. Korean church leaders’ incorrect or negative
evaluations of the PMC prayer phenomena come mainly from their lack of cultural
understanding of the phenomena and their misunderstanding of religious syncretism.22
Undoubtedly, sacred mountains resonate with deeper level of significance in the
spirituality of Korean Christians. As long as the PMs meet the spiritual and physical
needs of Korean Christians, Eim is justified to foretell a proliferation of the PMM in the
country. What is obviously contentious in his phenomenology of PMs is his assertion
that ‘the [PMM] is an indigenous Pentecostal movement in Korea’ because PMs are not
common in other countries.23 From the foregone review, however, it is clear that PMs are
found in many countries in the world. It seems to me, however, that there is scanty
scholarly focus on the phenomenon of PMs in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity as
compared to other countries such as Korea.
Prayer Mountains as sacred spaces in Christianity are not a recent phenomenon.24
Historically, they have been part of the sites or communities for several Christian
22 Jung, ‘Korean Prayers’, abstract.
23 Eim, ‘South Korea’, p. 243.
24 Finely E. Harvey, ‘Mountain’, in Charles F. Pfeiffer, et al (eds) Wycliffe Bible Dictionary
(Massachusetts, USA: Hinderickson Publishers, Inc. 2003), p 1157. See also Barnabe Assohoto and
Samuel Engewa, ‘Genesis’ in Tokumboh Adeyemo (Gen. ed), Africa Bible Commentary (Nairobi, Kenya:
WordAlive Publishers, 2006), pp. 42 - 43., Keith N. Schoville, ‘Jerusalem. The Name.’ in Walter A.
Elwell (ed.) Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1996). P.
394., Abel Ndjerareou, ‘Exodus’ in Tokumboh Adeyemo (Gen. ed.), Africa Bible Commentary (Nairobi,
Kenya: WordAlive Publihsers, 2006), p. 90., Davison G. Vernon, ‘Carmel’ in Charles F. Pfeiffer, et al
(eds.) Wycliffe Bible Dictionary (Massachusetts, USA: Hinderickson Publishers, Inc. 2003), p. 315.
5
religious practices including monasticism.25 During the Byzantine Empire in AD 476,
one of the obvious features of Christianity was the development of monastic
communities. Roy T. Matthews and F. DeWitt Pratt note that ‘The monastic
communities were basically places where people retreated from the world to lead strictly
disciplined lives.’26 ‘The most important monastic complex in Byzantium’, according to
Matthews and DeWitt ‘was at Mount Athos, founded in 963. This mountain retreat in
northern Greece … housed about eight thousand monks in the thirteenth century.’27
In the history of African Christianity, PMs as sacred spaces have not evaded the
scholarly gaze. Mount Kenya, the second-highest mountain in Africa after Kilimanjaro,
is believed to be sacred to some Kenyan Christians.28 The Maasai tribe of Kenya believes
that its nation descended from the first hunters, who came down from the mountain.
Some have incorporated worship of the mountain into Christianity, equating Ngai, their
high god, with the Creator God of the Bible. A cross sent by Pope Pius XI was placed at
Point Lenana, one of the three peaks of Mount Kenya, in 1933.29 Mount Kenya is
significant as a sacred space to Kenyans because in many ways, it embodies or
symbolizes their religious, historical, cultural, social and political experiences.
Olatunji F. Aina also underscores the prevalence of PM phenomenon in African
Christianity. He is of the view that trips to PMs for spiritual adventures are as old as the
Aladura Churches or Independent African Churches in Nigeria. Such mountains, it is
believed, provide pilgrims with a serene and spiritual atmosphere to commune with God
in fasting, prayer and worship. Aina asserts that difficult life cases including illnesses are
25 Roy T. Matthews and F. DeWitt Pratt, The Western Humanities (Fourth Edition) (California, USA:
Mayfield Publishing Company, 2001), p. 193.
26 Matthews and Pratt, The Western Humanities, p. 193.
27 Matthews and Pratt, The Western Humanities, p. 193.
28Brockman, Encyclopedia, p. 357
29 Brockman, Encyclopedia, p. 357.
6
often ‘referred’ to such mountains by clergymen for spiritual intervention to placate or
destroy evil forces behind such life crisis.30
He explores the appropriation of some PMs by the Independent African Churches
which emerged in Nigeria in 1918. The three principal groups of the movement in his
study are the Aladuras, Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) and the Cherubim and Seraphim
Church. He notes that the movement’s prophetic healing activities as well as trips to
selected PMs to solve difficult life problems have been noticed since its emergence. He
indicates that ‘a large number of such activities were found to be of psychotherapeutic
importance through the manipulation of the clients’ cultural environment and the
‘prescription of such ‘symbolic rites’ as the use of ‘Holy Water’, ‘Anointing Oil’,
‘Mantles’, etc.’31
Mountains in Ghana, like elsewhere in Africa and other parts of the world, are not
only part of the earth’s formations, but some of them are also relevant symbols in the
construction of traditional or indigenous religio-social and cultural identities. Prior to the
re-discovery of mountains as sacred sites for Christian religiosity in Ghana, some of
them were the abodes of deities and embodiment of the indigenous peoples’ traditional
religious expression.32 The re-discovery and subsequent re-appropriation of such sites for
Christian rituals have, among other things, resulted in a paradigmatic shift of some of the
indigenous peoples’ religious focus from traditional religious inclination to
Christianity.33
30 Olatunji F. Aina, ‘’Psychotherapy by Environmental Manipulation’ and the Observed Symbolic Rites on
Prayer Mountains in Nigeria’, Mental Health, Religion and Culture, Vol. 9, No. 1 (2006), pp. 1-13.
(Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13674670512331322612. [Accessed 14 October 2017].
31 Aina, ‘’Psychotherapy by Environmental Manipulation’, p. 2.
32 Philip Kwadwo Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space: The Place and Relevance of Abasua Prayer
Mountain in Contemporary Ghanaian Christianity’, Mphil Thesis (University of Ghana, Legon 2012), pp.
13&14, 38-41
33Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, pp. 13&14.
7
In the history of Ghanaian Christian missions, scholars have alluded to the
religious and ecological relevance of mountains as ideal settlements for some Basel
Missionaries and the starting point of the Basel Mission work in Ghana.34 J. Kofi Agbeti
points to the serene environmental condition that prevailed at Akropong in the Akwapim
Mountains, as one of the reasons for which, in 1836, Rev. Andreas Riis and a Danish
merchant, George Lutterodt, entered Akropong and established a new station there.
Agbeti further writes: ‘Akropong is a [mountainous] area and Riis enjoyed better health
there than on the coastal plains around Christianborg.’35 In the opinion of F.L Bartels,
Riis moved permanently to Akropong, in the Akwapim Mountains, on March 21,
1835…where the bracing mountain air and stimulating local wine from the palm tree
proved to be an effective tonic.36 On the movement of the Basel Missionaries to
Akwapim Mountains, Noel Smith also indicates that George Lutterodt and Andreas Riis
reached Akropong ‘in January, 1835, and the two were warmly welcomed by the Chief
Adow Dankwa, the Omanhene of Akwapim.’37
Another mountainous area in the Eastern Region of Ghana where the Basel
Mission work strenuously thrived is Kwahu. Alfred E. A. Asiamah has noted that
‘Christian religion was introduced to Kwahu in 1876 by the Basel Missionaries led by
Rev. Ramseyer.’38 This observation perhaps accounts for the massive presence of
34 J. Kofi Agbeti, West African Church History: Christian Missions and Church Foundations: 1482-1919
(Leiden, The Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1986), p.63; F. L. Bartels, The Roots of Ghana Methodism (Great
Britain: Cambridge University Press, 1965), pp.5-6; Noel Smith, The Presbyterian Church of Ghana,
1835-1960 (Great Britain: Ebenezer Baylis & Son, Ltd., 1966), p. 30.
35Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 63.
36Bartels, The Roots of Ghana Methodism, pp. 5-6.
37 Smith, The Presbyterian Church of Ghana, p. 30. It is clear that Bartels, Smith and Agbeti slightly differ
on the dates in which the Basel Missionaries moved to Akropong. In my opinion, these discrepancies
imply the difficulty historians face in harmonizing historical data and accurately reporting them.
38Alfred E. A. Asiamah, The Mass Factor in Rural Politics: The Case of the Asafo Revolution in Kwahu
Political History (Accra: Ghana Universities Press, 2000), p.65.
8
Presbyterianism in almost all the mountainous Kwahu towns such as Abetifi, Obo,
Aduamoa, Pepease, Twenedurase, Atibie, Kwahu Tafo, Nkami Mponua and Bepong.39
A panoramic view of contemporary Ghanaian Christian topography is likely to
locate pilgrimage to mountains as one of the bourgeoning and highly patronised religious
activities. For instance, it has been found out that between the year 2002 and 2011, about
one hundred and eighty-two thousand, four hundred and sixty-four (182,464) pilgrims
visited Abasua Prayer Mountain (APM) in the Asante Region of Ghana.40 Another
mountain in Ghana which attracts many Christian pilgrims is Nkawkaw Mountain Olive
Prayer Camp (NMOPC). More than five hundred pilgrims patronize the camp monthly.41
My several pilgrimages to these PMs have enabled me to witness some
miscellany of testimonies, divine revelations and interventions / miracles. It is probably
because of the prevalence of these supernatural manifestations on the PMs that their
relevance in contemporary Christianity in Ghana seems narrowly discussed in the
context of their role in promoting pilgrims’ spirituality. I am of the view that there is the
need to move beyond this narrow discussion to a much broader and thorough multi-
dimensional examination of the relevance of PMs.
First, it seems to me that Christians’ pilgrimage to PMs in Ghana has not yet
been discussed much in the context of its continuity in primal religion. Second, it appears
that scholars have not paid enough attention to the historical narrative of the emergence
PMs and how Pentecostal / Charismatic Christianity serves as a vehicle for promoting
Christians’ appropriation or patronage of PMs in Ghana. Moreover, the appropriation of
39Nana Ofori Agyapong, Nsuta Dikro, disclosed this during an interview he granted me on Saturday,
September 10, 2016 at Nkawkaw.
40 Okyere, “Reconstructing Sacred Space’, p. 106. The 182,464 pilgrims were the total number of
Methodists (67,915) and non-Methodists (114,549) who visited only Camp Three of Abasua Prayer
Mountain during the period.
41 Evangelist Frank K. Gyasi (the founder of the Camp), Interview, Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer
Camp, 27 July, 2016.
9
PMs by Christians seems to have other implications beyond what scholars
conventionally accept, with respect to the notion of PMs as sacred sites for the promotion
of pilgrims’ spirituality. For instance, pilgrimage to PMs by large numbers of Christians
appears to have implications for environmental sanitation. Also, the visitation by large
numbers of Christians around the year is believed to have implications for grassroots
ecumenism and the unity of the church in Ghana. Finally, I perceive that Christians’
pilgrimage to PMs has implications for the economic development of the communities in
which those mountains are located.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
In contemporary African and for that matter Ghanaian Christianity, scholarly
discussion of sacred spaces does not seem to have focused on their continuity in primal
religious thought; they rather seem to have been narrowly examined in the context of
their role in enhancing pilgrims’ spirituality. Using some PMs in Ghana as contextual
examples, this work seeks to explore the continuity of PMs in Akan primal religiosity
and how Ghanaian Pentecostal / Charismatic Christianity may promote or is already
promoting the appropriation of PMs by pilgrims. The study further explores how the
appropriation of PMs may enhance Christian eco-theological or environmental sanitation
consciousness, ecumenical networks and people’s42 economic wellbeing.
1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study
The study generally focuses on rethinking PMs as sacred spaces in contemporary
Ghanaian Christianity. Specifically, the work attempts to:
42 The people in this context is a generic term referring to the pilgrims who patronize the Prayer Mountains
for prayer rituals purposes and those who utilize the Prayer Mountains for socio-economic intentions.
These include drivers who ply the sites, luggage carriers and petty traders at the sites.
10
Examine the continuity of Christians’ pilgrimage to PMs in Akan primal religious
context
Explore the historical narratives of the evolution of PMs in Ghanaian Christianity
Investigate how Pentecostal / Charismatic Christianity promotes the
appropriation of PMs as sacred spaces in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity.
Examine the extent to which the belief in the sacredness of PMs promotes the
quest for Christian environmental sanitation consciousness or eco-theology in
Ghana
Study how PMs as sacred spaces enhance ecumenical / interdenominational
networking in Ghana
Explore how Prayer Mountains in Ghana contribute to the economic wellbeing of
people
1.4 Research Questions
The main research question that guides the study is: In what other ways do PMs
as sacred spaces and their perceived continuity in Akan primal religion enhance the
development of Ghanaian Christianity, apart from the conventional thinking of sacred
mountains as sites for pilgrimage, prayer, worship and divine revelation?
In an attempt to respond to this central question, the following sub-questions are
explored:
How do sacred mountains in Akan primal religion constitute a sub-structure
for PMs in Ghanaian Christianity?
What are the historical narratives of the evolution of PMs in Ghanaian
Christianity?
How does Pentecostal / Charismatic Christianity serve as a vehicle to promote
pilgrimage to PMs?
11
To what extent does the belief in the sacredness of PMs contribute to the
quest for Christian eco-theological discourse / environmental sanitation in
Ghana?
How does the appropriation of PMs as sacred spaces promote ecumenical /
interdenominational networking in Ghana?
How do activities surrounding PMs in Ghana enhance people’s economic
wellbeing?
1.5 Methodology
The study is mainly a qualitative one. ‘Qualitative research’, in the opinion of
Richard Boateng, ‘tends to explore the meanings, attitudes, values, and beliefs people
associate with a phenomenon in order to establish a better understanding, rather than to
test to either support or disprove a relationship.’43 In the light of the aims and objectives
of the study, a multi-disciplinary approach including historical, theological and
phenomenological methods are employed to guide the collection of data. A brief survey
of each of these approaches suffices below.
Theoretically, history carries two meanings in modern usage. It refers both to
what really took place in the past and to historians’ conscious attempt to recast or
represent those past realities in contemporary works.44 The historian’s starting point in
representing the past realities in modern works is ‘Historical awareness’45, understood as
‘a universal psychological attribute, arising from the fact that we are, all of us, in a sense,
historians.’46 It also means respecting the independence of the past and trying to
43 Richard Boateng, Research Made Easy Classic Edition (Accra, Ghana: PearlRichards Foundation,
2016), p. 135.
44 John Tosh, The Pursuit of History: Aims, methods and new directions in the study of modern history
(London: Pearson Education Limited, 2002), p. xix.
45 Tosh, The Pursuit of History, p. 1.
46 Tosh, The Pursuit of History, p. 1.
12
reconstruct it in all its strangeness before applying its insights to the present. A person’s
identity as a historian is as a result of their ability to draw on their past experiences for
various reasons.47 Generally, historical narrative as a practice widespread in religious and
non-religious groups typically arises in situations of conflict and contested claims. Such
historicization, in the thought of Jorg Rupke, is useful for legitimization, boundary
drawing and formulation of identities.48
History, understood as historians’ intentional effort to recast the past realities in
contemporary works, immediately presupposes prevalence of some historical events or
phenomena that warrant the attention or engagement of the historian. The historical data
are sometimes characterized by irregularities and inconsistencies; what Rupke refers to
as ‘conflict and contested claims’.49
Prayer Mountains as sacred spaces in Ghana and their attendant pilgrimage
attractions and prayer rituals, like the term ‘religion’ and virtually all other religious
phenomena in the world, seem to have conflicting evolutionary trajectories.50 Church
historians who embark on an academic study of such phenomena usually encounter the
daunting task of strenuously and unbiasedly harmonizing discrete historical data inorder
to present them logically and systematically.
The historical model in this context is thus couched on the notion that
contemporary religious phenomena such as PMs have their pasts which are inextricably
linked to their modern identities. The modern identities of those phenomena are therefore
the result of several processes or stages of evolution /development which started long
ago. Contemporary religious phenomena are therefore products of their past. The
47 Tosh, The Pursuit of History, pp. 12-13.
48 Jorg Rupke, ‘History’ in Michael Stausberg and Stephen Engler (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of
Research Methods in the Study of Religions (New York: Routledge, 2014), p. 285.
49 Rupke, ‘History’, p. 285.
50 Jonathan Z. Smith, ‘Religion, Religions, Religious’ in Mark C. Taylor (ed.) Critical Terms for Religious
Studies (Chicago, USA: The University of Chicago Press, 1998), p.269.
13
implication is that Christians’ appropriation of religious phenomena (for instance, PMs),
is partly the result of their (that is, the Christians’) awareness of how other Christian
pilgrims have, over the years, patronized or appropriated those sites as religious
resources or as panacea to some of their existential challenges.51 The historical method is
employed in this study to examine the development of PMs in Ghana.
The theological model, in the opinion of Richard King, is one among many
methodologies or theoretical foundations in the study of religions.52 In this study, the
theological paradigm is fundamentally rooted in Ian Markham’s understanding of
theology: ‘an attempt to determine the implications of God for a given subject area.’53
In the light of this model, the following sub-themes are explored: the influence
of Pentecostalism on the appropriation of PMs in Ghana; the extent to which PMs
promote economic wellbeing; the extent to which pilgrims’ appropriation of PMs
enhances environmental sanitation in Ghana and the ways in which PMs promote
ecumenical / interdenominational networks in Ghana.
The phenomenological approach in this context is an impartial description of
PMs as sites characterized by trepidation or a deep sense of awe and religious pilgrims’
persistence to variously engage or experience the transcendent realm over there. The
centrality of ‘experience’ in the phenomenological approach to the study of religion has
been scholarly underscored. James V. Spickard, for instance, notes that ‘In the study of
religion, the term ‘phenomenology’ draws us toward the experiences that are supposed to
51For an example of the use of the historical model, see Cephas N. Omenyo, Pentecost Outside
Pentecostalism: A study of the Development of Charismatic Renewal in the Mainline Churches in Ghana
(Zoetermeer, The Netherlands: Boekencentrum Publishing House, 2006), P. 9.
52 For details on Richard King’s Paradigms, see James L. Cox, A Guide to the Phenomenology of Religion:
Key Figures, Formative Influences and Subsequent Debates (New York: The Continuum International
Publishing Group, 2006), p. 217.
53 Ian Markham, ‘Theology’ in Robert A Segal (ed.) The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion
(Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006), pp. 192-210.
14
underlie religious life.’54 The overarching point in Spickard’s assertion is that the
phenomenological model to the study of religion seeks to impartially describe religious
experience as it presents itself to subjective consciousness.55 It is basically an approach
to the study of religion which requires the scholar of religion to suspend judgments about
the phenomenon being studied, by bracketing out potentially distorting presuppositions
stemming from both confessional Christian theology and from positivistic science in
order that, by using empathetic methods, he or she could enter into the experiences of the
believers or adherents to achieve understanding-in-depth.56 The implication is that by
this model, my personal biases arising from my Christian inclinations are considerably
minimized. The phenomenological method is employed to examine some of the prayer
rituals at the sacred sites; the meaning and relevance of those rituals to the adherents or
practitioners.
To augment the multi-dimensional approach to the study, I adopt Kenneth L.
Pike’s emic and etic viewpoints for the description of behaviour and examination /
discussion of field data gathered from respondents or informants.57 The emic perspective
is the outsider’s attempt to describe the informant’s own descriptions or production of
sounds, behaviour, beliefs, etc. The emic viewpoint arises from studying behaviour as
from inside the system. The etic perspective, on the other hand, is observer’s subsequent
attempt to take the descriptive information they have already gathered and to organize,
systematize, compare – in a word, redescribe – that information in terms of a system of
54 James V. Spickard, ‘Phenomenology’ in Michael Stausberg and Stephen Engler (eds.) The Routledge
Handbook of Research Methods in the Study of Religions (New York: Routledge, 2014), p. 334.
55 Spickard, ‘Phenomenology’, p. 333.
56 Cox, A Guide to the Phenomenology of Religion, p. 209.
57 Kenneth L. Pike, ‘Etic and Emic Standpoints for the Description of Behaviour’, in Russell T.
McCucheon (ed.), The Insider / Outsider Problem in the Study of Religion (London: Cassell, 1999), pp. 28-
36.
15
their own making. The etic viewpoint, in that sense, studies behaviour as from outside
the system.58
As an outsider – a researcher supposedly ‘alien’ to the informants and their vital
pieces of information – I emically59 elicited and described the relevant field data for the
study from the perspective of the respondents. As an insider – a researcher who already
has some ideas about the phenomena under study – I etically organized, systematized
and compared the elicited field data in order to make them comprehensible and
meaningful to readers. For instance, after emically describing the phenomenon of sacred
mountains in Akan primal religious context and their associated religious pilgrimage and
prayer rituals, I tried, albeit briefly, to etically explore the implications of the New
Juaben traditional leaders’ annual religious pilgrimage to Ͻboↄ Tabiri, a sacred mountain
in the New Juaben Traditional area.
1.5.1 Sources of Data
Both primary and secondary data sources were used to conduct the study.
Primary data refers to data that is collected by a researcher from first-hand sources, using
methods like surveys, interviews, or experiments. It is collected with the research project
in mind, directly from primary sources.60 On the research fields, I obtained primary data
from sources such as participant observations, observations, structured interviews and
unpublished works. Secondary data, on the other hand, refers to research data that has
previously been gathered and can be accessed by researchers.61 I obtained secondary data
58Pike, ‘Etic and Emic Standpoints for the Description of Behaviour’, p. 28. See also Russell T.
McCucheon, ‘Introduction’, in Russell T. McCucheon (ed.), The Insider / Outsider Problem in the Study of
Religion (London: Cassell, 1999), pp. 15-22.
59For more information on the contextual use of the words ‘emically’ and ‘etically’, see Pike, ‘Etic and
Emic Standpoints for the Description of Behaviour’, p. 29.
60 https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=primary+data [Accessed 25 May 2019].
61 https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/secondary-data [Accessed 25 May 2019].
16
from published books, scholarly journals in electronic data bases and other internet
sources.
1.5.2 Defining the Population
A population refers to any group of specified human beings or of non-human
entities such as geographical areas or objects drawn by individuals. Some reserachers
call it universe.62 The populations for this study refer to all the sacred mountains in
Ghana63, the communities in which the sacred mountains are located, the pilgrims who
visit the sacred mountains and the luggage carriers / other groups of people who benefit
economically as a result of pilgrims’ patronage of the mountains. Obvioiusly, it was
impracticable, if not impossible, to interview or observe each unit of the populations
under controlled conditions inorder to arrive at principles having universal validity.64
Moreover, the populations for the study were so large that their study would be
expensive in terms of time, money, effort and manpower. Sampling was therefore
inevitable.
1.5.3 Sampling and Sampling Technique
‘Sampling’, according to Tom K.B. Kumekpor, ‘… involves the examination of a
carefully selected proportion of the units of a phenomenon inorder to help extend
knowledge gained from the study of the part to the whole from which the part was
selected.’65 It is thus the use of definite procedures in the selection of parts of the
62 Lokesh Koul, Methodology of Educational Research (3rd Rev. Ed), (New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House
PVT Ltd, 2000), p.111.
63 Sacred mountains in Ghana are many. They cover about one-quartre of Ghana’s land. For details, see
Zindzy Gracia ‘Names of mountains in Ghana and their locations’, available at
https://yen.com.gh/109470-names-mountains-ghana-locations.html#109470 [Accessed: 3 April 2019].
64Koul, Methodology of Educational Research, p. 111.
65Tom K.B. Kumekpor, Research Methods and Techniques of Social Research (Accra: SonLife Printing
Press and Services, 1999), p.129.
17
populations for the express purpose of obtaining from their description or estimates
certain properties and characteristics of the whole.66
Therefore, a purposive sampling technique was used to select four sacred
mountains in Ghana; namely, Ͻboↄ Tabiri, Atwea Boↄ, APM and NMOPC. ‘In purposive
sampling’, Kumekpor writes that, ‘the units of the sample are selected not by a random
procedure, but they are intentionally picked for study because of their characteristics or
because they satisfy certain qualities which are not randomly distributed in the universe,
but they are typical or they exhibit most of the characteristics of interest to the study.’67
Even though there are many mountains in Ghana, not all of them possess the relevant
features of interest to this study. The implication is that the four sacred mountains
purposively sampled have the relevant features of interest to this work. One of the key
features is their potecy to attract religious pilgrims to encounter the transcendental realm.
Ͻboↄ Tabiri and Atwea Boↄ, are sacred mountains in Akan primal religion. In this study,
they are the main focus of my position that pilgrimage to sacred mountains in Akan
primal religion forms the sub-structure or foundation of Christian pilgrims’ appropriation
of PMs.
A purposive sampling technique was again used to select a sample size of thirty-
four (34) respondents. The respondents included pastors, evangelists and lay pilgrims
who visit the PMs, traditional leaders and citizens of the communuites where the PMs
are located and luggage carriers / drivers who ply the communities where the PMs are
located. The justification for the selection of this sample size is that it represents a range
of respondents which I needed as far as the aim and objectives of this work is concerned.
In fact, Boateng underscores that in qualitative research, the sample size depends on the
66Kumekpor, Research Methods and Techniques of Social Research, p. 129.
67Kumekpor, Research Methods and Techniques of Social Research, p. 135.
18
focus of the researcher.68 One of the guidelines he provides in selecting the sample size
is that ‘the respondents should represent a range of potential respondents in order to
ensure diversity in perspectives in data collected.69 The selection of the sample size was
also facilitated by snowball or chain sample. Boateng defines snowball as ‘a multistage
sampling technique – beginning with a few people and growing through referral. Initial
respondents are selected by other methods like purposive sampling… Additional
respondents are obtained from information provided by the initial respondents.’70
1.5.4. Methods of Primary Data Collection
I have already indicated that I obtained primary data from sources such as
participant observations, observations, structured interviews and unpublished works.
Participant observation, in Kumekpor’s opinion, ‘involves the idea of being both a
spectator and an actor at the same time when observing and recording information. The
observer must find a means of integrating himself into the group in one way or the other
and attempt to observe and record from within the group.’71 I embarked on several
research trips to the PMs and the communities where the PMs are located to collect the
needed field data. For instance, I went to APM, Abasua and Atwea communities from
10th to 13th July, 2016 and from 28th to 30th March, 2017. I must indicate that some of the
interviews for this work are from a much earlier period. They are field data I gathered at
Abasua community and APM between the dates 12th to 14th August, 2011 and 12th to 15th
August, 2012, for a different undertaking. I have made use of them because of their
relevance to this work.
68 Boateng, Research Made Easy Classic Edition, p. 151.
69 Boateng, Research Made Easy Classic Edition, p. 151.
70 Boateng, Research Made Easy Classic Edition, p. 152.
71 Kumekpor, Research Methods and Techniques of Social Research, p. 72.
19
Furthermore, I visited Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp (NMOPC) on 5th
February, 2015, 27th July, 2016 and 25th July, 2017. On these dates, I had the opportunity
to participate in some of the activities at the prayer sites (that is, APM and NMOPC).
These include church services on Sundays, all-night prayer sessions on Wednesdays,
communal labour on Saturday mornings, and healing and deliverance services on
Wednesday mornings. With the permission of the leaders of the PMs, relevant
programmes or activities were audio or video recorded. My participation in the
aforementioned activities on the PMs also afforded me the opportunity to observe other
activities such as carrying of luggages to and from the PMs and sale of provosions.72
Another primary data collection instrument employed was structured interview.
Kumekpor explains that:
This type of interview follows a set pattern usually adhering, as much as
possible, to the order of questions in the interview questionnaire. It is conducted
in a formal manner, taking into consideration the factors that make the
atmosphere of an interview one that is conducive to a congenial interviewer-
interviewee rapport.73
To all the respondents, I first introduced myself as a Ph.D candidate at the Department
for the Study of Religions at the University of Ghana embarking on a research for
academic purposes. In order to assuage their doubts or scepticism with respect to the
outcome of their responses, I assured them that their responses would be treated with
utmost confidentiality. Those who were convinced immediately granted me the
interview. Others also scheduled an appointment with me before I could meet them.
As a face-to-face manner in which a researcher elicits information from
respondents, this type of interview was useful in collecting the relevant field data. In
the first place, it did not only make it possible for me to meet the respondents face-to-
72 Okyere maintains that In Ghana, ‘provisions’ is a word used to designate a wide range of items such as
milo, milk, sugar, mackerel and soft drinks. See Okyere, Reconstructing Sacred Space, p.20.
73 Kumekpor, Research Methods and Techniques of Social Research, p. 186.
20
face, but it also enabled me to interrogate and sought further clarifications from them.
Secondly, the structured nature of the interview schedule imposed some sort of
discipline on me to go straight to the subject matter and discuss only issues related to
the subject under investigation. This saved time and presented information collected
from the respondents in almost the same form and order.74 With the permission of the
respondents, vital aspects of the interview were audio recorded.
Furthermore, I accessed some electronic data bases and libraries for information
about unpublished works such as theses, dissertations and long essays. The pieces of
information gathered were organised, synthesised and analysed. The category of
respondents and the pieces of information elicited from them through structured
interview schedule are presented below:
Table 1.1: A table showing categories of respondents and pieces of information
elicited from them
Category of Respondents Pieces of information elicited
Pastors who patronize APM and NMOPC Spiritual, ecumenical, economic and
as pilgrims ecological relevance of PMs; Pentecostal
Christianity and visit to PMs, etc.
Lay people who patronize APM and Spiritual, ecumenical, economic and
NMOPC as pilgrims ecological relevance of PMs; Pentecostal
Christianity and visit to PMs, etc.
Traditional leaders, luggage carriers and History of the sacred mountains and the
drivers who ply APM and NMOPC communities in which the sacred
mountains are located; socio-economic
and ecological relevance of PMs, etc.
.
1.6 Theoretical Framework of the Study
The study is theoretically grounded on the social-anthropological model. The
social-anthropological model to the study of religion, in the opinion of Max Assimeng, is
the effort of modern-day sociologists and anthropologists to explore the question ‘How
74 Kumekpor, Research Methods and Techniques of Social Research, p. 186.
21
does religion function….’75 Evans-Pritchard, the noted late British doyen of social
anthropology, is said to have posited that: ‘This then is the task of the social
anthropologist, to show the relation of religion to social life in general. It is not his task
to “explain” religion.’76
Evans-Pritchard’s position further accentuates the central point of functionalism
as a theory and method in the study of religion. Functionalism originated principally
from the work of the French Sociologist Emile Durkheim as far as the study of religion is
concerned. In principle, functionalism examines how social phenomena operate and are
interrelated with other sets of social phenomena.77 The implication is that in this work,
the social-anthropological model and functionalism are employed synonymously because
they both attempt to examine the function of religion in the society.
One of the social-anthropologists whose works are relevant to this study is
Clifford Geertz. Geertz’s analysis of ethos, worldviews and sacred symbols discloses the
interrelationship between religion and social phenomena. He writes as follows:
Religion is never merely metaphysics. For all peoples the forms, vehicles, and
objects of worship are suffused with an aura of deep moral seriousness. The holy
bears within it everywhere a sense of intrinsic obligation: it not only encourages
devotion, it demands it; it not only induces intellectual assent, it enforces
emotional commitment ... that which is set apart as more than mundane is
inevitably considered to have far-reaching implications for the direction of
human conduct.78
Geertz implies that religion scarcely deals with only the metaphysical aspects of life. It
also deals with the issues of ethos and world views of people. ‘A people's ethos’,
according to him, ‘is the tone, character, and quality of their life, its moral and aesthetic
style and mood; it is the underlying attitude toward themselves and their world that life
75Max Assimeng Religion and Social Change in West Africa: An Introduction to the Sociology of Religion
(2nd edition) (Accra: Woeli Publishing Services, 2010), p. 10.
76 Assimeng Religion and Social Change in West Africa, p. 10.
77 Assimeng Religion and Social Change in West Africa, p. 10.
78 Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1973), p.
126.
22
reflects.’79 He also points out that ‘Their world view is their picture of the way things in
sheer actuality are, their concept of nature, of self, of society. It contains their most
comprehensive ideas of order.’80 Furthermore, Geertz uses the notion of the mutual non
exclusiveness of religious belief and ritual to explicate the relationship between ethos
and world view. ‘[T]he ethos is made intellectually reasonable by being shown to
represent a way of life implied by the actual state of affairs which the world view
describes, and the world view is made emotionally acceptable by being presented as an
image of an actual state of affairs of which such a way of life is an authentic
expression.’81
Both ethos and worldview underscore the reality of a religious system which,
according to Geertz, ‘is a cluster of sacred symbols, woven into some sort of ordered
whole.’82 Geertz does not only assert the prevalence of the notion of sacred symbols in
almost all religious traditions; he also points out that what all sacred symbols assert is
that the good for man is to live realistically; where they differ is in the vision of reality
they construct.83
Geertz however maintains that ‘it is not only positive values that sacred symbols
dramatise, but negative ones as well. They point not only toward the existence of good
but also of evil, and toward the conflict between them.’84
It is worth noting, however, that Geertz’s theory has not been spared of scholarly
critiques. Talal Asad, for instance, problematizes Geertz’s social-anthropological model,
specifically, his anthropological definition of religion, by assigning that endeavour to a
79 Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, p.127.
80 Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, p.127.
81 Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, p.127.
82 Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, p.129.
83 Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, p.130.
84 Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, p.130.
23
particular history of knowledge and power (including a particular understanding of our
legitimate past and future) out of which the modern world has been constructed.85
Inspite of this critique, I still find the social-anthropological model to the study of
religion useful in this study. This is because it provides a solid theoretical framework for
the examination of the extent to which Pentecostal / Charismatic Christianity stimulates
pilgrims’ visit to PMs. It further examines the extent to which PMs promote socio-
economic development, environmental sanitation and ecumenical / interdenominational
networks in Ghana.
1.7 Literature Review
Scholarly works on the topic under discussion abound. The issues that have
engaged the attention of scholars over the years include the meaning of sacred, sacred
space and prayer rituals, distinctions between sacred and secular with attention to the
nexus between sacred space and religious pilgrimage, a survey of some sacred mountains
in the bible and prayer mountains as sacred spaces in Ghana.86 These are thematically
reviewed below.
1.7.1 The meaning of Sacred, Sacred Space and Prayer Rituals
Etymologically, Anthony Thorley and Celia M. Gunn indicate that the word
sacred evolved from the classical Latin word sacer, meaning ‘set apart to or for some
religious purpose’.87 This implies that sacred connotes some inherent special quality that
differentes it from the ordinary or normal.
85 Talal Asad, ‘Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam’, in
Carl Olson, Theory and Method in the Study of Religion: A Selection of Critical Readings (California,
USA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2003), pp. 298-307.
86 Anthony Thorley and Celia M. Gunn, Sacred Sites: An Overview. A Report for the GAIA Foundation
2007, p. 22. Available at http://www.sacredland.org/media/Sacred-Sites-an-Overview.pdf [Accessed 21
June 2016].
87 Thorley and Gunn, Sacred Sites, p. 22.
24
In addition to the primary meaning of sacer as ‘dedicated or consecrated to a
divinity’, is its related meaning as ‘accursed, execrable, horrible, infamous’ or ‘devoted
to a divinity for destruction, forfeited.’88 The implication is that sacer is associated with
divinity both as a powerful force for injury and destruction, as well as the idea of simply
being exceptionally regarded or revered.89
Thorley and Gunn further observe that the root sac is related to the Hittite saklais,
meaning ‘rite, custom, law.’ The root sac also relates to the derived Latin word sanus,
meaning ‘safe, whole or healthy.’ This is the same root that gives the Latin word sanctus,
a ‘saint or holy person’, and sanctum, a ‘holy place or sanctuary’.90 Thus although sacred
may seem a relatively simple word in terms of its contemporary usage, it is actually a
complex word carrying a fascinating blend of meanings which make up its derivation:
rite, custom, safe, whole, accursed, horrible, divine destruction, divine presence.
The Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of the word sacred includes such
terms as ‘made in awe,’ ‘revered,’ ‘considered deserving of veneration,’ and
‘consecrated.’ Terms such as ‘holy’ and ‘hallowed’ are employed in elaboration to
designate the sacred.91 Most students of religion agree that societies everywhere have a
conception of a force that evokes emotions and feelings of sacredness, although the
specific content of ideas about the sacred varies across different peoples and historical
eras.92
88Thorley and Gunn, Sacred Sites, p. 22.
89 Robert A. Scott, The Gothic Enterprise: A Guide to understanding the Medieval Cathedral (California:
University of California Press, 2003), p. 148.
90 Thorley and Gunn, Sacred Sites, p. 22. Italics original.
91 Scott, The Gothic Enterprise, p. 148.
92 Scott, The Gothic Enterprise, p. 148.
25
The notion of sacred space as one of the more obvious characteristics of religious
expression in the world also seems to be universally acknowledged.93 Virtually all
religions designate certain places as sacred or holy, and this designation often encourages
adherents to visit those places in pilgrimage.94 World Religions95 and their various sacred
sites which attract believers in pilgrimage have been identified and scholarly
articulated.96 Generally, a sacred space is a place not only for worship and divine
revelations, but is also a place which provides pilgrims with peace and solace from the
pestering burden of daily life.97 Against this backdrop, sacredness understood as a
religious and theological category has not escaped the intellectual gaze.98
Veikko Anttonen, in his assertion that seems to corroborate Park’s observation
about the ubiquitous nature of sacred spaces in all religious traditions, writes as follows:
Setting specific times and places apart as sacred is a fundamental structure in
human cultures, without which no religion, nation-state or political ideology can
insure the continuity of its power, hierarchy and authority. Such universal forms
of religious behavior as fasting, pilgrimage, asceticism, celibacy, religiously
motivated forms of seclusion and reclusion and various forms of meditation can
also be comprehended in terms of the category of the sacred. These forms of
religious behavior are culturally constituted on the idea of marking one’s
physical and mental self as separate from the routines of everyday social life.99
Central in Anttonen’s observation is the notion of sacredness, believed to be an
integral component of all religious traditions. Historians and phenomenologists of
religion such as Nathan Soderblom, Rudolf Otto, Gerardus van der Leeuw, Joachim
Wach and Mircea Eliade, according to Anttonen, hold sacrality to be not only a hall mark
93 Chris Park, ‘Religion and Geography’ in Hinnells, J. (ed.) Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion
(London: Routledge, 2004), p. 19.
94 Park, ‘Religion and Geography’, p. 19.
95For details on these World Religions, see Dean C. Halverson, (Gen. ed.) The Compact Guide to World
Religions (Minnesota, USA: Bethany House Publishers, 1996), pp.13-234; Michael Molloy, Experiencing
the World’s Religions: Tradition, Challenge and Change (second edition) (Mountain View, California:
Mayfield Publishing Company, 2002), pp.59-525.
96 Dalton (ed.)., Sacred Places of the World, preface.
97 Dalton (ed.)., Sacred Places of the World , preface.
98 Anttonen, ‘Sacred’, pp. 271-282; Scott, The Gothic Enterprise, pp. 147-170; Geertz, The Interpretation
of Cultures, p. 126.
99 Anttonen, ‘Sacred’, p. 272. See also Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, pp.52-53.
26
of religion but its very essence.100 These theorists assert that cultural systems of belief
and practice cannot be given the title ‘religion’ if there is nothing which is deemed
sacred by their adherents.101 In the methodological approach of these scholars, the sacred
is treated as an ontological category, culturally schematised in human experience in the
form of subjective feelings of the presence of what scholars refer to as mysterium
tremendum et fascinosum,102 that is, a mysterious something that both frightens and
fascinates.103 This position reinforces Geertz’s notion of sacred symbols as some of the
major characteristics of religious traditions.104
A sacred space, therefore, is a place where people encounter the sacred,
understood as something truly extraordinary and overwhelming. It is a place where
people feel gripped by a reality that is ‘wholly other’ than themselves – something
mysterious, awesome, powerful and beautiful.105 The conception of a sacred space also
implies the reality of a profane or secular space. In the scheme of Eliade, the profane
space is ‘the realm of the everyday business – of things ordinary, random and largely
unimportant.’106 In short, profane space is ‘the worldly Universe or historical situation of
people.’107 The role of religion, according to Daniel L. Pal, is to promote encounters with
the sacred, to bring a person “out of his worldly Universe or historical situation, and
project him into a Universe different in quality, an entirely different world, transcendent
and holy.”108
100 Anttonen, ‘Sacred’, p. 272.
101 Anttonen, ‘Sacred’, p. 272.
102 Anttonen, ‘Sacred’, p. 272.
103 Daniel L. Pal, Seven Theories of Religion (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), p.164.
104 Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, p. 129.
105 Pal, Seven Theories of Religion, p. 164.
106 Pal, Seven Theories of Religion, pp.163-164.
107 Pal, Seven Theories of Religion, p. 165.
108 Pal, Seven Theories of Religion, p. 165.
27
In Scott’s view, [prayer] rituals are required to effect the transition from worldly
Universe to the realms of transcendence, also referred to in this work as sacred space.109
My operational definition of prayer rituals is humans’ activities or actions (visible or
invisible) perceived to symbolize their belief in and communication with God or a deity.
They are thus some of the main activities or actions that inform and define the sacredness
of almost all spaces.110 In his definition of ‘ritual’, Ronald L. Grimes points out that
ritual refers to ‘traditional, prescribed communication with the sacred.’111 By this
definition, ritual is identified ‘with actions predicated on a theistic, mysterious or
animistic premise, or performances by religious functionaries in sacred places.’112 In that
sense, prayer rituals are believed to be the nexus of the two divergent worlds (that is,
sacred space and profane space). In other words, prayer rituals can be conceptualised as
humans’ activities or actions by which the gulf between sacred space and profane space
can be bridged.
If the sacredness of a place is determined by the belief in the presence of a
supernatural force or a deity in that space and the possibility of human’s interaction with
that deity through rituals113, then a discourse on the sacredness of a space, in my opinion,
would not be complete without reference to prayer rituals. Thus sacredness of a place
and prayer rituals, in this context, are not mutually exclusive.
Edward Mckendree Bounds, a doyen on prayer, categorizes prayer into seven
aspects: ‘purpose in prayer’114, ‘the necessity of prayer’,115 ‘the possibilities of
109 Scott, The Gothic Enterprise, p.150.
110 Dalton, Sacred Places of the World, pp7-11, 13 and 112.
111 Ronald L. Grimes, ‘Ritual’ in Willi Braun and Russell T. McCutheon (eds.) Guide to the Study of
Religion (New York: T&T Clark, 2009), p. 261.
112 Grimes, ‘Ritual’, p. 261.
113 Randall Studstill, ‘Eliade, Phenomenology, and the Sacred’ Religious Studies, 36 (2000), pp. 177-194.
Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20008280. [Accessed17 March 2012].
114 Edward Mckendree Bounds, E. M. Bounds on Prayer (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1997),
PP.11-106
28
prayer’116, ‘essentials of prayer’117, ‘obtaining answers to prayer’118, ‘power through
prayer’119, and ‘the weapon of prayer’120. This taxonomy of prayer implies that, for
Bounds, prayer is Christians’ indispensable resource. It is the Christian’s lifeline to
God, and with it lives are changed for eternity.121
Prior to Bounds’ comprehensive work on prayer, Dick Eastman had underscored
prayer as the ‘Slender nerve of power’ and ‘that marvelous mystery hidden behind the
cloud of God’s omnipotence.’122 To him (Eastman), ‘Nothing is beyond the reach of
prayer because God Himself is the focus of prayer.’123 Defining prayer as ‘divine
communion with our heavenly Father’,124 Eastman adds that ‘Prayer does not require
advanced education’ and that ‘Knowledge is not a prerequisite to engage in it. Only an
act of the will is required to pray.’125 The implication of this is that prayer is not the
preserve of a few selected individuals. It cannot be monopolized by anybody. Whoever
has ‘an act of the will’ could pray. David Cook corroborates Eastman’s view by
underscoring prayer to be ‘an interactive communication with God.’126 Thus in prayer,
Cook maintains, ‘The believer assumes God’s existence and prayer is the expression of a
relationship with that God, not a means of establishing his existence.’127
115 Bounds, E. M. Bounds on Prayer, pp. 107-190.
116 Bounds, E. M. Bounds on Prayer, pp. 191-286.
117 Bounds, E. M. Bounds on Prayer, pp. 287-376.
118 Bounds, E. M. Bounds on Prayer, pp. 377-466.
119 Bounds, E. M. Bounds on Prayer, pp. 467-524.
120 Bounds, E. M. Bounds on Prayer, pp. 525-613.
121 Bounds, E. M. Bounds on Prayer, blurb.
122 Dick Eastman, The Hour That Changes The World (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House,1985),
p. 11.
123 Eastman, The Hour That Changes The World, p. 11.
124 Eastman, The Hour That Changes The World, p. 11.
125 Eastman, The Hour That Changes The World, p. 11.
126 David Cook, Thinking About Faith (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1986), p. 95.
127 Cook, Thinking About Faith, pp. 94 -95.
29
Eastman conceptualizes a theology of based on a twelve–step model to ‘be
applied with spiritual liberty rather than regimented legality.’128 He enumerates and
briefly defines the items or ‘steps’ in the model as follows:
Praise: The act of divine adoration; Waiting: The act of soul surrender;
Confession: The act of declared admission; Scripture Praying: The act of faith
appropriation; Watching: The act of mental awareness; Intercession: The act of
earnest appeal; Petition: The act of personal supplication; Thanksgiving: The act
of expressed appreciation; Singing: The act of melodic worship; Meditation: The
act of spiritual evaluation; Listening: The act of mental absorption; Praise: The
act of divine magnification.129
The implication here is that prayer rituals in Christianity are so broad that they
seem to defy systematic categorization. They encapsulate several actions or
practices that symbolize or facilitate a Christian’s interaction with God.
Cook further confirms Eastman’s formulaic and theological perspective of prayer
but he categorizes prayer into four distinct components expressed by the initials ACTS.
He maintains that ‘Prayer is adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication (also
called petition). When people are involved in prayer, they may be engaged in any or all
of these activities.’130 The views of Eastman, Cook and Bounds as briefly surveyed, in
my opinion, underscore the overarching importance of prayer in a Christian believer’s
life.
The significance of prayer in a person’s religious life is articulated in the
introduction to The Phenomenology of Prayer, edited by Bruce Ellis Benson and Norman
Wirzba.
How could there be a vibrant religious life without the practice of prayer? In
both theistic and non theistic traditions, religious followers are generally
counseled to steadfast prayer—to pray ‘‘without ceasing.’’ Without prayer,
religious sensibility would likely atrophy and perhaps die. Yet what makes
prayer so essential to a life of faith? Perhaps the most important answer is that
128 Eastman, The Hour That Changes The World, p. 10.
129 Eastman, The Hour That Changes The World, pp. 11-137.
130 Cook, Thinking About Faith, p. 95. (Emphasis original).
30
prayer connects us to the divine, to something beyond ourselves and beyond
immediate reality.131
On the basis of the perception that human life comprises both the material /secular and
spiritual /sacred dimensions, prayer, according to Benson and Wirzba, may be
understood as ‘the moral and spiritual discipline that introduces and directs us to the
sacred dimension that infuses and undergirds all that is.’132 This gives credence to the
perception that there are some things in prayer that give it such a formative role in
religious life, a role that informs and transforms believers. One of such things, according
to the editors, is the understanding that prayer is an ‘‘experience at the limit.’’133 What
this means, according to Benson and Wirzba, is that:
Prayer effectively strips the soul of its pretense and makes it available before an
inscrutable God. At its extreme, prayer leads to a breakdown of language as the
believer enters a ‘‘dark night’’ or ‘‘blinding light’’ like those described by the
great mystics. Prayer is reduced to mute, amorous praise, for the believer is now
bathed in a transcendence that both exceeds and also sustains one’s being.134
The other striking motivation and essence of prayer is its perception as the
‘‘intensification of experience.’’135 This means that in prayer, ‘we have revealed to us the
depth and breadth of what we otherwise overlook or take for granted—life’s gratuity,
fragility, terror, blessing, and interdependence. Such a revelation calls us to a more
honest and authentic accounting of our lives.’136 The view of prayer as an ‘intensification
of experience’ is expressed somewhat clearly in Cook’s five-fold functional description
of prayer: ‘Prayer as dependence’, ‘Prayer as performance’, ‘Prayer as living’, ‘Prayer as
contemplation’ and ‘Prayer as relationship.’137These prayer rituals exist at sacred spaces
to promote or facilitate interaction between a religious person and the transcendent
131Bruce Ellis Benson and Norman Wirzba (eds.), The Phenomenology of Prayer (New York: Fordham
University Press, 2005), p. 1.
132 Benson and Wirzba, The Phenomenology of Prayer, p.1.
133 Benson and Wirzba, The Phenomenology of Prayer, p.1.
134 Benson and Wirzba, The Phenomenology of Prayer, p.2.
135 Benson and Wirzba, The Phenomenology of Prayer, p.2.
136 Benson and Wirzba, The Phenomenology of Prayer, p.2.
137 Cook, Thinking About Faith, pp. 100 – 101.
31
realm. In that sense, it is plausible to argue that for a very long time sacred sites have
been understood mainly as places where religious pilgrims employ prayer rituals to
advance their quest for spiritual uplift. This conventional understanding, to the best of
my knowledge, needs to be interrogated.
1.7.2 Distictions between Sacred and Profane
Distinctions between sacred and profane or secular appear to have originated in
European culture following the Enlightenment and the rise of nineteenth-century
secularism. One of the pioneering philosophers and social scientists who sought to
provide a clear distinction between the sacred and profane was Emil Durkheim (1858-
1917).138 He wrote: ‘A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to
sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden – beliefs and practices which
unite into one single moral community called a church, and all those who adhere to
them.’139 On the basis of this definition, Durkheim saw the sacred as essentially a social
construction and mutually exclusive from the profane,140 so that ‘the two classes cannot
even approach each other and keep their own nature at the same time.’141
Sometime later, the philosopher and scholar of the history of religions, Mircea
Eliade, expressed an important view of sacred space almost diametrically opposed to
Durkheim’s position. While acknowledging spatial non homogeneity, Eliade is
pessimistic about the possibility of an absolutely profane existence. He writes: ‘It must
be added at once that such a profane existence is never found in the pure state. … It will
appear that even the most desacralized existence still preserves traces of a religious
138 Ivan Strenski, Thinking About Religion: An Introduction to Theories of Religion (Oxford: Blackwell
Publishing, 2006), pp. 283-307.
139 Emile Durkheim, trans. Karen E. Fields, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (New York: The Free
Press, 1995 [1912], p.35. See also Thorley and. Gunn, Sacred Sites, p. 31; Geertz, The Interpretation of
Cultures, p. 126.
140 Strenski, Thinking About Religion, p.283.
141 Thorley and Gunn, Sacred Sites, p. 31.
32
valorization of the world.’142 Eliade asserts that in some profound way all sacred
landscape, however desacralized or secularized by mundane activities or by social
construction, remains at some level essentially sacred.
Additionally, Eliade explores how secular or profane space is converted into a
sacred space, and suggests that this symbolic process reflects the spiritual characteristics
associated with both the physical features and the deeper, abstract implications of
delimiting a particular site as sacred. Designation of a site as sacred is generally a
response to two types of events. Some events (which Eliade calls hierophanic) involve a
direct manifestation on earth of a deity or a spontaneous expression of the divine on earth
whereas in other (theophanic) events somebody receives a message from the deity and
interprets it for others.143 By this interpretation, a natural landscape becomes consecrated
and amplified by human recognition, participation and ritual.
From the above divergent or extreme positions of Durkheim and Eliade, it is
obvious that a discourse on sacred space is, among other things, characterized by a
tension between those who advocate that sacred site is essentially a social construct that
can be located anywhere on earth and those who see sacred space as a transcendental
construct, more autochthonous or more naturally born from a specific point on the earth
itself, only awaiting social recognition and enhancement through rituals.
Almost directly related to the above tension in recent years is the emergence of
new postmodern and traditional conceptions of pilgrimage to sacred places. In the
traditional view, which is somehow couched on Eliade’s transcendental perspective of
sacred space, ‘the power of a miraculous shrine is seen to derive solely from its inherent
capacity to exert a devotional magnetism over pilgrims from far and wide, and to exude
of itself potent meanings and significances for its worshippers ... its power is internally
142Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion (New York: Harcourt, Brace and
Company, Inc., 1959), p. 23.
143Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane, pp. 20 – 27.
33
generated and its meanings are largely predetermined.’144 The traditional view,
therefore, is that some places are inherently sacred, and the act of pilgrimage to those
places bestows inherent benefits.
The postmodern view, which thrives on Durkheim’s perspective of sacred space
as a social construct, is very different. This is because it argues that meanings are not
inherent but are attributed by those who believe in the notion of sacred space. In the
postmodern perspective, ‘pilgrimages are journeys to the sacred, but the sacred is not
something which stands beyond the domain of the cultural; it is imagined, defined, and
articulated within cultural practice.’145 In this perspective, therefore, different people
bring their own perceptions and meanings to the sacred place. As a result, sacred spaces
have projected onto them a range of different meanings and interpretations, even among
believers.146
Notwithstanding the above tension, sacred sites and their attendant pilgrimage
attractions in contemporary global religious topography147 seem to reflect a creative
fusion of Eliade’s transcendental orientation / traditional perspective of sacred space and
Durkheim’s social construct / postmodern view of sacred sites. What this means is that a
sacred site in contemporary religions may attract pilgrims who recognize the inherent
miraculous or divine potency of that site and pilgrims who imagine, define and articulate
the sacredness of the site within cultural practice.
The notion of sacred space is not novel in African religion. John S. Mbiti, a
renowned African scholar, has embarked on taxonomy of sacred places in African
religion. Referring to sacred sites as ‘religious places’, Mbiti classifies them into ‘man-
made places’ and ‘natural places’ and asserts that ‘in both cases the places are used for
144 John Eade and Michael Sallnow (eds), Contesting the sacred (London: Routledge: 1991), p.9.
145 Park, ‘Religion and Geography’, p. 23.
146Park, ‘Religion and Geography’, p. 23.
147 Dalton (ed.)., Sacred Places of the World, pp. 1-208., Park, ‘Religion and Geography’, p. 19.
34
religious activities like praying, making offerings and sacrifices, and major ceremonies
and rituals.’148 Thus Mbiti attempts to establish a close nexus between sacred sites and
pilgrimage movements in African traditional religious context.
Mary W. Helms appears to corroborate Mbiti’s classification of sacred sites and
their attendant pilgrimage attractions. She also underscores a close link between sacred
sites and pilgrimage by identifying the following as some of the sacred landscapes that
could be found in most regions of the world: the networks of earthen mounds
characteristic of pre-Columbian eastern North America, the numerous temple complexes
of the lowland Maya, the interrelated oracle sanctuaries of the Ibo of Nigeria, the sacred
places where the mythic ancestors of Australian Aboriginal tribes first emerged from the
earth during the Dreaming, and the distributions of Neolithic chambered monuments in
southern Wales.149
It could be deduced from Helm’s brief survey that a discourse on sacred space is
not only limited to mountains. In addition to great mountains like Kilimanjaro in Africa,
Michael Molloy explains that sacred space may also encompass a volcano, a valley, a
lake, a forest, a single large tree or some other striking natural site.150 Molloy further
asserts that sacred space could also be constructed in a symbolic shape such as a circle or
square, and defined by a special building or by a boundary made of rope or of rocks,
such as Stonehenge in England. It could even be an open area among trees or buildings,
such as the great open space between the temples of Teotihuacan, near Mexico City.151
148 John S. Mbiti, Introduction to African Religion (2nd Revised Edition) (Oxford: Heinemann Educational
Publishers, 1991), p. 147.
149
Mary W. Helms, Sacred Landscape and the Early Medieval European Cloister: Unity, Paradise, and
the Cosmic Mountain (Anthropos Bd.: Anthropos Institute Stable, 2002), p. 435. Available at:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40466044, [Accessed: 10 October 2011].
150 Molloy, Experiencing the World’s Religions, p. 36.
151 Molloy, Experiencing the World’s Religions, p. 36.
35
1.7.3 A Survey of Some Sacred Mountains in the Bible
The Bible is replete with several references to sacred mountains.152 Biblical
imagery of mountains locates them in a quagmire of complexity and captivating mixture
of meanings. Lyland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit and Tremper Longman III disclose the
paradoxical and even contradictory orientation of the biblical meanings of the mountain:
Mountains are sometimes a symbol of refuge and security and sometimes a
threatening place of military slaughter. At times inaccessible, barren and
uninhabited, mountains are nonetheless places where God’s people will dwell in
abundance. As sites of religious experience, mountaintops are places of pagan
worship that God denounces and of true worship that he commands. The
mountains of the bible are both physical phenomena and spiritual symbols.153
In the light of the above fascinating blend of meanings of mountains, Ryken et al
categorize the biblical imagery of mountains under four main headings. These are
mountains as physical places, the mountains of the poets, mountains as sacred sites and
apocalyptic mountains.154 The implication of this categorization is that the view of sacred
mountains as avenues for prayer and divine revelations is amplified in Christianity.155
Mountains in the Old Testament which were often chosen as the place for worship or
divine revelation include Moriah (Gen. 22:2), Sinai (Ex. 19: 18 – 20; 24:9 – 18), Zion
(Ps. 2:6; 48:1 – 2) and Carmel (1Kgs. 18: 19 – 39).156
Mount Moriah is believed to be the place where God tested the faith of Abraham
by commanding him to offer his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering.157 It was, thus a
sacred place where Abraham worshipped and offered sacrifice to God.158
152 Gen. 22:2, Ex. 19: 18 – 20; 24:9 – 18, Ps. 2:6; 48:1 – 2, 1 Kgs. 18: 19 – 39, Matt. 5:1-7:29; 17: 1-21.,
Mk. 9:2-13.; Lk. 9:28-36., II Pet. 1: 16-18.
153 Lyland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit and Tremper Longman III, (eds.), ‘Mountain’ in Dictionary of Biblical
Imagery (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1998), pp. 572-574.
154 Ryken et al, ‘Mountain’, pp.572-574.
155 Philip Kwadwo Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space: The Place and Relevance of Abasua Prayer
Mountain in Contemporary Ghanaian Christianity’, MPhil Thesis (University of Ghana, Legon 2012), pp.
5-11; Gen. 22:2, Ex. 19: 18 – 20; 24:9 – 18, Ps. 2:6; 48:1 – 2, 1 Kgs. 18: 19 – 39, Matt. 5:1-7:29; 17: 1-21.,
Mk. 9:2-13.; Lk. 9:28-36., II Pet. 1: 16-18.
156 Harvey, ‘Mountain’, p. 1157.
157 Assohoto and Engewa, ‘Genesis’, p. 43.
36
Moses’ encounter with God on Mount Sinai is perceived to be another biblical
basis for the appropriation of PMs as sacred spaces in Christianity. In his commentary on
‘God’s call to Moses’ in Exodus 3:1-10, Abel Ndjerareou rightly points out that:
The place where God chose to reveal himself [to Moses] was Mount Horeb, also
known as Mount Sinai (3:1). Here God attracts Moses’ attention by using a
strange sight – a bush that burns without burning up (3: 2-3)…. Because God is
present, the ground where Moses is standing is declared to be holy. He is told not
to come any closer and to take off his sandals as a sign of humility and
worship.159
It can be observed that in the context of Mount Moriah and Mount Horeb and, of
course, other PMs to be considered later, the sacredness of a place may be defined and
informed by the belief of the presence of the supernatural in that space. This
supernatural, in the case of Mount Moriah and Mount Horeb, was perceived to be God.
Various signs or manifestations could represent God’s presence at a place. In the case of
Mount Moriah, the miraculous provision of a ram instead of Isaac as the object for the
burnt offering was seen to be a dramatic manifestation of God’s presence there. This
perception of the reality of miraculous intervention may however be contested by cynics
or skeptics who seem to banish the miraculous to the prescientific world of medieval
superstition.160
In the case of Mount Sinai, one of the manifestations believed to depict God’s
presence there was a bush in flames without burning up. Ndjerareou is of the opinion that
‘The fire is said to represent the angel of the Lord, that is, the angelic form in which God
at times reveals himself to humans (3:4; see also Gen. 16: 19). In [Exodus] 19:18, fire
will again symbolize the presence of God.’161
158 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, pp. 5&6.
159 Ndjerareou, ‘Exodus’ p. 90.
160 Ronald J. Sider, ‘Miracles, Methodology and Modern Western Christology’ in Vinay Samuel and Chris
Sugden (eds.) Sharing Jesus in the Two Thirds World (Michigan, USA: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company, 1984), p. 238., Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, pp. 6&7.
161 Ndjerareou, ‘Exodus’, p. 90. (Emphasis original).
37
In addition to the above sacred mountains is Zion. Keith N. Schoville thinks that
in contemporary times, Zion is used as a synonym for all Jerusalem.162 As a synonym of
Zion, Jerusalem is now believed to be the city or dwelling place of God. Perhaps it is
against the backdrop of this perception that John Rea and George Turner describe
Jerusalem as the “spiritual capital of the world.”163 Their description corroborates the
United Nations’ resolution of 1947 which designated Jerusalem an international holy
city.164
It can be observed that the connection of Zion or Jerusalem with the sacred
mountain of God is implicit in many of the references to mountains in the Old
Testament. Schoville traces the historical basis of this connection as follows:
The concept of a sacred mountain as the abode of deities was common in the
ancient Near East. At Ugarit on the North Syrian coast, Mount Zaphon to the
north was the sacred mountain. The most active of the gods of Ugarit was called
Baal – Zaphon. Psalm 48: 3…, refers to Jerusalem as “the utmost height of
Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the Great King.” The poet has drawn on
Canaanite imagery to enhance praise of the Lord.165
The perception of Mount Zion or Jerusalem as a holy site indicates the possibility
of reconstructing a secular space into a sacred space.166 David’s military prowess, among
others, may have enabled him to convert what was formerly called ‘the city of David’ or
‘Zion’ to ‘the dwelling place of God.’167
The survey of Old Testament sacred mountains or spaces would be incomplete
without Mount Carmel. It is believed to be the site where Elijah defeated the prophets of
Baal in a contest (1 Kgs. 18). Davison G. Vernon underscores that ancient sanctuaries to
the weather deities were built on the heights of Mount Carmel; thus it was a fitting site
162 Schoville, ‘Jerusalem. The Name.’ p. 393.
163John Rea and George Turner ‘Jerusalem’ in Charles F. Pfeiffer, et al (eds) Wycliffe Bible Dictionary
(Massachusetts, USA: Hinderickson Publishers, Inc. 2003), p. 905.
164 Rea and Turner ‘Jerusalem’, p. 905.
165 Schoville, ‘Jerusalem. The Name.’ p.394.
166 For details on ‘Creating sacred spaces’, see. Scott, The Gothic Enterprise, pp. 153 – 164.
167 Schoville, ‘Jerusalem. The Name.’ p. 393.
38
for the contest between Elijah and the prophets of the Canaanite storm-god Baal. The
Egyptians called Carmel a sacred cape.168 Vernon thus corroborates Schoville’s
description of sacred mountains as the abode of deities. The colonization of mountains
by deities and the re-appropriation of those mountains as sacred spaces in different
religio-cultural contexts appears to be a research area worth exploring.
The New Testament (especially the Synoptic Gospels, that is, Matthew, Mark and
Luke), is also replete with references to Jesus’ mountaintop experiences. Popular among
these experiences include the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:1-7:29), and the
Transfiguration (Matt. 17: 1-21.; Mk. 9:2ff.; Lk. 9:28-36.; II Pet. 1: 16-18).
The mountain plateau where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, according
to Donald R. Sime, has often been referred to as the Mount of Beatitudes.169 Many
scholars have compared the Mount of Beatitudes to Mount Sinai, where God, through
Moses, first taught his moral codes by the law (Ex. 19 – 20).170 For instance, Delitzsch is
cited by Sime as having called the Mount of Beatitudes the “Sinai of the New
Testament.”171 Delitzsch thus corroborates the view of Thomas Watson that the law was
first given on Mount Sinai and on the Mount of Beatitudes Christ expounded it.172 The
evidence of this, in my opinion, is underscored in Grant R. Osborne’s view about the
inseparability between the Old and New Testaments, as far as biblical hermeneutics is
concerned. Osborne points out that
It is impossible to separate the two testaments, and any truly biblical theology
must begin with the recognition of unity and demonstrate such. The simple fact
that there are at least 257 quotes and over 1,100 allusions … of the Old
Testament in the New shows the extent to which the latter built upon the former.
In terms of vocabulary, themes, religious emphases and worship, the two depend
168 Vernon, ‘Carmel’, p. 315.
169 Donald R. Sime, ‘Mount of Beatitudes’ in Charles F. Pfeiffer, et al (eds.) Wycliffe Bible Dictionary
(Massachusetts, USA: Hinderickson Publishers, Inc. 2003), p. 1155.
170 Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, Illinois:
InterVarsity Press, 2000), p. 56.
171Sime, ‘Mount of Beatitudes’, p. 1155.
172 Thomas Watson, The Beatitudes (Pennsylvania, USA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2000), p. 16.
39
upon one another. In terms of redemptive history, a clear typological relationship
of promise-fulfillment exists between the testaments, and any concept of the
progress of revelation in history (the backbone of biblical theology) must build
upon this deeper interdependence.173
Apart from the perception of the Mount of Beatitudes as the location for the Sermon on
the Mount, Watson agrees with Jerome174 and other scholars that the specific site was
Mount Tabor.175
In his commentary on the experience of Jesus’ transfiguration, Cole Victor
Babajide’s view deserves attention. He maintains that ‘The transfiguration must have
taken place somewhere in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi, probably on Mount
Hermon.’176 This position is, however, contested by Allan R. Killen. Killen suggests four
possible locations for the transfiguration. In addition to Mount Hermon, he suggests the
Mount of Olives, Mount Tabor and Jebel Jermaq.177 Killen’s argument is that Mount
Hermon seems to some to be the most likely because of its great height (9,232 feet) and
its proximity to Caesarea Philippi. Besides, this place was mentioned immediately before
Matt. 16:13 and Mk. 8:27.178 He further maintains that the Mount of Olives and Mount
Tabor appeared to have been too inhabited for an event that called for such privacy and
quiet as the transfiguration.
Jebel Jermaq (3,962 feet), believed to be the highest mountain in Upper Galilee,
is also suggested by W. Ewing as the location for the transfiguration. Ewing’s contention
is that Hermon lay outside Palestine and therefore was unlikely. Further, since Christ
173 Grant R. Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
(Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1991), p. 277.
174 One of the greatest scholars of the early Christian Church (c. AD 420).
175 Watson, The Beatitudes, p. 16.
176 Cole Victor Babajide, ‘Mark’ in Tokumboh Adeyemo (Gen. ed), Africa Bible Commentary (Nairobi,
Kenya: WordAlive Publihsers, 2006), p. 1185.
177Allan R. Killen, ‘Transfiguration of Christ’ in Charles F. Pfeiffer, et al (eds) Wycliffe Bible Dictionary
(Massachusetts, USA: Hinderickson Publishers, Inc. 2003), p. 1731.
178 Killen, ‘Transfiguration of Christ’, p. 1731.
40
went up the mountain to pray (Lk. 9:28) and came down next day to meet a multitude
(Lk. 9:37), Hermon appeared to be too inaccessible.179
One thing is however clear about the apparent controversy surrounding the
location of the transfiguration. All the four suggested locations are mountains. In other
words, the transfiguration of Jesus was believed to have occurred on a mountain.
According to Robert H. Stein, the fact that all the Synoptic Gospel writers did not
unanimously agree on one site for the transfiguration implies that they were not
interested in locating exactly where this event took place; they were more concerned
with what took place.180
It has been said that Jesus Christ took His three closest disciples, Peter, James
and John, with Him on this occasion. The transfiguration occurred as He was praying
(Lk. 9:29). The disciples, who were asleep (Lk. 9:32), awakened to see Christ
transformed or metamorphosed. His outward appearance, it has been said, was
completely transformed, allowing the trio to catch a glimpse of his inner glory. Even his
clothes reflected unsurpassed glory, for they appeared to be of a whiteness or purity
unequalled on earth (Mk. 9:3).181 It is believed that his face shone with brightness like
the sun, an event perceived to confirm Jesus’ divine personality and status.
All of this is to say that in the Bible, mountains as sacred spaces occupied a
considerable place and relevance. Some of them were places for worship and others, for
divine revelations. Such divine encounters were probably part of the reasons those
mountains became sacred to the believing community. Thus the Bible as one of the ideal
historical points of reference in a discourse on PMs underscores the fact that the current
179 Killen, ‘Transfiguration of Christ’, p. 1731.
180 Robert H. Stein, ‘Transfiguration’ in Walter A. Elwell (ed.) Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible
(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1996), P.782. (Emphases original).
181 Babajide, ‘Mark’, p. 1185.
41
academic interest or emphasis182 on mountains as sacred spaces in contemporary
Christianity dates back to times immemorial.183
1.7.4 Prayer Mountains as Sacred Spaces in Ghana
Mbiti and Helm’s classification of sacred sites reinforce the observation that the
phenomenon of sacred space is prevalent and integral in almost all religious and socio-
cultural contexts.184 In the light of this apparent universality, the variations in the
symbolic representation of these sacred spaces have not escaped scholarly attention.
Henryk Zimon, for instance, has found out ‘The sacredness of the Earth among the
Konkomba of Northern Ghana’ and other parts of West Africa.185 Researchers such as
Clement Dorm–Adzobu, Okyeame Ampadu–Agyei and Peter G.Veit have also discussed
‘Religious Beliefs and Environmental Protection’ in the context of ‘The Malshegu
Sacred Grove in Northern Ghana.’186 In these instances, the ‘Earth’ and the ‘Grove’ are
the respective symbolic representations of the sacred spaces among the Konkomba and
the Malshegu people. The implication of this is that the notion of sacred space is not in
any way alien to Ghana’s religious cosmology. In Traditional African Religion for
instance, John D.K. Ekem discusses priesthood in Akan Traditional Religions and makes
mention of the following as some of the popular shrines in Ghana: Akonnedi at Larteh –
Akuapem in the Eastern Region and Kwaku Fri at Nwoase – Wenchi in the Brong-Ahafo
182Peter Jan Margry (ed.) Shrines and Pilgrimage in the Modern World: New Itineraries into the Sacred
(Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2008) and Gideon Bar, ‘Reconstructing the past: The Creation
of Jewish Sacred Space in the State of Israel, 1948–1967’ Israel Studies, 13(2008), pp. 1-21. Available at
http://www.jstor.org/stable/30245829, [Accessed 10 October 2011].
183Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane, pp. 20-27.
184 Park, ‘Religion and Geography’, p.19.
185 Henryk Zimoń, The Sacredness of the Earth among the Konkomba of Northern Ghana, (Anthropos:
Anthropos Institute Stable, 2003), pp. 421-443. Available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/40467332,
[accessed: 10/10/2011].
186 Clement Dorm – Adzobu, et al, Religious Beliefs and Environmental Protection: The Malshegu Sacred
Grove in Northern Ghana (Nairobi, Kenya: World Resources Institute: 1991), pp. 421 – 443.
42
Region.187 Moreover, I am personally aware of other shrines in the Asante Region. These
include Antoa Nyamaa at Antoa and Gadawu at Agona-Asamang.
Scholarly works on PMs in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity, to the best of
my knowledge, include those done by Doris Ekua Yalley188, Philip Kwadwo Okyere189
and Isaac Owusu Ansah.190 In her scholarly study, Yalley examines the perceptions of
the Methodist Church Ghana’s authorities (both clergy and laity) about the church’s
involvement in the practice of nstitutionalised mass pilgrimages to sacred sites both at
the Connexional and Diocesan levels.191 She does not only confine her study to the
Methodist Church Ghana (MCG), but also focuses on three pilgrimage sites operated by
the church. These sites are the William de Graft Centre (WdG) at Azani in the Sekondi
Diocese in the Western Region, Thomas Birch Freeman (TBF) Centre at Kusa in the
Obuasi Diocese in the Asante Region and Abasua Prayer Centre (APC) in the Effiduasi
Diocese, also in the Asante Region. She looks at the contribution pilgrimage to these
sites makes to the renewal programme of the MCG.
Okyere’s study essentially dwells on some aspects of APM. The work generally
underscores the reality of sacred spaces and their attendant pilgrimage attractions in
almost all religious traditions in the world. In his view, ‘people’s belief in the presence of
the luminous or transcendent reality at places and the possibility of their interaction with
the luminous through prayer rituals, do not only define those places as sacred, but are
187John D. K.. Ekem, Priesthood in Context: A Study of Priesthood in some Christian and Primal
Communities of Ghana and its Relevance for Mother-Tongue Biblical Interpretation (Accra, Ghana:
SonLife Press, 2009), pp.43-57.
188 Doris Ekua Yalley, ‘Sacred Site Visitation and the Renewal Program of the Methodist Church Ghana’,
PhD Thesis (University of Ghana, Legon, 2015).
189 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’ (Already cited elsewhere in this work).
190Isaac Owusu-Ansah, ‘Abasua Prayer Mountain in Ghanaian Christianity’, Long Essay (Trinity
Theological Seminary, Legon 2005).
191 Yalley, ‘Sacred Site Visitation’, p.4.
43
also some of the major reasons for pilgrimage to such places.’192 He indicates that ‘the
traditional notion of sacred places as spaces for prayer, worship and divine revelation is
virtually ubiquitous in all discourses on sacred spaces.’193 The specific themes he
discusses in the work include the history of Abasua community194 and APM,195 religion
of Abasua community196 and the role of the PM in the development of Abasua citizens
and the pilgrims.197 This current work undoubtedly reflects these themes or aspects of the
mountain, but novel nuances include an attempt in this present study to re-examine the
themes in the light of possible changes or different narratives that may have emerged.
Isaac Owusu-Ansah also outlines and discusses some Christian sacred spaces in
the context of Prayer Camps in Ghana: Grace Deliverance Centre for the Presbyterian
Church of Ghana (PCG), Kusa Camp for the MCG, Edumfa Prayer Centre for the
Church of Pentecost and Abasua Prayer Mountain (APM).198 His research seeks to
evaluate the use of APM in Ghanaian Christianity in terms of the site’s role in advancing
pilgrims’ spirituality.199 The traditional notion of APM as a place for worship, prayer and
divine revelation is, thus the crux of Owusu-Ansah’s study.
It could be inferred from the discussions that PMs essentially form part of the
scholarly discussion of sacred sites. They have fascinating blend of meanings,
taxonomies, features and relevance. However, from the works of Yalley, Okyere and
Owusu-Ansah, for instance, it could further be inferred that in Ghana, academic
discussion of PMs as sacred sites seems to have mainly centered on the conventional
192 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, p. iii.
193 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, p. iii.
194 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, pp.27-41.
195 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, pp.58-95.
196 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, pp.41-50.
197 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, pp.96-129.
198 Owusu-Ansah, ‘Abasua Prayer Mountain in Ghanaian Christianity’, pp. 5-48.
199 Owusu-Ansah, ‘Abasua Prayer Mountain, p.49.
44
thinking of those mountains as sites for pilgrimage, worship, prayer and divine
revelation. In my opinion, this understanding needs rethinking or revising.
1.8 Significance of the study
The study enables academic institutions, churches, individuals and organizations
to appreciate the continuity of PM phenomena in sacred mountains appropriated within
primal religious context.
Moreover, as an intellectual exercise, the work provides vital pieces of
information about PMs which, I perceive, have not received much scholarly attention.
These include the history or the development of PMs as sacred sites, the relevance of
PMs in Ghana’s contemporary Christianity, the interrelatedness of spirituality and
materiality and the relationship between PMs and pilgrimage.
Last but not least, the study explores the place and relevance of PMs in
contemporary Ghanaian development discourse.
1.9 Organization of chapters
The work is divided into six chapters as follows: Chapter one generally deals
with the introduction to the study. It is sub-divided into nine components. These are
background to the study, statement of the problem, aim and objectives of the study.
Others are research questions, methodology, theoretical framework. The rest are literature
review, significance of the study and organization of chapters.
In chapter two, sacred mountains in Akan primal religious context are explored.
Chapter three examines the historical narratives of PMs in Ghanaian Christianity. In
chapter four, I discuss the influence of Pentecostalism on pilgrims’ appropriation of PMs
in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity. Chapter five is devoted to PMs in contemporary
Ghanaian development discourse. It focuses on religious pilgrimage to PMs and its
attendant environmental sanitation or Christian eco-theology, ecumenical networks in
45
Ghana and economic wellbeing. Chapter six considers the summary, conclusion and
recommendations on the study. The conclusion explores PMs and the future of Ghanaian
Christianity.
46
CHAPTER TWO
SACRED MOUNTAINS IN AKAN PRIMAL RELIGIOUS
CONTEXT: ANTECEDENTS OF PRAYER MOUNTAINS IN
CONTEMPORARY GHANAIAN CHRISTIANITY
2.1 Introduction
A discussion of the evolution of Prayer Mountains in chapter three of this work is
intentionally preceded by a survey of some sacred mountains and their attendant
pilgrimage attractions in Akan primal religious context. The justification for locating the
examination of sacred mountains in Akan primal religious context is obvious. The Akan
group constitutes the largest proportion of the population of Ghana. The group includes
people-group in the [Asante], Brong-Ahafo, Central, Eastern and Western regions of
Ghana.’200 Since they are the majority ethnic group, Akan ways of life have been a
dominant influence in the inter-borrowing of cultural elements among the various ethnic
groups in the country.201
Focusing on some of the sacred mountains in Akan primal religion is therefore
illustrative or a fair representation of sacred mountains in Ghana’s primal religious
thought.202 The sacred mountains and their attendant pilgrimage attractions in Akan
primal religiosity are perceived to be some of the antecedents of pilgrimage to PMs in
Ghanaian contemporary Christianity. The contention is that one of the key concerns in
modern African church historiography is the notion of Christian roots in African primal
200 Kwabena J. Darkwa Amanor, ‘The African Renaissance and Theological Reconstruction: The Akan
Contribution’, Trinity Journal of Church and Theology XIV (2004), p. 57.
201 G. K. Nukunya, Tradition and Change in Ghana: An Introduction to Sociology (Accra: Ghana
Universities Press, 1992), p. 71.
202 Omenyo makes similar argument when he uses Akan Traditional Religion as a case illustrative of
Ghana’s traditional religions. For details, see Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism, p. 26.
47
religion.203 On the basis of this position, it is logical to argue that pilgrimage to sacred
mountains in Akan primal religion is a sub-structure or precursor of pilgrimage to PMs
in Ghanaian contemporary Christianity. In other words, pilgrimage to sacred mountains
in primal religious context, understood as antecedent of pilgrimage to PMs in
Christianity, is generally a marker for the continuity of African primal religion in African
church history.204 The relevant sacred mountains in Akan primal religion that seem to
function as some of the precursors of PMs in Ghanaian Christianity include Atwea boↄ in
the Asanti Region and Ↄboↄ Tabiri in the Eastern Region.
The history of the communities in which these sacred mountains are located is
somehow briefly examined in order to attempt providing some historical insights into the
religio-social, cultural, economic and political backgrounds of those sacred mountains.
2.2 History of Atwea Communnity
Historically, it is believed that the initial settlers of Atwea mysteriously emerged
from a mountain deity called Atwea boↄ.205 The mountain deity is therefore believed to
be very pivotal in the historical narrative of the birth of Atwea community. Prior to the
Atwea citizens’ emergence, legend upholds that a dog (ↄtwea in Asante Twi dialect)
bearing a live coal in its mouth came out of the mountain. Hence, the initial settlers were
Aduana206 whose totem is a dog with a live coal in its mouth.207 The name ‘Atwea’ is
thus a corruption of ↄtwea. The third creature to emerge from the mountain after the
203 Ogbu U. Kalu, ‘Shape, Flow and Identity in Contemporary African Church Historiography’, Trinity
Journal of Church and Theology XII, 1&2 (2002), pp.1-22; Kwame Bediako, Jesus in Africa: The
Christian Gospel in African History and Experience (Akropong-Akuapem, Ghana: Regnum Africa, 2000),
pp. 20-33.
204 Kalu, ‘Shape, Flow and Identity’, p. 1.
205 Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, a 93-year old Atweadikro, disclosed this during an interview he granted me on
29 March 2017 at Abasua community.
206 Aduana is one of the eight clans of Akan matrilineal divisions. For details, see Amenumey, Ghana,
p.16. Italics mine.
207 For details on totems, see Peter Sarpong, Ghana in Retrospect: Some Aspects of Ghanaian Culture
(Tema, Ghana: Ghana Publishing Corporation, 2006), pp. 59-63.
48
coming out of the initial settlers was a toad that mysteriously carried a pot of water.208
Atwea Boↄ Kwabena Tenten – the real name of the mountain deity – had Yaw Berko as
his traditional priest who served as the medium between the deity and the devotees or
clients who consulted the deity for assistance.209 Geographically, Atwea is one of the
small communities in the Nsuta Municipality. It is also located in the Effiduase Diocese
of the Methodist Church Ghana.
2.2.1 Atwea Boↄ as a sacred mountain in Akan primal religious context
Religiously, Atwea community was dominated by Akan primal religiosity.210
Most of the people interviewed disclosed that the centre of traditional religious
expression at Atwea before the introduction of Christianity there, was Atwea boↄ.211
Atwea boↄ, one of the four mountains in the vicinity of Abasua, was believed to be a very
powerful deity or ↄbosom, whose overarching influence and power had resulted in the
influx of many people to the place. Most of these people came there to consult the deity,
through the deity’s ↄkↄmfoↄ (Traditional Priest)212, for answers to their existential needs
and challenges. According to Mr. Aboraa, most of the people who came for consultation
and received answers to their questions did not go back to their towns again; they
relocated and stayed there. The natives were also kind and hospitable to the new settlers.
208 Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, Interview, 29 March 2107, Abasua Community.
209 Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, Interview, 29 March 2107, Abasua Community.
210 Madam Adwoa Apemasu and Mr. Daniel Aboraa disclosed this during an interview they separately
granted me on 13 August 2011 at Abasua community. C.f. Kwame Gyekye, African Cultural Values: An
Introduction (Ghana: Sankofa Publishing Company, 1998), pp.3-19. Ekem, Priesthood in Context, pp.27-
42.
211 Madam Adwoa Apemasu and Mr. Daniel Aboraa disclosed this during an interview they separately
granted me on 13 August 2011 at Abasua community; Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, Interview, 29 March 2107,
Abasua Community.
212 For a good discussion on the functions of Akan Traditional Priests/Priestesses and their impact on
society, see Ekem, Priesthood in Context, PP. 52-57.
49
The mountain deity, Atwea boↄ, strongly dominated the traditional and religio-
social consciousness of the indigenous people of Atwea and Abasua.213 One major
influence of Atwea boↄ was in the belief in his214 ability to provide protection to the
natives of Atwea, Abasua and other people, especially, the rich cocoa farmers who,
because of their wealth, were afraid of being destroyed by witches and wizards.215 The
reality of Abosom (plural form of ↄbosom) and some people’s strong belief in their
potency has been expressed by Omenyo as follows:
Generally, they are perceived to provide solutions to many social problems,
personal problems and mishaps as well as to reveal witches and to witness to the
truth of an event. They are also believed to have powers that can destroy. The
popularity of a deity depends largely on its reputed ability to perform by way of
providing material and spiritual prosperity. Such deities attract devotees from far
and near. However, they are abandoned if they fail to meet specific needs of
groups or individuals.216
Related to the above is the Akans’ belief in the malevolence of witches and wizards.
Omenyo further notes that ‘There is a strong belief among Akans in witches and wizards
(abayifo and abayibonsam), who are perceived as enemies of the Akan society. They are
believed to possess evil psychic powers that could, among other things, destroy life and
property; cause sickness, barrenness or impotence, material poverty, drunkenness and
death.’217 This belief may have influenced the people who trouped to Atwea boↄ, for
consultation, resettlement and security purposes.
Atwea boↄ was also believed to have significant influence on the moral and
religio-cultural lives of the natives and ‘clients’ who came there for resettlement or for
consultation purposes. The belief in the mountain deity’s (ↄbosom’s) ability to expose
213 Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, a 93-year old Atweadikro, disclosed this during an interview he granted me on
29 March 2017 at Abasua community.
214 In an interview with Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, Atwea Dikro, on 29 March, 2017 at Abasua, he told me
that Atwea boↄ is a male mountain deity called Atweaboↄ Kwabena Tenten. In Ghana, Kwabena is the
Akan word for a male human being born on Tuesday, hence the use of a male human category ‘his’.
215 Madam Adwoa Apemasu and Mr. Daniel Aboraa, Interview, 13 August 2011, Abasua community.
(Separate interviews).
216 Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Penteccostalism, p. 27.
217 Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecco stalism, p. 28.
50
and punish wrongdoers, such as thieves, witches and wizards, according to Madam
Apemasu, put fear in the citizens. Consequently, the people became terribly afraid of
flouting any of the numerous taboos of the place. It is a taboo, for instance, to work on
any of the sacred days218 such as Wednesday. It is also a taboo to work in or around
ↄnwam Yaa219 on Thursdays. It is, however, not a taboo to merely cross the river on
Thursdays.220 It is strictly forbidden for farmers or hunters to go to Atwea boↄ on
Tuesdays to embark on farming activities or hunting expeditions respectively.221
A story narrated by one of the people interviewed underscores the belief in the
Atwea boↄ’s overarching influence and power over the people’s moral lives.
There was a deity called ↄbosom Fofie who resided at Nsuta. It was believed
that ↄbosom Fofie so detested wrongdoers that such culprits suffered instant
death, immediately the deity got to know of their evil deeds. One day, over
seventy people at Nsuta believed to be wrongdoers were killed by the deity. The
unpleasant smell, which their dead bodies exuded in the community, forced the
ↄmanhene at that time to move out of his traditional area to a place where he
hoped to find a lasting antidote to that mass killing of people in his community.
Upon hearing of the presence of another powerful deity at Duroman in the
Nkoranza area, the ↄmanhene went there for consultation and assistance.
When he reached Duroman and narrated his story and mission to the Traditional
Priest of the deity, the ↄmanhene was told to come back to Atwea boↄ, located at
the Nsuta area. The deity at Duroman was believed to have revealed to its
Traditional Priest that the ↄmanhene’s problem could best be handled by Atwea
boↄ since ↄbosom Fofie (who was believed to be responsible for the mass killing
of the people at Nsuta) was the son of Atwea boↄ.
The ↄmanhene hurriedly came back and performed the necessary rituals for the
consultation of the deity to be possible. He took a bottle of locally-brewed dry
gin (popularly called akpeteshie in Ghana) and went to Atwea boↄ. Immediately
he reached there, a stool and a calabash which were not brought out by any
human being suddenly appeared. The ↄmanhene was instructed to sit down on
the stool. He could hear human voice but could not see any human being there.
He was then asked to tell his mission for coming there. When he finished telling
what had brought him there, he heard nothing except a very loud laughter by a
group of people he could not physically see. He was then told to go and organise
his people for them to come and weed the surroundings of Atwea boↄ, since that
218 Among the Akan people of Ghana, sacred days are days on which certain activities such as farming or
fishing are strictly forbidden by the traditional authorities.
219Name of the river crossed just before climbing APM. Fishing in the river on Thursdays is strictly
forbidden. Mr. Bismark Adu-Gyamfi, Interview, 14 August 2011, Abasua community.
220 Mr. Bismark Adu-Gyamfi, Interview, 14 August 2011, Abasua community.
221 Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, Interview, 29 March 2107, Abasua Community.
51
would pacify the angry ↄbosom Fofie and put an end to the mass killing of the
people. When the ↄmanhene went and carried out the directive given him, the
serial killing of the people ceased.222
By killing people suspected to be wrongdoers at Nsuta traditional area (which includes
Abasua), ↄbosom Fofie thus functioned as a custodian of morality and ethical behaviour.
The people’s awareness of the deadly consequences that follow their wrongful acts or
misdeeds serves as a deterrent to potential or would-be miscreants in the traditional area.
The people’s moral and ethical consciousness thus became heightened by the presence of
the deity. This affirms Geertz’s assertion that
Religion is never merely metaphysics. For all peoples the forms, vehicles, and
objects of worship are suffused with an aura of deep moral seriousness. The holy
bears within it everywhere a sense of intrinsic obligation: it not only encourages
devotion, it demands it; it not only induces intellectual assent, it enforces
emotional commitment ... that which is set apart as more than mundane is
inevitably considered to have far-reaching implications for the direction of
human conduct.223
Thus in a traditional Akan community, Kwesi A. Dickson seems to agree with Geertz
when he (Dickson) observes that
There is a traditional pattern of life, itself, the summum bonum, sanctioned by
spirit-ancestors and gods expressing itself in Akan institutions and behaviour
patterns. Evil may be atoned for, and wrong-doing may be set right within a
framework of traditionally sanctioned rites and practices. The appropriate
appeasement, the necessary arbitration restores the status quo, itself the perfect
pattern for Akan life.224
The son-father relationship between ↄbosom Fofie and Atwea boↄ and the belief that the
ↄmanhene’s problem could best be addressed by Atwea boↄ, as the deity at Duroman had
revealed, reinforced the popularity of Atwea boↄ and people’s belief in it.225
It is worth noting that the power and influence of Atwea boↄ, as far as traditional
Akan religiosity at Abasua is concerned, was partly through the presence and
222 Madam Adwoa Apemasu, Interview, 13 August 2011, Abasua community.
223 Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, p.126.
224 Kwesi A. Dickson (ed.), Akan Religion and the Christian: A Comparative Study of the Impact of Two
Religions (Accra: Ghana Universities Press, 1965), p. 141. (Emphases original).
225 Madam Adwoa Apemasu, Interview, 13 August 2011, Abasua community.
52
effectiveness of its asↄfoↄ (devotees) and akↄmfoↄ (Traditional Priests).226 The regular
rituals and sacrifices offered to the deity by these traditional Akan religious
functionaries, according to most of the people interviewed, were believed to be the live
wire of the deity.227 It is said that on some of the sacred days, when rituals and sacrifices
were performed to the deity (Atwea boↄ), he manifested his presence and power through
some mysterious occurrences such as sudden appearance of many big and flapping state
umbrellas on top of the mountain. These umbrellas, however, immediately vanished after
the sacred day’s rituals and sacrifices were completed.228
The demise of some of the traditional religious functionaries and the reluctance
of the subsequent Paramount Chiefs of Nsuta to assist in replacing dead devotees and
Traditional Priests/Priestesses, according to some of my informants, contributed greatly
to the waning and loss of power and influence of Atwea boↄ and ↄbosom Fofie in the
area. The death of akↄmfoↄ Ama Animwaa (Traditional Priestess of ↄbosom Fofie) and
Akua Pomaa (Traditional Priestess of Atwea boↄ), for instance, was a heavy blow to their
respective deities. This is because no replacements were found for them.229 According to
some of the respondents, the reluctance of the people230 to avail themselves of the
traditional religious vocation (that is, to replace the demised religious functionaries), was
as a result of the influence of Christianity in the community. This confirms the previous
assertion that the presence and effectiveness of the traditional religious functionaries
were believed to be the live wire of the deities. It can therefore be argued that the deities’
226 For a good discussion, see Ekem, Priesthood in Context, pp.46-7.
227 Madam Adwoa Apemasu and Mr. Daniel Aboraa, 13 August 2011, Abasua community (Separate
interviews). Mr. Emmanuel Oduro, Mobile Phone Interview, 19 February 2012.
228 Madam Adwoa Apemasu, Interview, 13 August 2011, Abasua community.
229 Madam Adwoa Apemasu, Interview, 13 August 2011, Abasua community. Mr. Emmanuel Oduro,
Mobile Phone Interview, 19 February 2012.
230 These people, according to some of the respondents, were the family members of the deceased
traditional religious functionaries. By custom, replacements or successors for the deceased devotees were
often selected from among the living family members of the deceased.
53
power and influence derived significantly from the rituals and sacrifices given to them
regularly by their devotees and Traditional Priests / Priestesses.
Owing to the demise of the deities’ traditional religious functionaries and the
decline in their (deities’) power and influence, the many ‘clients’ who used to come to
Abasua for consultation also stopped coming. The natives of Abasua, who, hitherto, paid
allegiance to the deities also stopped doing so. They did not see why they should express
loyalty and allegiance to deities which were perceived to be powerless.231 As Omenyo
notes, ‘The popularity of a deity depends largely on its reputed ability to perform by way
of providing material and spiritual prosperity. Such deities attract devotees from far and
near. However, they are abandoned if they fail to meet specific needs of groups or
individuals.’232
2.3. Historical narrative of the founding of New Juaben State
In pursuance of the scheme of situating a discourse on sacred mountains in a
historical context, the narrative of Ↄboↄ Tabiri as the epitome of primal religiosity in the
New Juaben state is preceded by a brief survey of the founding and development of the
state. This is because the place and relevance of Ↄboↄ Tabiri in the religious cosmology
of the people of New Juaben would not be noticed and appreciated without recourse to
the historical narrative of the founding of the New Juaben state.233
The history of the New Juaben State is a multifarious narrative of a people who
had to migrate from their ancestral homes in Asante in the 1870s to seek refuge in the
then British Protectorate of Akyem Abuakwa.234 The choice of Akyem Abuakwa as their
231 Madam Adwoa Apemasu, Interview, 13 August 2011, Abasua community.
232 Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Penteccostalism, p. 27.
233 Nana Amo Boakye (Okyeame, Linguist of New Juaben Traditional Area), Interview, 3 January, 2016,
Koforidua.
234 Scholarly works on the history of New Juaben State include Addo-Fening, Nana Otuo Siriboe II
(Omanhene of Juaben- Asante), pp. 12-22; Carl C. Reindorf, History of the Gold Coast and Asante (3rd
ed.) (Accra, Ghana: Ghana Universities Press,2007), pp. 284-305; J. G. Amoafo, ‘The founding and
54
destination was not by accident but by design. It is said that in the 1830s the people of
Juaben, under their great leader, King Kwasi Akuamoa Boateng, had sojourned at Kyebi
in self-imposed exile and cherished the great hospitality of the people of Akyem.235
Prior to her first migration to Akyem Abuakwa in 1830s, Juaben had been one of
the founding members of the Asante Confederacy. In fact, Juabenhene, Adarkwa
Yiadom, was said to be among those who had insisted on open defiance against the
obnoxious, vexatious and humiliating annual demands of tribute by Denkyira; and it was
actually the Juaben contingent that captured and killed the Denkyirahene, Ntim
Gyakari.236 These remarkable roles sealed Juaben’s reputation and eventually earned her
an enviable position in the affairs of the newly consummated Asante nation.237 The
significant roles Juaben played in the consummation of the Asante nation also secured
for her the headship of the Oyoko caucus within the Union.238 After the creation of Ko-
Nti and Akwamu Divisions, Nana Osei Tutu is said to have categorically asked the
Juabenhene to appoint somebody to represent him in Kumasi, who would act for him
when he was in his Province. Being unwilling to appoint his near relative, he appointed
Kwapong and sent him to Kumase as his representative and he was made the Ayokohene
of Kumase.239
development of New Juaben State: A historical background’ in the Souvenir Brochure for the Launching
of Akwantukese Afahye of New Juaben and Fifth Anniversary Celebration of the Enstoolment of Daasebre
Oti Boateng as Omanhene of New Juaben, 1997, pp. 6-10;
R. Addo-Fening, ‘The Background to the Deportation of King Asafo Agyei and the Foundation of New
Dwaben’ in Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, 14, 2 (1973), pp. 213-228. Available at
http://www.jstor.org/stable/41406526 [Accessed 27 February 2017].
235 Amoafo, ‘The founding and development of New Juaben State’, p. 6.
236 Amoafo, ‘The founding and development of New Juaben State’, p. 6.
237 Addo-Fening, Nana Otuo Siriboe II (Omanhene of Juaben- Asante), p.11.; Albert Adu Boahen, ‘The
Juaben State, A Historical Background’, Nana Otuo Siriboe II, Silver Jubilee Souvenir Brochure 1996, p.2.
238 Addo-Fening, Nana Otuo Siriboe II, p.11.; Albert Adu Boahen, ‘The Juaben State, A Historical
Background’, p.2.
239 Addo-Fening writes that Kwapong was an Oyoko fugitive from Asiakwa in Akyem Abuakwa. He
escaped with his niece first to Dwansa and thence to Juaben where the Juabenhenen welcomed him as a
clansman. See Addo-Fening, Nana Otuo Siriboe II (Omanhene of Juaben- Asante), p.11.
55
After the toppling of Denkyira’s hegemony, Juaben continued to be renowned for
its courage and military prowess in the consolidation of the Asante Union. 240It was very
instrumental in the wars of expansion embarked upon by Nana Osei Tutu and Opoku
Ware in the first half of the 18th century. Its rulers, Osei Hwedee and Kofi Akrasi, were
actively involved in the incorporation of present-day Asante-Akyem into the Asante
Union. They also participated actively in the invasions of Akyem and Ga to the south,
and the Guan states of Bassa and Krakye to the north-east. In recognition and
appreciation of Akrasi’s military prowess, he was dubbed ‘Akrasi Dente’, after the
leading god of the Krakye State. The title, Akrasi Dente’, seems to allude to the primal
religious consciousness of the Juaben people. Juaben continued to exhibit unwavering
patriotism and loyalty to the Asante Union up to the third decade of the 19th century.
Thereafter, relations got strained. Juaben’s prior cordial relationship with the Union
became acrimonious.241
In October 1875, the persistent feuds between Kumase and Juaben took a
dramatic turn when the Asantehene, Kofi Karikari pounced on Juaben and its allies,
namely, Afigyaase, Asokore and Oyoko. After three days of intensive fighting, Juaben
and her allies were brutally defeated on 3rd November, 1875. Kumase-Juaben relations
had been utterly strained beyond repair and the only alternative for Juabenhene, Asafo
Agyei, and his allies was to emigrate to Akyem Abuakwa where they had once lived in
self-imposed exile half a century before. Since Juaben and her allies had fought with
Kumase and lost, their defeat and sense of grievance seemed to provide a bond of
solidarity and a catalyst for their asylum at Akyem Abuakwa.242
240 Addo-Fening, Nana Otuo Siriboe II (Omanhene of Juaben- Asante), p.11.
241 Addo-Fening, Nana Otuo Siriboe II (Omanhene of Juaben- Asante), p.11.
242 Addo-Fening, Nana Otuo Siriboe II (Omanhene of Juaben- Asante), pp.16-17; Amoafo, ‘The Founding
and Development of New Juaben State’, p.8.
56
The journey was long and wearisome but they persevered. After a short rest at
Asuom the refugees continued to Kyebi under the leadership of King Asafo Agyei. On
their arrival at Kyebi they notified the colonial administration of their presence in the
protectorate. 243
By March 1877, many Juaben exiles were occupying portions of Kukurantumi
stool lands on ill-defined terms.244 After some time, the Colonial Government thought it
prudent to regularize the stay of the exiles by negotiating with Kukurantumihene and
Adontenhene of Akyem Abuakwa, Nana Ampao, for a gift of the portion of his land to
resettle the Juaben refugees in the vicinity of Kukurantumi forest or the modern day of
Koforidua.245
There is an interesting narrative about the evolution of the name Koforidua. Oral
tradition and other documentary sources maintain that the portions of Kukurantumi forest
offered the exiles were part of the forest and hunting areas of the Akyem Abuakwa state.
Okyenhene Amoako Atta I had settled his hunter named severally as Kofi Ofori, Kwaw
Ofori or Akoa Ofori in the forest to keep it and to embark on hunting expedition for him.
In addition to his hunting expedition, Kofi Ofori was a wood carver. The carver
displayed his wooden artifacts for sale under a big tree. In no time the term Kofi Ofori
duase [under the tree of Kofi Ofori] evolved and the name was eventually corrupted into
Koforidua.’246
243 Amoafo, ‘The Founding and Development of New Juaben State’, p.7.
244 Amoafo, ‘The Founding and Development of New Juaben State’, p.8.
245 Amoafo, ‘The Founding and Development of New Juaben State’, p.8.
246 Nana Yaw Annor Boateng II (New Juaben Nseneyehene) Interview, 13 March 2017, New Juaben
Palace, Koforidua. See also ‘Koforidua Circuit’ in The Methodist Church Ghana, Koforidua Diocese: 35th
Anniversary Celebration Brochure (6th September, 2014), p. 83. Emphases original.
57
2.3.1 Ↄboↄ Tabiri: The embodiment of indigenous religious expression in the New
Juaben State
A notoriously and enthusiastically religious African and for that matter, Ghanaian
/ the Akan effortlessly resorts to religion as a survival strategy in the pursuit of any
worthwhile life’s endeavour.247 Kwame Gyekye accentuates the centrality of religion in
the affairs of Africans as follows: ‘Religion – the awareness of the existence of some
ultimate, Supreme Being who is the origin and sustainer of this universe and the
establishment of constant ties with this being – influences in a comprehensive way, the
thoughts and actions of the African people….The African heritage is intensely religious.
The African lives in a religious universe: all actions and thoughts have religious meaning
and are inspired or influenced by a religious point of view.’248
Against this backdrop of Africans’ profound religiosity, it is said that the Old
Juaben refugees were accompanied to their new settlement by their deities; Atwere,
Ateko, Abrampon and Boↄnson and their traditional priests. 249 Oral tradition posits that
prior to the arrival of the Old Juaben refugees at the Kukurantumi forest area, which
eventually became their destination, a mountain deity called Ↄboↄ Tabiri or Nana Boↄ,
which was located there, was the epitome of traditional Akan religiosity of the Akyem
Abuakwa state. The deity’s traditional priests and other devotees regularly walked from
Akyem Abuakwa to pay allegiance to him through sacrifices, libation and other
pilgrimage rituals. 250 The rituals of sacrifices, libation and pilgrimage contributed
greatly to the activation of the spiritual vitality and relevance of the deity. This
247 For details on the notion that Africans are notoriously religious, see John S. Mbiti, African Religions
and Philosophy (London: Heinemann, 1969), p. 1.
248 Kwame Gyekye, African Cultural Values: An Introduction (Accra, Ghana: Sankofa Publishing
Company, 1998), p. 3.
249 Nana Yaw Annor Boateng II (New Juaben Nseneyehene), Interview, 13 March 2017, New Juaben
Traditional Council, Koforidua.
250 Nana Yaw Annor Boateng II (New Juaben Nseneyehene) and Nana Baah Acheamfuor Ampeh II (New
Juaben Banmuhene) Interview, 13 March 2017, New Juaben Traditional Council, Koforidua.
58
immediately suggests that the presence and effectiveness of the traditional religious
functionaries were believed to be the live wire of the deity.251
The forest area where the mountain deity was sited was characterized by wild
beasts, dwarfs and other supernatural forces which evoked tremendous trepidations
among those who visited the area.252 As a result of these and the hazardous long distance
the traditional priests and the devotees walked to attend to the deity, they had abandoned
him in the forest many years before the coming of the Old Juaben refugees. The
abandonment implied that the people who expressed loyalty and allegiance to the deity
had withdrawn their traditional religious services considered to be vital in the regular
activation of his potency and relevance.
Oral tradition further maintains that when the Old Juaben refugees finally settled
at their destination (i.e., the Kukurantumi forest area, now Koforidua) where the
abandoned mountain deity was (and is still) located, the Akyem Abuakwa people
informed the refugees and their traditional priests about the reality or presence of the
abandoned mountain deity, called Ↄboↄ Tabiri or Nana Boↄ. Being a people of profound
primal religious consciousness and whose deities - Atwere, Ateko, Abrampon and
Boↄnson - and their traditional priests had accompanied them in their migration, the
traditional priests, on behalf of the entire refugees, reportedly went to pay homage to the
abandoned mountain deity in the forest.253
This payment of homage to the resident deity was very essential and revealing. It
was one of the indispensable and non-negotiable community entry protocols required to
be observed by the Old Juaben refugees, especially, the traditional priests, as far as their
251 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, p. 46.
252 Nana Yaw Annor Boateng II (New Juaben Nseneyehene) and Nana Baah Acheamfuor Ampeh II (New
Juaben Banmuhene) Interview, 13 March 2017, New Juaben Traditional Council, Koforidua.
253 Nana Yaw Annor Boateng II (New Juaben Nseneyehene) and Nana Baah Acheamfuor Ampeh II (New
Juaben Banmuhene) Interview, 13 March 2017, New Juaben Traditional Council, Koforidua.
59
quest for a peaceful and progressive stay in the new environment was concerned. Their
failure to pay homage to the resident deity would be tantamount to their blatant disregard
of the territorial dominance of the deity as far as that forest area was concerned. Any
such barefaced disregard would be interpreted by the deity as an attempt by the refugees
to usurp his power of territorial dominance and hence, an undisputable recipe for
spiritual altercation.254
It is said that despite the Akyem Abuakwa traditional religious functionaries’
withdrawal of traditional religious services to the mountain deity for a long time before
the Old Juaben refugees’ encounter with him, the deity was still perceived to be very
powerful when the traditional priests from Old Juaben went to pay homage to him. It is
alleged that the resident deity, through his traditional priest, promised to prosper and
protect the new settlers whose traditional priests had recognized him, paid homage to
him, re-enacted and re-visited the abandoned primal religious devotion or practice. The
promise to bless the new settlers included their unsurpassed emergence into socio-
economic, religio-cultural, administrative and political limelight beyond the imagination
of the surrounding nations in the Eastern region which they had come to meet;
specifically, Akyem Abuakwa, Akuapem and Krobo. They were also promised
unrivalled military backing and victory over all their assailants.255
2.3.2 New Juaben Traditional Leaders’ Annual Pilgrimage Rituals to Ↄboↄ Tabiri: A
Necessary Condition for the Continuous Fulfilment of Promises
The continuous fulfillment of Ↄboↄ Tabiri’s promises to bless the New Juaben
state was, however, contingent upon the satisfaction of one important condition by the
New Juaben traditional leaders. The deity allegedly requested the traditional leaders to
254 Nana Yaw Annor Boateng II (New Juaben Nseneyehene) Interview, 13 March 2017, New Juaben
Traditional Council, Koforidua.
255 Nana Yaw Annor Boateng II (New Juaben Nseneyehene) Interview, 13 March 2017, New Juaben
Traditional Council, Koforidua.
60
embark on an annual pilgrimage to the mountain to offer him libation and a ram as
sacrifice. Okyeame Amoh Boakye’s description of the pilgrimage rituals and their
importance to the New Juaben state are briefly presented:
The pilgrimage to the mountain takes place on the last Fofie of the year.
The Paramount Chief, affectionately called Daasebre, and all his male
traditional leaders are the pilgrims. It is a taboo for a female traditional leader to
take part in it. Among the items taken along to the mountain are hen, a big ram,
tubers of yam, bottles of schnapps, palm wine, vegetables, spices, fire wood and
water. The pilgrimage is usually a very hazardous one. Upon reaching the spot
on the mountain where the sacrifice takes place, Daasebre first gives the hen to
Banmuhene who also throws her into a particular hole in the mountain. The
giving of the hen symbolically announces to the mountain deity about the
presence of the traditional leaders to offer annual sacrifice to him. If the hen does
not come back from the hole into which it is thrown, it symbolizes the deity’s
readiness to accept the sacrifice of the leaders. Surprisingly, there is no historical
record of the coming back of any hen thrown into the hole to signal the deity’s
unpreparedness and displeasure in the pilgrimage ritual.
After the hen has been given out, the Okyeame presents the ram to
Banmuhene who performs libation with schnapps and then slaughters the sheep.
The libation is always about the peace and prosperity – that is, total salvation –
of the New Juaben people. A sumptuous soup is prepared with the mutton. The
tubers of yam are also cooked. Daasebre is the one who serves each leader with
the food. He does the service in his capacity as the Paramount Chief. The palm
wine and the remaining bottles of schnapps are voluntarily enjoyed. No remnant
of food or palm wine is brought home from the mountain. It is a taboo. After
eating and drinking, Daasebre brings the rituals to a close and directs the leaders
back home. This pilgrimage ritual also marks the commencement of the annual
Akwantukese festival of the New Juaben people.256
The annual pilgrimage to Ↄboↄ Tabiri as briefly described above reveals several
themes of religious implications and significance. These themes include the following:
First, hard work and determination (with respect to the zeal and commitment with which
the traditional leaders embark on the hazardous and difficult annual pilgrimage to the
mountain). Second, leadership and service (with respect to the exemplary leadership of
the Omanhene who, though a Paramount Chief, stoops down to serve his subjects with
food on the mountain). Third, prayer and sacrifice (with respect to the centrality of
libation prayer and the offering of animal sacrifice as integral parts of the pilgrimage
rituals). Fourth, fellowship (with respect to the feasting, excitement and solidarity that
256 Okyeame Amoh Boakye (New Juaben) Interview, 1 March 2016, Koforidua.
61
characterize the pilgrimage rituals). Fifth, the exclusively male gender orientation of the
pilgrims. These themes, in my opinion, are some of the significant identity markers of
Akan primal religious tradition.
The promise of the mountain deity to bless the New Juaben state, on condition of
the traditional leaders’ recourse to annual pilgrimage rituals to him, must be understood
and discussed against the backdrop of Akan primal religious worldview. Omenyo notes
that the Akan primal religious worldview ‘lies in the belief that the spiritual is immanent
and impinges directly on the living. In other words, there is a strong belief that people
are surrounded by hosts of spirit-beings – some good, some evil – which are able to
influence the lives of the living for good or for ill.’257
This immediately means that in the Akan primal religious worldview, the
ontology (that is, existence or reality) of spiritual forces is hardly contested. The hosts of
spirit-beings, in the opinion of Geoffrey Parrinder and other scholars, are categorized in a
descending order as follows: the Supreme God, deities or gods, ancestors and charms or
amulets. Next after these entities, according to Kwame Gyekye, are humans and the
physical world of natural objects and phenomena.258
The Akans’ perception of the Supreme God is summarized by Omenyo as
follows: He (the Supreme Being) is perceived to be:
An all-powerful creative force whose existence is unknown. He is regarded as
the creator (Obooadee), and owner (asaase wura) of the world. He is thought to
be immanent as well as imminent, thus he is believed to be present and active in
the affairs of humans. Akans conceive of God as the preserver of the world, and
he is known principally in terms of what he is believed to do for humankind.
Thus there are such descriptions of God as giver of sun (amowia), giver of water
(amonsu), giver of rain (totrobonsu), and the reliable one (twereampon). There
are traditional names, attributes, myths, symbols, proverbs, greetings, and
everyday sayings that together express God’s omnipotence, omniscience,
257 Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism, p. 26
258 Geoffrey Parrinder, West African Religion (London: Oxford University Press, 1949), p.16. See also
Kwame Gyekye African Philosophical Thought: The Akan Conceptual Scheme (Revised Edition)
(Philadelphia, United States of America: Temple University Press, 1987), pp. 68-84.; Omenyo, Pentecost
Outside Pentecostalism, p. 26
62
goodness, dependability, immortality and other beliefs in him. He himself is not
generally worshipped directly; however. His help is invoked in times of crisis….
God is generally viewed as transcendent so he requires intermediaries through
whom he functions and humankind also approaches him through these means –
deities and ancestors.259
If the Supreme Being (Onyankopon) is the ultimate source of everything,260 then it is
thoughtful to underscore that he is the one from whom the blessings of the people
emanate through the deities.
Next in the hierarchical character of Akan primal religious cosmology are the
deities. They are non-human spirits, some of which are personified in the form of
Abosom (singular, obosom) who are viewed as children of God. Each has been given
tasks to perform under God’s control. The deities are believed to depict their reality in
various physical or tangible forms such as water (nsuobosom), rocks and caves
(bosombuo), house gods (fiebosom) and other natural objects. Generally, they are
believed to provide remedies to social and personal problems as well as to reveal witches
and to witness to the truth of an event. They are also believed to possess destructive
powers.261
Ↄ boↄ Tabiri, in the opinion of some of the New Juaben traditional leaders, is a
deity through whom the Supreme Being’s blessings flow to the entire New Juaben
people as a result of the annual pilgrimage ritual on the mountain. In this sense, the
mountain deity is thought to be an embodiment of God’s abundant blessings to the
people. The traditional leaders also believe that God, the Supreme Being, through the
deity, punishes individuals in the state who do not endear themselves to God’s
admiration, pleasure and approval through morally and ethically appropriate behaviours.
Such punishments, according to the leaders, include sudden or mysterious deaths, fatal
accidents, chronic sickness, barrenness, impotency, miscarriages, unexplained loss of
259 Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism, p. 26
260 Gyekye African Philosophical Thought, pp.70-71.
261 Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism, p. 27.
63
jobs, etc. Thus the deity epitomizes a monumental evidence of the Supreme Being who
both blesses (in response to appropriate practices such as the leaders’ annual pilgrimage
rituals and the people’s moral and ethical uprightness) and curses (as a result of the
leaders’ neglect of the annual pilgrimage rituals and the people’s irresponsible or
miscreant behaviours).262 Even though the concept of causality would be considered in
relative detail later in this study, it suffices now to indicate that in the Akan primal
religious thought, causality leans heavily on the supernatural.263
Usually there are ritual experts who function as intermediaries between the deity
and the devotees or clients who seek God’s intervention in their existential circumstances
through the deity. For the purpose of this work, it is imperative to examine the place and
relevance of Okomfo Nana Afua Tabiri, a traditional priestess who functions as an
intermediary between the deity and the devotees.
2.3.3 The Ↄboↄ Tabiri Shrine and the Institution of Traditional Priesthood Services
in the New Juaben State through the calling and empowerment of Ↄkomfo Nana
Afua Tabiri
The Ↄboↄ Tabiri shrine in the New Juaben Municipality, Koforidua, was
established in August 1985, when the young Nana Afua Tabiri, then known and called
Miss Lydia Enninful, aged seventeen (17) years, was reported mysteriously missing from
the Seventh Day Adventist Middle School in Koforidua, where she was then a student.
Traditionally, the African will resort to the supernatural to understand or unravel the
reason behind any occurrence deemed mysterious in a family or to an individual. When
this was done, it came to light that Miss Enninful had been mysteriously whisked away
by some beings from a place called the Devic Kingdom or the land of dwarfs. It was,
262 Nana Yaw Annor Boateng II (New Juaben Nseneyehene) Interview, 13 March 2017, New Juaben
Traditional Council, Koforidua.
263Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism, p. 30.
64
however, predicted by the oracles that the young Enninful would return from the Devic
Kingdom after twenty-one (21) days.
It must be made clear here that the deity, Ↄboↄ Tabiri, did not have any priest or
priestess ever since the Akyems from Tafo identified and worked with him centuries ago,
receiving guidance, counselling and hospitality from this mountain deity. As it was
rightly predicted by the oracles, in the early hours of 6th of September, 1985, exactly
three weeks after her mysterious disappearance, she mysteriously reappeared amidst
pomp and pageantry in her resplendent clothes, meticulously put on her by some beings
believed to be dwarfs. On her arrival, she, among other things, narrated her twenty-one
day experience in the Devic Kingdom. She was mysteriously ‘called’ into the land of
dwarfs to be initiated and trained into traditional priesthood. She also gave her new name
as Okomfo Nana Afua Tabiri to indicate her new identity and role as a traditional
priestess of Nana Ↄboↄ Tabiri. The powers bestowed on her were for healing all manner of
diseases.
Again, for the second time Nana Afua Tabiri made another trip to the land of
dwarfs to be tutored for eleven (11) days.264 Her eleven-day tutelage was to ‘empower’
her to acquire more knowledge on how to cure diverse diseases, eradicate evil and
restore ecological and moral balance.
The traditional priestess made a third journey to the Devic Kingdom to be finally
trained and fortified for seventy-five days (75). She ultimately returned carrying a
Golden Stool, in fulfilment of a promise made to the New Juaben people by Nana Ↄboↄ
Tabiri to bring peace, prosperity and harmony to the nation.265
264 ‘The land of dwarfs’, also known as ‘the Devic Kingdom’, is the sacred mountain called Ↄboↄ Tabiri,
located in New Juabeng , Koforidua. See Brochure of the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Ↄboↄ Tabiri
Shrine (1985-1995), pp.1-20.
265 Brochure of the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Ↄboↄ Tabiri Shrine (1985-1995), pp.1-20.
65
Figure 2.1: The portrait of Ↄkↄmfoↄ Nana Afua Tabiri, the traditional priestess of
Ↄboↄ Tabiri
As a full-fledged traditional priestess who acts as a medium for the deity, Nana
Afua Tabiri, on sacred days such as Awukudae and Fofie, gets possessed by the deity to
perform functions on his behalf. She helps the community ‘by communicating with
meta-empirical beings on behalf of clients or devotees for the purposes of sacral
mediation, prophecy, healing, exorcism, diagnosis, the restoration to wholeness of ill and
disturbed persons and general pastoral care.’266
266 Ekem, Priesthood in Context, pp.37-50; Cephas N. Omenyo, ‘African Religion’ in Stephen D. Glazier
(ed.) Encyclopedia of African and African-American Religions (New York / London, Routledge, 2001),
p.28; Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism, p.27.
66
Figure 2.2: Ↄkↄmfoↄ Nana Afua Tabiri, in Kente cloth, and in a mood of possession
by the mountain deity, Ↄboↄ Tabiri
All of this is to say that the traditional priestess occupies a very sensitive position
in the traditional religiosity of the New Juaben citizens. Her conspicuous exclusion, on
the basis of her feminine gender, from the New Juaben traditional leaders’ annual
pilgrimage to the mountain deity whom she serves as a traditional priestess, therefore,
remains puzzling. Her exclusion, in my opinion, amounts to an organized annual
religious pilgrimage to a deity without the deity’s official spokesperson or mouthpiece.
67
2.4. Conclusion
This chapter has surveyed Atwea Boↄ and Ͻboↄ Tabiri as some of the sacred
mountains in Akan primal religious thought. The narratives of their discovery and
identity as sacred mountains have been examined. Attempt has also been made to
explore the history of the communities in which these sacred mountains are located, in
order to provide some insights into the historical, religio-social, cultural, economic and
political underpinnings of these sacred mountains. These sacred mountains are
considered to be antecedents of Prayer Mountains in contemporary Ghanaian
Christianity because some adherents of Akan primal religion seem to have identified and
appropriated them as sacred spaces before Christians in Ghana embarked on pilgrimage
to PMs. In that sense it is logical to contend that pilgrimage to sacred mountains in Akan
primal religion is a sub-structure of pilgrimage to Prayer Mountains in contemporary
Ghanaian Christianity.
68
CHAPTER THREE
THE EVOLUTION OF PRAYER MOUNTAINS AS SACRED
SPACES IN CONTEMPORARY GHANAIAN CHRISTIANITY
3.1 Introduction
The narrative of sacred mountains and their attendant pilgrimage attractions in
Akan primal religion in chapter two of this work points, among other things, to the
dominance of some spiritual or supernatural forces in those sacred mountains who
orchestrate in some mysterious ways to call, initiate and empower traditional priests or
priestesses and to attract devotees and pilgrims. The discourse on the evolution of prayer
mountains as sacred spaces in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity, the focus of this
chapter, is an account of the conversion of previously wild mountainous sites into sacred
spaces for Christian prayer rituals. The discourse focuses on the historical narrative of
prayer mountain phenomenon in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity, using Abasua
Prayer Mountain and Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp as contextual examples or
case studies.
The narrative and case study strategies adopted in this work are consistent with
John W. Creswell’s narrative research and case studies which are some of the strategies
of qualitative research.267 ‘Narrative research’, Creswell writes, ‘[is] a form of inquiry in
which the researcher studies the lives of individuals and asks one or more individuals to
provide stories about their lives [or the particular phenomenon being investigated by the
researcher]. This information is then retold or restoried by the researcher into a narrative
chronology.’268
267 John W. Creswell, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches (2nd ed.)
(California: Sage Publications, Inc., 2003), pp. 13-15.
268 Creswell, Research Design, p. 15.
69
With respect to case studies, Creswell further indicates that ‘the researcher
explores in depth a program, an event, an activity, a process, or one or more individuals.
The case(s) are bounded by time and activity, and researchers collect detailed
information using a variety of data collection procedures over a sustained period of
time.’269 Against the backdrop of the field data gathered from my respondents, I attempt
to account for the unfolding of the selected prayer mountains in Ghanaian Christian
setting. The account is preceded by an examination of the history of the communities
within which the PMs are located. This, as already noted, is to provide some historical
insights into the religio-social, cultural, economic and political backgrounds of those
PMs.
3.2 History of Abasua community
The history of Abasua community is so inextricably linked to the history of the
Asante people that there may not be a complete examination of the former without a
brief historical review of the latter.270There is actually no dearth of scholarly works on
the history of the people of Asante.271 D.E.K Amenumey, for instance, succinctly
summarizes the origin of Asante as follows:
Asante was the largest and most powerful of the states to be established in the
Gold Coast. Apart from what was added to it in the early nineteenth century, the
Asante Empire had been created within about fifty years between the 1690s and
1750. But the foundations of the empire go back much further. Sometime
between the fourteenth and the middle of the seventeenth centuries, a number of
Akan families moved out of their homes in the basin of the rivers Pra and Ofin to
the area between the Pra and the Oda. They selected a region where there were
gold and kola nuts; at the same time it was the meeting point of important trade
routes leading to Hausaland and Western Sudan. There they founded a number
269 Creswell, Research Design, p. 15.
270 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing sacred space’, pp. 27-46.
271 Addo-Fening, Nana Otuo Siriboe II (Omanhene of Juaben- Asante),p. 8-11., Ivor Wilks, Forests of
Gold: Essays on the Akan and the Kingdom of Asante (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1993), pp. 91-120.,
W. Walton Claridge, A History of the Gold Coast and Ashanti (Vol. one) (London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd,
1964), pp. 181-208., Peter Sarpong, The Sacred Stools of the Akan (Tema, Ghana: Ghana Publishing
Corporation, 1971), pp. 29 -34., Ernest E. Obeng, Ancient Ashanti Chieftaincy (Tema, Ghana: Ghana
Publishing Corporation, 1988), pp.1-69; Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, pp. 27-35.
70
of settlements very close to one another and in the neighbourhood of present-day
Kumasi. The settlements were Kumawu, Tafo, Amakom, Kaase, etc. These
settlements constituted Asantemanso, the nucleus from which Asante came to be
created.272
The Asantes were very powerful ethnic group.273 In the course of time, however,
their superiority and power were terribly challenged by the Akyems.274 The Akyems,
famous for their military prowess, defeated and humiliated the Asantes by drowning their
legendary King, Osei Tutu, in the River Pra.275These intertribal wars and conquests and
their associated migrations are perceived to have eventually resulted in peoples’ quest for
new settlements. One of such settlements is Abasua community, the place where APM is
located.276
Abasua is a small community in the Nsuta Municipality in the Asante region of
Ghana. Currently, it is one of the small communities in the Effiduase Diocese of the
Methodist Church Ghana. Current studies on the history of Abasua community are
located in the context of the social, cultural, religious and political circumstances leading
to the development of the community and the diverse experiences of the initial settlers.277
Oral tradition maintains that the first settler came to settle at Abasua in about
1692, long before Nana Osei Tutu acceded to the Kumasi stool in 1697.278 The first
settler, in the opinion of my informants, was Nana Yaw Obogya.279 It is said that prior to
his settlement, Nana Yaw Obogya and his sister, Nana Gyaaben were migrating from
272 D.E.K Amenumey, Ghana: A Concise History from Pre-Colonial Times to the 20th Century
(Accra:Woeli Publishing Services, 2011), pp. 49-51.
273Amenumey, Ghana, pp. 51-54.
274 Emmanuel Doe Ziorklui, Ghana: Nkrumah to Rawlings, Kufuor & Beyond: A Historical Sketch of some
major Political events in Ghana from 1949 – 2004 (Vol. one, part one 1949 – 1960) (Accra, Ghana: Em-
zed Books Centre, 2005), p. 14.
275 Ziorklui, Ghana: Nkrumah to Rawlings, Kufuor & Beyond, p.14.
276 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, pp. 27-35.
277 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, pp. 27-50.
278 The people interviewed on the history of Abasua community included Mr. Daniel Aboraa and Mr. Kofi
Boakye. These people were interviewed on 12 August 2011 at Abasua.
279 The informants included Mr. Daniel Aboraa and Mr. Kofi Boakye. These people were interviewed on
12 August 2011 at Abasua.
71
Akyem- Ahwenease to Asante Mampong. Several factors could have precipitated their
migration to Mampong; the desire to break family ties, outbreak of epidemics and the
upsurge of other natural disasters. In the opinion of Ampaw-Asiedu, their migration was
as a result of inter-tribal wars in the Akyem-Abuakwa area at that time.280 This is
believed to be in the 17th century when the hegemony of Denkyira had culminated in
wars and conquests at the Pra and Ofin basin and the overthrow of Adansi.281 Another
view upholds that the migration of the initial settlers was as a result of the influence of
Atwea Boↄ, a very powerful mountain deity at Atwea, near Nsuta, who had ‘called’
Nana Obogya from Akyem Ahwenease to be initiated, trained and empowered by the
deity as his ‘wife’ or traditional priest.282
On their way to Asante Mampong, Nana Obogya and her sister Nana Gyaaben
allegedly reached Nsuta where, probably out of exhaustion, they decided to rest a little
while under a certain tree. They meant to continue their journey afterwards. News about
the arrival of these ‘strangers’ at the vicinity of Nsuta got to the then ↄmanhene (that is,
the Paramount Chief) of Nsuta, Nana Danso Abeam. Owing to the prevalence of wars
and conquests at that time and the possibility of invasion by other assailants, the
ↄmanhene allegedly dispatched some of his subjects to inquire about the mission of the
strangers. Customarily, the strangers ought to have first reported themselves to the
ↄmanhene and his elders who would then inquire of their mission. They did not do that
perhaps because they did not intend any longer stay at Nsuta which, at that time, was
their transit point to Mampong.
When it was ascertained that Nana Obogya and her sister, Nana Gyaaben, did not
mean any mischief at Nsuta but were innocent migrants to Mampong, Nana Danso
280 Ampaw-Asiedu, Atwea, p.4.
281 Addo-Fening, Nana Otuo Siriboe II (Omanhene of Juaben- Asante), p. 9.
282 Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, Interview, March 29, 2017, Abasua.
72
Abeam, the ↄmanhene of Nsuta, out of hospitality, invited them to his palace. Among
Africans, it was common in those days for stranded strangers to be invited home and acts
of hospitality shown to them. Gyekye’s comments on the hospitality of Africans justify
the above claim:
Africans recognize the dignity of the human being and, in consequence, hold a
deep and unrelenting concern for human welfare and happiness. … the powers
and attributes of the supernatural agents are [therefore] to be tapped and utilized
for the welfare of humans in this world. … The thoughts, actions, art, and
institutions of the African people are replete with expressions of concern for
human welfare and the importance of the human being. Recognition of the value
of humanity is intrinsically linked with recognition of the unity of all people,
whether or not they are biologically related. This deep appreciation for humanity
is reflected in such communal structures as the clan, the extended family, and
complex networks of social relationships and the African custom of opening
one’s door to strangers and showing them acts of generosity and hospitality.283
Gyekye’s opinion is a reflection of the African’s normal positive response or attitude
towards a person whose behaviour is right and socially acceptable. Thus the African will
oftentimes be hospitable to a stranded stranger or person believed to be harmless. The
opposite will be true for a stranger thought or perceived by the African to be wicked or
harbouring some mischievous intentions. To such miscreants, doors would quickly be
shut and acts of generosity and hospitality completely denied. Even though Gyekye is
commended for his brilliant overview of the hospitality of the African, he is silent on the
African’s likely negative attitude towards strangers believed or considered to be
miscreants and therefore social misfits.
When they were at the palace of the ↄmanhene, it was said that Nana Obogya and
her sister, Nana Gyaaben, were not found to be miscreants; rather they endeared
themselves to the admiration of the Paramount Chief. Nana Gyaaben was said to be an
exceptionally beautiful and attractive young lady while her brother, Nana Obogya was
physically healthy, industrious warrior and an experienced hunter. Because of these
283 Kwame Gyekye, African Cultural Values: An Introduction (Accra, Ghana: Sankofa Publishing
Company, 1998), p. 23.
73
appreciable attributes of the ‘strangers’, the ↄmanhene allegedly decided to retain them in
his palace with the intention of permanently settling them in his traditional area. By this
decision, the Paramount Chief indirectly diverted the course of the ‘strangers’.
It was said that after sometime the ↄmanhene fell in love with Nana Gyaaben and
subsequently married her. The Dwumakwaahene of Nana Danso Abeam (the Paramount
Chief), was allegedly mandated to have oversight responsibility of Nana Gyaaben, the
wife of the Paramount Chief. The Dwumakwaahene had the duty of ensuring the security
or safety of the King’s wife. Thus, he sought to prevent her from being usurped or
snatched out from the King.
It is said that Nana Gyaaben’s brother, Nana Obogya, undertook some of his
hunting expeditions in some of the nearby forests in the Nsuta traditional area. One of
the forests in which he is said to have carried out these hunting expeditions was Yaasԑ.
This is the place where Yaasԑ boↄ, one of the mountains of Abasua community, is
situated. It is said that Nana Obogya admired the serenity of the place and wanted it for a
new settlement. As a result, he was believed to have asked Nana Danso Abeam, to allow
him to use that forest area as a place for his new settlement. The ↄmanhene allegedly
gave in to his request and Nana Obogya left the King’s palace at Nsuta to settle at Yaasԑ.
It is said that when the first settler came to Yaasԑ to settle there, he found a river
which took its source from the Atwea Boↄ.284 He is said to have prayed and solicited
spiritual assistance from the river in the following Twi prayers: Nana, m’abԑsoԑ wo oo,
enti boa me na deԑ mԑyԑ wↄ ha biara nyԑ yie, meaning ‘Nana (referring to the river), I
have come to you as a settler, therefore help me to be prosperous in all my undertakings
here’285. If the sacredness of a space is defined by the belief in the presence of a
284 Atwea boↄ, according to Mr. Daniel Aboraa and Mr. Kofi Boakye, was a sacred mountain in the
vicinity of Abasua community. Interview, 12 August 2011, Abasua. C.f. Ampaw-Asiedu, Atwea, p.3.
285 Mr. Daniel Aboraa, Interview, 12 August 2011.
74
supernatural reality in that space and the possibility of human interaction with that reality
through rituals, then by the presence of the river and Nana Obogya’s prayer to it for
assistance, the sacredness of the place was implied.
This prayer underscored the traditional religious orientation of Nana Obogya. He
believed that the river was a deity in whom supernatural power resided. It could also be
inferred from the prayer that he believed in the magnanimity of deities, as far as their
ability to provide material and spiritual blessings were concerned. This view is sustained
by R.I.J Hackett as follows: ‘In traditional pre-colonial societies, it was common for
people to associate the deities with prosperity [because it] was believed that a
harmonious relationship with the spiritual forces was necessary to ensure good health,
long life and prosperity and to ensure that one’s destiny was not altered for the worse.’286
As the first settler of the place, Nana Yaw Obogya customarily became the first
traditional ruler (that is, the Chief) of Yaasԑ. It is said that the ↄmanhene of Nsuta
allowed his wife, Nana Gyaaben, to assist her brother, Nana Obogya, in his
administration as the traditional leader of the place. She was, thus to be the ↄbaapanin
(that is, the Eldest Woman) of the place. It is believed that the ↄmanhene formed a stool
for his wife and named it Gyaaben akonwa (that is, Gyaaben’s stool). The stool was the
symbol of Nana Gyaaben’s authority and recognition as the ↄbaapanin of the place.287
The order of succession of some of the Chiefs who came after Nana Yaw Obogya
is as follows:
1. Nana Yaw Boakye. He was a nephew to Nana Obogya.
286 R. I. J. Hackett, ‘The Gospel of Prosperity in West Africa’, Roberts, R. (ed.). Religion and the
Transformation of Capitalism (London: Routledge, 1995), p. 208. C.f. Emmanuel Anim, ‘The Prosperity
Gospel in Ghana and the Primal Imagination’, Trinity Journal of Church and Theology, XVII (2009), P.
34. Gyekye, African Cultural Values, p. 162.
287 Ampaw-Asiedu, Atwea, p. 4. C.f. Sarpong, The Sacred Stools of the Akan, p. 26., and Wilks, Forests of
Gold, p. 91.
75
2. Nana Gyan Hwedie. He was also Nana Obogya’s nephew. About five other
chiefs came after Nana Gyan Hwedie.
3. Nana Yaw Aboraa (the ninth chief)
4. Nana Kwasi Bresa (the tenth chief)
5. Nana Boakyerԑ (the eleventh chief)
6. Nana Kwasi Marfo (the twelfth chief)
7. Nana Kwame Owusu (the thirteenth chief)
8. Nana Wiredu, also known as Nana Obogya II (the fourteenth chief at the time of
this research). He was installed in 2010. The ↄbaapanin at Abasua at the time of
this work was Nana Akosua Achiaa.288
The relative scanty information on the order of succession of the Elderly Women
(mmaampanimfoↄ, plural of ↄbaapanin) at Abasua is due to the inaccessibility of the
people from whom I could elicit those pieces of information. This limitation could,
however, engage the attention of future researchers who may investigate in relative detail
the history of the institution of chieftaincy at Abasua.
In the course of time, it is said that the river to whom Nana Yaw Obogya
allegedly prayed for assistance became known as m’abԑsoԑ wo, an Asante Twi
expression which literally means ‘I have come to you as a settler, a stranger or a
sojourner. It is said that m’abԑsoԑ wo later became corrupted as Abasua river. The
corruption eventually affected Yaasԑ; the name of Nana Obogya’s new settlement. The
result was Abasua community. The implication is that Yaasԑ forest area has also been
reconstructed. It has been reconstructed from its former identities as hunting and farming
sites into Abasua community; a new area for human settlement or habitation.289
288 Mr. Daniel Aboraa, Interview, 12 August 2011, Abasua community.
289 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, p. 41.
76
3.2.1 Discovering Krↄbo Boↄ as a Sacred Space: The Evolution of Abasua Prayer
Mountain in Contemporary Ghanaian Christianity
Abasua Prayer Mountain is located at Abasua under the jurisdiction of Nsuta
Traditional Council. Oral tradition290 and participant observation indicate that Abasua
community is surrounded by four mountains. These are Krↄbo boↄ, Atwea boↄ, Yaasԑ
boↄ and Kompi boↄ. Atwea boↄ, as already seen, was a very powerful mountain deity
whose influence and potency was believed to be the source of attraction to many
traditional religious devotees and clients from diverse backgrounds to Abasua
community. In that sense, Atwea boↄ was the pivot of the community’s traditional or
indigenous spirituality.291
Krↄbo boↄ, also referred to as Krↄbo Kwasi Bediatuo, was a powerful mountain
deity on which warriors, political leaders and many other people trouped to for ritual
bathing and mystical insulation against potential attacks especially, from malevolent
forces and gun shots.292 As a mountain deity, it had a traditional priest by name Kwabena
Adu.293 He did not only function as the mouth piece of the mountain deity, but also the
medium through whom clients could reach the deity with their concerns.
Apart from this Akan traditional religious significance of the mountain, it was the
venue for some other social engagements or activities. Ampaw-Asiedu reports that
between the year 1959 and 1965, Lebanese and Syrian traders used to come to the top of
the mountain as tourists. Each time they came, Kwame Boↄ, a citizen of Abasua, assisted
290 The following were some of the people interviewed about the history of Abasua Prayer Mountain: The
Very Rev. Isaac Yao Boamah, Superintendent Minister of Atonsu Circuit, Effiduasi Diocese of the
Methodist Church Ghana, 19 October 2010; Mr. Daniel Appiah-Aboraa, a retired educationist and a royal
native of Abasua community, 13 August 2011; Mr. Kofi Boakye, a carpenter and a royal native of Abasua
community, 13 August 2011; and Madam Adwoa Apemasu, a native of Abasua community, 13 August
2011.
291 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, pp. 47-50.
292 Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, Interview, 29 March 2017, Abasua Community.
293 Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, Interview, 29 March 2017, Abasua Community.
77
them to climb the mountain. The tourists ate, drank, made merry and took photographs of
the beautiful scenery. It is said that there was a small cave at the tip of the mountain
which overlook Abasua community. In the cave was a container in which a notebook
was kept. Visitors or tourists who patronized the mountain wrote their name, place of
birth, time of arrival on the Mountain and time of departure. Unfortunately, in 1989, the
container and the notebook disappeared from the top of the Mountain.294
The other two mountains were on the periphery, with respect to people’s belief in
their religious potency and influence. A Christian Minister’s discovery295 of Krↄbo boↄ
as a sacred mountain where God’s presence dwells296 or sacred space for Christian
prayer rituals, is believed to have resulted in the current paradigmatic shift of the
people’s297 religious focus from Atwea boↄ to Krↄbo boↄ. The people’s belief in the
potency of Atwea boↄ has drastically waned in favour of Krↄbo boↄ. The words of one of
the citizens of Abasua community, Madam Adwoa Apemasu, confirmed this: Akan
traditional religion, which used to dominate and overtly describe the religious life of
Abasua community, has now given way to Christianity.298 This shift of the people’s
religious focus, to a large extent, is due to the discovery of Krↄbo boↄ as an ideal place
for prayer, worship and miracles.299 The discovery of Krↄbo boↄ and the subsequent re-
appropriation of the site by Christian pilgrims are the basis for the alteration in the site’s
identity from Krↄbo boↄ to Abasua Prayer Mountain.300 Okyere has examined the
294 Ampaw-Asiedu, Atwea, p.6.
295 Rev Abraham Osei-Asibey, a Methodist Minister, is believed to have discovered Krↄbo boↄ in
February, 1965.
296 See Ampaw-Asiedu, Atwea (cover page).
297 These people include the clients who used to consult Atwea boↄ for assistance.
298 For a good discussion on Primal Religions as preparatory grounds for the spread of Christianity in
Africa, see Bediako, Jesus in Africa, pp. 20-33.
299 Adwoa Apemasu, Interview, 14 August 2011, Abasua community.
300 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing sacred space’, p.13.
78
discovery of Krↄbo boↄ as a prayer mountain in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity.301
Aspects of his work are, however, critically borrowed in this present study.
The late Rev. Abraham Osei Asibey discovered Krↄbo boↄ as a sacred space in
1965.302 At that time, the traditional priest of the mountain deity had died.303 The demise
of the priest, in the opinion of Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, had a lot of ramifications on the
Abasua community’s Akan traditional religiosity. First, it implied the absence of the
deity’s spokesperson and the difficulty, if not impossibility, of clients having their
concerns directly addressed by the deity. Second, it indicated an abrupt curtailment of
sacrifices or religious rituals offered by the devotees to periodically activate and
reinforce the deity’s potency. This is because the physical presence of the traditional
priest (being the medium between the devotees and the deity) was very imperative for
the validity and recognition of sacrifices offered to the deity.304
It is said that prior to the discovery, the late Osei Asibey had been transferred
from the Sunyani Circuit to the Asante Effiduasi Circuit of the Methodist Church Ghana
(MCG) as the Superintendent Minister in 1963.305 The then Effiduasi Circuit was a vast
area since it extended to the Northern Region of Ghana.306 The Circuit included
Konongo, Achinakrom (around the Lake Bosomtwe), Asante Mampong, Atebubu,
Wioso, Yeji, Ejura-Sekyeredumase, Asokore and Dwaben.307
Oral accounts about the late Rev. Osei Asibey’s discovery of the site as a sacred
space are characterized by several nuances. For example, Owusu-Ansah, citing The Rt.
Rev. Samuel Agyemang Kwakye (former Bishop of Effiduasi Diocese of the MCG),
301 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing sacred space’, pp. 58-69.
302Very Rev. Isaac Yaw Boamah, Interview, 19 October 2010, Effiduasi. C.f. Owusu-Ansah, Abasua
Prayer Mountain, p. 11., Ampaw-Asiedu, Atwea, p.4.
303 Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, Interview, 29 March 2017, Abasua Community.
304 Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, Interview, 29 March 2017, Abasua Community.
305 Ampaw-Asiedu, Atwea, p. 4.
306 Owusu-Ansah, Abasua Prayer Mountain, p 11.
307 Ampaw-Asiedu, Atwea, p.4
79
maintains that the late Rev. Abraham Osei Asibey was returning from a pastoral trip to
the Afram Plains. When he reached Atwea, the car with which they were travelling
suddenly stopped when they got to the Abasua junction. It is said that when the car was
put into reverse gear, it went backwards but when it was in the forward gear, the car
would not move. At that moment, something dawned on late Rev. Asibbey to go to
Krↄbo boↄ, one of the four mountains in front of him.308
This account sharply differs from what I gleaned from the Very Rev. Isaac Yao
Boamah, who claimed he was with the late Rev. Osei Asibbey at the time of the PM’s
discovery. According to the Very Rev. Boamah, in 1965, the Asante Effiduasi District
Education Office was located at Asante Mampong. The late Rev. Osei Asibbey was
travelling to Mampong to attend an official assignment in his capacity as the Local
Manager of Methodist Schools. Mr. Yao Boamah (now the Very Rev. Isaac Yao Boamah
whom I interviewed) claimed that he was the driver of the Effiduasi Circuit car in which
the late Rev. Osei Asibbey was travelling. Upon reaching Banko, one of the towns in the
Effiduasi Circuit, the late Rev. Osei Asibbey allegedly saw the Krↄbo boↄ from afar and
asked whether it was possible for people to go there. When they reached the Atwea
community which was on their way to Mampong, the late clergyman was said to have
been moved by an unusual urge to tell the driver to stop. The Very Rev. Boamah
maintains that the late clergyman felt insistently drawn to the top of the mountain. It was
said that ‘Later in a chat with him, he (The Rev. Osei Asibbey), confessed, “My heart
was strangely warmed when I encountered the mountain.’”309
Based on this strange warmth and the inner urge of Rev. Osei Asibbey, they
decided to go to Abasua community to inquire from the traditional leaders about the
possibility of going to the top of the mountain. They decided to do this before continuing
308 Owusu-Ansah, Abasua Prayer Mountain, p 11.
309 Very Rev. Isaac Yaw Boamah, Interview, 19 October 2010, Effiduasi. C.f. Ampaw-Asiedu, Atwea, p.5.
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their journey to Mampong. When they reached Abasua community, it is said that they
contacted the then chief, Nana Kwasi Marfo, about the possibility of visiting the top of
the mountain. The chief’s response was that it was possible since some European tourists
had been using the site for relaxation and merry-making during summer holidays. On the
basis of this response and the fact that Rev. Osei Asibbey was on official assignment,
they continued their journey to Mampong, and rescheduled to come back to Abasua after
two weeks.310 One of the people interviewed disclosed that Rev. Osei Asibbey and his
driver reached Mampong at about 3.00 pm, but the meeting which he was attending had
not yet started until he got there.311
The differences between these two accounts basically lie in two major issues: the
direction of the late Rev. Osei Asibbey and the presence of what Benjamin W. Warfield
referred to as ‘the supernatural act’.312 In the first account, the direction of the late Rev.
Abraham Osei Asibbey was that of a journey from Afram Plains in the Eastern Region of
Ghana to Effiduasi, where he had been posted. In the second account, however, his
direction was that of a journey from Effiduasi to Asante Mampong. Given the vastness of
the Effiduasi Circuit at that time, and the Minister’s duties (which included frequent
pastoral visitation),313 it can be contended that the late Rev. Minister’s alleged pastoral
trip to Afram Plains (in the first account) looks quite plausible.
On the other hand, by virtue of his office as the Superintendent Minister of the
Effiduasi Circuit, the late Rev. Osei Asibbey necessarily became the Manager of
Methodist Schools within his Circuit. Moreover, the Effiduasi Circuit at that time
310 Very Rev. Isaac Yaw Boamah, Interview, 19 October 2010, Effiduasi.
311 Taller, a native of Abasua community disclosed this during an interview he granted the researcher at
Abasua on 14 August 2011.
312 The supernatural in this context refers to matters and experiences connected with forces that could not
be explained by science. For a good discussion on ‘Christian Supernaturalism’, see Benjamin B. Warfield,
Studies in Theology (USA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1988), pp. 25-46. (Emphasis original).
313 The Constitution and Standing Orders of the Methodist Church Ghana (2000 Revised Edition) (Accra:
The Conference of the Methodist Church Ghana, 2001), pp. 75-76.
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extended even beyond Asante Mampong, where the District Education Office was
located. The implication is that the late clergyman’s alleged travelling to Mampong to
attend an education-related meeting looks more plausible to me. In fact, the more
plausibility of the late Rev. Minister’s direction, as found in the second account, lies in
the notion that the Very Isaac Yao Boamah, from whom this information was elicited,
claimed to be an eye-witness to the journey of the late clergyman; he claimed to be the
driver of the Circuit car in which they were travelling. The Rt. Rev. Agyemang Kwakye,
from whom the information about the journey of the late Rev. Osei Asibbey was gleaned
(in the first account), was not an eye-witness to the events. As a result, his account could
not be more authentic and plausible than that of the Very Rev. Isaac Yao Boamah, who
claimed to be an eye-witness to the events.
The second difference lies in the presence of the supernatural reality that
characterised the Rev. Minister’s encounter with the mountain. In the first account, The
Rt. Rev. Samuel Agyemang Kwakye was cited by Owusu-Ansah as having said that the
Rev. Osei Asibbey was returning from a pastoral trip at Afram Plains. The car with
which they were travelling suddenly stopped when they got to Atwea junction. When the
car was put in the reverse gear, it moved backwards, but when put in the forward gear,
the car would not move when the late clergyman discovered the Krↄbo boↄ at Atwea
junction.
In the second account, the late clergyman allegedly saw the mountain from afar
when they reached Banko while on their way to Asante Mampong. The irresistible
sensation and inner urge of the late clergyman to go to the mountain allegedly became
heightened when they got to Atwea community. When they reached Atwea community
which was on their way to Mampong, the Very Rev. Abraham Osei Asibbey was said to
have been moved by an unusual urge to tell the driver of the car to stop. According to the
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Very Rev. Boamah, the late clergyman unusually felt drawn to the top of the mountain.
This unusual sensation and inner urge might have culminated in the late clergyman’s
latter confession that ‘My heart was strangely warmed when I encountered the mountain
from a distance.’
Given the above nuances of the presence of the supernatural reality in the two
accounts, my contention is that the eye-witness account of the Very Rev. Isaac Yao
Boamah is more plausible and relatively more authentic to the account of the Rt. Rev.
Samuel Agyemang Kwakye.
I am, however, not unaware of the potential difficulty the alleged supernatural
realities may pose to skeptics of the supernatural phenomena or those whose judgments
of experiences are almost always scientifically motivated. The supernatural realities in
the two accounts, in the opinion of such skeptics, may easily be relegated to the backdrop
of natural occurrences or experiences without any link at all to the metaphysics. For
instance, the sudden stoppage of the late Rev. Abraham Osei Asibbey’s car, the
backward movement of the car when the gear lever was in the reverse position and the
car’s stationary position when the gear lever was in the forward position, may be
scientifically explained in the context of a mechanical or electrical fault in the car.
Moreover, the claim that the late clergyman was driven to the mountain through an
irresistible inner urge may have no allusion whatsoever to the supernatural, but perhaps a
manifestation of the psychological definition of religion as ‘a universal obsessive
neurosis’ or ‘some kind of profound inner experience.’314 Thus the allusion to the
supernatural reality as a major source of the Krↄbo boↄ’s discovery and sacredness may
be rationally contested.
314 James L. Cox, Expressing the Sacred: An Introduction to the Phenomenology of Religion (Harare,
Zimbabwe: University of Zimbabwe Publications, 1996), p. 4.
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Despite these contentions, I unreservedly maintain that the alleged supernatural
occurrences that characterized the late clergyman’s discovery of the Krↄbo boↄ cannot be
completely relegated to the background. The alleged supernatural occurrences are
plausible because they have biblical antecedents. They are therefore not new. One of
these biblical antecedents of a supernatural attraction to a sacred space was Moses’
encounter with the burning bush.315 In Exodus 3:2 -3, it is said: ‘And the angel of the
LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and
lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside
and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”’
From the above biblical antecedent, I can contend that both Moses and Rev.
Abraham Osei Asibbey felt drawn to their respective sacred sites because of what they
saw. Moses saw a burning bush that was not consumed and the late clergyman allegedly
saw Krↄbo boↄ, believed to be a mountain of God’s presence.316
3.2.1.1 The Maiden Visit to Krↄbo boↄ and an Encounter with the Supernatural
It must be recalled that when the late Rev. Osei Asibbey and his driver first
visited the chief and other elders of Abasua, the late clergyman promised to go back two
weeks later in order to be led to the top of the mountain for religious purposes. When the
time was due, the late clergyman, the Catechist J.M. Quartey who hailed from Akuapem
Mampong but was in charge of the Sekyere Methodist Society of the MCG, Mr. Isaac
Yao Boamah who was the driver and also the Circuit Steward and Mr. Brefo, the
Caretaker of Banko Society of the MCG set off to meet the chief and elders of Abasua on
the possibility of visiting the top of the mountain.
315 For details, see Exodus 3:1 – 10.
316 (Emphases mine).
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Following their meeting with the chief, Nana Kwasi Marfo, and some elders of
Abasua (some of whom were Kwasi Boↄ, Yaw Denteh and Kwame Kwayie), the late
pastor and his men were advised by the chief of the community to go back to Effiduase
to adequately prepare and come back to be taken to the top of the mountain another
time.317 This directive of the Chief was not to be literally understood or interpreted. The
directive underscored the need for the visitors to observe some relevant community entry
protocols. Among the Akan or Asante people of Ghana, a chief’s instruction to a client318
to go back and adequately prepare and come back later can have several implications.
First, it can imply that the client should go and come back with either money or alcoholic
beverage (wine) or, sometimes both. The money or the wine would be given to the chief
and his elders as a motivation or as a customary requirement. It can also imply that the
client should go back and rethink about the possible ramifications of his or her decision
to embark on a venture which warrants engagement of the services of the chief or his
elders. Here, the chief would want to ascertain the client’s preparedness to be responsible
for the outcome of his or her decision.
It is said that the late pastor agreed and so in February 1965, the first visit was
scheduled. Two hunters from the community were delegated by the chief to lead the Rev.
Minister and his team to the top of the mountain. It is said that before they departed, two
bottles of schnapps were presented to the chief by the Effiduasi party and a farewell
libation prayer319 was said to dispatch them. When the ↄkyeamee (linguist) finished the
libation prayer, the walking to the top of the mountain started around 10:30am. They
were believed to have gone with a pot of water and the pastor was given a walking stick,
317 Very Rev. Isaac Yao Boamah, Interview, 19 October 2010, Effiduasi. C.f. Ampaw-Asiedu, Atwea,
pp.7-8.
318 A client in this context is anyone who approaches a chief or queen to solicit his or her assistance.
319 For a good discussion on ‘the pouring of libation’ and its related problem for the African Christian, see
Joseph Osei-Bonsu, The Inculturation of Christianity in Africa: Antecedents and Guidelines from the New
Testament and the Early Church (Berlin, Germany: Peter Lang, 2005), pp.10-12.
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whilst the hunters had their guns loaded. The others followed closely. The journey is said
to have taken them about one hour, forty- five minutes to complete.
When they got to the top of the mountain, the two hunters waited at the outskirt
of the forest reserve, whilst the late pastor and his three friends continued to the flat top
of the mountain. It is said that when they got to the top of the mountain, the pastor
immediately stepped forward and began to pray. In the course of his prayer, the Very
Rev. Boamah indicates that the weather suddenly changed into a violet colour and the
pastor was allegedly enveloped in a very thick cloud, reminiscent of the story of Jesus’
transfiguration in the Bible. The other three members of the team who were looking on
were frightened but kept this to themselves. When he finished praying, he asked his three
friends about what had happened but none could answer him. Later on, when the issue of
the cloud was revealed to him by the other three friends, the pastor confirmed that he had
also heard a voice from the clouds assuring him of God’s presence on the mountain.
From that day onwards, that spot became an important point on the top of the
mountain.320 The pastor is said to have erected a wooden cross at that place to designate
its special religious importance.
320 Very Rev. Isaac Yao Boamah, Interview, 19 October 2010, Effiduasi. C.f. Ampaw-Asiedu, Atwea, p.8.
86
Figure 3.1: The late Rev. Abraham Osei Asibbey and Mr. (now Very Rev.) Isaac
Yao Boamah
It could be observed that the phenomenon of the clouds, which allegedly
enveloped the late pastor in the presence of his three friends on the mountain, is
reminiscent of Jesus’ transfiguration experience in the New Testament (Matt. 17:1ff.;
Mk. 9:2ff.; Lk. 9:28ff.; II Pet.1:16-18). On the day of his transfiguration, Jesus Christ
took his three closest disciples, Peter, James and John with him to a high mountain to
pray.
And as he was praying, the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his
raiment became dazzling white. And behold, two men talked with him, Moses
and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was to
accomplish in Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy
with sleep, and when they wakened they saw his glory and the two men who
stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus,
“Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for you and one
for Moses and one for Elijah” – not knowing what he said. As he said this, a
cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were afraid as they entered the
cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen;
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listen to him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they
kept silence and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.321
Thus on the basis of Mircea Eliade’s sacred space paradigm (that is, hierophanic
and theophanic events322), the sacredness of Krↄbo boↄ and the mountain of Jesus’
transfiguration are obviously accentuated. The hierophanic event, in Eliade’s scheme,
involves a direct manifestation on earth of a deity or a supernatural reality. The
hierophanic event on the two mountaintop experiences can, among others, be the sudden
appearance of the clouds.
Writing on the significance of the clouds in Jesus’ transfiguration experience,
Babajide comments that ‘In the [Old Testament], clouds often reveal or conceal God’s
glory.’323 He further indicates that the cloud that enveloped Jesus and his disciples on the
mountain of Jesus’ transfiguration served to conceal the glory that had been momentarily
revealed.324 However, the cloud that appeared on the Krↄbo boↄ, in my opinion, served to
reveal God’s glory on the mountain. This is because the late Rev. Asibbey claimed that
the cloud was accompanied by what was perceived to be a heavenly attestation of God’s
presence on the mountain. In that sense, the cloud could be a visible manifestation of the
invisible God, just as fire symbolizes the presence of God in Exodus 19:18.
The theophanic event, on the other hand, is when somebody receives a message
from a deity and interprets it for others. In the context of Jesus’ transfiguration and the
late Rev. Asibbey’s prayer on the Krↄbo boↄ, the theophanic event could also be the
supernatural voice they heard from the clouds which enveloped them. In the case of
Jesus’ transfiguration experience, a voice believed to be God’s confirmation of Jesus’
divine personality was heard. In that voice, according to Babajide, the Father (God)
321 Luke 9:29 – 36 (Revised Standard Version)
322 Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane, pp. 20-27.
323 Babajide, ‘Mark’, p.1185.
324 Babajide, ‘Mark’, p.1185.
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corroborated Jesus’ words and deeds and announced the only appropriate response from
humans: Listen to him!325 In the case of the late pastor’s experience, it must be recalled
that he claimed to have heard a voice assuring him of God’s presence on the mountain.
Since interpretation of a message received from a deity formed a major
component of Eliade’s theophanic event, my argument is that the interpreters of the
message (or voice) believed to have come from God could be some of the eye-witnesses
to the two supernatural scenes. Given that the vision of the transfiguration had been
revealed only to the trio (that is, Peter, James and John), Jesus told them to keep it a
secret until after his resurrection (Mark 9:9). But as they descended the mountain, the
three kept discussing the subject (Mark 9:10). In the case of Rev. Asibbey’s experience,
it is rational for me to assume that the eye-witnesses themselves could interpret what
they had seen to other people. Their interpretation of what they had witnessed on the
mountain, which indicated the sacredness of the place, could be a justification for the
appropriation of the mountain as a pilgrimage site by the Kristomu Anigye Kuo (Joy in
Christ Group).
3.2.1.2 Kristomu Anigye Kuo: the pioneers of pilgrim movements to Krↄbo boↄ
Oral tradition indicates that Kristomu Anigye Kuo (Joy in Christ Group) was the
first organised group of people to go to Krↄbo boↄ as pilgrims, after the discovery of the
place as a sacred space.326 This group, according to the Very Rev. Boamah, was formed
by the late Rev. Abraham Osei Asibbey. Available oral and written records seem to
indicate that the Rev. Asibbey formed the group wherever he was posted to serve the
Church. Omenyo, for instance, identifies Kristomu Anigye Kuo as having been formed by
the late Rev. Osei Asibbey when he (Rev. Asibbey) was the Minister-in-charge at Tafo
325 Babajide, ‘Mark’, p.1185. (Emphasis original).
326 Very Rev. Isaac Y. Boamah, Interview, 19 October 2010, Effiduasi.
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Methodist Church in Kumasi.327 Other records indicate that he had started a prayer group
(probably, Kristomu Anigye Kuo) at Sunyani before he was posted to Effiduase Circuit in
1963.328 If these are true, then it is not a surprise that upon his transfer to Effiduase
Circuit in 1963, the Rev. Abraham Osei Asibey decided to introduce his Kristomu
Anigye Kuo to that place also.
It was a group of Christians that sought to renew the spiritual fervour of the
Church through Bible studies, prayer, singing of hymns and lyric. The group also sought
to empower the church for evangelism and church planting. It consisted of male and
female Christians who felt called by God to use Bible studies, prayer, hymns and lyric as
instruments of renewing the church.329 He therefore assembled all lyric singers in the
Circuit. Among them were Mr. Edward Mensah from Effiduase, Mr. Seth Akromah and
Madam Comfort Akromah from Bodwease. Others included Madam Elizabeth
Amankwa and Madam Afua Ataa who were natives of Asekyerewa. He also included
Local Preachers in the group. Among them were Mr. Isaac Yao Boamah, Mr. Brenya,
Mr. J. A. Achampong, Mr. M. A. Agyei- Boadi, Mr. Samuel Gyebi Ababio, Mr.
Kwabena Ameyaw Boateng (Now the late Very Rev. Kwabena Ameyaw Boateng) and
Mr. Amankwa Boafo.330 Other interested people later joined the group. They included
the Very Rev Abayie Sarpong and the late Very Rev. Dr. Sarpong Danquah.
The maiden meeting of the group was held at Effiduase. The group met once
every month at one of the societies for fellowship. It met again at another society in the
following month. This practice was rotated from society to society. The group visited
places where there were no Methodist Churches. Through the instruments of lyric
singing, prayer, dawn broadcast and other evangelistic activities, many Methodist
327 Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism, p. 158.
328 Very Rev. Isaac Y. Boamah, Interview, 19 October 2010, Effiduasi.
329 Very Rev. Isaac Y. Boamah, Interview, 19 October 2010, Effiduasi.
330 Very Rev. Isaac Y. Boamah, Interview, 19 October 2010, Effiduasi.
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Churches were established. It is said that by this routine rotational programme, about
eleven (11) Societies331 were established by Rev. Osei-Asibey and the Kristomu Anigye
Kuo, between 1963 and 1969. These Societies included Nsuta, Adumakwae, Bomeng,
Akrofonso, Asamang, Agona –Akrofonso, Odumase and Jamase.332
It is worth noting that the group attributed its laurels in evangelism and other
spiritual renewal activities to its regular pilgrimage to Krↄbo boↄ.333 This is because
whenever the group embarked on a pilgrimage to the mountain, its activities over there
had always been characterised by miracles, healing and deliverance and other
supernatural manifestations.334 The site’s present name, APM, is believed to have
emerged as a result of the group’s regular pilgrimage to the mountain for prayer rituals.
When the Rev. Osei-Asibey was transferred to Wenchi in 1969, the late Rev.
Solomon Kwasi Debrah replaced him. The group was meeting occasionally. However, in
1970, Mr. Isaac Yao Boamah, the secretary of the group, left the Circuit work to work
with the State Transport Corporation. He was also replaced by one Mr. Brenya who was
the Caretaker of Sekyere Society of the MCG. Unfortunately, the group grew weaker and
weaker and eventually died off by the late 1980s. The implication is that the group
utilised APM as a pilgrimage site for more than twenty years before its dissolution. In all
these pilgrimage activities, it is said that other non-Methodists who had heard of the
place’s spiritual significance also utilised the PM for religious activities.
I was an eye-witness to the influx of pilgrims from other parts of the world to the
PM. From 27th to 30th June, 2009, the researcher met people who claimed to have come
331 The Society is the Local organisation of the Methodist Church, meeting as one congregation for public
worship, and organised into Classes under the supervision of the Leaders’ Meeting. The Society consists of
the Junior Members and Full Members, who are members of the Methodist Church. C.f. The Constitution
and Standing Orders of the Methodist Church Ghana. p.86.
332 Very Rev. Isaac Y. Boamah, Interview, 19 October 2010, Effiduasi. C.f. Ampaw-Asiedu, Atwea, p.14.
333 Very Rev. Isaac Y. Boamah, Interview, 19 October 2010, Effiduasi.
334 Very Rev. Isaac Y. Boamah, Interview, 19 October 2010, Effiduasi. Some of the miraculous deeds
would be considered when discussing ‘Miracles on the PM.’
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from Italy, Senegal and America to the PM as pilgrims. These foreign pilgrims heard of
the PM through the media and their Ghanaian friends / relatives who usually visit the
place.335 Moreover, since 2010 the PM has been the venue for the biannual Connexional
Prayer Convention of the MCG. The first part of the 2012 segment of the Prayer
Convention under the theme: “Fan into Flame the Gift of God in You” (2Timothy 1:6),
held from February 28 to March 3 on the PM, for example, attracted more than four
thousand pilgrims.336 The second part of the Prayer Convention is in August each year.
Similarly, the PCG has its site (i.e., Camp Eight) as the venue for its biannual Prayer
Retreat. The second segment of their 2011 Prayer Retreat under the theme: “Breaking the
Protocol of Satan”, held in August, attracted about five thousand pilgrims.337
The pilgrimage to the PM, in my opinion, is due to the pilgrims’ perception of the
site’s sacredness. This confirms the assertion of Park that ‘Pilgrimage represents the
main physical manifestation of the abiding pull of such sacred places, sometimes
involving vast numbers of people travelling by various means from around the world.’338
3.2.1.3 Other Prayer Camps and Christian Ministries on the mountain
One of the justifications for the sacredness of Krↄbo boↄ is the upsurge of other
Prayer Camps (PCs) and Christian Ministries (CMs) on the mountain. In addition to
Camp Three (CT) believed to be the site where the late Rev. Osei Asibbey was engulfed
335I am aware that the biannual Connexional Prayer Conference of the MCG is sometimes reported or
advertised in the print and electronic media in Ghana. The print media include posters, flyers and the
MCG’s quarterly magazine, The Christian Sentinel. For an example of a report on the Connexional Prayer
Conference at the PM, see The Christian Sentinel 19 (2010), p. 20. The electronic media include radio and
television. The popular ones the MCG uses to announce its Prayer Conference are Peace FM and TV3,
private radio and television stations respectively, both based in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
336 I was a participant observer at the Prayer Conference. The Director of Evangelism, Mission and
Renewal of the Methodist Church Ghana, the Very Rev. Adu Boateng, on 2 March 2012, disclosed the
number of pilgrims who attended the February 2012 Prayer Conference on the Mountain.
337 I was a participant observer at the Prayer Conference. Revs. Asare Amoah and Kofi Antwi, Ministers of
the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, disclosed the number of pilgrims during an interview they granted the
researcher on 12 August 2011 at Abasua Prayer Mountain (Camp Eight).
338 Park, Religion and geography, p. 22.
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in a cloud when he was praying, the present writer could count about nine other
established PCs and CMs or churches on the mountain. It was observed that almost all
the founders of the Camps or Ministries were men who had, for quite a long time,
patronised or utilized CT, the prayer camp of the MCG. Camp Three, the premier prayer
camp on the mountain, is believed to have been ‘the spiritual power house’ for those who
have established their prayer camps and Christian Ministries. For instance, Pastor Joseph
Boaheng, the founder of Camp Seven (Word Faith Ministries International), was once
one of the Caretakers of CT. He is said to have served as a Caretaker from 1997 to 2001.
According to Mr. Boateng Fordjour,339 the founder of Camp Eight (the prayer
camp of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana), the late Rev. Antwi Boasiako, utilised Camp
Three for more than ten years before leading the Presbyterians to establish Camp
Eight.340 The establishment of this Camp is believed to have been preceded by some
rituals which one considers to be of immense phenomenological significance. For
instance it is alleged that some of the Presbyterians went to fetch ordinary sand from
Camp Three and spread it on the ground before they erected the physical structures at
their prayer camp. This practice is perceived to have emanated from their belief in the
potency and sacredness of Camp Three, including the sand found there.341 If it is true that
the Presbyterians went to fetch ordinary sand from Camp Three, then its
phenomenological significance to the present writer is that the practice implies an
unconscious reinvention of relics in contemporary protestant church, the PCG.
It was noted that the numerical designations of some of the prayer camps did not
correspond with the chronological order of the camps’ establishment. Instead, the
numerical designations were symbols of some historical events that were believed to
339 At the time of this work, Mr. Boateng Fordjour was the Secretary of Camp Three.
340 Mr. Boateng Fordjour, Interview, 3 March 2012, APM.
341 Mr. Boateng Fordjour, Interview, 3 March 2012, APM.
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have informed the establishment of those camps. The Methodist camp, believed to be the
first camp on the mountain, is also referred to as Camp Three. If it was the first prayer
camp to be established on the mountain, why is it not Camp One? The name ‘CT’,
according to Mr. Fordjour Boateng, is as a result of the number of ‘prayer stops’ Rev.
Asibbey made on his way to the top of the APM. The ‘prayer stops’ were the number of
times the late pastor stopped to pray while climbing the mountain to the top. According
to Mr. Boateng, Rev. Asibbey made three ‘prayer stops’ on his way. The first ‘prayer
stop’ is where a PC has been established as Camp One. The second ‘prayer stop’ is
where Camp Two has been built. The third ‘prayer stop’ is the place where the Rev.
Abraham Osei Asibbey is believed to have been engulfed in the clouds when he was
praying. This is CT, the premier prayer camp on the mountain. Thus, contrary to popular
thinking, neither Camp One nor Two was built before CT. In that sense, the numerical
designations of these Camps did not necessarily correspond with the chronological order
of their establishment, rather they were symbols of historical reality. The numerical
designations of the PCs also imply the possibility of identity formation from the beliefs
and practices of religious leaders.342
3.2.1.4 Appropriation of relics and prayer accessories on the mountain
Cambridge International Dictionary of English defines a relic as ‘an object,
tradition or system from the past which has survived and continues to exist.’343 It is also
‘a part of the body or clothing or one of the belongings of a saint.’344 In this context,
one’s operational definition of a relic is any object or belonging, experience and tradition
342 The identity of the followers of revealed religious traditions, for example, Christianity and Islam, are
believed to be significantly shaped by the beliefs and practices of the founders of those religions. For a
detailed study on this, see James Fieser and John Powers (eds.), Scriptures of the World’s Religions (New
York, United States of America: McGraw –Hill, 1998). C.f. George E. Saint-Laurent, Spirituality and
World Religions: A Comparative Introduction (California: Mayfield Publishing Company, 2000).
343Cambridge International Dictionary of English, Low Priced Edition, s.v. ‘relic.’
344 Cambridge International Dictionary of English, Low Priced Edition, s.v. ‘relic.’
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of a dead Christian, which the living Christians endeavoured to utilise or appropriate
because of their belief in the spiritual potency of those objects, experiences and
traditions. The prevalence of relics at a place is believed to be some the indicators of the
place’s sacredness. Douglas Davies points out that relics make those sites sacred because
they
were often treasured as the central possession of a church and marked, in some
way, the continuity of the faithful with those who had given their lives for their
faith in Christ. At the level of popular religion these relics were often reckoned
to possess special powers, which could, for example, heal people…. The relics
not only reckoned to include pieces of the bodies of martyrs, but embraced an
extremely wide variety of things, including, for example, ‘ Our Lord’s shoe, his
swaddling clothes, blood and water from his side, bread from the feeding of the
five thousand and the Last Supper … the rods of Moses and Aaron, relics of St.
John the Baptist.’345
In his summary of Emile Durkheim’s Elementary Forms of Religion, Scott
indicates that a sacred force is thought to have a radiating quality; that is, its power is
believed to diffuse and radiate out, in the process occupying objects and spaces adjacent
to it. The power is believed to diminish with distance, so that the farther one is from the
source, the weaker its effects. This idea permeates beliefs about saints’ relics. Such
objects are thought to have a quality similar to radioactivity that affects anything they
touch. The belief is that the farther one stands from the object, the weaker is the effect.
Thus a person who hopes for a miraculous cure needs to have direct or near-direct
physical contact with the relic.346
The items believed to be relics and which were observed as vigorously patronised
by some pilgrims at CT of APM included the portraits of the late Rev. Abraham Osei
Asibey and the first chapel which was built at CT by the Kristomu Anigye Kuo and later
345 Douglas Davies, ‘Christianity’ in Jean Holm with John Bowker (eds), Sacred Place (United Kingdom:
Pinter Publishers Ltd., 1994), p. 41.
346 Scott, The Gothic Enterprise, p. 151.
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demolished. Below are the portraits of the late Rev. Abraham Osei Asibbey and the first
chapel believed to have been built at CT by the Kristomu Anigye Kuo.
Figure 3.2: The late Rev. Abraham Osei Asibbey
This portrait was placed at the topmost part of the chancel (sanctuary) of the new chapel
at CT. It was observed that anytime preachers preached on themes such as ‘Christian
sacrifice’ or ‘Christian commitment’, they were seen to be highly animated or inspired,
as they gazed on the late Rev. Asibbey’s portrait in the chapel or as they made reference
to him as one of the people believed to have lived a committed Christian life in his
generation.
Figure 3.3: The first chapel believed to have been built by the Kristomu Anigye Kuo
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Many copies of the portrait of the first chapel in which the late Rev. Abraham
Osei Asibbey presumably worshiped were offered for sale and many people, including
this researcher, rushed to patronise them. Apart from the economic dimensions of these
quasi-business activities, the sellers of these relics made buyers believe in their
miraculous potency and historical significance. The significance the sellers attached to
the relics corroborates the view of Davies with respect to the relevance of relics among
believers. According to him, relics can serve as a concrete expression of the faith of past
believers and as a focus for the faith of the living.347
Another relic which symbolises the sacredness of the Krↄbo boↄ is the metal
cross at CT. The cross has been erected at the very spot where the Rev. Abraham Osei
Asibbey stood to pray and was said to have been engulfed in the clouds. It is recalled that
on the first visit to the PM when the late Rev. Asibbey was allegedly engulfed in a cloud,
it is said that he erected a wooden cross at the site to designate the site’s spiritual
significance. That wooden cross has been replaced by a metal one. The metal cross is
thought to be more durable than the wooden cross. Owing to some pilgrims’ belief in the
spiritual potency of the cross, the very site where the cross has been erected is the space
where most pilgrims keep items such as anointing oil, water, food, clothing etc. It is also
a common practice to see many people kneeling down below the cross and praying. For
some people, sleeping under the cross at night is preferred to sleeping in any of the
rooms, even when unfavourable weather conditions at night demand their relocation to
some of the rooms. This is because such people believe that the clouds which enveloped
the late Rev. Minister made the place exceptionally supernatural.348Their sleeping there
or keeping of items under the cross is therefore believed to be some of the means by
which such pilgrims hope to have answers to their prayer requests.
347 Davies, ‘Christianity’, p.42.
348 (Emphasis mine).
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The issue of relics is not limited only to the PM but to the entire Abasua
community. One of the relics which are perceived to be of immense importance to the
entire Abasua community is the special walking staff of the late Rev. Abraham Osei
Asibbey. It is said that when the late clergyman came down after his second visit to the
PM in April 1965, he made a special walking staff. It is a brown wooden stick of about
five feet ten inches tall, with a metal pointed stand at the bottom. On top of the staff is a
spherical silver knob on which a star-like brass is situated.
Figure 3.4: The special walking staff used by the late Rev. Abraham Osei Asibbey.
This staff was initially kept at the palace of the then chief of Abasua, Nana Kwasi
Marfo. The arrangement was that anytime he (Rev. Asibbey) climbed the mountain he
used it and upon his return, it was kept in custody of the chief. 349
Related to the issue of relics is pilgrims’ appropriation of prayer accessories on
the mountain. Prayer accessories are symbols or aids to a person’s interaction with a
349 Very Rev. Isaac Y. Boamah, Interview, 19 October 2010, Effiduasi.
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transcendent reality or a deity.350 They include water, sand, leaves and anointing oil
believed to be potent as a result of their encounter with a supernatural reality. The
researcher observed the practice of pilgrims’ fetching of water that had been
accumulated on the floor of the rock and gathering of sand and leaves from trees and
shrubs on the mountain. The water, sand and the leaves were believed to be efficacious
to the users, once they (the prayer aids) had been gathered from the PM.351These
observations corroborate those made by J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, when he studied
the St. Mary’s Sanctuary (SMS) at Buoho in Kumasi. He maintains that:
Pilgrims to SMS also collect some of the sand and leaves of trees at the place,
which they claim have demonstrated miraculous powers for users. Underneath a
huge stone edifice of the Madonna, at my visit in December 2003, were several
gallons of water that had been placed there by pilgrims and supplicants. The
gallons of water had been placed at the foot of the Madonna to attract her
blessings unto the water. The blessed water will then be used either as drinking
or bathing water to effect religious healing. In a combination of traditional
healing practices and Christian healing, pilgrims had also placed herbs collected
from the grotto under the statue of the Madonna, presumably to let her presence
infuse the herbs with miraculous effect when they are applied.352
The gallons of water which had been placed under the foot of the Madonna to attract her
blessings unto the water and the pilgrims’ perception that the blessed water could bring
about religious healing, in my opinion, are all in the context of the appropriation of
prayer accessories. The perception that the blessed water can bring about religious
healing is believed to be Christianity’s unconscious reenactment of some of the practices
of Traditional Akan Religion. In this religious tradition, adherents sometimes use
physical objects such as talisman, amulets and concoctions believed to be spiritually
350 For a good discussion on prayer accessories, see Virginia Greene, ‘"Accessories of Holiness": Defining
Jewish Sacred Objects’ Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, 31 (1992), pp. 31-39.
Available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/3179610, [accessed 04 June 2012].
351 Mr. Fordjour Boateng and Nana Kwame, Interview, 3 March 2012, APM.
352 J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, “Born of the Virgin Mary”: Mary, Marian Apparitions and the Catholic
Heritage in Ghanaian Christianity. Paper presented at the Conference on ‘Sensational Heritage: Fashioning
Culture, Styling the Past, Stimulating the Senses’. Conference Organized by the NOW Research Program,
Heritage Dynamics: Politics of Authentication and Aesthetics of Persuasion in Ghana, South Africa, Brazil
and the Netherlands (n.d), pp. 6-7.
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potent in bringing about religious healing or protection. The appropriation of physical
items such as blessed water at Christian sacred spaces, in my opinion, can be a typology
of traditional Akan religious practice in Ghanaian Christianity. In that sense, the affinity
between Christianity and Traditional Akan Religion is highlighted.
3.2.1.5 Sacredness through miracles
According to Davies, some places became sacred because it is believed that
something miraculous took place there, as with the Holy Land, given that name because
Jesus was born and lived there.353 Several miracles354are believed to have taken place on
APM which, on the basis of Davies’ scheme, warrants its designation as a sacred space.
Some of these claims of miraculous occurrences on the PM are examined and discussed.
First, during the field work of this research at Abasua, Madam Apemasu, one of
the natives of Abasua who was interviewed by the researcher, shared what she
considered to be her miraculous experience on the mountain. According to her, she was
one of the people with whom the late Rev. Abraham Osei Asibbey was going to the
mountain to pray. She said that this was after the late Asibbbey had discovered the site as
a place for prayer rituals in 1965. In one of the usual prayer visits to the mountain, the
woman said that the late Rev. Asibbey asked them to pray and ask God for one of these
two concerns; children or money. She said that at that time she had assumed her
menopausal stage for some years, therefore, to ask God for a child was perceived to be
impossible. She rather resolved to pray to God for money to be able to take care of the
children she had already given birth to. But according to her, she immediately had a
change of mind and rather prayed to God for children because she believed that human
353 Davies, ‘Christianity’, p.44.
354 Miracles in this context refer to ‘extraordinary events caused by supernatural agency.’ For detailed
discussion on ‘Miracles’, see Cook, Thinking About Faith, pp. 103-115.
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beings were more valuable to her than money. Moreover, according to her, nothing was
impossible with God.
She said that after the prayer when they were coming home, she experienced the
resumption of her menstrual period. A few months afterwards, she became pregnant and
eventually gave birth to a beautiful girl. About two years afterwards, she gave birth again
to another beautiful girl. At the time of the field work of this research, each of the girls
had grown and also given birth to seven children each.355
Related to the above is the miraculous experience of Madam Felicia Kyere of
Yonso, near Jamasi in the Effiduasi Diocese of the MCG. According to her, she came
with a group of people to pray on the mountain one day. During one of the prayer
sessions, the leader requested people who needed children to come forward so that they
would be assisted in prayer. Madam Kyere said she willingly stood in for her niece who
needed children and they were prayed for. She claimed she was fifty-two years and was
in her menopause. Within a few months after the prayer retreat, she herself became
pregnant and eventually gave birth to a baby boy. The boy was called aberewa ba (Old
Lady’s son), since the mother gave birth to him in her old age. Subsequently, the niece
also gave birth.356
Moreover, some of the respondents affirmed the sacredness of the prayer
mountain by referring to it as ‘a place where impossibilities become possibilities.’ One
of such respondents is Mr. Lawrence Asare Dankwa. 357 According to him, in February
2005, he proposed to marry a certain lady. He said the lady accepted the proposal, but
she in turn disclosed to him what she referred to as ‘the unfortunate aspect of my life.’
355 Madam Adwoa Apemasu, Interview, 13 August 2011, Abasua community.
356 Ampaw-Asiedu, Atwea, p. 40.
357 Mr. Lawrence Asare-Dankwah was an Economics teacher at Aburi Girls’ Senior High School and also
a member of Wesley Methodist Church Choir, Aburi. He made this affirmation during a discussion with
the researcher on the sacredness of APM on 16 March 2012, at the Wesley Methodist Chapel, Aburi.
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That unfortunate aspect of the lady’s life, according to Mr. Asare-Dankwa, had to do
with the notion that some Medical Doctors had allegedly diagnosed and declared her to
be sterile owing to some biological complications they claimed is associated with her
reproductive system. Mr. Asare-Dankwa said that he was not perturbed in anyway by
that apparently discouraging and hopeless response of the lady. Instead, he said he
determined to marry her since he hoped that he could have children with her ‘through
prayer or divine intervention.’
Mr. Asare-Dankwah said that he went to APM to pray to God for her would-be
wife’s reproductive system to be restored. He said he spent about a week on the
mountain. In July 2005, he said that they got married, and barely a year after their
wedding ceremony, his wife gave birth to a bouncing baby girl. He attributes her wife’s
successful delivery to a miraculous restoration of her reproductive system, made possible
through his prayer and fasting session on APM.
The above claims of miraculous occurrences were all on issues of fertility or
child bearing. The pilgrims’ ardent desire to have children through divine intervention
partly underscores the importance of children among the Akan people and Africans in
general. Emmanuel Anim notes the overarching importance of fertility or procreation
among Africans by referring to it as that which ‘occupies the prime locus in the African
concept of prosperity.’358 Anim, citing K.A Opoku, further points out that ‘children are
highly valued by the Akan. In spite of all the changes introduced into Akan society by
modernity, procreation remains the aim of marriage, for without offspring, marriage is
incomplete.359 Opoku’s assertion was sustained by John Pobee, an eminent Ghanaian
358 Anim, ‘The Prosperity Gospel in Ghana and the Primal Imagination’, p. 38.
359 Anim, ‘The Prosperity Gospel in Ghana and the Primal Imagination’, p. 38.
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theologian, who maintains that ‘childlessness is a disaster in so far as it means the dying
out of family and incompleteness.360
The implication is that childlessness, among the Akan people, is considered as a
curse and humiliation. To mitigate this humiliation, people, especially married couples,
resort to several means. One of the means, in the opinion of the present writer, is
religion. Asamoah-Gyadu points out that ‘in the African context solutions to problems
are often sought within the ambience of religion.’361 Their pilgrimage to APM, therefore,
indicates their appropriation of a religious resource to realise their material desires.
Victor Turner and Edith L.B. Turner note the importance of pilgrimage to ordinary
people: ‘At the heart of pilgrimage is the folk, the ordinary people who choose a
‘materialistic’ expression of their religion. In other words, pilgrimage as a religious act is
a kinetic ritual, replete with actual objects, ‘sacra’, and is often said to have materialistic
results, such as healing and child bearing.’362
Thus, the sacredness of APM lies in the perception that, it is a site where the
religious practitioners or the pilgrims (i.e., the people who pray on the mountain) are
believed to have experienced the presence and power of the transcendental, as Birgit
Meyer described it,363 as far as the realisation of their prayer requests364 is concerned.
We have already indicated that the sacredness of APM is defined and informed by the
belief in the presence and power of a deity at that place, and the possibility of human
interaction with the deity through prayer rituals. The alleged miraculous occurrences on
360 Anim, ‘The Prosperity Gospel in Ghana and the Primal Imagination’, p. 38.
361 Asamoah-Gyadu, “Born of the Virgin Mary”, p. 7.
362 Victor Turner and Edith L.B. Turner, Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture (NY: Columbia
University Press, 1978), p. xiii. (Emphasis mine). C.f. Amoah, Religion and Poverty, p. 111.
363 Birgit Meyer, Religious Sensations: Why Media, Aesthetics and Power Matter in the Study of
Contemporary Religion (Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit, 2006), p.8.
364 These prayer requests, in the opinion of the researcher, were believed to be humanly impossible that
was why the people resorted to the power of the transcendental.
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the mountain, in the opinion of the researcher, are reinforcements of the claims of God’s
presence on the mountain.
This view, however, presupposes the existence of God who is believed to be the
orchestrator of miraculous events or signs on the APM. In his interrogation of the
presupposition of God’s existence and the belief that he is the orchestrator of miraculous
signs, Cook raises the following questions and concerns:
What sense of ‘event’ and ‘cause’ is there which can be applied to divine
agency? How can the transcendent God intervene in the world without
destroying that transcendence and becoming merely another part of creation
itself? How can we be sure what the [miraculous] sign is meant to signify? It
may and does often mean different things to different people. We would require
some independent verification and identification that the [miraculous] sign was
genuine…. How is it possible to justify a claim that a miracle has occurred?365
The above questions and concerns partly show the difficulty with which scholars have to
grapple with phenomena which defy scientific explication and empirical verification.
Cook’s response to the above questions and concerns are worth noting.
The problem with a miracle, if there really are such things, is that, by definition,
no one will be able to tell you how it is done. If they can, it ranks the same as
other explicable events. To say that God did it, is not to reveal how the event
happened, but to point to the fact that there was some divine purpose and agency
behind it. Neither of these can be exhaustively described without making man
God or reducing the divine to the human. Accordingly, there can be no
naturalistic description or explanation of how a miracle has happened, and that,
by definition. If there could be, it would no longer be a miracle. That leaves open
the possibility of a supernatural explanation.366
3.2.1.6 Other related prayer rituals
The sacredness of APM could be observed from the prevalence of other prayer
rituals such as sacred writings, Bible studies / preaching and the administration of the
Lord’s Supper (that is, Holy Eucharist). It must be pointed out that these practices are not
new in Christianity, neither are their sacral orientations. They are however examined and
discussed in this context because of what the researcher observed as the special
365 Cook, Thinking About Faith, p.106.
366 Cook, Thinking About Faith, p.107. (Emphasis original)
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importance the camp workers and the pilgrims place on those practices. Almost all the
religious functionaries367 at the various PCs on the mountain recognised all or some of
these prayer rituals.
Sacred writings in Christianity, according to Douglas Davies, primarily refer to
the Bible and its centrality in Christian thought and practice.368 In his emphasis on the
centrality of the Bible in Christian worship, Davies further maintains that:
Christian worship is so closely linked with sacred scriptures that it is almost
impossible to think of any formal Christian service taking place without some
use of the Bible. This centrality of the Bible is due to the fact that Christianity
stresses its past through the belief that God’s self-revelation has occurred within
history at particular times and places, through religious leaders such as prophets,
but most especially, through Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible is the central deposit
of witness to this divine revelation.369
The researcher observed the centrality of sacred scriptures or excerpts of them on
the PM in several ways; on sign boards, charts etc. For example, the sign board at the
Abasua community which directs visitors or strangers to the PM has this inscription,
among others: ‘On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that folds all peoples, the
sheet that covers all nation. Isaiah 25:7.’ It was insightful to observe two drawn opened
Bibles just below the inscription. The inscription and the two opened Bibles are
perceived to inform readers or prospective pilgrims on the mountain that people and
nations can find deliverance on the PM through the God who has revealed himself in the
Bible.
Some of the excerpts of the Bible as found on charts in some of the PCs were
words of prayer (petition) and those considered to indicate the identity of Jesus Christ.
Some of the words too were not direct excerpts of the Bible, but were perceived to have
367 The religious functionaries refer to pastors, evangelists, caretakers, camp overseers.
368 Douglas Davies, ‘Christianity’ in Jean Holm with John Bowker (eds.), Sacred Writings (London,
United Kingdom: Pinter Publishers Ltd., 1994), p. 44.
369 Davies, ‘Christianity’, p.45.
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scriptural implications or underpinnings. For instance, in one of the rooms at CT, these
sets of sacred writings were read:
Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.
Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King and my God,
For unto thee will I pray.
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning,
O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee,
And will I look up. Psalm 5:1-3.370
The above were perceived to be petition prayer, which Eastman describes as ‘the act of
personal supplication.’371 The identity of the God in this petition prayer seems to have
been briefly described on another chart in the same room. The chart had as its title:
‘Jesus the bread of life.’ The content was: ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to me
shall not hunger and he who believes in me shall not thirst. John 6: 35.’ From a
hermeneutical point of view, Jesus, in this text, claims to be the embodiment of peoples’
basic needs. Hence the need for their encounter with him, probably, through prayer.
In addition to these words were those perceived to urge the pilgrims to persist in
prayer even in the midst of inevitable challenges and adversities in life. On one of the
charts with the portrait of an eagle and a caption: ‘Don’t give up’, the content was:
Be focused,
Watch and pray,
Even when friends and relatives forsake you.
The LORD will surely take care of you.
Your miracle is on the way.372
These writings found in some of the rooms on the PM reinforce the sacredness of the site
because they are generally perceived to be sacred scriptures of prayer, understood by
Cook as ‘an interactive communication with God.’373
370 The researcher read these words on 13 August 2011 during one of his field works for this study.
371 Eastman, The Hour that Changes the World, p.87.
372 The researcher read these words at the ‘Miracle House’ at Camp Three, during a field trip to Abasua on
13 August 2011.
373 Cook, Thinking about Faith, p. 95.
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The presence of several prayer camps or Christian Ministries and religious
functionaries on the PM, to some extent, implies the religious practice of Bible studies or
preaching, among others. On the PM, Bible studies are sometimes held in groups, usually
under trees. The number of people in each group varies. One person normally functions
as the facilitator of the group. As the facilitator, he or she reads the scripture for the
studies or appoints one of the members to read. The facilitator raises questions and the
other group members respond. Bible studies always begin and end with prayer. In the
course of the studies, the people almost always become glued to their Bibles, an
impression of serious and diligent study of God’s Word. Serious study of God’s Word
also implies that during Bible studies, pilgrims scarcely have time for frivolous
behaviours such as excessive laughter, unnecessary chatting and late attendance. The
implication of this is that the sacredness of the place conditions the behavior of the
pilgrims.
Related to Bible studies is preaching. Preaching normally takes place in chapels
but sometimes, under trees in the forest on the PM. For instance, the morning and
afternoon sessions of the seventh biannual Connexional Prayer Convention (CPC) of the
MCG, held at CT from 28th February to 3rd March, 2012, were held under trees in the
forest. Preaching and other related activities take place there.374 Sermons are usually in
Akan language, except a few occasional flashes of English language by preachers who
had some level of formal education.
The relationship between preaching and sacredness of a place has been identified
by Davies. According to him, ‘preaching is also seen by some … as providing a moment
of communication between God and the congregation. When the preacher addresses the
people it is God, they say, who addresses them through the words of the sermon. So the
374 The researcher was a participant observer in this Connexional Prayer Convention.
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sacred place is the place where the divine word is spoken.’375 The implication is that
market places, hospitals/clinics, buses and lorry stations where God’s word is preached
are all regarded as sacred places. This position justifies the validity of Pal’s assertion that
the role of religion is to promote encounters with the sacred, to bring a person “out of his
worldly Universe or historical situation, and project him into a Universe different in
quality, an entirely different world, transcendent and holy.”376
In addition to the above, one of the factors perceived to be responsible for the
sacredness of the PM is the celebration of Holy Communion. The perception of Holy
Communion as a determinant of the sacredness of APM lies in the opinion that:
In the rite [referring to the Holy Communion], the central history of the faith is
recalled and focused in the life and earthly ministry of Jesus. Then in the prayer
of consecration the priest asks that by the power of God’s Holy Spirit the bread
[wafers] and wine may be to the worshippers the body and blood of
Christ….Although this ritual normally takes place in a consecrated church, it can
be carried out any where by a suitably ordained priest, whether in someone’s
home or in a field or factory…. The significant point is that in this service
believers are drawn both into the presence of God and into the history of the life
of Jesus. The group celebrating the eucharist comprises the sacred community of
believers without having to be in any church building. In other words, it is the
community of believers that marks off a sacred territory rather than the other
way round.377
When churches embark on a pilgrimage or hold prayer conventions on the
mountain, one of the rituals that usually mark the end of their pilgrimage is the Holy
Communion. The special importance some of the pilgrims attach to the Holy
Communion is that whenever it is celebrated on the mountain, it is believed to be an
indelible seal on the participants or communicants against evil and demonic
machinations.378 The researcher’s contention is Why is the efficacy of the ritual seems to
be limited only to the mountain? Doesn’t the ritual have the same degree of potency
375 Davies, ‘Christianity’, p. 56. This was cited from the book titled Sacred Place.
376 Pal, Seven Theories of Religion, p. 165.
377 Davies, ‘Christianity’, p. 56.
378 A PCG member, who took part in the second segment of the biannual Prayer Retreat on the PM, in
August 2011, said it to buttress a testimony he shared on the PM.
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when it is celebrated outside the PM? These questions notwithstanding do not in any way
relegate the plausibility of such a claim to the backdrop, considering the fact that it is
perceived to be the communicants’ own experience about the ritual. The plausibility of
such a claim is augmented by the perception that by their participation in the Holy
Communion, the communicants are also assured of total security in Jesus Christ.379
If the people who celebrate the Holy Communion comprise the sacred community of
believers whose presence at the place of the ritual marks off that site as a sacred space,
and if the same communicants are urged to go out and proclaim Christ in the world,380
then the present writer is of the view that the ritual of Holy Communion celebrated on
the mountain has a multiple role of bringing about sacredness. This multiple role is
referred to in this work as the ripple effect of sacrality.
I now turn to focus on the historical narrative of Nkawkaw Mountain Olive
Prayer Camp to examine its sacred orientation or identity within contemporary Ghanaian
Christian context. This, however, is grounded on a brief exploration of the history of
Nkawkaw community because of the perception that the historical narrative of Nkawkaw
community and Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp is inseparably linked. In other
words, the history of the Prayer Mountain will not be complete without recourse to the
history of Nkawkaw, the community in which the Prayer Mountain is located.
3.3 The history of Nkawkaw
Historically, Nkawkaw began as a modest village in the nineteenth century.
Traditionally, there are seventeen principal towns (Nkurotoↄ du nson) in the Kwahu
379 For a good discussion on the Eucharistic Offering or the efficacy of the Holy Communion, see Donald
M. Baillie, Theology of the Sacraments & Other Papers (London: Faber and Faber Limited, n.d.), pp. 108-
124.
380 Proclaiming Christ in the world is understood as one of the ways by which the communicants help to
promote an encounter between the sacred and profane spaces.
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traditional area of the Eastern Region of Ghana, where Nkawkaw is geographically
located. Nkawkaw is not one of these principal towns.
Oral tradition maintains that the story of Nkawkaw would not be complete
without the following personalities: Nana Amoah, Oyoko royal and Safohene from
Obomeng, Adonten, Akowuah, Dankyira and Twerefo.381 The oral account posits that
Adonten, Akowuah, Dankyira and Twerefo were nephews of Nana Amoah. The nephews
were hunters and palm wine tappers who lived on top of the Kwahu Mountains where
they plied their trade. It is said that, the hunters found it difficult to trace the animals that
they killed during their hunting expedition. The dead animals used to fall from the
mountains and roll over to the foot of the mountains. Therefore, they decided to relocate
to the foot of the mountains. Fortunately, they discovered that the land below the
mountains was flat and suitable for human settlement. The Chief of Obomeng (one of the
principal towns in the Kwahu traditional area) was informed accordingly and the hunters
were allowed to settle on the land. It was a very dense forest at that time. In the course of
time, others came to join the hunters and more huts were put up.
Several legends account for the derivation of the name ‘Nkawkaw’. First, it is
said to have been derived from the Nkawkaw stream which flows through a section of
the town. The story behind is that the colour of the stream appears to be ‘red’ any time it
gets flooded. This is rendered in Asante Twi dialect as: ‘Nsuo a εyiri a ani yε kↄkↄↄ’.
Over the years, this rendition has been corrupted as ‘Nkawkaw’.382
Another school of thought upholds that geographically, anyone who wanted
access to the Kwahu Kingdom had to pass through the foot of the Kwahu Mountains then
believed to be a dangerous zone. The foot of the mountains, the current geographical
381
Kwame Ampene, ‘The Story of Kwahu Nkawkaw’
https://www.facebook.com/Nkawkawkwahu/posts/513358765530605 [Accessed 24 July 2017].
382 Ampene, ‘The Story of Kwahu Nkawkaw’
110
location of Nkawkaw, was called ‘ↄboↄ ase’, meaning ‘beneath the rock or mountains’.
Strangers or travelers approaching the Kwahu Kingdom through ↄboↄ ase were warned
with the expression ‘nkↄ nkↄwu’, Asante Twi dialect meaning ‘do not go to die’. The
expression ‘nkↄ nkↄwu’ was also a warning to the marauding Asante army who were
bent on attacking the Kwahu Kingdom in the nineteenth century.383 Thus from this
school of thought, ‘nkↄ nkↄwu’, has been corrupted as Nkawkaw.
3.4 Discovering Ͻboↄ anim as a Christian Sacred Space: The Emergence of
Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp in Contemporary Ghanaian
Christianity
The narrative of the discovery of ‘Ͻboↄ anim’ explores the customary ownership
of the site and its tripartite orientation as a cocoa farm, a village site and a non-
denominational prayer ground prior to its current status as a Christian pilgrimage site. It
also focuses on some theophanic events which were perceived to confirm or attest to the
site’s sacredness. The discussion further explores the development of the space for
pilgrimage and prayer rituals by Evangelist Frank Kwadwo Gyasi.
3.4.1 Customary Ownership of Ͻboↄ anim and its Tripartite Orientation
Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer is traditionally referred to as ‘Ͻboↄ anim’,
meaning ‘in front of a rock or mountain’.384 It is a mountainous sacred space
supernaturally constructed and located in front of a mountain. From a Christian
theological point of view, the supernatural aesthetic orientation of the site simply depicts
William Evans’ perspective of God’s impressive creativity, stupendous design,
unparalleled ability and unimaginable dexterity.385
383 Nana Ofori Agyapong, Odikro of Nsuta, disclosed this during an interview he granted me on 10
September, 2016 at Nkawkaw.
384 Nana Ofori Agyapong, Interview, 10 September, 2016, Nkawkaw.
385 William Evans, The Great Doctrines of the Bible (Chicago, USA: Moody Press, 1980), p.17.
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There seems to be a universal consensus among Christians with respect to God’s
unquestionable ownership of the earth and all its contents, including mountainous sites:
‘the earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell
therein.’386 In Ghana, the traditional Akan Religious perspective of the Supreme God’s
identity as the greatest deity [and owner of the earth] also seems to be corroborated by
this biblical position.387 It is, however, insightful to point out that the site is customarily
owned by the late Nana Jacob Yaw Asiedu, the grandfather of Nana Ofori Agyapong,
Nsuta Dikro, who is also one of my informants for this study.388
The site formed part of Nana Asiedu’s cocoa farm and the exact location of his
village where harvested cocoa pods were gathered and the beans dried up. To minimize
the difficult task of frequently climbing the mountain to carry down cocoa beans,
especially during bumper harvest, Nana Asiedu thought it expedient and prudent to dry
his cocoa beans at the village, before conveying them down for sale.
Owing largely to the plenteous quantity of cocoa the farmer harvested, his farm
or village almost always attracted people usually workers he recruited for several aspects
of his project. Unfortunately, the demise of the farmer dealt a heavy blow to the lucrative
cocoa business which had been a source of livelihood to many people at Nkawkaw and
its environs. Surprisingly, it is said that the cocoa farm and the village were abandoned
after the death of the man.
Scarcely did Nana Asiedu know that the activities related to his cocoa farm and
the many workers he attracted to the site could also underscore the site’s assumption of a
sacred status with the potency to attract many religious pilgrims from diverse
backgrounds. Since the location of the cocoa farm and the village was mountainous and
386 Psalm 24:1 (English Standard Version Study Bible).
387 Sarpong, Ghana in Retrospect, pp.116-117.
388 Nana Ofori Agyapong, Interview, 10 September, 2016, Nkawkaw. See also Sarpong, Ghana in
Retrospect, pp.116-117 for a good discussion of ownership and use of stool lands.
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therefore very serene and ideal for reflections and meditations, people from diverse
religious persuasions utilized the site for prayer. These people included Christians,
Muslims and practitioners of African Traditional Religion. Some of them were the
workers whom the farmer recruited. Others also came from some parts of Ghana and
other African countries such as Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger. The foreigners who
patronized the site claimed that they had dreams about the sacredness of the site. They
also claimed to receive divine directions to the place.389 It is thus in his context that the
site’s multipurpose orientation is located – a cocoa farm, a village site and a non-
denominational prayer ground. This tripartite identity of the site, with its inherent
element of sacredness, in my opinion, suggests that the sacredness of the site was
underscored long ago before the onslaught of theophanic events which allegedly
confirmed its current spiritual potency as a Christian pilgrimage site.
3.4.2 The Confirmation of Ͻboↄ anim’s Sacredness by Theophanic Events
I have indicated elsewhere in this work that in Eliade’s theoretical scheme,
designation of a site as sacred is generally a response to two types of events: hierohanic
and theophanic events. The one that is of immediate relevance to this aspect of the work
is theophanic event. In this event, Eliade maintains that somebody receives a message
from the deity and interprets it for others [to probably recognize and appreciate the site’s
sacredness or spatial non homogeneity.]390 Two of such theophanic events are the
hanging of a cross in front of the mountain by the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) in
Koforidua in 1958 and a prophetic declaration about God’s gracious presence at the site.
389 Nana Ofori Agyapong, Interview, 10 September, 2016, Nkawkaw.
390 Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane, pp. 20 – 27. See also page 19 of Chapter one of this work
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These events about the sacredness of the site were all perceived to have been
orchestrated or directed by God391. The events are successively explored in this context.
The utilization of the site for non-denominational prayer rituals by people of
different religious traditions was reinforced in 1958 by the RCC in Koforidua. In that
year, it is said that the RCC, under the inspiration of God, went to hang an aluminum
cross on the mountain. The church, then under the pastoral leadership of Bishop Bowers,
further highlighted the sacredness of the place with this inscription on the face of the
mountain: ‘Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Host … Behold the Cross of the Lord.’ These
religious symbols did not only accentuate the RCC’s notion of the site’s apartness and
spiritual relevance, but also indicated the church’s perception of Christ’s ownership and
territorial dominance of the entire earth, including Nkawkaw community and its
environs.392 These religious symbols are reminiscent of one of the occurrences on 20th
January, 1482, the date traditionally regarded as when Christianity was first introduced
to West Africa in contemporary times. J. Kofi Agbeti, a renowned Ghanaian Church
historian, observes that ‘On that day, a Portuguese expedition of 600 men, under the
command of Don Diogo d’Azambuja who had landed at Elmina, near Cape Coast, in
Ghana, a day before [symbolically announced their presence]’.393 Agbeti, citing C.P.
Grooves, discloses that they:
suspended the banner of Portugal from the bough of lofty tree, at the foot of
which they erected an altar, and the whole company assisted at the first mass that
was celebrated in Guinea, and prayed for the conversion of the natives from
idolatry, (sic) and the perpetual prosperity of the church which they intended to
erect upon the spot.394
It seems to me that the suspension of religious items such as cross on the face of a
mountain or banner from the bough of a tree and their respective religious inscriptions
391 Nana Ofori Agyapong, Interview, 10 September, 2016, Nkawkaw; Evangelist Frank Kwadwo Gyasi,
Interview, 27 July, 2017, Mount Olive Prayer Camp, Nkawkaw.
392 Nana Ofori Agyapong, Interview, 10 September, 2016, Nkawkaw.
393Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 3.
394 Agbeti, West African Church History, p. 3. Emphasis mine.
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and prayer rituals were part of the missionary or evangelistic strategies employed by
Western Christian Missionaries who sought to announce their presence and missionary
intentions in Africa or Gold Coast (now Ghana). Thus such religious items, in my
opinion, formed part of the means by which the Portuguese in the fifteenth-century and
the RCC in the twentieth century negotiated for space to encounter Ghana’s (then Gold
Coast’s) existing religious traditions (which they erroneously stigmatized, stereotyped
and marginalized) and possibly spearhead a change in her indigenous religious culture
through conversion.395
The second theophanic event that allegedly attested to the spiritual potency of the
site was a prophecy. Evangelist Frank Kwadwo Gyasi, the founder of Nkawkaw Prayer
Mountain, narrated the circumstances surrounding the prophetic utterance to me. He said
that in the year 1991, Rev. Kwame Nti, a pastor of the Resurrection Power Ministry, a
Christian denomination at Nkawkaw, had organized a group of people into a Christian
fellowship to pray on Wednesdays. Evangelist Gyasi maintains that it was one of these
prayer meetings that a certain sister prophesied about the prevalence of spiritual power at
Ͻboↄ anim. The prophecy literally meant that the Almighty God was present and active
at the site. It was therefore imperative for the Christians to go there to wait on the Lord in
prayer. It is said that Rev. Kwame Nti, upon hearing the prophetic utterance, began to
lead his team to Ͻboↄ anim to pray.396 The implication is that the prophetic utterance
officially gave birth to pilgrimage movements to Nkawkaw Prayer Mountain.
395 Jacob K. Olupona, ‘African Humanity Matters: Religious Creativity and Africa’s World Encounters’ in
Gordon S.K. Adika, George Ossom-Batsa and Helen Yitah (eds.) New Perspectives on African Humanity:
Beliefs, Values and Artistic Expression (Accra, Ghana: Adwinsa Publications (Gh) Ltd., 2014), pp. 1-37.
396 Evangelist Frank Kwadwo Gyasi, Interview, 27 July, 2017, Mount Olive Prayer Camp, Nkawkaw
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3.4.3 The Transformation of Ͻboↄ anim into Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer
Camp under the Leadership of Evangelist Frank Kwadwo Gyasi
The transformation of Ͻboↄ anim into Nkawkaw Mount Olive Prayer Camp is
attributed to Evangelist Frank Kwadwo Gyasi. He is credited to have founded and
facilitated the development of Ͻboↄ anim into a Prayer Camp of international repute.397
He reveals how Ͻboↄ anim emerged to become a Christian sacred space of international
standing, after the prophetic declaration which attested to God’s abiding presence at the
site.
He confirms the dominance of mysterious powers and wild animals at Ͻboↄ
anim, prior to the prophetic utterance of the site’s sacredness and appropriateness for
Christian pilgrimage rituals. In his opinion, it was a site densely populated by mysterious
and weird creatures such as dwarfs and malevolent forces. He discloses that despite all
these scarring forces at the site, he, together with Rev. Kwame Nti and the rest of the
fellowship members (as they were then called) were never scarred to utilize the site for
prayer.398 They were actually determined to tarry there in prayer.
Between the years 1991 and 1992, the zeal or enthusiasm with which the
fellowship members appropriated the site surprisingly declined, when Rev. Kwame Nti
was transferred by his church, the Resurrection Power Ministry. The group’s pilgrimage
to the site, according to Evangelist Gyasi, eventually halted and the site was entirely
abandoned. The members of the Christian fellowship who were patronizing the site with
Rev. Kwame Nti retreated to their various denominations.
Between the years 1993 and 1994, Evangelist Gyasi maintains that he
volunteered to resume pilgrimage to the site through prayer and fasting, in order to
397 Evangelist Frank Kwadwo Gyasi, Interview, 27 July, 2017, Mount Olive Prayer Camp, Nkawkaw
398 Evangelist Frank Kwadwo Gyasi, Interview, 27 July, 2017, Mount Olive Prayer Camp, Nkawkaw
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reactivate the spiritual fervor of the place. In his view, the prophetic utterance about the
site’s spiritual potency was authentic, inerrant and absolutely reliable. It was therefore
thought to be inconsistent with Christian religious practice for such a prophecy to be
repudiated by his refusal to patronize the site through pilgrimage.
He reveals that his resumption of pilgrimage movement to the mountain
apparently coincided with what he considered to be a heightened activation of demonic
operations over there. The site was overtly characterized, among other things, by sudden
and surreptitious disappearance of his food items like banana and kenkey; laud laughter,
conversation and touching of people by some invisible beings believed to be dwarfs. The
dominance of spiritual forces on the mountain at that time was so heavy that the road
from Nkawkaw to Atibie, at the vicinity of the PM, was almost always characterized by
fatal motor accidents believed to be orchestrated by the malevolent forces that were
thought to reside on the mountain.
The prevalence of these mysterious phenomena on the mountain, in Gyasi’s
opinion, impregnated in him an insatiable thirst and hunger for prayer anytime he
embarked on pilgrimage to the site. He claims that he and other pilgrims who
occasionally patronized the site determined to prayerfully halt those fatal accidents.
In the course of time, he decided to move and stay on the mountain. He asserts
that though he was young (less than thirty years at that time), he scarcely entertained
fears. He further claims that for fourteen years (from 1994 – 2008), he was on the
mountain praying and fasting, especially in the night, when evil spiritual forces were
believed to heighten their diabolical and mischievous nocturnal expeditions. Prayer and
fasting was the order of those years.
Evangelist Gyasi attributes the coming into lime light of the prayer camp to God
who, through dumbfounding miraculous deeds, continually proves himself faithful and
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powerful in the lives of pilgrims who come to wait on him in prayer. In his opinion, the
dumbfounding miracles at the camp attest to the faithfulness of God as the real source of
the prophetic utterance that attested to the site’s spiritual potency. One of such
astonishing miracles which popularized the prayer camp, according to Evangelist Gyasi,
was God’s revival of a dead woman through him (Evangelist Gyasi) in the year 1997 at
Nkawkaw. The details of the flabbergasting miracle as narrated by the Evangelist are as
follows:
In the year 1997, I was praying on the mountain with three of my Christian
friends. I heard God instructing me to descend. I asked him why he wanted me to
descend. He responded that he would show me the rationale behind the
instruction. I obeyed and descended. Owing to excessive prayer and fasting, I
had grown very lean; almost emaciated. I was divinely instructed by God to go
to the Roman Hospital at Nkawkaw. Upon reaching the hospital, I saw three
vehicles with their horns being incessantly tooted by their drivers; a scene that
depicted a crisis situation. The passengers in the vehicles were also very
intoxicated amidst singing of songs and noise making. When they reached the
hospital where we were standing, they stopped. Suddenly I heard God speaking
to me: ‘There is a dead body in one of the vehicles. The relatives were going to
deposit her in the morgue. Go and pray for her to arise.’ I became startled and
confused. In my confusion, I disclosed the instruction to one of my prayer
partners. I tried to find out from one of the passengers in the vehicles the reason
for their noise making and intoxication. The response was that their sister had
suddenly died in the morning and they had come to preserve her in the morgue. I
asked the person whether the relatives of the deceased would permit me to pray
for her. Immediately they heard my request to pray for the deceased, the
relatives, under the influence of liquor, began to hurl insults on me. They
insulted me partly because I physically looked very emaciated due to excessive
prayer and fasting. They could scarcely associate anything good such as spiritual
vitality with me. But for the timely intervention of an elderly woman, the
intoxicated mob would have pounced on me to beat me up for daring to request
to pray for the revival of their deceased relative. The woman persuaded them to
permit me to pray for her since, according to the woman, a favourable outcome
of the prayer would be stupendous and exhilarating. The opposite, on the other
hand, would not essentially matter much. The relatives consented for me to pray.
I then instructed the relatives to bring the dead body out of the vehicle. God
ordered me to give the dead person water to drink. I asked God how could a dead
person drink water, but I was still directed to obey by giving her water to drink.
When I began, the water could not go down through her throat. God ordered me
to hit her chest. When I did that the water entered her body and immediately she
was revived. The people who were holding her and those around the scene
suddenly took to flight because of what had happened. I asked of her name, and
she responded ‘Ama’, then she began to fall down. I gave her water and hit her
chest the second time. Immediately, she opened her eyes and asked for food to
eat, precisely, banku. The relatives who had run away in bewilderment returned
when they realized that she had come back to life and even asked for food to eat.
I asked what was wrong with her and she said that she had a problem with her
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heart. She was a Presbyterian. I told her relatives to go and give thanks to God in
her church. The relatives asked of my identity and where I was staying. I told
them that I was an Evangelist, staying on the Prayer Mountain at Nkawkaw.399
The narrative of the revival of the dead person by Evangelist Kwadwo Gyasi
points, among other things, to prayer and miracles as some of the major themes in
Christian theology. Even though prayer and miracles are among the themes pursued in
relative detail in chapter four of this work, it suffices now to assert that the revival of the
dead person seems to establish a Christian theological paradigm of inextricable nexus
between prayer and miracles. If this thesis is theologically valid, then anyone who
conjectures the inevitability of miracles in any prayer-infested Christian context is not far
from right.
Given the astonishment of the people who witnessed the revival of the dead
person, the several questions the relatives asked about the location or residence and
identity of the Evangelist, the dominant notion of mystical causality400 in African
religiosity and the huge number of people attracted by religious functionaries perceived
to be powerful or agents of uncommon miracles, Evangelist Gyasi would, after this
miracle, attract many curious observers to the PM where he engaged in serious prayer
rituals. In fact, he attests to the fact that God’s revival of the lady through him
(Evangelist Gyasi) was a major contributor to his popularity and attraction of huge
number of pilgrims. Ever since the miracle occurred in 1997, he claims that the influx of
pilgrims to the PM and the corresponding upsurge of supernatural manifestations of God
have been massive and humanly unimaginable.401 The continuous outpouring and
399 Evangelist Frank Kwadwo Gyasi, Interview, 27 July, 2017, Mount Olive Prayer Camp, Nkawkaw
400Mystical causality in this context refers to the belief that the spiritual world of the African includes
malevolent forces responsible for evil occurrences in life. For a good discussion, see Gyekye, An Essay on
African Philosophical Thought, pp. 76-84.
401 Evangelist Frank Kwadwo Gyasi, Interview, 27 July, 2017, Mount Olive Prayer Camp, Nkawkaw.
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experience of God’s supernatural manifestations such healing and deliverance at the PM
culminated in the alteration of its name from Ͻboↄ anim to NMOPC in the year 2002.402
A cursory examination of the Mount of Olives from biblical perspective is
important to understanding the theological and metaphorical implications of the change
in the name of the PM from Ͻboↄ anim to NMOPC. The Mount of Olives is mentioned
in the account of David’s flight from his son, Absalom. David went up the ascent of the
Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered, when the
news of Absalom’s revolt came to him. Not only had David been betrayed by his son,
but one of his trusted counsellors, Ahithophel, had abandoned him and joined with
Absalom. On learning of this, David, probably while on the Mount of Olives, was moved
to pray that God would turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness (2 Samuel 15:1-31).403
The Mount of Olives is also named in Zechariah 14:4, which speaks of the Lord’s
coming when this Mount, where the Messiah will physically stand, will split into two
from East to West, forming a great valley. This will provide an escape route along which
God’s people can flee from their enemies.404 Moreover, it is referred to as a stage in the
departure of God’s presence from Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s day. The Mount of Olives was
believed to be the destination of God’s glory when it departed from Jerusalem (Ezekiel
11:23).405
In the New Testament, Harris R. Laird observes that the Mount is mentioned as
the favourite resort of Christ as he withdrew from Jerusalem. It was the stage of Christ’s
triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1), the scene of his weeping over Jerusalem
402 Evangelist Frank Kwadwo Gyasi, Interview, 27 July, 2017, Mount Olive Prayer Camp, Nkawkaw.
403 Gbile Akanni and Nupanga Weanzana, ‘1 and 2 Samuel’ in Tokumboh Adeyemo (Gen. ed), Africa
Bible Commentary (Nairobi: WordAlive Publishers, 2006), p. 398.
404 Yoilah Yilpet, ‘Zehariah’ in in Tokumboh Adeyemo (Gen. ed), Africa Bible Commentary (Nairobi:
WordAlive Publishers, 2006), p.1091.
405 Tewoldemedhin Habtu, ‘Ezekiel’ in Tokumboh Adeyemo (Gen. ed), Africa Bible Commentary
(Nairobi: WordAlive Publishers, 2006), p. 947.
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(Luke 19:37-41), his eschatological instruction (Matthew 24-25), his agony in
Gethsemane (Matthew 26:30), and his ascension (Acts 1:9-12). It will be the Mount of
Christ’s second coming (Acts 1:11).406
Thus from the above scholarly views about the Mount of Olives, it seems that it
symbolizes, among other things, a place of refuge, a place of agonizing prayer and a
place of glory. Moreover, as a stage of Christ’s eschatological instruction, ascension and
second coming, the Mount seems to be a theological motif underscoring the certainty of
Christ’s second coming and the urgency with which his followers should prepare in
anticipation of that coming. In the light of these symbolic indications, NMOPC, which is
intended to be the exact replica of the Mount of Olives,407 is a Christian sacred space
where pilgrims experience God’s total security, astonishing miracles or supernatural
blessings through prayer and fasting. Noting the upsurge of amazing miracles at the site,
Evangelist Gyasi asserts that ‘Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp is a place where
God makes nobodies somebodies’.408 During one of my visits to the Prayer Camp, the
contents of one of the stickers apparently made by the management of the Prayer Camp
to advertise it really fascinated me: ‘Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp: A Promise
Land where God changes Destiny, My year of Divine and Total Restoration, Come and
Experience the Spiritual Anointing.’
3.5 Conclusion
The foregone narratives indicate, among others, that PMs as sacred spaces do not
evolve in a vacuum. They emerge from a diversity of religio-cultural, socio-economic
and political contexts. Prior to the discovery of Krↄbo boↄ and Ͻboↄ anim as APM and
NMOPC respectively, both sites were instrumental in these plural contexts. They were
406 Harris R. Laird, ‘Mount of Olives’ in Charles F. Pfeiffer, et al (eds.) Wycliffe Bible Dictionary
(Massachusetts, USA: Hinderickson Publishers, Inc. 2003), p.1156.
407 Evangelist Frank Kwadwo Gyasi, Mobile Phone Interview, 30 August, 2017.
408 Evangelist Frank Kwadwo Gyasi, Mobile Phone Interview, 30 August, 2017.
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scarcely on the periphery of their respective pluralistic settings. The irruption of
hierophanic and theophanic events or supernatural phenomena contributed in no small
measure to the discovery of the sites as sacred spaces for prayer rituals. The discovery of
the sites as sacred spaces has also resulted in a reconstruction of their identities; that is,
from Krↄbo boↄ to APM and from Ͻboↄ anim to NMOPC. The sites’ assumption of new
identities certainly has implications for continuities and discontinuities of their respective
former functions.
I have also contended that sacred spaces and prayer rituals are not mutually
exclusive. That is, the presence of one directly implies the presence of the other. This
thinking is couched on the understanding that the sacredness of a space seems to be
determined by the belief in the presence of the supernatural or a transcendent reality, and
the possibility of human interaction with that reality through prayer rituals.
The narrative of the evolution and presence of other prayer camps and their
inherent competitions on APM409 suggests that it is possible for some other churches or
individual Christians to negotiate with the owners of NMOPC for space to operate prayer
camps at NMOPC. The presence of other prayer camps at NMOPC may spark off
competitions and contestations bodering on issues such as exclusive claims to
ownership.410
In the next chapter I will examine and discuss the influence of Pentecostalism on
pilgrims’ appropriation of PMs in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity.
409 Ampaw-Asiedu, Atwea, pp. 22-28.
410 For details on the exclusive claims to ownership of Prayer Mountains, see Ampaw-Asiedu, Atwea, pp.
22-28.
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CHAPTER FOUR
THE INFLUENCE OF PENTECOSTALISM ON PILGRIMS’
APPROPRIATION OF PRAYER MOUNTAINS IN
CONTEMPORARY GHANAIAN CHRISTIANITY
4.1 Introduction
In the examination of sacred mountains in Akan primal religious context in
chapter two of this study, I indicated, among other things, the significance of sacred
mountains such as Atwea Boↄ and Ͻboↄ Tabiri to the citizens of Atwea and New Juaben
respectively. As mountain deities believed to possess spiritual potency, they are
perceived to be the pivot around which the primal religious expression of Atwea and
New Juaben citizens revolves. A major significance of these sacred mountains, as I have
already noted, is the presumed ability of the deities to address some of the existential
concerns of the people. The implication is that pilgrimage to sacred mountains is
believed to produce some positive outcomes to the pilgrims.411 The narrative of
pilgrimage to Atwea Boↄ and Ͻboↄ Tabiri in Akan primal religion, for instance, partly
attests to the merits of pilgrimage to sacred mountains.
The historical narrative of APM and NMOPC in chapter three reveals, among
other things, the in-breaking of some supernatural phenomena on these mountains and
Christian pilgrims’ subsequent use of these mountainous sites as pilgrimage centres. The
narrative shows that the potency of sacred mountains to attract religious pilgrims in
contemporary Ghanaian Christianity is not essentially new. The phenomenon in
contemporary Ghanaian Christianity appears to have its antecedent in Akan primal
religion.
411 Owusu Ansah, ‘Abasua Prayer Mountain in Ghanaian Christianity’, pp. 15-21.
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In pursuance of the topic of rethinking PMs as sacred spaces in contemporary
Ghanaian Christianity, this chapter discusses the influence of Pentecostalism on
pilgrims’ appropriation of PMs in Ghanaian Christianity. It is imperative to discuss the
influence of Pentecostalism on pilgrims’ appropriation of PMs because of its presumed
indispensability and overarching significance in contemporary Christianity. For instance,
Afe Adogame maintains that:
The debut, visibility and mobility of the Pentecostal movement and the
charismatization of mainline Christianity have combined to reshape the African
[or Ghanaian] religious landscape so profoundly that its footprints [and
influence] can hardly be sidestepped. Its stark emphasis on personal pneumatic
experience, expression and committed evangelical re-engagement of depth
spirituality has implications that transcend the religious sphere to how humans
deploy religious power for economic, social and political gymnastics vis-à-vis
the sacraments of life.412
Abamfo Ofori Atiemo also indicates that one of the changes in Ghana since 1995
is the obvious Pentecostalization of the Ghanaian traditional churches. He writes as
follows: ‘Most of the Ghanaian ‘mainline churches’, which I now prefer to call
‘traditional churches’ have become almost completely Pentecostal; and there are hardly
any distinctions between them and the newer churches in terms of grassroots theology,
worship patterns and other practices. Pentecostalism has become more ‘mainline’ than
the churches which previously carried that designation.’413
One of the implications of the above quotations is that Pentecostalism has
become so dominant and appealing in Ghana that it influences almost every aspect of the
Ghanaian Christians’ life, including their pilgrimage to PMs. Atiemo has classified the
reasons for which people are attracted to the New Movements (including the Pentecostal
412 Afe Adogame, ‘Foreword’ in J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of Spirit: Ghanaian
Perspectives on Pentecostalism and Renewal in Africa (Akropong-Akuapem: Regnum Africa, 2015), p.
xvii.
413 Abamfo Ofori Atiemo, Aliens at the Gate of Sodom and other Reflections (Accra: Heken Ltd., 2016),
p.iv.
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/ the charismatic churches) under psychological, social, intellectual and spiritual.414 The
spiritual reasons, according to Atiemo, are:
a. The need for sense of mystery – the desire to be united with God; the search
for a spiritual experience that transforms and restores.
b. The desire for super-natural power to overcome destructive habits,
weaknesses, and difficulties in one’s life e.g., help to overcome smoking,
drunkenness, etc.
c. The need for spiritual guidance and direction e.g., people want leaders they
can rely on and look up for guidance through life.
d. The desire to overcome the felt or the perceived effects of the activities of
malevolent spiritual forces such as witches and demons.415
Thus Pentecostalism is attractive to many Christians because it appears to have
answers to almost all their existential concerns. I therefore attempt a working definition
of Pentecostalism and follow it up with a discussion of the Christian faith as a prophetic
religion, using it as a hermeneutical framework of the influence of pilgrimage to PMs on
society. The justification is that the working definition of Pentecostalism also has
implications for some practical actions which appear to promote or strengthen the
contemporary Ghanaian Pentecostal Christianity in one way or the other. This is
followed by a discussion of some of the practical actions inherent in the working
definition of Pentecostalism. While my emphasis in this chapter is largely theological, it
is imperative to underscore that the theological model is not exceptionally unique. It is
sometimes born out of, or at least shaped by, a certain mutual cognition in which
phenomenological, social-anthropological and historical standpoints are complementary
methodologies.416
414 Abamfo Ofori Atiemo, Aliens at the Gate of Sodom and other Reflections (Accra: Heken Ltd., 2016),
pp.29-30.
415 Atiemo, Aliens at the Gate of Sodom and other Reflections, p.30.
416 Afe Adogame, ‘Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements in a Global Perspective’ in Bryan S. Turner
(ed.), The New Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion (West Sussex, United Kingdom:
Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2010), pp. 498-518.
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4.2 A Working Definition of Pentecostalism
In this study, I employ J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu’s personal definition of
Pentecostalism. He writes:
Pentecostalism refers to Christian groups which emphasise salvation in Christ as
a transformative experience wrought by the Holy Spirit and in which pneumatic
phenomena including ‘speaking in tongues’, prophecies, visions, healing and
miracles in general, perceived as standing in historic continuity with the
experiences of the early church as found especially in the Acts of the Apostles,
are sought, accepted, valued, and consciously encouraged among members as
signifying the presence of God and experiences of his Spirit.417
The justification for the above working definition lies in its emphasis on the Holy
Spirit’s transformative influence on Christians. It provides the conceptual basis for the
examination of the influence of Pentecostalism on pilgrims’ appropriation of PMs in
contemporary Ghanaian Christianity. Thus in this context, it is imperative to indicate that
Christian pilgrims who have a transformative or experiential encounter with the Holy
Spirit and are endued with diverse spiritual gifts attempt to respond to their perceived
divine directives or personal convictions in practical actions. These practical actions
include the establishment of Pentecostal and Charismatic churches and ministerial
training schools, institutionalisation of pilgrimage and adherence to holiness ethics.
These are done with the intention of contributing to the transformation of society.418
Pentecostalism as viewed in the above working definition is unarguably a
theological construct that underscores the primacy of Christians’ encounter with the Holy
Spirit and the objectification of such (subjective) supernatural encounters in relevant
practical works including the establishment of Pentecostal and Charismatic churches and
ministerial training schools, the institutionalisation of pilgrimage to PMs and adherence
to holiness ethics. Before I examine each of these sub-themes in relative details, the
417 J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, African Charismatics: Current Developments within Independent
Indigenous Pentecostalism in Ghana (Leiden: Brill, 2005), p.12.
418 Emmanuel K. Akyeampong, ‘Christianity in Ghana: An Introduction’ in J. Kwabena Asamoah Gyadu
(ed.), Christianity in Ghana: Volume 1 A PostColonial History (Accra, Ghana: Sub-Saharan Publishers,
2018), pp. ix-xiii.
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Christian faith as a prophetic religion is explored as a hermeneutical framework of the
influence of pilgrimage to PMs on society.
4.3 The Christian Faith as a Prophetic Religion: A Hermeneutical Framework of
the Influence of Pilgrimage to PMs on Society
Miroslav Volf brilliantly asserts that the Christian faith is a prophetic religion
because it is ‘an instrument of God for the sake of human flourishing in this life and the
next.’419 In that sense the Christian faith as a prophetic religion ‘advocates active
transformation of the world’, unlike mystical types of religion which encourages flights
of the soul from the world into God’s arms.420
Generally, Christians agree that ‘an authentic religious experience should be a
world-shaping force’.421 In the context of this study, this implies that Christian pilgrims’
ascents to PMs to encounter the transcendental realms must be ideally followed by their
return to renew or revitalize their communities or churches through various prayer rituals
and other transformative activities. Thus Volf rightly underscores that ‘ascents’ … must
be followed by ‘returns.’422
The Bible clearly reinforces pilgrims’ ascents to mountains and their subsequent
returns. Moses ascended Mount Sinai and returned with the tablets of the law (Exodus
24:12-13; 32:15-16).423 A similar pattern applies to Jesus Christ and the Jerusalem
419 Miroslav Volf, A Public Faith: How the Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good (Grand
Rapids: BrazosPress, 2011), p. 5.
420 Volf, A Public Faith, p. 6.
421 Volf, A Public Faith, p. 7. See also Jesse Johnson, ‘Thinking About Social Justice in Light of the Great
Commission’ in Nathan Busenitz (ed.), Right Thinking in a Church Gone Astray: Finding Your Way Back
to Biblical Truth (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2017), pp. 155-164.; David Kinnaman and
Gabe Lyons, Good Faith: Being a Christian When Society Thinks You’re Irrelevant and Extreme (Grand
Rapids: BakerBooks, 2016); Emmanuel Asante, Theology and Society in Context: A Theological
Reflections on Selected Topics (Accra, Ghana: SonLife Press, 2014).; Ronald J. Sider, Philip N. Olson and
Heidi Rolland Unrue, Churches That Make A Difference: Reaching Your Community With Good News and
Good Works (Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, 2002).
422 Volf, A Public Faith, p. 7.
423 Volf, A Public Faith, p. 7
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pilgrims who experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.
Jesus Christ ascended the Mount of Transfiguration and returned to mend a world
plagued by evil (Matthew 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-9; Luke 9:28-37).424 More fundamentally,
Jesus came ‘from above’ to bring healing and redemption (John 8:23), and having
ascended into heaven at the end of his earthly sojourn, will return once more to judge and
transform the world (Matthew 25:31-46; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; Rev. 21:1-8).425After
ascending the mountainous city of Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of Pentecost which
providentially coincided with God’s outpouring of the Holy Spirit, John Schwarz reveals
that some of the visitors or pilgrims from Rome returned and founded the Church in
Rome.426 These biblical examples, to some extent, underscore the fact that for prophetic
religions such as Christianity, pilgrimage to mountains as a religious experience (that is,
ascent) is not complete until it is followed by the pilgrims’ return. In that sense, both
‘ascent’ and ‘return’ are very crucial.
Volf provides a critical distinction between ‘ascent’ and ‘return’ which
constitutes a relevant theological fulcrum for the examination of the influence of
Pentecostalism on the appropriation of PMs in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity. He
writes:
‘Ascent’ is the point at which, in the encounter with the divine, [PM pilgrims]
receive the message and their core identity is forged – whether through mystical
union with God, through prophetic inspiration, or through deepened
understanding of sacred texts. The ascent is the receptive moment. ‘Return’ is
the point at which, in interchange with the world, the message is spoken,
enacted, built into liturgies or institutions, or embodied in laws. The return is the
creative moment.427
Volf’s description of ascent as receptive and return as creative is very appropriate
because it zeros in on the main thrust of what happens in ascent and return. And yet, he
424 Volf, A Public Faith, p. 7.
425Volf, A Public Faith, p. 7.
426 John Schwarz, The Compact Guide to the Christian Faith (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers,
1999), p.109.
427 Volf, A Public Faith, p. 8 (Emphasis original).
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further indicates that ‘‘ascent’ is not merely receptive. In receiving, the [pilgrims]
themselves are transformed – they acquire new insight; their character is changed. So
ascent is very much creative – a case of creative receptivity. Similarly, the ‘return’ need
not be merely creative – the [pilgrims] unilaterally shaping social realities. They
themselves may be shaped in the process, return then being a case of receptive
creativity.’428
Keeping in mind this relatively more complex understanding of prophetic
receptivity and creativity, Volf forcefully contends that:
without the ‘receptive ascent,’ there is no transforming message from God;
without the ‘creative return,’ there is no engagement in the transformation of the
world. Leave out either one, and you no longer have prophetic religion.
Together, ‘ascent’ and ‘return’ form the pulsating heart of prophetic religion –
showing that though ‘prophetic’ and ‘mystical’ are contrasting types of religion,
religious experiences and engagement with the world are both essential
components of [Christianity as a] prophetic type of religion.429
Therefore, it is appropriate and logical to argue that the Christian faith partly
malfunctions when Christians’ pilgrimage to PMs (that is, receptive ascent) is not
followed by a creative return. In that sense, Christians’ pilgrimage to PMs becomes like
that of mystical religions in which ascent is followed by unproductive rather than
creative return – in Volf’s words – ‘a return that has no positive purpose for the world
but is merely an inevitable result of the inability of a flesh-and-blood human being to
sustain unitive experience over time.’430
As I have already indicated, Volf’s ‘The Christian faith as a prophetic religion’ is
employed as a hermeneutical underpinning of the influence of pilgrimage to PMs on
society. It is linked to the impact of pilgrims on their societies when they descend from
the mountains.
428 Volf, A Public Faith, p. 8 (Emphasis original).
429 Volf, A Public Faith, pp. 8-9.
430 Volf, A Public Faith, p. 7.
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4.4 The Establishment of Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches
David Barrett and Todd Johnson have defined the terms ‘Pentecostals’ and
‘Charismatics’. In their understanding, Pentecostals are:
Christians who are members of the major, explicitly Pentecostal denominations
in Pentecostalism or the Pentecostal Movement or the Pentecostal Renewal,
whose major characteristic is a rediscovery and new experience of the
supernatural, with a powerful and energizing ministry of the Holy Spirit in the
realm of the miraculous that most other Christians have considered to be highly
unusual. This is interpreted as a rediscovery of the spiritual gifts of [New
Testament] times and their restoration to ordinary Christian life and ministry.431
Pentecostals hold the distinctive teaching that all Christians should aspire a post-
conversion religious experience called baptism in the Holy Spirit, and that a Spirit-
baptized believer may receive one or more of the supernatural gifts that were known in
the early church. These supernatural gifts may include instantaneous sanctification, the
ability to prophesy, to practise divine healing through prayer, to speak in different
tongues or to interpret tongues, singing in tongues, singing in the Spirit, dancing in the
Spirit,432 dreams, visions, discernment of spirits, word of wisdom, words of knowledge,
miracles. Power encounters, exorcisms (casting out demons), resuscitations (reviving the
dead or the unconscious), deliverances, signs and wonders.433
Charismatics, on the other hand, are Christians affiliated with non-Pentecostal
denominations (Anglican, Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox) who receive the Pentecostal
experiences and therefore describe themselves as having been renewed in the Spirit and
experiencing the Spirit’s supernatural, miraculous and energizing power.434 Charismatics
remain within – and form organized renewal groups within – their older mainline, non-
431 David Barrett and Todd M. Johnson, ‘Global Statistics’, in Stanley M. Burgess and Eduard M. van der
Mass (eds.), The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 2003), p. 290.
432 It refers to ecstatic movement of a person as a result of their encounter with the Holy Spirit.
433Barrett and Johnson, ‘Global Statistics’, p. 291.
434 Barrett and Johnson, ‘Global Statistics’, p. 291.
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Pentecostal denominations rather than leaving to join Pentecostal denominations.435 They
demonstrate any or all of the New Testament gifts of the Spirit, including signs and
wonders, (though glossolalia or tongue speaking is regarded as optional).436
To the best of my knowledge, scholars do not appear to have paid much attention
to the influence of Pentecostalism on pilgrims’ appropriation of PMs and their
subsequent establishment of Pentecostal / Charismatic churches in Ghanaian. There are
some new Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches in Ghana whose founders claim that
they were divinely inspired or directed by Jesus Christ to embark on pilgrimage to PMs
to pray and fast for spiritual power to establish such churches. The church founders,
some of whom were Pentecostals before their spiritual encounter with Jesus Christ,
maintain that they received inspirations to establish their own Pentecostal / Charismatic
churches during their pilgrimage amidst intensive prayer and fasting on PMs in Ghana
such as APM and NMOPC. Some of these church founders, their respective
denominations and headquarters include Apostle James Kofi Marfo (Faith in Christ
Ministry International at Abuakwa in Kumasi), Apostle Prince Emmanuel Godsson (Full
Gospel Church of God International at New Weijah in Accra), Apostle Richard Kwame
Owusu (Jesus the Light Evangelistic Ministry at Dansoman Junction in Accra) and
Evangelist Kwadwo Gyasi (World for Christ Gospel Outreach at New Abirem). Owing
largely to space constraints, the data on the establishment of Faith in Christ Ministry
International and Full Gospel Church of God International are examined. This is
intended to ground the claim of their respective founder’s alleged encounter with Jesus
Christ and the culmination of such an encounter in the establishment of his Pentecostal /
Charismatic church.
435 Barrett and Johnson, ‘Global Statistics’, p. 291.
436Barrett and Johnson, ‘Global Statistics’, p. 291.
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4.4.1 Apostle James Kofi Marfo and the Narrative of the Establishment of Faith in
Christ Ministry International437
Biography of Marfo
Mr. James Kofi Marfo was born on 23rd November, 1957 at Bonwire in the
Asante region. His parents are the late Mr. Kwame Ofe (from Wakese, near Kokofu in
the Asante region) and Madam Ama Konadu, from Bonwire. He began his formal
education at Bonwire, from class one to class six, and continued at Ahafo Kenyase
Number 2 L/A Middle School, where his father was residing. He completed form four or
standard seven in the year 1974. Owing to financial constraints of his parents, he could
not further his education. He came back to his home town, Bonwire, to engage in kente
weaving business as a means of livelihood. He later travelled to Nigeria to seek greener
pastures. He claims that prior to his migration to Nigeria he was not a Christian, yet
when he was in Nigeria many people referred to him as a pastor owing to what he refers
to as the exemplary lifestyle he exhibited.
Religious Conversion
James Kofi Marfo traces his religious conversion to a miraculous event he
experienced in Nigeria. He says that one day he went out to buy a loaf of bread. Upon
reaching the market, some of the women selling bread started shouting at him, ‘thief!,
thief!’. He says that those women wrongly accused him to be one of the thieves who had
come to the market a few hours ago to steal loaves of bread. He says that some of his
colleagues had actually gone to the market to steal some loaves of bread a few hours
before he got there. The bread sellers therefore mistakenly regarded him to be one of the
thieves. The shouts of the bread sellers attracted many angry people to the scene. He says
437 Apostle James Kofi Marfo, Interview, 7 December, 2017, Faith in Christ Ministry International
Headquarters, Kumasi.
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that the mob was ready to stone and burn him to death when an unknown young man
suddenly came to the scene and asked about what had happened. When the young man
heard about the reason for the mob’s readiness to stone Mr. Marfo to death, he was
reported to have shouted them down and quickly paid for the cost of the bread. The man
then ordered Mr. Marfo to follow him. After a few meters away from the scene while
Mr. Marfo was still following him, the young man mysteriously vanished. After this
incidence, he resolved not to stay in Nigeria again. He therefore came back to Ghana in
1977 to engage in buying and selling business.
Mr. Marfo claims that the miracle he experienced in Nigeria produced in him a
very strong urge to surrender his life to Jesus Christ, but he did not do that until between
1990 and1991. He says he was having a nap one afternoon when he saw the sky opened.
He says that he heard a voice instructing him to go to APM. He woke up in amazement
and asked his younger brother who was then with him in the room whether someone had
come to the room. When Mr. Marfo realized that no one had come to the room, he went
back to sleep. He claims that the same voice did not only instruct him three times to go
APM, but it also gave him the direction to the site.
With the aid of the direction, he went to the PM where many people were already
praying. Mr. Marfo reports that immediately he arrived on the APM, an unknown young
man who was praying in ‘tongues’ approached and called him by his real name ‘Marfo’.
The young man reportedly told Mr. Marfo that he had been deliberately sent from Accra
by God to meet him (Marfo). The messenger said that he had been sent by God to teach
him how to pray and study the word of God. Owing to the then acute shortage of water
on the mountain, the messenger’s initial fourteen days of appointment with Mr. Marfo
were reduced to seven days of prayer, fasting and the study of God’s word. After the
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seven days of spiritual guidance and teaching, the messenger descended the mountain.
Mr. Marfo says he has never seen or heard of that messenger of God again.
He (Marfo) indicates that when he was praying and studying God’s word as he
had been directed by the messenger of God, he received the gift of ‘tongue speaking’.
Later, he further reports that he had a revelation in which a big board with the inscription
‘C.A.C’ and a voice instructing him to attend the C.A.C (that is, Christ Apostolic
Church). Since he did not have any affiliation with any Christian denomination, he
joined the C.A.C at Kwadaso, a suburb of Kumasi.
He began to testify publicly about his experiential encounter with God on the
APM and his conviction that God meant something great and remarkable for the whole
world through him. He then intensified his visits to the mountain to pray and fast for not
less than seven days every month. He indicates that as a result of his regular visits to
APM, the Lord blessed him with the gifts of healing, prophecy, visions, etc. Through
these gifts, he says he was able to attract many people to Christ.
It was however not long when some of the leaders of CAC allegedly began to
falsely accuse him of going to APM for what they described as ‘some strange spiritual
power.’ In the opinion of the leaders, Mr. Marfo’s spiritual gifts were not genuine. This
misconception of his spiritual gifts, according to him, resulted in a protracted antagonism
between him and some of the leader of the church. The antagonism lingered until a
spiritual direction allegedly came for him to start his own ministry.
The Supernatural in the Establishment of Faith in Christ Ministry International
He discloses that one day while he was waiting on God in a 21-day prayer and
fasting on APM, an unknown young man appeared and informed him that God had sent
him (the stranger) to tell Mr. Marfo that he (God) had fully prepared him (Marfo) to start
his own ministry. Upon this information, he descended the mountain after his 21-day
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prayer and fasting to commence the establishment of his own church. He began with a
prayer fellowship in 1993 and later converted it into a church by name ‘Faith in Christ
Ministry International.’ He indicates that the name of the church did not spontaneously
emerge out of the figment of the founder’s imagination. Rather it is a name he claims to
have received through intensive prayer and fasting on the APM in the year 1994.
Since the establishment of the church, the founder has assumed the title
‘Apostle’, in recognition of what he refers to as his personal conviction of having been
called by Jesus Christ to preach the gospel, plant churches and engage in social services
such caring for orphans and widows and establishment of Bible Schools to train pastors.
4.4.2 Apostle Prince Emmanuel Godsson and the Narrative of the Establishment of
Full Gospel Church of God International438
Biography of Godsson
Bro. God’sson was born on 25th December, 1959 at Asante Akyem Domeabra.
His parents are Mr. Cyprian Kwasi Poku, a citizen of Nkawie Wioso and Madam
Hannah Adwoa Adamu, a citizen of Asante Akyem Domeabra. In 1965, he started
schooling at Kwahu Emeyiwa, near Kwahu Tafo, where he was staying with his uncle,
Yaw Sekyere, a cocoa farmer. He later came back to Asante Akyem Domeabra to
continue his education. He completed middle school (Standard Seven) in 1976. He
attended Bompata Secondary School at Asante Akyem. At form four he fell sick and
interrupted his education. He was a science student. When he recovered, he continued his
education at Kumasi Technical Institute (KTI), from 1980 to 1982. He read Mechanical
Engineering.
438 Apostle Prince Emmanuel God’sson, Interview, 14 August, 2011, APM (Camp Three).
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The Experience of God’s Call and Subsequent Pilgrimage to APM
He says that he started experiencing the call of the Lord through dreams,
prophecies and visions in 1982 when he was a Christian in the Church of Pentecost
(CoP). He joined the Resurrection Power Fellowship formed by the late Evangelist
Francis Kwasi Amoako in Kumasi. God’sson was both a member of the CoP and the
Resurrection Power Fellowship until Evangelist Amoako’s death in 1990.
He indicates that he started embarking on pilgrimage to APM in 1982. He was
regularly visiting the site with the members of the fellowship. In 1995, he was travelling
to the United States of America to attend a conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on the
invitation of Arch Bishop Hyman. He says that he had decided to stay in America to
continue his education in theology after the conference. He therefore prepared very well
for the journey. However, the ‘unexpected’ happened. He points out that on 19th
September, 1995, a day before the flight, the Lord spoke to him to stop the journey and
go to APM, without any specific reasons. He was in dilemma since he did not actually
know what to do at that moment. When he tried to resist the divine directive, he
experienced what he describes as ‘the departure of the Holy Spirit from me.’ He reports
that he sensed the departure of the Holy Spirit whom he saw as a dove. Suddenly, an
unusual experience like an electric shock enveloped him and he became partially
paralyzed. Upon this strange development, he immediately responded ‘Lord, I will go.’
Therefore, on 20th September, 1995, APM became his ‘abroad.’ He reached the PM at
night with his entire luggage meant for the conference in America.
Prophetic Declarations, Prayer and Fasting and the Birth of Full Gospel Church of
God International
Bro. God’sson discloses that he stayed on the mountain from 1995 to 1998. When
he arrived, he maintains that he was initially confused and discouraged. This was
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because many family members and friends had contributed huge amount of money to
support him to attend the conference in the USA. He therefore felt that his coming to the
mountain instead of America would not only be interpreted by his donors as waste of
money, but also as an act of sheer senselessness. He was also discouraged because his
dream of furthering his education in the USA after the conference was considered
dashed.
In the early morning of 21st September, 1995 (about 5:30 am), a day after his
arrival on the mountain, he was very perplexed and thought about his actual mission on
the mountain while standing in front of the old chapel built by the Rev. Abraham Osei
Asibbey at Camp Three. Suddenly, a young man of about twenty-four years of age
allegedly walked through the heavy fog and approached him. The young man was said to
be praying in ‘tongues’, had a stick in his hand and a cloth tied around his neck. He
greeted Bro. God’sson and informed him that God had sent him to deliver a message to
him. According to Bro. God’sson, this was the message delivered to him by the young
man:
You were travelling to America to attend a conference. You made up your mind
to continue your education after the conference. But a day before your flight, you
heard a voice that instructed you to come here [APM]. The Lord has sent me to
tell you that he caused you to come here to be spiritually prepared for a soul-
winning assignment. Moreover, Satan had planned destruction ahead of you in
the USA. You were not going to come back from the conference as God’s
servant again, but as a backslider and a slave of the devil. The Lord therefore
brought you here to secure your life and prosper you with a fruitful ministry.439
According to Bro. God’sson, he considered the young man’s words to be
prophetic declarations meant to overcome his dilemma and emotional turmoil. In
response, his three-year stay on the mountain was mainly characterized by intensive
prayer and fasting. He claims that he initially went through a period of ten-day prayer
and ‘dry fast’ (that is, praying and fasting without food and water). When he wanted to
439 Apostle Prince Emmanuel God’sson, Mobile Phone Interview, 19 June, 2018.
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break after the tenth day, the Lord allegedly told him to continue and he would feed him
with spiritual food. He therefore prayed and fasted for one hundred and ten days more,
with only hot water and honey.440
The one hundred and twenty days of prayer and fasting, coupled with intentional
daily study of God’s word, he indicates, spiritually toughened him for other spiritual
exploits such as preaching and teaching of God’s word, healing and deliverance or
exorcism. In his opinion, these spiritual activities, his disciplined prayer and fasting
lifestyle and several other prophetic declarations convinced him that the Lord had called
him into the pastoral ministry.
When he descended the mountain in 1998 and went to Kumasi, he maintains that
he was providentially assited by some of his friends to move to Accra to start his own
ministry. He started a prayer fellowship on 7th January, 2001 in the house of a friend. He
persisted in prayer for a better place where his prayer fellowship could be converted into
a church. He indicates that the Lord providentially gave him a place at Weijah in Accra
and the prayer fellowship was subsequently converted into a Pentecostal church called
Full Gospel Church of God International. He claims to have received the name of the
church through the scriptures (Acts 20:28), prayer and fasting and divine revelation.
Excerpts of Acts 20:28 talk about the church of God. He considered ‘Church of God’ to
be an apt description because according to him, ‘God is the source and owner of the
church.’
During the registration of the title ‘Church of God’ at the Registrar General’s
Department, that title already existed as the name of a registered church in Ghana. This
meant that Bro. God’sson could not register the church with that title. He therefore came
440 The hot water and honey, according to Bro. Godsson, were freely provided by some of the citizens of
Abasua community who use to come there to sell such necessities to pilgrims who are engaged in prayer
and fasting.
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back and torrentially prayed to God for a new name. He says that while praying one day,
the Lord instructed him to lift up his eyes to the sky. He claims that he found the words
‘Full Gospel’ boldly inscribed in the clouds. The Lord then instructed him to precede
‘Church of God’ with ‘Full Gospel’. He testifies that he was able to register the church
with the name ‘Full Gospel Church of God International’ – a church he describes as
having been unequivocally born out of prayer, fasting and prophetic declarations.
The influence of Pentecostalism on Apostles God’sson and Marfo with respect to
their pilgrimage to APM and the subsequent establishment of their Pentecostal churches
are obvious in the above narratives. The narratives allude to the Apostles’ encounter with
Pentecostal experiences such as divine revelations or dreams as the driving forces of
their pilgrimage to the PMs. During church service on the mountains, it is a common
thing to hear some pilgrims affirming their perception of God’s presence at the sites by
openly testifying of their experience of having been inspired or divinely mandated and
led to the PMs. My argument is that when Christians embark on a religious pilgrimage to
PMs on the basis of what they claim to be divine revelations or dreams, their pilgrimage
may be deemed to have been essentially influenced by those divine revelations or
dreams, which, according to Barrett and Johnson, are aspects of Pentecostalism.441
The narratives further underscore the divine confirmation of the Apostles’
pilgrimage to the PMs through prophetic declarations from some unknown individuals
believed to be messengers of God. Prophecies that seem to attest to divine endorsement
of Christians’ pilgrimage to sacred sites appear to have the propensity to inspire piety
among those Christian pilgrims through relentless prayer, fasting and the study of God’s
word.
441 Barrett and Johnson, ‘Global Statistics’, p. 291.
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It can also be deduced from the discussion that prayer, fasting and the study of
God’s word by the Pentecostal Christians (that is, Apostles God’sson and Marfo) and
prophetic declarations / divine directives led to the establishment of their respective
Pentecostal / charismatic churches. The names of the churches were also supernaturally
produced through the founders’ prayer, fasting and the study of God’s word. The
implication is that contemporary Ghanaian Pentecostal / charismatic churches believed to
have been established as a result of the founders’ religious pilgrimage to PMs are
products of series of supernatural manifestations and encounters. Some observations
about these new Pentecostal / charismatic churches seem to reinforce the supernatural
manifestations and encounters which characterize their establishment.
First, as new Pentecostal churches perceived to have been borne out of intense
prayer, fasting and divine revelations, the founders who also refer to themselves as
‘General Overseers’ maintain structured renewal programmes that focus on enhancing
the spirituality of the church, especially the youth. These renewal programmes include
prayer and fasting, all-night prayer sessions, gospel concerts, Bible quiz and Bible
studies. The renewal programmes are not only characterised by pneumatic phenomena
such as prophecy, tongue speaking, visions, sharing of testimonies and working of
miracles as evidence of the Holy Spirit’s active presence in the churches, but are also
usually youth oriented. The reason is that the youth are not only seen as the future of the
churches, but also as the driving force of the churches’ current evangelization agenda.
Intentional and appropriate ministry which has them in mind is therefore a worthwhile
venture in the churches’ quest for relevance and continuity.
The organisation of almost all of these renewal programmes are preceded by
several days of aggressive preparation in terms of prayer (usually, by a team or Prayer
Tower), invitation of guest preachers, gospel artistes and other relevant functionaries and
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the use of mass media for publicity. J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu reveals the motivation
behind the appropriation of mass media by contemporary Pentecostals:
The use of modern mass media in Christian ministry has developed as part of the
self-definition of Pentecostal Christianity in particular. On the one hand, this
extensive usage stems out of the inspiration to use media in the fulfilment of the
divine mandate to make disciples of all nations. To that end, television and the
internet, for example, expose ministries to large numbers of people across
borders, whom the producers of religious commodities may not be able to reach
physically. On the other hand, the international aspirations of Christian
ministries make the use of mass media inevitable in the practice of religion. One
needs to be in the media to be counted as important, a reality that is non-
negotiable in the technological. We see such a presence in the life and ministries
of Dag Heward Mills of the Lighthouse Chapel International in Ghana, Ukraine-
based Church of the Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations,
led by a Nigerian, Pastor Sunday Adelaja, and other such contemporary
Pentecostal ministries led by Africans. These contemporary Pentecostals deploy
both conventional and new media extensively as tools for ministry.442
Second, almost all the founders of the churches under consideration bear the title
‘apostle’ or ‘evangelist’. They thus see themselves as people called and gifted by Jesus
Christ in the context of Ephesians 4:11: ‘And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the
evangelists, the shepherds and teachers’ (ESV). This cluster of five gifts, often referred
to as the fivefold ministry of the church, is basic and fundamental to the planting and
growth of the church.443 In the understanding of these church founders, Christ gives
specific spiritual gifts to people in the church whose primary mission is to minister the
word of God and make disciples of all nations. As apostles and evangelists, the founders
consider themselves as missionaries, envoys or ambassadors called and sent by Jesus
Christ to carry the gospel to areas that have not heard it.444 This orientation partly
accounts for their aggressive appropriation of mass media as tools of ministry.
Third, during my visit to some of the new Pentecostal churches under
consideration, I found their use of religious symbols such as globe, eagle, horse and dove
442 J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit: Ghanaian Perspectives on Pentecostalism
and Renewal in Africa (Akropong-Akuapem, Ghana: Regnum Africa, 2015), p. 62.
443 Yusufu Turaki, ‘Ephesians’ in Tokumboh Adeyemo (Gen. ed.), Africa Bible Commentary (Nairobi,
Kenya: WordAlive Publishers, 2006), p. 1433.
444 For details on the gifts of the Spirit for the Church, see Mal Couch (Gen. ed.), A Biblical Theology of
the Church (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1999), pp. 77-95.
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very captivating. These findings corroborate Asamoah-Gyadu’s observation that in
Pentecostal Christianity, dove, eagle and globe are symbols of dominion
pneumatology.445 In the study of religions as in other disciplines, symbols have a depth
of meaning that may not be exhausted by what is seen. They convey levels of meaning
and reality through that which is visible, with great significance for the invisible, i.e.,
belief in the supernatural and experience.446 The implication is that ‘Religious symbols
possess the power to remind the people of faith that reality can be complex and is not
always communicated adequately in words …Religious symbols enable people to
communicate profound truths and realities in concrete and accessible ways.’447
The globe points to the churches’ worldwide aspirations in conformity with their
mission mandate of witnessing in Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth
(Acts 1:8). In the opinion of Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘the globe is perhaps the most self-evident
and vivid depiction of the expansionist mission agenda of contemporary
Pentecostalism.’448 This implies that Pentecostalism is a movement that was meant to be
global in outlook from the outset. The words international, world, worldwide, global and,
more recently, trans-continental in almost all the names of the new Pentecostal churches
under study really attest to their global aspirations.
It is believed that in Acts 2:1-13, symbolic confirmation of Pentecostalism’s
global missionary orientation was given when people who had come from Europe,
Africa, the Arabic world and the Semitic regions were all named as active participants in
the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. The languages that were
spoken declaring the wonders of God also dealt a heavy blow to prevailing linguistic
445 Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, p. 30.
446 Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, p. 32.
447 Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, p. 32.
448 Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, p. 43.
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barriers. Although, the globe as a symbol does not appear in scripture, it is taken to be a
concise representation of the expression ‘ends of the earth’ in Acts 1:8.449
The global missionary aspirations of these churches even find expression in the
identity of some of the founders. For example, it is intriguing to note that Evangelist
Kwadwo Gyasi, the founder of World for Christ Gospel Outreach, also refers to himself
as I.G.P, meaning ‘International Gospel Preacher’, but not Inspector General of Police.
The symbol of the eagle signifies aspiration, empowerment and motivation.450
Charles Ansah- Owusu identifies some essential features of the eagle which seem to
explain its use as one of the symbols in contemporary Pentecostalism. In his opinion, the
eagle has a sharp vision, is fearless, tenacious and purpose-driven, a highflyer, possesses
vitality and nurtures its younger ones.451 The eagle symbolizes the Holy Spirit’s
aggressive and conquering side. The eagle has the capacity to take dominion because it
has the advantage in height, strength, endurance, longevity, vision and power over other
birds.452 One of the biblical foundations of the eagle metaphor among many Pentecostals
is Isaiah 40:27-31 (ESV):
Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God? Have you not known? Have you not
heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He
does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power
to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall
faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for
the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Pentecostals interpret this text in a variety of ways, including God’s consolation
of his people and the potency of prayer. Edouard Kitoko Nsiku, a Congolese Baptist
scholar and Translation Consultant for the United Bible Societies based in Maputo, is of
449 Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, p. 43.
450 Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, p.32.
451 Charles Ansah-Owusu, Golden Keys to Distinction (Ghana: Abundant Grace Academy Publications,
2013), pp. 26-34.
452 Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, p. 40.
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the view that even though the text forms part of the reminders of the scope of God’s
power, Christians may sometimes be tempted to think that they are too small to attract
his interest. But believers should not think that they are forgotten by God in difficult
times and become discouraged. God reminds them that his knowledge is infinite and that
he does not grow weary. If they persevere and place their hope in the Lord, they will
share in his characteristics and have the strength to endure.453
One of the ways in which Christians demonstrate perseverance and hope in the
Lord is prayer. Bishop Charles Agyin-Asare, a contemporary Ghanaian Pentecostal and
founder of the Perez Chapel International, applies the metaphor of the eagle in Isaiah in
the context of prayer as follows:
The fact is that the eagle is the king of the birds. Scientifically, it has been
proven that the eagle can spy its prey five miles away because it has very
powerful microscopic eyes. It can also live for over thirty years. … When the
eagle’s feathers start getting weak, it goes among the rocks and uses its very
sharp beak to remove all its feathers from its skin. After that, it uses its beak and
talons to hit the rock till they all fall off and the soft tissues come up. As a result
of this, the eagle is not able to eat for a number of days. It is also unable to fly
for a while so it spends the time resting on the rocks. After it has gone through
this period of fasting (waiting), fresh feathers come up and its beak and talons
grow again. By this, the eagle is renewed to a youth and is able to fly stronger
than before. He does not grow weary and is able to go after its prey better. The
beak grows out stronger and the feathers and the talons are strengthened s it flies
better and gets a better grip.454
Agyin-Asare attempts to compare the period of ‘waiting’ in the above quotation
to periods of ‘fasting and prayer’. He writes: ‘Those who forsake themselves, make
sacrifices and pay a dear price to wait on the Lord … will renew their strength, they will
mount up with wings like the eagle.’455 He continues: ‘the more one waits upon the Lord,
the more he breathes over you and the more his presence overshadows you and you
renew your strength… As you wait on the Lord, God will infuse, inject and vaccinate
453 Edouard Kitoko Nsiku, ‘Isaiah’ in Tokumboh Adeyemo (Gen. ed.), Africa Bible Commentary (Nairobi,
Kenya: WordAlive Publishers, 2006), p.837.
454 Charles Agyin-Asare, Powwer in Prayer: Taking Your Blessings by Force (Hoornaar, Netherlands: His
Printing, 2001), pp.11-12. See also Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, pp. 40-41.
455 Agyin-Asare, Powwer in Prayer, p. 12.
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you with his power and you will be energized to rise to fulfill your God-given
destiny.’456
The action-oriented words in Agyin-Asare’s exposition which underscore the
presence of God’s Spirit upon or in people include ‘breathe’, ‘energize’, ‘infuse’,
‘inject’, ‘overshadow’ and ‘vaccinate’. These words aptly describe what the Holy Spirit
does in the lives of the founders of the new Pentecostal churches and other pilgrims who
sacrifice to wait on the Lord through fasting and prayer on the Prayer Mountains.
The eagle metaphor is somehow akin to the symbol of the horse. The horse
metaphor may depict several qualities including zeal, determination, strength, authority
and speed with which the new Pentecostal Churches brace themselves to execute their
global missionary mandate. As apostles and evangelists, the founders of the new
Pentecostal churches as well as their followers or members see themselves as called by
Jesus Christ to translate the Great Commission into reality. The Great Commission refers
to the ‘mandate to make disciples of all nations’ given by Jesus Christ to his disciples
following his death and resurrection (Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:46-49;
John 20:21-23; Acts 1:8).’457 In the thinking of the founders of the new Pentecostal
churches under study in this chapter, they have been called, empowered and sent by God
to evangelize and disciple the world. The Christ who is believed to have called,
empowered and sent them ‘to make disciples of all nations’ referred to himself as the
embodiment of all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). One of the apt
representations of Christ or the Holy Spirit is horse. John W. Klotz, writing on ‘Animals
of the Bible’ discloses that ‘horses were … used by the wealthy for hunting.’458 He
456 Agyin-Asare, Powwer in Prayer, p. 13.
457 Glenn E. Schaeffer, ‘Great Commission, the’, in Walter A. Elwell (ed.) Baker Theological Dictionary
of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996), p. 317.
458 John W. Klotz, ‘Animals of the Bible’ in Charles F. Pfeiffer, et al (eds) Wycliffe Bible Dictionary
(Massachusetts, USA: Hinderickson Publishers, Inc. 2003), p.75.
145
further reveals that King Ashurbanipal of Assyria used horses to hunt lions.459 The
horse metaphor in this context thus suggests power or authority to prevail. It also
connotes swiftness with which one executes assigned task and outruns to conquer the
other, especially, the enemy. In that sense, the horse, like the eagle, represents the
authoritative and conquering sides of the Holy Spirit.
The horse metaphor as indicative of the Holy Spirit’s ability to conquer is
theologically cogent in the context of the critical constituents of the Great Commission.
Schaeffer maintains that ‘the Great Commission is accomplished through witnessing
(Acts 1:8), preaching (Mark 16:15), baptizing and teaching (Matthew 28:20). Jesus’
disciples are to replicate themselves in the lives of those who respond to the Good
News.’460 These tasks are undeniably humanly difficult, if not impossible, to execute
owing largely to the prevalence of what Kalu refers to as ‘the forces that deface’461 (that
is, malevolent powers or evil spirits). But there is a way out. Schaeffer further asserts
that ‘the Holy Spirit is [available as] the empowering agent for those who witness (Acts
1:8), as well as the one who convicts sinners of their need for Jesus (John 16:8-11). The
disciples will have success because Jesus, the Lord of heaven and earth, will be with
them as they undertake their assignment (Matthew 28:20).’462 This perhaps explains why
all the founders of the new Pentecostal churches under study are embarking on
aggressive evangelistic and discipleship activities including open air evangelism and
church-planting in Ghana and abroad.
In addition to the above, the horse metaphor seems to have apocalyptic and
eschatological significance. Perry Stone articulates that:
459 Klotz, ‘Animals of the Bible’, p.75.
460 Schaeffer, ‘Great Commission, the’, p. 317.
461 Kalu, ‘Shape, Flow and Identity’, p. 6.
462 Schaeffer, ‘Great Commission, the’, p.317.
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Elijah was transported in a whirlwind to heaven, in a chariot engulfed in fire and
pulled by fiery spirit horses (2 Kings 2:11). Years later, Elisha awoke one
morning, tapped into the invisible world, and saw horses and chariots of fire
surrounding a hilltop and protecting him (2 Kings 6:17). However, when the
Apostle John saw Christ and His heavenly entourage (armies of heaven) return
to earth from heaven at the end of the tribulation, he saw them descend to earth
riding white horses (Revelation 19:14).463
Stone’s explanation of this quotation is revealing: ‘Just as the Holy Spirit
descended upon Christ in the form of a dove (Matthew 3:16), certain spirits have the
ability to transform themselves into different forms. This does not only point to the
versatility of the Holy Spirit, but it also endorses Klotz’s position that ‘horses are often
spoken of figuratively … and in contexts of judgment…’464.
In addition to the above symbols is the dove. ‘Generally’, Asamoah-Gyadu
writes, ‘the dove symbolizes the presence of the Holy Spirit, the harbinger of the new
creation who descended on Jesus at his baptism.’465 Klotz posits that ‘the Psalmist
employed the word [dove] metaphorically as a term of affection, “the soul of thy dove”
(Psalm 74:19).’466 The dove is therefore representative of the calmer and gentler moves
of the Spirit, while the eagle and the horse, as already noted, represents the Spirit’s more
aggressive and conquering side.467
The crux of the forgone discussion is that Pentecostalism has the potential to
influence some pilgrims’ appropriation of PMs and their subsequent establishment of
Pentecostal churches. I have underscored that the new Pentecostal churches and their
respective founders are characterized by series of supernatural manifestations and
encounters. As a result, the founders employ several religious symbols as their self-
463 Perry Stone, Chronicles of the Sacred Mountain (Cleveland: Voice of Evangelism Outreach Ministries,
2015), pp. 17-19.
464 Klotz, ‘Animals of the Bible’, pp.75-76.
465 Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, p. 32.
466 Klotz, ‘Animals of the Bible’, p. 85.
467 Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, p. 40.
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evident and vivid description of their uncompromising position on the Holy Spirit as an
indispensable factor in all aspects of Christian life.
4.5 Influence of Salvation Ministerial Training College at Nkawkaw Mountain
Olive Prayer Camp on Christian Plgrimage and Pentecostal Growth
Another area in which Pentecostalism is believed to influence Christians’
pilgrimage to PMs in Ghana is the establishment of Salvation Ministerial Training
College (SMTC) at NMOPC. The SMTC is a Pentecostal learning centre where
Christians who feel called by God into the ordained ministry are theologically formed or
retooled. The SMTC is a Pentecostal learning centre because of the following reasons:
First, the teachers at the college are Pentecostal pastors who consciously inculcate
Pentecostal ideas into the students. Second, prayer and renewal programmes which form
an integral part of the students’ training focus on a synthesis of spirituality and
materiality – a view believed to be dominant within Pentecostal and Charismatic circles.
Third, almost all the students who graduate from the college contribute to the growth of
Pentecostalism in Ghana through the establishment of Pentecostal / Charismatic
churches. Fourth, Bishop Dr. James Obeng Nyantakyi, the founder / director of the
college is a Pentecostal Christian. Thus Pentecostalism promotes the setting up of a
Pentecostal learning centre which attracts pilgrims to pursue Christian spirituality from
the perspective of teaching and learning. In that sense, Pentecostalism is deemed to have
influenced pilgrimage to the PMs. In order to explain further how Pentecostalism,
through the setting up of a ministerial training college, promotes pilgrimage to PMs, I
undertake a brief examination of the history of SMTC at NMOPC, duration of training,
curriculum and instructional strategies, spiritual renewal programmes prior to graduation
/ ordination and church planting strategies of the newly trained ministers.
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4.5.1 History of Salvation Ministerial College: Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer
Camp Campus
Between 1st October and 31st December, 2013, the founder of NMOPC,
Evangelist Kwadwo Gyasi, is said to have seen the need to provide a serene learning
environment to pilgrims, especially pastors, who patronize the prayer camp.468 As a
Pentecostal Christian, Evangelist Gyasi is believed to have been motivated by his desire
to seeing God’s ministers as people who sincerely and dutifully combine their subjective
encounters with God with sound scriptural teaching and training. He attributes most of
the moral and ethical failures or problems among some church leaders, pastors, prophets,
evangelists, teachers and apostles in Ghana to charlatans who, he believes, have
infiltrated the Christian ministry. In pursuance of his ardent desire, he is reported to have
collaborated with Bishop Dr. James Obeng Nyantakyi, the Director of Salvation
Ministerial Training College and founder / general overseer of Salvation House Chapel,
all located in Accra, for a campus of the college to be sited at the NMOPC to award
certificate in ministry to the graduates.
The Director allegedly agreed and the training began in the year 2013. Teachers
who teach in the Accra campus are the same teachers who teach at the campus on the
mountain. The trainees, who usually are from the classical Pentecostal churches (i.e.,
Christ Apostolic Church, Church of Pentecost, etc.) and sometimes have very low or no
academic background, go through a six-month period of practical training in Christian
ministry. The teachers engage the students for one week of intensive teaching and
learning every month, after which the students are given practical assignments to
complete and discuss the following month. The first batch of twenty-seven (27) students
468 Rev. Nathanael Akoto Danquah, a pastor at NMOPC disclosed this to me on Phone on 27 May 2019.
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graduated in the year 2014. The second batch of twenty-four (24) students graduated in
2015. In the year 2016, the number of students who graduated were twenty-seven (27).469
4.5.2 Curriculum and Instructional Strategies
Even though the subjects taught include Christology (a study of Jesus as man and
God)470, Pneumatology (a study of the Holy Spirit)471, Eschatology (a study of the end
times) 472, Homiletics (the principles and practice of effective preaching)473, The Call of
God474 and Christian Ethics475, the teachers do not focus more on the theoretical or
academic and sophisticated aspects of these theological disciplines. Rather, owing to the
students’ low academic backgrounds, the teachers essentially focus on the practical
aspects and implications of theology as a tool in Christian ministry. In this regard, they
often teach in both the English and Akan languages since most of the students, apart
from their low academic qualifications, are also citizens from Akan speaking contexts of
Ghana. In fact, they do not place much emphasis on the academic or theoretical aspects
of theological education because in their thinking most of the initial disciples of Jesus
Christ did not receive any such theological education, yet they made exploits in their
ministries through the practical insights they received from him.
The teachers employ several instructional strategies that aim at varying teaching
methodologies and promoting holistic practical formation of the students. These
469 Pastor Agyemang Prempeh, Interview, 25 July, 2016, NMOPC.
470John A. Witmer, ‘Jesus Christ’ in Charles R. Swindoll and Roy B. Zuck (Gen. eds), Understanding
Christian Theology (USA: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003), pp. 291- 390.
471 Robert G. Gromacki, ‘The Holy Spirit’ in Charles R. Swindoll and Roy B. Zuck (Gen. eds.),
Understanding Christian Theology (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003), pp. 391-
538.
472John F. Walvoord, ‘End Times’ in Charles R. Swindoll and Roy B. Zuck (eds.), Understanding
Christian Theology (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003), pp. 1245-1372.
473 Haddon Robinson and Craig Brian Larson (Gen. eds.) The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching (Grand
Rapids: Zondervan, 2005).
474 Ben Patterson, ‘The Call to Ministry’ in James D. Berkley (Gen. ed.) Leadership Handbook of
Management and Administration (United States of America: Baker Books, 2003), pp. 13-24.
475 Kerby Anderson, Christian Ethics in Plain Language (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2005).
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instructional strategies include lecture, lecture and discussion, role play, brainstorming,
buzz groups, student presentations and demonstrations.476
The curriculum, the Akan and English languages used in teaching and the
instructional strategies of the teachers undoubtedly demonstrate some remarkable strides
on the part of the school management as far as Christian education of pastors is
concerned. But the teachers’ intentional placement of emphasis on the practical aspects
of ministry at the expense of the academic dimension and their claim that most of the
initial disciples of Jesus Christ did not receive theological education cannot escape
interrogation. The interrogation is warranted against the backdrop of Ghana and Africa in
general where concerned scholars such as Lois Semenye,477 Emmanuel Asante,478
Kwame Gyekye479 and Kwame Bediako480 have not only dilated on the relevance of
appropriate Christian education in the holistic formation of Christians, especially pastors,
but also seem to question the genuineness of Christian education in Africa. They seem to
attribute the apparent paradox of the massive Christian presence in Africa and the
corresponding escalation of social, political, economic and religio-cultural turmoil in
Africa to poor attention to effective Christian education in Africa. Semenye, for
example, laments on this enigma as follows:
In the 1960s, Christianity in Africa was described as a mile long and an inch
deep. Not much has changed since then. Despite the vast number of African
Christians, the new churches springing up every day, the all-night prayer
meetings, exorcism and the days of fasting, the continent is still blighted with
476For details on these instructional strategies, see Linda Meeks, Philip Heit and Randy Page,
Comprehensive School Health Education (3rd ed.) (New York, USA: McGraw-Hill, 2003), pp. 155-165.
477 Lois Semenye, ‘Christian Education for Africa’ in Tokumboh Adeyemo (Gen. ed.), Africa Bible
Commentary (Nairobi, Kenya: WordAlive Publishers, 2006), p.1480.
478 Emmanuel Asante, Stewardship: Essays on Ethics of Stewardship (Kumasi, Ghana: Wilas Press Ltd.,
1999), pp.206-210.
479 Kwame Gyekye, ‘Spiritual and Moral Leadership: The Role of Theological Institutions’, Trinity
Journal of Church and Theology vol. XV (January 2005), pp.34-40.
480 Kwame Bediako, ‘Whose Religion is Christianity?’ Reflections on Opportunities and Challenges in
Christian Theological Scholarship: The African Dimension’ in Andrew Walls and Cathy Ross (eds.)
Mission in the 21st Century: Exploring the Five Marks of Global Mission (New York: Orbis Books, 2008),
pp.107-117.
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poor government, bribery, killings, coups, the AIDS epidemic and so on. This
apparent paradox invites us to examine the way in which Christians [especially
pastors] are nurtured. Is there genuine Christian education in our churches?481
In my opinion, ‘Christian education’ – understood by Semenye as ‘a means of
improving, developing and nurturing the church in its authentic walk with Christ so that
the applied word of God will have a positive impact on our societies’482 – cannot be
effective and genuine if Christian educators who train pastors ignore the academic
aspects and focus only on the practical dimension. It seems to me that the two go hand-
in-hand. The reason is that the students, after their period of training, would be graduated
and / or ordained. Those to be ordained would go and serve as pastors or church leaders
in various capacities. In a church with high literacy rate the congregation or members
would normally expect their pastor to be of a certain reasonable level of academic
experience in addition to his ability to translate theoretical ideas into practical or concrete
situations. A pastor who is completely oblivious of the theoretical foundation of the
practical Christian ideas he or she tries to espouse to a literate congregation may not
make much progress.
In addition to the above, Gyekye seems to buttress the point on the mutual non
exclusiveness of academic and practical dimensions of pastoral training in his discussion
of some of the moral qualities that pastors as leaders would be expected to possess.
Pastors, in his view, would be expected to possess a whole gamut of moral qualities
including incorruptibility or freedom from corruption, integrity and humility.483 He
further locates the relevance of knowledge in the acquisition of these virtues in the
context of Greek philosophy: He writes: ‘The ancient Greek philosophers argued that
knowledge is a necessary and sufficient condition for attaining virtue, and hence for
481 Semenye, ‘Christian Education for Africa’, p.1480.
482Semenye, ‘Christian Education for Africa’, p. 1480.
483 Gyekye, ‘Spiritual and Moral Leadership’, p. 35.
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doing the right thing. Knowing, for them, is an insurance against wrong doing; so that if
a person knows that X is wrong he would refrain from doing X. For them all wrong-
doing is due to ignorance (Greek: agnoia) or lack of the necessary knowledge. Moral
knowledge, they maintained, is the final and irresistible determinant of action.’484
The overarching importance of both theoretical and practical moral knowledge in
the holistic formation of ministers cannot be compromised or disputed, especially, in
Ghana where the attitude of some pastors has brought the public image of the pastoral
ministry under gross disrepute. Gyekye buttresses this position in these words:
In Ghana, members of the pastorate (if we are to use what we read in our
newspapers as evidence) have been suspected, accused, and not infrequently
found guilty, of such immoral or criminal acts as adultery (including having
‘affair’ with married and unmarried women in their own churches) fornication,
stealing monies belonging to the church, extortion, involving themselves in
shady business deals, including collecting people’s money to obtain passports
and visas for them, and a host of other wrongful acts.485
The claim that almost all the initial disciples of Jesus did not receive any
theological education is, according to Emmanuel Asante, very contentious and a serious
theological misnomer. In his view, the disciples (Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke
6:14-16) were thoroughly educated theologically by Jesus Christ through their
interactions with him on earth. Asante further explains that Jesus’ three years of
interactions with his initial disciples provided an original and incomparable teaching and
learning context in which the disciples were exceptionally privileged to be taught
directly by the greatest teacher of all teachers, Jesus the Christ.486 This contentious claim
that the initial disciples of Christ did not have any theological education is, perhaps, the
reason for which ‘the Pentecostal movement not too long ago considered academic
theology an aberration from genuine spirituality.’487 In fact in the opinion of Lewis F.
484 Gyekye, ‘Spiritual and Moral Leadership’, p.38.
485 Gyekye, ‘Spiritual and Moral Leadership’, pp. 37-38. See also Asante, Stewardship, pp. 197-210.
486 Emmanuel Asante, Interview, April 15, 2015, Methodist Headquarters, Wesley House, Accra.
487 Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, p.35.
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Wilson, ‘Pentecostals have generally been ambivalent about higher education, many
regarding it with open suspicion.488
4.5.3 Spiritual Renewal Programmes Prior to Graduation / Ordination
‘Operation 72’ and ‘Redeeming your Ministerial Image’ are some of the spiritual
renewal programmes the prospective graduates go through. ‘Operation 72’ is a seventy-
two hour or three days of fasting and fervent prayer by the would-be ordained ministers.
The number ‘three’, in the opinion of Pastor Agyeman Prempeh489, was not arbitrarily
chosen; it symbolizes the Trinitarian orientation of God. By spending several three days
to fast and pray throughout their six-month formation, it is believed that the students
imbue themselves with the notion of God’s powerful presence with them in the discharge
of their duties before and after graduation and ordination.
In addition to the interpretation of the number ‘three’ as a symbol of the Trinity,
Chuck D. Pierce and Rebecca Wagner Sytsema also treat the number ‘three’ as a
symbolic description of deity, conformity, obedience, copy, imitation, likeness, tradition,
completeness, perfection, testimony and that which is connected with the bodily
resurrection of Christ and His people.490 It implies that from numerological perspective,
the fluidity of the number ‘three’ cannot be ignored. In this context, it seems plausible to
assert that there is no universally accepted or precise interpretation of the number ‘three’
as a symbol. The interpretation is relative; it is subject to the context of the interpreter.
Another spiritual renewal programme designed to equip the prospective ministers
at the college is ‘Redeeming Your Ministerial Image’. This programme, according to
488 Lewis F. Wilson, ‘Bible Institutes, Colleges, Universities’ in Stanley M. Burgess and Edward M. Van
Der Mass (eds.), International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Revised and
Expanded Edition) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2003), pp. 372 – 380 (372).
489 He is one of the teachers at the SMTC. He disclosed this to me during an interview he granted me at
NMOPC on 25 July, 2016.
490 Chuck D. Pierce and Rebecca Wagner Sytsema, The Spiritual Warfare Handbook: How to Battle, Pray
and Prepare Your House for Triumph (Minneapolis: Chosen, 2016), p. 125.
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Pastor Prempeh, focuses on making the prospective ministers become men and women
of God who are not only spiritually vibrant, but also economically or materially affluent.
In his opinion, materiality and spirituality are inseparable in Christianity. The implication
is that wealth is inextricably linked to the pastoral ministry. Paul’s statement in 1
Timothy 3:1, ‘The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he
desires a noble task’491, is considered to be one of the biblical bases of wealth as an
integral component of the pastoral ministry.
A materially poor minister, in the thinking of Pastor Prempeh, is therefore that
minister who has not redeemed his or her ministerial image through the application of
biblical principles. The renewal programme focuses on breaking the powers of
malevolent forces believed to be responsible for ministers’ spiritual oppression,
economic or financial deprivation and material destitution. The teachers at the college
uphold the notion that a minister’s background is an indispensable factor of the ministry.
Therefore, if ministers do not redeem their ministerial image by consciously and
relentlessly dealing with their background, their back will put them to the ground;
meaning they will plunge themselves into a quagmire of poverty and be unsuccessful in
their ministry.492
‘Redeeming Your Ministerial Image’ as examined above resonates scholarly
discourse on the popular wealth or prosperity hermeneutics among contemporary
Pentecostals and Charismatics. Asamoah-Gyadu espouses on some of the scriptural
foundation of the perceived inseparable nexus between salvation and prosperity (Exodus
23:25-26; 1 Peter 4:12-13). He also undertakes an overview of the historical origins of
the doctrine of prosperity in North American neo-Pentecostalism. He goes ahead to
articulate some of the theories underlying the doctrine of prosperity. He posits that: ‘The
491 Emphasis by Pastor Agyeman Prempeh.
492 Pastor Agyeman Prempeh, Interview, July 27, 2016, Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp.
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underlying theory of the “gospel of prosperity” is that God rewards faithful Christians
with good health, financial success and material wealth, “according to his glorious riches
in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians4:19).493 He further demonstrates how the main features of
prosperity theology are outlined in Charismatic messages delivered on radio, services he
attended and books written by its main Ghanaian exponents. More insightfully, he
explores a theological critique of the prosperity gospel in the light of its main sources of
influence and the theological and pastoral problems that those teachings inevitably
raise.494 It is hardly disputed that in both biblical and Ghanaian traditional settings,
salvation has a strong existential significance.495 In that respect, it is logical to contend
that holistic development, understood in this context as the realization of both spiritual
and material aspirations, which seems to be a major emphasis of the prayer and renewal
programmes on the PM, cohere with traditional notions of religion as a means of
realizing existential ends.
By underscoring the inseparable nexus between faith in Christ and material
affluence, it must be acknowledged that the teachers of the college under consideration
articulate a message that addresses Ghanaians’ situations and existential circumstances in
a relevant manner. The teachers strongly emphasise that becoming a Christian is a
transforming experience. Through the teaching that suggests a synthesis of spirituality
and materiality, the teachers underscore the attainment of a balanced self-image for the
Christian minister. Asamoah-Gyadu succinctly articulates this position in the context of
Christ’s ministry as follows:
In addition to his message of self-denial Jesus also affirmed the value of human
beings in God’s sight by the space he created in his ministry for the marginalised
493 Asamoah-Gyadu, African Charismatics, p. 202.
494 Asamoah-Gyadu, African Charismatics, pp.201-232.
495 Christian R. Gaba, ‘Man’s Salvation: Its nature and meaning in African traditional religion’ in Edward
Fasholé-Luke, Richard Gray, Adrian Hastings & Godwin Tasie (eds.), Christianity in Independent Africa
(Great Britain: Rex Collins Ltd, 1978), pp. 389-401.
156
by the social, religious and political institutions of his day: sinners, lepers,
prostitutes, tax collectors, women, children and the weak. On the whole the
gospel of prosperity assures people that God values them, wills the best for them
and that with the proper use of their abilities and potentialities they could
maximise their talents and enhance their own value as human beings.496
However this theological position cannot be left hanging without a creative
interrogation. This theological standpoint ought to be evaluated against the reality that in
practical terms productive aspirations are not always actualised. In fact in reality, things
do not always get better as expected. Therefore, the emphasis of the teachers at the
SMTC that ‘Redeeming Your Ministerial Image’ essentially implies that ‘God’s will for
his [ministers] always means prosperity raises theological and pastoral difficulties which
cannot be sustained in the light of the full implications of God’s message of salvation as
mediated in Christ.’497
After their six-month intensive training, one month is used to prepare them for
graduation and ordination. As part of their preparation towards graduation and
ordination, the students pass through an interview of seven-member panel to ascertain
the depth of their basic knowledge in ministry and how productive they would be on the
field as God’s ministers. Upon satisfactory performance at the interview, they are then
graduated and given certificates in ministry. The students about whom ordination
recommendations are made by their senior pastors to the instructors of the college are
ordained after their graduation. Those without such recommendations are only
graduated.
The management of the college attaches a great deal of importance to the
ordination ceremony because it is expected that the students, after their ordination, would
see themselves as ministers of God and agents of moral, socio-economic, religio-cultural
and political reconstruction in Ghana and the world at large. Evangelist Gyasi and Rev.
496 Asamoah-Gyadu, African Charismatics, pp. 231-232.
497 Asamoah-Gyadu, African Charismatics, pp. 202-203. Emphasis original.
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Richard Ansah, a former graduate of the college and founder of Crown of Life Ministry
at Nkawkaw, maintain that the management of the college unequivocally asserts the
theological import of ordination as part of the students’ preparation towards
ordination.498 In the thinking of Rev. Ansah, ordination implies that God has chosen,
appointed and set one apart for ministry.499 The position of Evangelist Gyasi and Rev.
Ansah on the theological import of ordination corroborates Darrell W. Johnson’s. In
Johnson’s opinion, ordination entails four meanings:
Recognition. We are acknowledging and affirming that, yes, this person has been
entrusted (by God’s sovereign grace) with appropriate gifts of the Spirit for
leadership in Christ’s Body (1 Cor. 28-31)…
Setting apart. We are then saying that this appropriately gifted person is to be set
apart from “normal” responsibilities in order to take up the mantle of leadership
in the church. We affirm that all believers are “set apart by God for God” … But
we also affirm that some are called to be set apart by God for God in a different
way in order to give undivided attention to the preaching of the Word and the
equipping of the saints (Eph. 4:11-12)…
Empowerment. We are then empowering the gifted person, usually by the laying
on of hands. That is, our hand in that act become the hands of Christ, conveying
to the person Christ’s divine energy (1 Cor. 12:4-6). And our hands are granting
the person authority to function in a leadership role in our lives…
Accountability. Finally, we are calling those ordained to accountability. We are
asking of them fidelity to Jesus Christ as head of the church, to the Scriptures as
the final authority in all matters of faith and practice, to our unique theological
emphases, and to our special way of doing things. Thus we extract a vow from
the person… In many cultural settings, we are also confirming other special
privileges such as the authority to officiate at weddings… But essentially, we are
recognizing gifts, setting apart for special functions, empowering and entering
into sacred accountability.500
It is hardly disputed that ordination, understood by David W. Hegg as ‘the public
affirmation by a church of God’s personal appointment of a man to be His herald in the
498 Evang. Gyasi and Rev. Richard Ansah, Interview, Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp, July 27,
2016.
499 Rev. Ansah, Interview, Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp, July 27, 2016.
500 Darrell W. Johnson ‘Ordination’ in James D. Berkley (Gen. ed.) Leadership Handbook of Management
and Administration (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 2003), pp. 18-19. Emphases original.
158
church’501, brings both joy and fear to the ordained. This is because ordination entails
both privileges and responsibilities.
4.5.4 Church-planting Strategies of the Newly Ordained Ministers
Everett Wilson and Douglas Petersen are among the scholars who have dilated on
church planting strategies in contemporary global Pentecostalism, using Latin America
as a case study. Wilson aptly observes that general methodologies employed to the study
of Pentecostalism have tended to neglect one of the most characteristic features of the
movement, that is, the formation of congregations.502 Petersen posits that ‘the strength
of the [Pentecostal] movement is achieved at the level of the local congregation, where
small groups of congregates have not only organized themselves into stable, often
growing associations, but have invariably acquired land, support a pastor and have
undertaken social programmes.’503
It is insightful to note that the Pentecostal orientation of the SMTC further
strengthens the Pentecostalisation of Ghanaian Christianity through the establishment of
Pentecostal / Charismatic churches by the newly ordained ministers of the college. The
newly ordained ministers collaborate with Evangelist Gyasi for him to help them
establish their own churches or ministries. Evangelist Gyasi maintains that he arranges
with each one of them and facilitates the organisation of mammoth open-air evangelistic
programmes (usually at his own expense) at the ministers’ preferred places; that is,
where they want to plant their churches. He is almost always the preacher at such
mammoth evangelistic programmes. The new souls won are immediately placed under
501 David W. Hegg, Appointed to Preach: Assessing a Call to the Ministry (Kaduna, Nigeria: Evangel
Publication, n.d.), p. 91
502 Everett Wilson, ‘Dynamics of Latin American Pentecostalism’ in Daniel R. Miller (ed.) Coming of Age:
Pentecostalism in Contemporary Latin America (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1994), p.100.
503 Douglas Petersen, ‘Pentecostals: Who Are They?’ in Vinay Samuel and Chris Sugden (eds.) Mission as
Transformation: A Theology of the Whole Gospel (Oxford, UK: Regnum Books International, 1999), p.81.
159
the pastoral care of the newly ordained ministers. These new souls or ‘new converts’ as
they are popularly called in Ghana become the pioneers or founding members of the
churches. Some of the experiences of the newly founded churches under consideration in
this study are reminiscent of the Latin American case described by Petersen.
The churches usually begin as small Bible study groups or fellowships in the
house of one of the new members or a rented apartment. The pastor initially does almost
everything – a liturgist, preacher, administrator, etc. People who demonstrate leadership
ability, under the mentorship of the pastor, are given the opportunity to develop their
gifts as leaders of the group. There is a time for praise and worship, sharing testimony,
reading and studying the Bible. Neighbours are invited to attend. In the course of the
service, new members are gladly asked to indicate whether they came as visitors or
permanent members. The pastor prays for them and members are asked to give them a
hearty welcome. Those who bring new members to church are openly commended and
other church members are urged to do same. As soon as the group grows to
approximately twelve members and above, the pastor begins the process of converting
the fellowship into an official congregation through a service of inauguration under the
auspices of Evangelist Gyasi and the concerned pastor of the fellowship. Evangelist
Gyasi periodically undertakes pastoral visits to the ministers to encourage them and to
ascertain how they are faring on the field. Pastor Richard Ansah is one of the ordained
ministers of SMTC. His current Pentecostal fellowship awaiting inauguration in 2019 is
‘Crown of Life Embassy’ located at Nkawkaw.
The minsters’ training on the PM through the SMTC, graduation / ordination and
subsequent church-planting, according to Evangelist Kwadwo Gyasi, is understood as
160
aspects of African Christians’ efforts to reinvent and contextualise the Great Commission
as found in Matthew 28:16-20.504 It reads:
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had
directed them. And when they saw him they worshipped him, but some doubted.
And Jesus came and said to them, “all authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the
end of the age.505
Some theologians have attempted to interpret this text and taken recognition of
the exact place where Jesus commissioned his disciples. Craig S. Keener, for instance,
tries to interpret the text by first indicating that Christ’s meeting with the disciples on the
mountain had a historical antecedent in the Old Testament (OT). He notes: ‘God had
often revealed himself on mountains in biblical tradition, especially, in the narratives
about Moses.’506
Thus Keener, like Eliade, alludes to spatial non homogeneity and significance of
some mountains as far as humanity’s encounter with the transcendental realm is
concerned. Of course, seemingly endless debates among scholars about the particular
mountain in the bible on which supernatural occurrences took place, have lessened the
interest among scholars with respect to the notion of spatial significance of mountains.
For instance, I have indicated elsewhere in this study the apparent controversy
surrounding the mountain of Jesus’ transfiguration. I have pointed out Stein’s position on
this controversy: ‘The fact that all the Synoptic Gospel writers did not unanimously
504 Evangelist Kwadwo Gyasi, (The Founder of the Camp), 27 July, 2016, Nkawkaw Mountain Olive
Prayer Camp.
505 Emphasis mine.
506 Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Illinois: Intervarsity Press,
1993), p.130. See also chapter one of this study for more information on the biblical antecedents of
supernatural occurrences on mountains.
161
agree on one site for the transfiguration implies that they were not interested in locating
exactly where this event took place; they were more concerned with what took place.507
Despite these controversies, I maintain that by meeting the disciples and
commissioning them on the mountain, Christ, in my opinion, sought to reinforce the
spatial non homogeneity and significance of some mountains in God’s scheme of things.
In the case of the SMTC students, by their training on the mountain and subsequent
graduation / ordination to embark on the Great Commission, among other duties, the
management of SMTC and the ordained ministers are perceived as trying to reinvent
(that is, critically bring back) and contextualize (that is, critically appropriate) the
context and content of the Great Commission as a biblical motif in contemporary
Ghanaian Christian setting.
From the above narratives, it can be inferred that church-planting is one of the
means by which the ordained ministers of SMTC try to execute the Great Commission.
Schaefer seems to allude to the relevance of a church as a defined religious
denominational context for Christian education on evangelism and discipleship – two
crucial aspects of the Great Commission. He notes:
The Great Commission necessitates taking the gospel message to “the ends of
the earth” (Acts1:8), to “all nations” (Matt.28:19). The Good News is to be
shared with all peoples, for all are sinners, Jews and Gentiles alike, and in need
of deliverance from sin (Rom.3). All peoples, by faith, can receive God’s
provision and are baptized into Christ. In Christ, all distinctions between Jew
and Gentile disappear (Rom. 10:12-13; Gal.3:28).508
Thus far, I have attempted to show that Pentecostalism influences pilgrims’ patronage of
PMs through the setting up of SMTC at NMOPC by a Pentecostal Christian pastor. The
Pentecostal orientation of the SMTC on the other hand further enhances the
507 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, p. 11. See also Stein, ‘Transfiguration’, p. 782. (Emphasis
original).
508 Schaefer, ‘Great Commission, the’, p.317.
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Pentecostalization of contemporary Ghanaian Christianity through the establishment of
Pentecostal /charismatic churches by the ordained ministers of the college.
4.6 The Institutionalisation of Pilgrimage to Prayer Mountains
The influence of Pentecostalism on pilgrims’ patronage of sacred sites is further
observed from the institutionalisation of pilgrimage to PMs by some churches in Ghana.
This is because the place and relevance of prayer camps or prayer centres and their
institutionalisation in Ghanaian Pentecostalism has attracted scholarly discussions among
some Pentecostal theologians. In his preamble to ‘Salvation at the Fringes of the Church:
The case of the Pentecostalist Prayer Camps and Prayer Centres’, Emmanuel Kingsley
Larbi, for instance, posits that:
Prayer Camps or Prayer Centres are Pentecostalist prayer and healing centres
where people with various needs go for supernatural succor. The activities of
these centres almost exclusively gravitate around one key person: a prophet, a
prophetess, or an evangelist. … These healing centres though are predominantly
found within the Church of Pentecost, they have now become a growing
phenomenon in Ghanaian Christianity, stretching beyond the boundaries of
mainline Pentecostalism to the precincts of the historic churches, knocking at the
iron door of historic orthodoxy demanding attention. Though all these healing
activities start in the context of an established denomination, in the process of
time the leaders, more often than not, break away to form their own independent
ministries.509
Some of the popular healing or prayer centres in the CoP, according to Larbi, are the
Okanta Camp and Maame Dede’s Camp, both located in the Eastern Region of Ghana.510
Asamoah-Gyadu corroborates Larbi’s opinion on the prevalence of prayer or healing
camps in the CoP, and further discloses the efforts of the church to institutionalize the
activities connected with healing and prayer camps.511 He notes:
The CoP gained an urge on the Sunsum Sorè (Spiritual Churches), as the older
independent churches are referred to in Ghana, and thus supplanted the activities
of many prophets through the ministry of healing and deliverance. In order to
avoid some of the excesses, suspicion and abuses surrounding the healing
509 Emmanuel Kingsley Larbi, Pentecostalism: The Eddies of Ghanaian Christianity (Accra, Ghana:
Blessed Publications, 2001), p. 367.
510 Larbi, Pentecostalism, pp. 367-368.
511Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, pp.133-135.
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practices of ‘prophetism in Ghana’, the CoP has nstitutionalised, integrated and
therefore brought under the church’s administrative control the activities of those
of their number manifesting the gifts of healing and deliverance.512
I can deduce from Larbi and Asamoah-Gyadu’s observations that the prevalence
of healing or prayer camps as some of the spiritual resources in the CoP to mitigate the
crises of those who patronize or appropriate the facilities also has implications for
pilgrimage to those places, especially by suffering Pentecostals. The relevance of these
healing centres and the quest to guard against possible abuses, especially by those in
charge, has resulted in the CoP’s institutionalisation of the prayer or healing centre
concept. The implication of this institutionalisation, in my opinion, is that the CoP does
not only bring under the church’s administrative control the activities of those of their
number manifesting the gifts of healing and deliverance, but also it recognises and
approves of members’ appropriation of those healing centres through religious
pilgrimage. On the basis of this implication, I can argue that the institutionalisation of
healing or prayer centres – and by extension, pilgrimage to those centres – is one of the
features of contemporary Ghanaian Pentecostalism. This sounds plausible because
healing centres are not prevalent only in the CoP. Larbi reveals the novelty of the
phenomenon within neo-Pentecostalism and indicates that ‘the first of its kind is the
Solution Centre within the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), under the
leadership of Pastor Annor.’513
PMs in Ghanaian Christianity, especially those under consideration in this study,
may also be regarded as prayer or healing centres which pilgrims patronize for various
reasons, including relief from existential crises. Moreover, I have pointed out in this
chapter that pilgrimage to PMs has become one of the means by which some pilgrims,
upon their return, start their ministries. It is instructive to note that these church founders
512 Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, p.134 (Emphasis mine).
513 Larbi, Pentecostalism, p. 369.
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do not only have classical Pentecostal churches as their religious background,514 but have
also nstitutionalised pilgrimage to PMs. They lead their church members to the PMs at
least once every quarter to pray and fast for not less than a week. They embark on
periodic pilgrimage to the PMs mainly to be spiritually empowered for spiritual
revitalization activities in their churches upon their return. These spiritual revitalization
activities, in the words of Apostle James Kofi Marfo, include ‘tongues’ speaking,
prophecy, healing, deliverance, visions and revelations.515 The PMs are perceived by
Christian pilgrims as the ‘power house of spiritual endowments and solution centre’.516
The institutionalisation of pilgrimage to such sacred sites is therefore seen as one of the
means by which the churches which patronize those sites try to ensure regular spiritual
vibrancy and revitalization.
In addition to the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches which have
nstitutionalised pilgrimage to PMs are historic mission denominations such as the
Methodist Church Ghana (MCG) and the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG). Camps
Three (3) and Eight (8) of APM are owned by the MCG and the PCG respectively. The
camps are the venues for the churches’ annual Connexional / national Prayer Retreat held
twice a year. The MCG controls the Connexional Prayer Retreat through the church’s
Evangelism, Mission and Renewal Directorate (EMRD).517 Aspects of the EMRD’s
report on the MCG’s pilgrimage to APM or Abasua Retreat Centre (ARC) to the
514 The religious background of Apostles James Kofi Marfo, Prince Emmanuel Godsson, Richard Kwame
Owusu and Evangelist Kwadwo Gyasi is Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), CoP, CoP and CAC
respectively.
515 Apostle Marfo, Interview, 7 December 2017, Abuakwa, Kumasi. See also Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and
Signs of the Spirit, p.2.
516 Evangelist Richard Afriyie (General Overseer of Camp Three, Abasua Prayer Mountain), Interview,
March 12, 2016, Abasua Prayer Mountain.
517 The Representative Session Agenda of the 9th Biennial / 47th Conference of the Methodist Church
Ghana held at Tarkwa in 2016, pp. 136-137. See also The Representative Session Agenda of the 8th
Biennial / 46th Conference of the Methodist Church Ghana held in Kumasi, pp.112-113.; Okyere,
‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, pp.72-74.
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Representative Session of the 9th Biennial / 47th Conference are revealing and
informative in this context: ‘The Connexional Prayer Retreat [CPR] at the Abasua Prayer
Centre [APC] for zones one and two took place from Tuesday, 23rd February to Saturday
27th February 2016 and April 19th to 23rd, 2016 respectively, under the theme
“Witnessing to Christ: The Methodist Identity and Spiritual Renewal”…About five
hundred and twenty (520) attended the zone one retreat while about eight hundred and
seventy (870) people attended the zone two retreat.’518 A similar and relatively detailed
report had been submitted by the EMRD at the 8th Biennial / 46th Conference:
By the grace of God, patronage of the ARC keeps increasing year after year and
we are trying very hard to improve upon the facilities. For example, an
auditorium to seat about two thousand people is under construction while some
Dioceses and Circuits are also helping to put up room to accommodate people.
Apart from the Connexional Prayer Retreat (CPR) which is held twice in a year
for zones I and II, other Dioceses and Circuits also visit the place for spiritual
renewal…. Over the years, Dioceses have been encouraged to identify and
establish retreat centres in their Dioceses so that people can visit those places for
spiritual exercises in addition to the Abasua Centre. The following Dioceses
report of having established retreat centres which are being patronized by both
Methodists and non-Methodists.
Tarkwa Diocese: Wassa Akropong and Bremang in Asankragwa Circuit
Sefwi Bekwai: Ankramoano in Bibiani Circuit and Aknotombra
Nkawanta
Obuasi: Kusa
Cape Coast: Ntaferewaso
Sekondi: William De-graft Retreat Centre, Azani
Akyem Oda: Gethsemane
Northern Ghana: Damango Hills
The Lord is blessing the people who visit these places. Some of the testimonies
shared include: healing, deliverance, from spiritual forces, spiritual renewal,
childbirth…519
The MCG reinforces her position on the institutionalisation of pilgrimage to sacred sites
by ensuring that prayer centres established by Dioceses, Circuits and Societies are
managed by mature, spirit-filled and trusted leaders. In order to avoid excesses, these
518 The Representative Session Agenda of the 9th Biennial / 47th Conference of the Methodist Church
Ghana, pp.136-137.
519 The Representative Session Agenda of the 8th Biennial / 46th Conference of the Methodist Church
Ghana, pp. 112-113.
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centres and their various leaders are under the supervision of the clergy and the Leaders’
Meeting.520
The PCG also has oversight responsibility of the church’s many prayer centres
including Abasua Mountain Prayer Ministry (AMPM), through its Evangelism and
Missions Division (EMD).521 The AMPM of the PCG is reported to be one of the
church’s vital spiritual revitalization programmes. The PCG’s appropriation of media
technologies at the AMPM has made available many audio-visual DVDs mostly
containing sermons preached or testimonies shared. Captivating sermon topics over the
years include ‘Divine Selection’ (Acts 1:24), ‘Crossing Over to the Other Side’ (Mark
4:1), ‘Crossing the Jordan’ (Joshua3:5) and ‘Breaking the Protocol of Satan’. Several
testimonies, including those on the reality of heaven and the power in the blood of Christ
have been shared over the years.522
It must be emphasized that the historic mission denominations that have
institutionalised pilgrimage to PMs appear to be replicating one of the characteristics of
classical Ghanaian Pentecostalism which is visitation of prayer centres including PMs.. It
is believed that Christians’ pilgrimage to prayer sites sharpens their devotion or results in
their acquisition of spiritual gifts such as ‘tongues’ speaking, healing, deliverance, etc.
Institutionalizing pilgrimage to PMs or prayer centres is therefore understood as the
churches’ efforts at ensuring or safeguarding the continuity of the beneficial outcomes of
pilgrimage as a religious ritual.
The efforts of Pentecostal / Charismatic churches and the historic mission
denominations to institutionalize pilgrimage to PMs appear to corroborate Park’s opinion
520 The Representative Session Agenda of the 8th Biennial / 46th Conference of the Methodist Church
Ghana, p.113.
521 Rev. Felix Akresu (the Evangelism and Missions Director of the PCG), Interview, 16 March, 2016,
PCG Headquarters, Accra.
522 I have copies of the DVDs referred to in this study.
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on the notion of sacred space and its attendant pilgrimage attraction as some of the more
prominent dimensions of religious expression in the world.523 Webb also reveals that
humans’ innate predilection for pilgrimage in utilitarian terms dates back in antiquity.
She writes: ‘The apparently deep-seated human tendency to locate the holy at a distance
from one’s everyday surroundings and to seek solutions to personal problems and the
alleviation of suffering (or boredom) in a journey to such a place was clearly manifested
in pre-Christian cultures.’524 In the religions which preceded Christianity in the Near
Eastern and Mediterranean region, it is possible for one to locate features that still persist
throughout the Christian epoch. The idea that particular beneficial outcomes accrued to
those who had made the pilgrimage to Osiris at Abydos became familiar to Egyptians of
the New Kingdom, and Abydos remained an important shrine in the Hellenistic and
Roman epochs. Healing shrines which were sacred to Asklepios abounded in ancient
Greece. Greeks were said to practise ‘incubation’ (that is, sleeping at a shrine in order to
obtain a cure), and Medieval Christians developed their own version of the practice.525
Moreover, J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu affirms the importance of pilgrimage as
a religious activity for many religious traditions including certain streams of Christianity
such as Roman Catholicism. He maintains that pilgrimages are embarked upon to various
Catholic grottos such as Lourdes in France.526 He further underscores the prevalence of
sacred spaces in the history of African Christianity and the power of those sites to attract
pilgrims. He writes:
In the history of Christianity in Africa, members of the African independent
churches in particular, created all sorts of healing centres in forests and on
mountains to which people repaired in search of supernatural interventions for
their problems. The Garden of the Church of Twelve Apostles and the Mercy
Ground of the Celestial Church of Christ are cases in point. In other words,
523 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, p. 1. See also Park, ‘Religion and Geography’, p. 19.
524 Webb, Medieval European Pilgrimage, p. viii.
525 Webb, Medieval European Pilgrimage, p. viii.
526 J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘Do not “Meccanize” Christianity: Worship in Spirit and in Truth’, The
Christian Sentinel 22 (2013), p. 12.
168
pilgrimage in Christianity may take people to a multiplicity of centres depending
on what such people think about pilgrimage sites and the personal benefits
expected to be gained from their visit.527
Thus there appears to be an upsurge of institutionalised religious pilgrimage to
prayer sites or PMs in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity, as the foregone narratives
indicate. One of the possible explanations for this is what I consider to one of the
prevailing influences of Pentecostalism as far as institutionalised religious pilgrimage to
prayer sites or PMs is concerned.
4.7 Adherence to Holiness Ethics
Pilgrims’ adherence to holiness ethics at the PMs is another way by which
Pentecostalism influences pilgrimage to PMs. I must acknowledge the existence of
scholarly and insightful works on holiness ethics as integral aspects of the spirituality of
Pentecostal / Charismatic churches.528 Focusing exclusively on Ghana’s CoP’s holiness
ethic, for instance, Asamoah-Gyadu categorically asserts that
The CoP is noted for its uncompromising holiness ethic and high moral
standard. There is a definite relationship between personal experiences of
the Spirit and commitment to the cause of Christ and his mission through
the church. Such commitment arises out of a sense of belonging that
develops within the individual as a result of that intense encounter with
the Holy Spirit.529
In other words, the authenticity of a Pentecostal’s experiential encounter with the Holy
Spirit finds expression in his or her ultimate testimony ‘of personal transformation from
life in the world to a new life in Christ, involving a renewal of the whole person for a life
of holiness.’530 One of the key factors of CoP’s uncompromising stance on holiness ethic
527 Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘Do not “Meccanize” Christianity’, p.12.
528 For details, see Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, pp.138-141; Omenyo, Pentecost Outside
Pentecostalism, pp.216-218; Petersen, Pentecostals: Who are They?, pp. 94-96.
529 Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, p. 138.
530 Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, p. 138.
169
appears to be its constitution which, among other things, spells out moral failures or
deviations on the part of church members and their associated stringent sanctions
Omenyo also locates his discussion of holiness ethics in the context of
Charismatic Renewal in the Mainline Churches in Ghana. He maintains that ‘In their
spirituality, Charismatics stress holiness ethic – personal “holiness” or “righteousness”,
which for them is a fruit of “new birth”. They regard a life of holiness as the real proof of
life in Christ. This life starts with the experience of “new birth”. Then everything
becomes new.’531 Omenyo and Asamoah-Gyadu underscore the pivotal role of
constitutions and by-laws as key factors undergirding the Pentecostals’ and the
Charismatics’ uncompromising stance on holiness ethics. The constitutions and by-laws
spell out moral failures or deviations and their corresponding sanctions to be meted out
to miscreant church members.532 Thus Pentecostals, in the opinion of Petersen, are
overtly distinguished by their moralism because their view of reality, invested as it is
with a pervasive sense of the sacred, imposes moral sanctions on their adherents.533
Petersen cites Bryan Roberts to buttress his argument about Pentecostals’
uncompromising attitude towards holy living: ‘as they [Pentecostals] see it, a person’s
Christian quality … is certified by changes which occur in his moral life, rather than by
his doctrinal loyalties.’534 Petersen, like Asamoah-Gyadu and Omenyo, clearly
articulates the outcomes of Pentecostals’ hard stance on holiness:
Rather rigid rules of conduct tend to separate adherents from the easy going,
permissive attitude toward marital infidelity, gambling, excessive drinking and
misrepresentation found often in popular culture. Practical norms and rules
provide assurance to one’s behaviour, and illuminate a ‘signpost’ to the
authenticity of the dramatic and radical nature of conversion. Such demands,
531Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism, p. 216.
532 Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism, p. 217; Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, pp.
139-140.
533 Petersen, Pentecostals: Who are They?, pp. 94-95.
534 Petersen, Pentecostals: Who are They?, p. 95.
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beyond a demonstration of moral life, have a pedagogic importance, particularly
when they guide people clearly out of harmful patterns of behaviour.535
In the light of these outcomes, participation in Pentecostal services is
intentionally meant to influence members’ conduct, specifically a concrete realization of
the group’s values which include adherence to holiness. The emotional orientation of
Pentecostal services increases members’ motivations to live a holy life beyond simply a
sense of obligation to comply with a sense of spiritual dimensions. Pentecostals appear to
draw from their beliefs and experiences in their spiritual sensitivity to invoke an
aspiration and commitment to produce high levels of selfless, enthusiastic practice of
moral living.536
The crux of the reviewed works on holiness ethics among Pentecostals is that
Pentecostals endeavor to authenticate their subjective, experiential, and transformative
encounter with the Holy Spirit through practical holy living. These works are important
because they provide some empirical evidence of holiness as one of the cardinal
emphases of Pentecostal spirituality. They are also important because they provide a
relevant and compelling academic basis to explore the influence of Pentecostalism on
pilgrims’ adherence to holiness ethics on PMs. The underlying presupposition is that
Pentecostalism as a modern religious phenomenon has had a significant impact on
Christianity worldwide.537 Therefore, the spirituality of PMs as sacred spaces in
contemporary Ghanaian Christianity is primarily characterized by the belief in the active
presence of the Holy Spirit who is perceived to be the source of pneumatic phenomena
(such as ‘tongues’ speaking, prophecy, healing and deliverance, etc.) and the one who
engenders Christian pilgrims’ conversion and transformation evidenced in practical holy
535 Petersen, Pentecostals: Who are They?, p. 95.
536 Petersen, Pentecostals: Who are They?, p. 95.
537 Burgess and Van der Mass (eds.), The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic
Movements, p. xv.
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living. As a result, conscious emphasis on holiness or moral uprightness as evidence of
pilgrims’ authentic conversion and transformation is one of the key aspects of the
spirituality of PMs in Ghana. For instance, in one of my field trips to APM, I found these
sacred writings pasted on some of the buildings at ‘Camp Three’ very intriguing:
The Bible mentions many specific actions and attitudes that are either right or
wrong. The wrong ones or vices include sexual immorality, impurity (Gal. 5:19),
lust (Col.3:5), hostility, quarrelling, jealousy, anger, selfish ambition, dissension
(Gal. 5: 20), arrogance (2 Cor. 12:20), envy (Gal. 5: 21), murder (Rev. 22:12-
16), idolatry (Gal. 5: 20; Eph. 5:5), sorcery (Gal. 5: 20), drunkenness (Gal. 5:
21), wild parties (Luke 15:13; Gal. 5:21), cheating, adultery, homosexuality,
stealing (1 Cor. 6:9-10), greed (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Eph. 5:5), lying (Rev. 22:12-16).
The virtues, understood as the by-products of living for God, include love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness (Gal. 5:22), gentleness and self-
control (Gal. 5:23).
These vices and virtues had their respective additional pieces of information which
appeared to be their commentaries. The commentary on the vices was anchored on
Galatians 5:19-21:
‘We all have evil desires, and we can’t ignore them. In order for us to follow the Holy
Spirit’s guidance, we must deal with them decisively (crucify them – Gal. 5:24). These
desires include obvious sins such as sexual immorality and demonic activities. They also
include less obvious sins such as hostility, jealousy, and selfish ambition. Those who
ignore such sins or refuse to deal with them reveal that they have not received the gift of
the Holy Spirit that leads to a transformed life.’
The commentary on the virtues was couched on Galatians 5:22-23:
The fruit of the Spirit is the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit in us. The Spirit
produces these character traits that are found in the nature of Christ. They are the
by-products of Christ’s control. We can’t obtain them by trying to get them
without his help. If we want the fruit of the Spirit to grow in us, we must join our
life to his (see John 15:4-5). We must know him, love him, remember him and
imitate him. As a result, we will fulfill the intended purpose of the law – to love
God and our neighbours.
These sacred writings fascinated me because they appeared to be a catalogue of vices
and virtues together with their brief interpretations ostensibly intended to educate
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pilgrims about the perils of a godless life and the fruitfulness of a Christ-centered life.
The writings were also considered to be part of the efforts of the site’s management to
use the Bible to reinforce the sacred identity of the site and the need for pilgrims to abide
by the rules and regulations governing the site’s sacred orientation. This position is
succinctly articulated by Douglas Davies who defines sacred writings in Christianity as
the Bible and its centrality in Christian thought and practice.538 He further expounds on
the supreme significance of the Bible in Christian worship:
Christian worship is so closely linked with sacred scriptures that it is almost
impossible to think of any formal Christian service taking place without some
use of the Bible. This centrality of the Bible is due to the fact that Christianity
stresses its past through the belief that God’s self-revelation has occurred within
history at particular times and places, through religious leaders such as prophets,
but most especially, through Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible is the central deposit
of witness to this divine revelation.539
The relevance of Davies’ point is that a discourse on holiness in Christianity
would scarcely be complete without resorting to the Bible.540 The prevailing holiness
ethics on the PMs could also be seen from the strict religious and moral rules that
pilgrims are obliged to observe or adhere to. On all the PMs under study, attendance to
religious programmes is compulsory for all pilgrims. These programmes include
morning devotions, Bible studies, all-night prayer sessions and divine services. Besides,
strict moral rules feature prominently. On all the PMs, it is not allowed for males and
females who are not married to sleep in the same room. Owusu-Ansah, citing Evangelist
Asiamah,541 maintains that opposite sexes [who are not married couple] are forbidden to
sleep in one room because there have been some incidence of sexual affair at Camp
538 Douglas Davies, ‘Christianity’ in Jean Holm with John Bowker (eds.), Sacred Writings (London,
United Kingdom: Pinter Publishers Ltd., 1994), p. 44; Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, p. 90.
539 Davies, ‘Christianity’, p.45.
540 See Jude Hama, Practical Holy Living (Accra, Ghana: Step Publishers, 2017), pp.19-238; Jerry Bridges,
The Pursuit of Holiness (Colorado Springs, United States of America: Navpress, 2006), pp. 1-127.
541 Evangelist Asiamah was the Caretaker of Camp Three from the year 2004 to date (the time of this
work).
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Three of APM.542 Moreover, wearing of indecent clothes or sexually provocative
dressing anywhere on the PMs is seriously frowned upon. The wearing of such indecent
clothes is believed to have the propensity of sexually luring or enticing people into some
misconduct, thereby truncating and defeating the very essence of the pilgrimage543 at the
site.
This brief survey of holiness ethics on the PMs forms part of the rituals that ‘are
needed to cleanse, purify and prepare those coming from the realm of the secular before
they enter the realm of the sacred.’544 The survey of holiness ethics on the PMs would be
incomplete without a discussion of its influence on pilgrims’ conversion and, by
implication, their quest to lead morally upright lifestyles. The conversion testimony of
Apostle Richard Kwame Owusu is contextually instructive.
On the 15th August, 2011, Apostle Owusu informed me about the sanctity and
spiritual potency of APM and its influence on his conversion into Christianity and,
subsequently, into the pastoral ministry, during an interview he granted me at APM.
Apostle Owusu reports of being a professional carpenter and testifies of having been a
massive beneficiary of the toils and sacrifices of his relatives, but did not initially live up
to their pleasure and expectation until he met Jesus Christ at APM, through the influence
of Apostle Godsson. As one of the eleven children of his economically powerless parents
– M r. Kwaku Nsiah and Madam Agnes Agyapong – Owusu had his formal basic
education through the efforts of his maternal aunt, Madam Ama Tiwaa and her husband,
Mr. S.K Fokuo. He completed Roman Catholic Middle School in 1985 at Donyina in the
Asante region. After moving to Kumasi to briefly struggle as a cobbler and a sole
542 Owusu-Ansah, Abasua Prayer Mountain in Ghanaian Christianity, p. 23.
543 In Islam, for example, Muslims who embarked on pilgrimage to Mecca were required to abstain from
sexual intercourse, obscene language and acrimonious disputes. For details, see Fieser and Powers,
Scriptures of the World’s Religions, p. 401.
544 Scott, The Gothic Enterprise, p. 152.
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proprietor, he was assisted by his sister and his brother-in-law to learn carpentry. Owing
to his determination and tenacity of purpose, he completed within two years instead of
the normal three years of apprenticeship. He was further assisted by his sister and
brother-in-law to move to Accra to practice his trade as a professional carpenter.
He reveals that it was in Accra that he bitterly and unfortunately plunged his life
into a quagmire of all sorts of vices including drunkenness, fornication and recklessness.
He lost focus as a professional carpenter and was eventually rejected by his parents and
relatives. It was in the midst of this disillusionment that he claims to have been
providentially led by a friend to APM in August 1999. He describes his going to APM as
providential because according to him, God strangely arranged for him to meet Apostle
Prince Emmanuel Godsson, the founder and general overseer of Full Gospel Church of
God International, who was then praying on the mountain. Apostle Godsson is said to
have prophetically disclosed to Owusu (as he was then called) that God was going to use
him mightily to win many souls to His Kingdom. Apostle Owusu indicates that he spent
three months on the mountain without any of his relatives knowing his whereabouts. He
reports of being significantly influenced by the serenity and holiness of the site. As a
result, he claims that he went through stringent spiritual disciplines of prayer and fasting
for seven days, for fourteen days, for twenty-one days and for forty days, under the
spiritual guidance of Apostle Godsson. He discloses that after going through the twenty-
one days of prayer and dried fasting (that is, praying and fasting without food), he
experienced an unprecedented abdominal disorder, followed by diarrhea for forty-five
times. According to Apostle Owusu, God told him that the forty-five times of diarrhea he
experienced was nothing but His (God’s) own way of purging him of all the filthy
deposits of drunkenness, fornication, recklessness, etc., which had been accumulated in
him for a long time. He testifies of a dramatic conversion experience characterized by
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transformation and what Jude Hama refers to as ‘practical holy living’. He further
testifies that as a result of his conversion and transformation, Jesus Christ has been
gracious enough by calling him into the pastoral ministry as the founder and general
overseer of Jesus the Light Evangelistic Ministry, a Pentecostal church. He was ordained
as ‘Apostle’ by Rev. Dr. Robert Ampia-Kwofie (founder and leader of Global Revival
Ministries)545 and Apostle Godsson – the people he describes as his spiritual fathers.
If Apostle Owusu attributes his transformation of character and subsequent
ordination into the pastoral ministry to his pilgrimage to APM and providential
encounter with Apostle Godsson (a Pentecostal Christian), then it is plausible to argue
that the Pentecostal orientation of PMs attracts (Pentecostal) Christian pilgrims (usually
as pastors, prophets, evangelists, etc.) who also assist other pilgrims to be spiritually
gifted, transformed and imbued with the quest for holiness which, as I have already
stated, are aspects of Pentecostal Christianity. In that sense, the positive influence of
Pentecostalism on Christians’ pilgrimage to sacred sites and their quest for holiness
ethics are underscored.
There are however certain observations which seem to negate the positive
influence of Pentecostalism on pilgrims’ appropriation of PMs, as far as their quests for
holiness and transformation of character are concerned. Thus inasmuch as
Pentecostalism seems to positively influence pilgrims’ patronage of PMs and stimulate
their transformation of character and quest for holiness, the same religious phenomenon
sometimes appears to obliterate pilgrims’ quest for authentic Christianity characterized
by love for neighbour or love for one’s enemies.
During my field trips to the PMs under study, I observed many things including
the inscriptions of some banners and some symbols which were very captivating. At
545 Larbi, Pentecostalism, p.504.
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NMOPC, for instance, I saw a banner with the inscription: ‘Nkawkaw Mountain Olive
Prayer Camp presents 60 days of fasting and prayer [on the] theme: Operation Fire
Your Enemies…546 The biblical reference of the theme was Revelation 11:5: ‘If anyone
tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how
anyone who wants to harm them must die’ (NIV).
Moreover, at APM, specifically, in the forests where some pilgrims pray during
the day, I saw, among others, pieces of wood tied with red materials or other ropes
against trees. These symbolic prayer rituals were believed to be such pilgrims’ own way
of binding and cursing the enemies perceived to be responsible for their predicaments.547
These observations are generally understood as the prevalence of what Osei Sarf-
Kantanka refers to as ‘dangerous or imprecatory prayers’548 by people perceived to be
Pentecostal Christian pilgrims.
Figure 4.1: Symbols of immprecatory prayers found in the forests of Abasua Prayer
Mountain. Pieces of wood tied with ropes to trees. It is believed to be
some pilgrims’ own way of binding and cursing their enemies perceived
to be responsible for their predicaments.
546 (Emphasis mine).
547 Mr. Joseph Boateng Fordjour (the secretary of Camp Three, Abasua Prayer Mountain), Interview,
March 14, 2016, Abasua Prayer Mountain.
548 Osei Sarfo-Kantanka, ‘Responses to Contemporary Issues in the Church in Ghana: “Dangerous
Prayers” in Asempa Dawuro, Vol. 2, N006 (April – June, 2011), pp. 4-7.
177
Theological contestations about the appropriateness or otherwise of imprecatory
Psalms or ‘dangerous prayers’ in Christianity warrant a brief survey in this section of the
study in order to ascertain whether or not such prayers really desacralize pilgrims who
utter or resort to them on PMs. In his commentary or notes on Psalm 35:1-28, Donald C.
Stamps refers to the Psalm as ‘an imprecatory Psalm, meaning that the Psalmist prays
that God will bring judgment on the enemies of his people and overthrow the wicked (see
Ps 35, 69, 109,137; Ne 6:14; 13:29; Jer 15:15; 17:18; Gal 5:12; 2Tim 4:14; Rev 6:10).549
Although Stamps appreciates Christ’s instruction to believers to forgive their enemies
(Luke 23:34) and to pray for their salvation (Matthew 5:39, 44), he is still of the opinion
that ‘a time comes when we must pray for evil to cease and for justice to be done for the
innocent. We should be vitally concerned for the victims of cruelty, oppression and
evil.’550 He expounds on his perspective of the theological appropriateness of
imprecatory prayers in the church as follows:
They are prayers for deliverance from injustice, crime and oppression. Believers
have a right to pray for God’s protection from evil people. They are appeals to
God to administer justice and to send penalties on the wicked that are
commensurate with their crime…. If just retribution is not undertaken by God or
by human government, violence and chaos will reign in society (see Dt. 25:1-3;
Ro 13:3-4; 1Pe 2:13-14). As you read these prayers, know that the Psalmist does
not take vengeance into his own hands but commits it to God (cf. Dt 32:35; Pr
20:22; Ro 12:19). The imprecatory Psalms point to the truth that when the sin of
the wicked reaches its full measure, the Lord in his righteousness does judge and
destroy (see Ge 15:16; Lev 18:24; Rev 6:10, 17). Remember that these prayers
are inspired words of the Holy Spirit (cf.2Ti 3:16-17; 2Pe 1:19-21), and not just
an expression of the Psalmist’s human desire. The ultimate goal of an
imprecatory prayer is to see injustice and cruelty come to an end, evil destroyed,
Satan defeated, godliness exalted, righteousness established and God’s kingdom
realized. This goal is a dominant concern in the NT. Christ himself states that
true believers may pray for the vindication of the righteous. He widow’s prayer
to “grant me justice against my adversary” (Lk 18:3) is answered by Jesus’
assurance that God will “bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to
him day and night” (Lk 18:7; cf. Rev 6:9-10). Believers must keep two Biblical
principles in balance: (a) the desire see all people come to a saving knowledge of
Jesus Christ (cf. 2Pe 3:19), and (b) the desire to see evil destroyed and God’s
549 Donald C. Stamps, ‘Psalm 35:1-38 (sic) Fight against those who fight against me’ in The Full Life Study
Bible: New International Version (Grand Rapids, Michigan: The Zondervan Corporation, 1992), pp. 794-
795 (Emphasis mine).
550 Stamps, ‘Psalm 35:1-38 (sic)’, p.794.
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kingdom victorious. We must earnestly pray for the salvation of the lost and
weep for those who reject the gospel; yet we must also know that righteousness,
goodness and love will never be established according to God’s purpose until
evil is conquered and Satan and his followers are forever put down (see Rev
6:10, 17;19-21). The faithful must pray, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev 22:20) as
God’s ultimate and final solution for evil in the world.551
In his introduction to his Prayer of Jehu, Daniel Olukoya appears to corroborate
Stamps’ defence of the theological validity of imprecatory prayers among Christians:
There are prayers that the enemy cannot toy with. There are prayer points that
will be too hot for the enemy to confront. When the mystery of Jehu prayers is at
work, arrows that are sent by the enemy will go back to the sender and so much
violence will be discharged that the enemy will regret ever trying to go into
conflict with a member of the Jehu army. In these last days, God has established
an elite force called the Jehu army, made up of aggressive warriors who are not
ready to take nonsense from the enemy. This divine force has constituted serious
headache to the enemy. Its symbol is holy fury. Its trademark is fire. Its mission
is to totally disgrace and bury [the] enemy’s army. 552
I can discern from the perspective of Stamps and Olukoya that Christian pilgrims
do not become unholy for employing imprecatory Psalms or prayers. Imprecatory
prayers rather appear to be some of the catalysts for enhancing pilgrims’ quest for
virtuous lives since these prayers are perceived by pilgrims as powerful and efficacious
enough in dealing with the contending forces believed to be responsible for all vices or
immoral behaviours.
Sarfo-Kantanka, however, strongly argues against these prayers in the church. In
his opinion, the language of libation in Traditional African Religion is the religio-cultural
context or source of the prevalence of imprecatory prayers in the church. In libation, the
linguist usually articulates the antagonism among the adherents of Traditional African
Religion and the enemy through a forceful invocation of curses onto the enemy. In a
typical traditional Akan religious context, the linguist usually ends libation in these
words: ‘Obi nkↄ ahyira nkↄhyira ne busuyεfoↄ’, meaning; ‘No one goes to pray for
blessings on his or her enemies’. The linguist would usually add these words: ‘Onipa
551 Stamps, ‘Psalm 35:1-38 (sic), pp. 794-795.
552 Daniel Olukoya, The Prayer of Jehu (Lagos: Battle Cry Christian Ministries, 2012), p. i.
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bↄnefoↄ a ↄmpε yεn yie deε, ne kↄnkↄ mmↄ ne so’, meaning; ‘May those who wish evil
for us fall and die.’553 Thus in the view of Sarfo-Kantanka, paying the enemies back in
their own coin is the Africans’ understanding of how one deals with their enemies.554
Despite the Old Testament’s references to some imprecatory prayers (Ex 21:24)
as seen in the worldview of traditional African religious practitioners, Sarfo-Kantanka
vehemently contends the prevalence of these prayers in the church [and PMs] by
appealing to the New Dispensation in Christ, Pauline teachings and the views of other
theologians to buttress his stance. He anchors his explanation of the New Dispensation in
Christ on Matthew 5:17 where Christ is reported to have said: ‘Do not think that I have
come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill
them’ (NIV). The fulfillment, according to Sarfo-Kantanka, may be understood in two
senses. First, the fulfillment of the promises of God as given in the Law and Prophets is
to be found in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 1:20). Second, Jesus Christ is the embodiment of
humankind’s complete understanding of the Law and the Prophets.555
In the light of this, Christ announced the style of the New Dispensation as
follows: ‘You have heard that it was said to the people long ago… But I tell
you…’556 The implication of this announcement is that there was no other acceptable
teaching beyond what Christ said and practiced. If this is logical, then the New
Dispensation in Christ is the yardstick for determining what is supposed to be the
Christian norm in Christians’ relationship with their enemies or those who persecute
them. In Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus taught: ‘You have heard that it was said, “Love your
neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those
who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven…. Be perfect,
553 Sarfo-Kantanka, ‘Responses to Contemporary Issues in the Church in Ghana’, p. 4.
554 Sarfo-Kantanka, ‘Responses to Contemporary Issues in the Church in Ghana’, p. 4.
555Sarfo-Kantanka, ‘Responses to Contemporary Issues in the Church in Ghana’, p. 4.
556 Sarfo-Kantanka, ‘Responses to Contemporary Issues in the Church in Ghana’, p. 5 (Emphasis original).
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therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect’ (NIV). Thus ‘the New Dispensation
initiated by Jesus’, according to Sarfo-Kantanka, ‘is therefore higher and is to be our
example rather than some Old Testament practices.557
Moreover, the Pauline corpus appears to be replete with references to the need for
Christians to love their enemies, thereby shunning from imprecatory prayers and other
revengeful actions. The words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 12:14-21, according to
Sarfo-Kantanka, are apt:
‘Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse … Do not repay
anyone evil for evil … If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at
peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for
God’s wrath….Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good’
(NIV). Paul in this text appears to be telling his Christian listeners to
follow Jesus Christ who, in the course of his crucifixion, was reported to
have prayed ‘Father forgive them for they do not know what they are
doing (Lk 23:34 – NIV), or the martyr Stephen who allegedly followed
Jesus Christ and prayed during his persecution ‘Lord, do not hold this sin
against them’ (Acts 7:60 – NIV).
A rather uncompromising position against imprecatory Psalms or prayers is
maintained by John W. Baigent and Leslie C. Allen whose work is quoted by Sarfo-
Kantanka:
A more serious problem confronts the Christian in the so called imprecatory
Psalms (eg., 35:1-8; 58:6-9; 59; 69:22-28; 137:8f) [or prayers] in which the
Psalmists curses his enemies, call down vengeance on them, often vindictively
and gloats over the prospect of their downfall. The Christian is not able to adopt
this kind of language in relation to his own enemies and persecutors. He has
learned a better way from his Lord’s teaching and example (Mt. 5:44ff; Lk
23:34) and from the NT generally (cf. Acts 7:60, Ro 12:14, 19ff, 1Ti 2:1-4).558
The theological arguments against imprecatory prayers imply that Christians are
forbidden from employing them to deal with their enemies. Therefore Christian pilgrims
who use them may be regarded as unholy and disobedient since the appropriation of such
557 Sarfo-Kantanka, ‘Responses to Contemporary Issues in the Church in Ghana’, p. 5.
558 Sarfo-Kantanka, ‘Responses to Contemporary Issues in the Church in Ghana’, p. 4.
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prayers by Christians is considered to be tantamount to their repudiation of the
instructions of Jesus Christ.
The seeming endless debate about the theological justification or otherwise of
imprecatory prayers is, in my opinion, a reflection of the centrality and sensitive nature
of the concept in Christian theology. Sarfo-Kantanka’s association of libation in
Traditional African Religion with imprecatory prayers indicates his attempt to contribute
to the on-going scholarly discussion on the African religions as the substructure of
African Christianity. Andrew F. Walls clearly articulates this as follows: ‘African
Christianity is a new development of African religion, shaped by the parameters of pre-
Christian African religion as was the Christianity of the Jerusalem church of the Acts of
the Apostles rooted in the religion of old Israel.’559 Also Stamps’ insistence on the
theological validity of imprecatory prayers appears to find space and relevance in
African Christianity and Traditional Akan Religion characterised, among other things, by
what Omenyo refers to as [mystical] causality.’560 Omenyo writes: ‘The [Akan’s] idea of
causality leans heavily on the spiritual. Besides purely organic causation of sickness, for
instance, no interpretation of causality that does not include elements like preordained
destiny, punishment by angered ancestors and witchcraft can be fully acceptable.’561 The
presence of destructive forces in the worldview of the African Christian seems to justify
Stamps’ perspective of imprecatory prayers in Christianity, since those prayers, in
Stamps’ thinking, are efficacious in dealing with those malicious forces. Thus the
position of each exponent, in my view, is theologically valid as long as each one eschews
559 Andrew F. Walls, The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History (New York: Orbis Books, 2002),
p.116.
560 Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism, p. 30.
561 Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism, p. 30. Omenyo adds that this is not to say that the Akan is
blindly fatalistic. Inspite of supernatural interpretation of mishaps, the role of conscience, common sense
and for that matter human responsibility is considered. See Joshua N. Kudajie, “Does Religion Determine
Morality in African Societies? A Viewpoint” in John S. Pobee (ed) Religion in a Pluralistic Society
(Leiden:E.J Brill, 1976),pp. 62ff.
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relying on the proof-text approach to biblical hermeneutics. This is where, in the opinion
of Asamoah-Gyadu, context is ignored in the interpretation of scripture so that passages
are made to serve the purposes of the interpreter rather than the purposes of the Spirit of
God.562
4.8 Conclusion
In this chapter, I have attempted a discussion of the influence of Pentecostalism
on pilgrims’ appropriation of PMs in Ghana. It has been noted that Pentecostalism as a
modern religious phenomenon has had a great impact on all the nooks and crannies of
Christianity, including Christians’ pilgrimage to PMs. It has been underscored that
Pentecostal experiences such as dreams, divine revelations, visions and prophecies do
not only underlie some pilgrims’ appropriation of PMs, but they also appear to present
God as the driving force of their pilgrimage to PMs and the motivation for their
establishment of Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches. Furthermore, the discussion
shows that Pentecostal Christianity influences the setting up of ministerial colleges on
PMs. Moreover, the discussion posits that Pentecostal Christianity induces the
institutionalisation of pilgrimage to PMs and pilgrims’ adherence to holiness ethics. The
prevalence of imprecatory prayer rituals as part of the spirituality of PMs in Ghanaian
Christianity, however, seems to contradict the assertion of Pentecostalism’s positive
influence on pilgrims with respect to their quest for holiness and transformation of life.
In Chapter five, I will examine PMs in contemporary Ghanaian development discourse.
562 Asamoah-Gyadu, Sighs and Signs of the Spirit, p. 40.
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CHAPTER FIVE
PRAYER MOUNTAINS IN CONTEMPORARY GHANAIAN
DEVELOPMENT DISCOURSE
5.1 Introduction
Generally, development is understood in terms of release from that which holds a
captive. In that sense, development entails restoration and transformation which result in
progress (nkↄsoↄ) and well-being (yieyε).563 It points to some positive progress in the
condition of people in a country.564 In his apparent synthesis of the various definitions of
development, Elom Dovlo underscores that development is ‘a sequence of positive and
systematic changes that lead to the growth and progress of people and their
community.’565 The ‘Human Development Report 1990’ of the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP), attempts to conceptualize and explicate development in
terms of ‘a process of enlarging people's choices. The most critical ones are to lead a
long and healthy life, to be educated and to enjoy a decent standard of living. Additional
choices include political freedom, guaranteed human rights and self-respect - what Adam
Smith called the ability to mix with others without being "ashamed to appear in
publick"’566 (sic). People, according to this report, are described as the real wealth of a
nation. The basic objective of development is, therefore, to create an enabling
environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives.567
563 Emmanuel Asante, Culture, Politics and Development: Ethical and Theological Reflections on the
Ghanaian Experience (Accra, Ghana: Challenge Enterprise, 2007), pp. 8-9.
564Mike O’Donnel, Introduction to Sociology (Surrey, United Kingdom: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd,
1997), p.576.
565Elom Dovlo, ‘Religious Bodies, Subsidiarity and Development in Ghana’ in Thomas W. Scheidtweiler
(ed) Human and Economic Development – The Importance of Civil Society and Subsidiarity (Kumasi,
Ghana: Africa Publications, 1998), p. 65.
566Adam Smith’s view of human development is cited in the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP), Human Development Report 1990, p.9.
567United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Human Development Report 1990, p.9.
184
These ways of looking at development, in my opinion, are not really new. The
idea that social, economic, political and religious arrangements ought to be judged by the
extent to which they promote ‘human good’ have several antecedents in the Bible568 or in
Christian thought569 and in the writings of some early philosophers570 and liberation
theologians. Liberation theologians are advocates of development because they generally
contend against socio-economic, political and spiritual / religious systems or institutions
that are oppressive and dehumanizing to people, especially, those in two thirds World.571
Also, notions of development can be gleaned from traditional Akan religious
cosmology.572 The central themes of development in all these antecedents include the
general perception of poverty as an affront to human dignity and the urgency with which
it must to be tackled. Poverty is understood as a multi-facetted phenomenon that has
adverse impact on individuals and the community as a whole. The adverse impact of
poverty includes diseases (owing to inadequate medical care and malnutrition), illiteracy,
poor housing, poor choices in life, etc.573The central themes also encapsulate the
568 Psalm 10:2, 9&10; Isaiah 3:14715; Jeremiah 2:34; Amos 2:6&7; 5:12&13; Luke 4: 18-21; James 2:6.
569 Dovlo, ‘Religious Bodies, Subsidiarity and Development in Ghana’, pp. 68-77., see also Elom Dovlo,
‘Christianity, Nation-Building and National Identity in Ghana: Religious Perspectives’, in James L. Cox
and Gerrie ter Haar (eds.) Uniquely African: African Christian Identity from Cultural and Historical
Perspectives (Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World press, 2003), pp. 187-190.
570These philosophers included Aristotle and Immanuel Kant. For details on them, see Brooke Noel Moore
and Keneth Bruder, Philosophy: The Power of Ideas (5th ed.) (New York, United States of America:
McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2002), pp. 55-65 and 121-129 respectively.
571 Gustavo Gutiѐrrez , ‘Toward a Theology of Liberation’ in Alfred T. Hennelley, S.J. (ed.) Liberation
Theology: A Documentary History (United States of America: Orbis Books, 1990), pp. 62-76. See also
Leonardo Boff and Clodovis Boff, Introducing Liberation Theology (Great Britain: Burns and
Oates/Search Press Ltd., 1987), pp. 78-95., Sergio Torres, ‘The Irruption of the Third World: A Challenge
to Theology’ in Virginia Fabella and Sergio Torres (eds.) Irruption of the Third World: Challenge to
Theology (United States of America: Orbis Books, 1983), pp. 3-13.
572 See Gyekye, African Cultural Values, pp. 23-29. See also. Elizabeth Amoah, African Traditional
Religion and the Concept of Poverty, pp.111- 125.
573Abena D. Oduro, Reducing the Extent and Depth of Poverty in Ghana (University of Ghana: The
Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, 2001), pp. 1-7., K. A. Twum-Baah, ‘Wealth
Creation and Poverty Reduction: The Christian Factor’, The Christian Sentinel 11(2002), pp. 18&19.,
Joseph Kimos Adjei, Microfinance and Poverty Reduction: The Experience of Ghana (Accra, Ghana:
BOLD Communications Limited, 2010), pp. 6-14, 88-94. Martin N. Marger, Social Inequality: Patterns
and Processes (2nd ed.) (New York, United States of America: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2002), pp. 50 &
185
provision of social services to enhance the general well-being of people. Development
thus appears to be a dominant theme that touches almost all the nooks and crannies of
life. It therefore warrants a considerable space and attention in a research work such as
this which purports to have both academic and policy implications.
This chapter discusses the place and relevance of PMs in contemporary Ghanaian
human development discourse. Three main questions essentially engage my attention.
First, to what extent does the belief in the sacredness of PMs contribute to the quest for
Christian eco-theological discourse in Ghana? Second, how does the appropriation of
PMs as sacred spaces promote ecumenical / interdenominational linkages in Ghana?
Third, how do activities surrounding PMs in Ghana enhance pilgrims’ economic
wellbeing? These questions are not only aspects of the research questions for this study,
but they are, in my opinion, development oriented because cogent and thoughtful
responses to them may be considered as aspects of the concept of development briefly
defined above.
In order to accentuate some of the scholarly lacunas that the responses to the
above questions attempt to fill, I undertake a cursory examination of antecedent of
development in the thought of some early philosophers574 and some economic
development ideologies. I then explore the presumed indispensability of religion in
contemporary Ghanaian development discourse. These are intended to provide a broad
empirical context and meaningful nexus to the discussion of the influence of pilgrimage
to PMs on Ghana’s quest for Christian eco-theology, on ecumenical /
interdenominational networking and on pilgrims’ economic well-being.
79., Alan Walker and Carol Walker, ‘Poverty’ in Adam Kuper and Jesicca Kuper (eds.) The Social Science
Encyclopedia, 2nd ed. (London: Routledge, 1995), pp. 655-657.
574 My choice of the antecedents of development in the thought of some early philosophers is largely due to
space constraints to enable me examine all the other antecedents in this chapter.
186
5.2 Antecedents of development in the thought of some early philosophers
The antecedents of development in the writings of the early philosophers date
back at least to Aristotle (384-322 B.C.).575 He argued for seeing ‘the difference between
a good political arrangement and a bad one’ in terms of its successes and failures in
facilitating people's ability to lead ‘flourishing lives’.576 Human beings as the real end of
all activities were a recurring theme in the writings of most of the early philosophers.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)577, for example, is believed to have observed: ‘So act as to
treat humanity, whether in their own person or in that of any other, in every case as an
end withal, never as means only.’578 The same motivating concern could be found in the
writings of early leaders of quantification in Economics579 and in the writings of the
leading political economists.580
Related to the view of human beings as the real end of all activities is the
philosophical conception of the person also as the agent of his or her own destiny and the
one responsible for his or her own development in history. For example, the reflection of
Descartes’ ‘cogito ergo sum’ that is, ‘I think, therefore I am’, according to Gustavo
Gutierrez, is a reflection that started with the human person.581 This, in my opinion,
generally implies some philosophers’ recognition of the human’s identity as persons
endowed with potentials to consciously re-order or creatively interact with their
environment and thus, bring about development. This tendency was accentuated by Kant,
575 Moore and Bruder, Philosophy: The Power of Ideas, pp. 55-65.
576 United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Human Development Report 1990, p.9.
577 Moore and Bruder, Philosophy, pp. 126-129.
578 United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Human Development Report 1990, p.9.
579 These early leaders of quantification in Economics included William Petty, Gregory King, Francois
Quesnay, Antoine Lavoisier and Joseph Lagrange. See United Nations Development Program (UNDP),
Human Development Report 1990, p.9.
580 These leading political economists included Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Robert Malthus, Karl Marx
and John Stuart Mill. See United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Human Development Report
1990, p.9.
581 Gutiѐrrez , ‘Toward a Theology of Liberation’, p.67.
187
for whom the world was conceived as a chaotic place, where the human being creates
order by means of the well-known categories.582
It is noted by Brooke Noel Moore and Kenneth Buder that the reflections of
philosophers such as Aristotle and others, provided some of the theoretical foundations
of contemporary epistemology, especially, in Christian theology.583 If their observation is
true, then my argument is that theories of human capital formation and human resource
development that view human beings primarily as means rather than as ends584 with
respect to development, may have had some philosophical underpinnings. I further
contend that such theories of human capital formation (or human resource development)
capture only one side of human development, not its whole. This is because human
beings are perceived to be more than capital goods for commodity production. They are
also the ultimate ends and beneficiaries of the development process.585 The UNDP
Human Development Report 2016 seems to corroborate the views of philosophers with
respect to their position on the human orientation or person-centeredness of
development:
Human development is about acquiring more capabilities and enjoying more
opportunities to use those capabilities. With more capabilities and opportunities,
people have more choices, and expanding choices is at the core of the human
development approach. But human development is also a process. Anchored in
human rights, it is linked to human security. And its ultimate objective is to
enlarge human freedoms. Human development is development of the people
through the building of human resources, for the people through the translation
of development benefits in their lives and by the people through active
participation in the processes that influence and shape their lives. Income is a
means to human development but not an end in itself.586
582 Gutiѐrrez , ‘Toward a Theology of Liberation’, p. 67.
583 Moore and Bruder, Philosophy, p. 32.
584 United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Human Development Report 1990, p.11.
585 United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Human Development Report 1990, p.11.
586 United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Human Development Report 2016. p.25.
188
The quest for people-centered development through a conscious and deliberate
marshaling of all resources at all levels of existence – local, national and global – can
thus be hardly disputed.
5.3 Some economic development ideologies
For a long time development has been the elusive concern of many countries in the
world including Ghana.587 Governments have pursued various paradigms or ideologies588
as the theoretical frameworks within which their human development policies and
programmes were fashioned out.589 Kwadwo Asenso- Okyere, for instance, points out
that ‘… the world has been polarized between two major development ideologies. The
ideologies are socialism and capitalism.’590 Each ideology primarily aims at promoting
growth and improving the livelihood of its citizens.
5.3.1 Socialist Economic Ideology
Socialism or Command Economy is a developmental ideology geared towards
equity and the sharing of the wealth of the society.591 Economists such as Philip
Hardwick, Bahadur Khan and John Langmead maintain that in a Command Economy,
resources are allocated by a central planning authority and key industries and resources
were owned and controlled by the state. Under this system, the public sector is the main
587 Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere, Wealth Accumulation, Utilization and Retention (Accra, Ghana: Ghana
Universities Press, 2001), pp. 1-8.
588 Wane G. Bragg, ‘From Development to Transformation’ in Vinay Samuel and Chris Sugden (eds), The
Church in Response to Human Needs (Oxford, U.K: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1987),
pp. 20-47. See also United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Human Development Report 1990, pp.
9-16.
589 For a scholarly discussion on theoretical models as the basis of applied disciplines, see Richard A.
Swanson, ‘Theory Framework for Applied Disciplines: Boundaries, Contributing, Core, Useful, Novel and
Irrelevant Components.’ Available at www.richardswanson.com/pdf files/swanson,R.A(2007) [Accessed 5
April 2012].
590Asenso-Okyere, Wealth Accumulation, Utilization and Retention, p. 1.
591 Asenso-Okyere, Wealth Accumulation, Utilization and Retention, p. 1.
189
arbitrator of the access to society’s resources.592 What it means is that in a Socialist or
Command Economy the central economic questions of ‘what to produce’, ‘how much to
produce’, ‘when to produce’ and ‘for whom to produce goods and services’ – that is,
means of actualizing human development - are all addressed by the government through
a central planning authority. The economies of such countries as China, Sweden,
Canada, Great Britain and recently, France and Greece, according to Stephen L. Slavin,
have been described as socialist.593 In general, these economies have three major
characteristics: government ownership of some of the means of production594; a
substantial degree of government planning; and a large-scale redistribution of income
from the wealthy and the well-to-do to the middle class and the poor.595 The welfare of
the poor, the vulnerable and the deprived is presumed to be enhanced in a socialist
economy.
5.3.2 Capitalist Economic Ideology
‘Under Capitalism’, according to Asenso-Okyere, ‘productive resources are owned
by individuals and firms. These individuals and firms are looked up to as the engine of
growth in the economy with government playing a facilitating role. The standard of
living of individuals depends upon their initial endowments and their productive
capacity.’596 Property laws give the owners of resources the right to make decisions
concerning access to these resources and to determine the purpose for and the manner in
which they are to be used. In a capitalist development ideology, the basic questions of
‘what to produce’, ‘how much to produce’, ‘when to produce’ and ‘for whom to produce
592 Philip Hardwick, Bahadur Khan and John Langmead, An Introduction to Modern Economics (England:
Addison Wesley Longman Limited, 1994), p.4.
593 Stephen L. Slavin, Economics (New York: McGraw Hill/Irwin, 2005), p. 85.
594 Means of production refers to the factors used to produce goods and services. These factors include
land, labour, capital, entrepreneurship and technology.
595 Slavin, Economics, p.85.
596 Asenso-Okyere, Wealth Accumulation, Utilization and Retention, p. 1.
190
goods and services’ are handled by the invisible hand called the profit motive 597 or price
mechanism.598 The United States of America, Japan and those countries where the
majority of firms and other resources are privately owned and controlled are, to a large
extent, capitalist economies. Owing to the dominance of the private sector in capitalist
economies, the reality of human development, depend, to a large extent, on the resources
individuals own and the preparedness of those wealthy individuals (resource owners) to
engage the resources in the production of goods and services. As the owners of
productive resources produce goods and services, employment and income levels
increase. Given a stable socio-political and macro-economic indicators599 in such
economies, workers’ standard of living increased, and hence improvement in their
material conditions.
5.3.3 Mixed-Economic Ideology
What Assenso-Okyere loses sight of in his presentation of the world’s development
paradigms is the fact that some countries have pursued a mixed-economic policy. Mixed-
economy is a developmental ideology or economic system which integrates the features
of both socialism and capitalism. I am aware that Ghana is an example of a mixed
economy. Yuri Smertin’s observation justifies the claim of Ghana’s ideological identity
as a mixed-economy. Smertin points out that when Ghana attained independence in
1957, the leaders set about to determine the country’s path of development through
socio-economic reform and the adoption of effective theoretical foundation. There were
597 The concept of The Invisible Hand was coined by Adam Smith, Scottish professor of philosophy. For
further reading on this concept, see Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, Book IV (London: Methuen, 1950),
pp. 477-78.
598 Price mechanism simply refers to the interaction of the forces of demand and supply to determine the
prices of goods and services in a Capitalist or Free Market Economy. Profit motive and price mechanism
are used interchangeably.
599 These socio-political and macro-economic indicators included political stability, respect for
fundamental human rights of people, low level of urbanization, low level of inflation, low level of interest
rate, etc.
191
two main development paradigms at that time, but Kwame Nkrumah, the first president
of the Republic of Ghana, supposed that Africa, and for that matter Ghana, did not need
to choose between them. Rather, it had to search for a system of its own which would
make use of ‘the best that capitalism and socialism had to offer’.600 As a mixed economy,
the resources in the country are not owned and controlled only by the government;
individuals and private firms also own and control some of the resources. The
implication is that the basic questions of ‘what to produce’, ‘how much to produce’,
‘when to produce’ and ‘for whom to produce goods and services’ are addressed by the
government, individuals and private firms.
The above developmental ideologies are believed to have significantly shaped the
designing and implementation of human development policies and programmes of most
countries in the world, including Ghana. Asenso-Okyere maintains that Ghana has had
an interesting human development strategy from the pre-independence period to the
present time.601 The pre-independence Ghana was, among other things, characterized by
the launch of various development plans aimed at accelerating the rapid socio-economic
development of the country. The objective of these development plans, according to
Joseph Kimos Adjei, was to improve the living standards of the population, especially,
those living in the rural communities.602 Notable among these pre-independence plans
was the 10-year development plan of Governor Guggisberg, from 1920-1930, which had
as its main focus the development of the infrastructural base of the country.603 In the year
1951, the then government of Gold Coast (now Ghana) launched the 10-year Accelerated
600 Yuri Smertin, Kwame Nkrumah (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1987), pp. 120&121
601 Asenso-Okyere, Wealth Accumulation, Utilization and Retention, p. 2.
602 Adjei, Microfinance and Poverty Reduction, p. 7.
603 Adjei, Microfinance and Poverty Reduction, p. 7.
192
Development Plan with the view to accelerating the socio-economic development of the
country.604
When Ghana attained independence in the year 1957, the Convention People’s
Party (CPP), led by Ͻsaagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, launched the 7-year Development
Plan (1961-1968) which emphasized industrialization, among others. Another notable
post-independence program for development was the 5-year Development Plan (1975-
1980).605 All these plans sought to fast-track the development of the infrastructural base
which was believed to be one of the indicators of human development in the country.
Despite these development programmes, the economy of Ghana did not register much
improvement. This was partly due to political instability which thwarted the politicians’
efforts at implementing the programmes over their life cycle.606 One of the effects of the
political instability at that time was that Ghana was plunged into a quagmire of poverty,
especially, in the 1970s and early 1980s.
It was against this backdrop that post-independence development programmes
were launched with the aim of overcoming the problem of high incidence of poverty in
Ghana. These programmes include the Economic Recovery Program (ERP), Programme
of Actions to Mitigate the Social Costs of Adjustment (PAMSCAD) and Ghana Vision
2020.607 This implies that for a very long time, the idea of development has been
understood and pursued in socio-economic terms and their attendant technological and
infrastructural improvement. Consequently, improvement in the material conditions of
life, through improvement in economic infrastructure and increase in annual per capita
604 Adjei, Microfinance and Poverty Reduction, p. 7.
605 Adjei, Microfinance and Poverty Reduction, p. 8.
606 Adjei, Microfinance and Poverty Reduction, p. 8.
607 Asenso-Okyere, Wealth Accumulation, Utilization and Retention, p. 3. See also Adjei, Microfinance
and Poverty Reduction, pp. 8-10
193
income were considered to be the main indicators of development.608Development,
understood this way, has become synonymous to economic growth. Highlighting the
negative connotation the term development has assumed when understood economically,
Paul K. Bekye notes that:
[Development] sprang into use in opposition to the term under-development,
which expressed the condition and the anguish of poor countries compared with
rich ones. Hence the term for a long time was seen from a purely economic point
of view and was synonymous to economic growth. In a contrasting manner,
nations with growing economies were considered ‘developed’, as against nations
with economies that tended to stagnate; these were underdeveloped countries.609
In the light of the above economic understanding of development, solutions to the
problems of Africa and Ghana in particular were conceived in purely economic terms.
Bekye further articulates that:
This approach to development was no doubt at the center of the neo-liberal
economists’ endeavor to transfer the ‘economic miracle’ of North America to
under-developed countries, particularly Africa, in decades following the war.
The obstinate conviction was that the factors which had produced economic
growth in the already developed world, constituted an adequate model for
economic development in under-developed nations. The assumption was that the
various economic factors for instance abundant raw materials etc., were already
present in the underdeveloped countries. What was needed then was to add or
pump in a bit more capital, encourage or provide technological innovations,
improve the training of the labor, and economic growth and development were
automatic outcomes. The economic approach to development has been by far the
most widespread and most enduring.610
The core of Bekye’s argument is that the pursuit of development from purely
economic perspective is a western construct with little relevance to the existential
realities of Ghana. Therefore, it cannot be exclusively replicated in Ghanaian context
without reasonable modification and thoughtful reflections. Bekye appears to corroborate
Tom Sine’s view on the western orientation of the concept of development. In Sine’s
opinion,
Western development is a child of the European and American Enlightenment. It
is based on the implicit belief that human society is inevitably progressing
608 Dovlo, ‘Religious Bodies, Subsidiarity and Development in Ghana’, p. 65.
609 Paul K. Bekye, Peasant Development: The Case of Northern Ghana (Leuven: acco, 1998), p.28.
610 Bekye, Peasant Development, p.29.
194
toward the attainment of a temporal, materialistic kingdom. In fact, the certain
belief that unending economic and social progress is a natural condition of free
persons has become the secular religion of the west. Somehow, the millennial
expectation of the in breaking of a new transcendent kingdom was temporalized
and secularized into the expectation of a future of unlimited economic and
technological growth. … Implicit in this progressive view of the future was the
firm conviction that economic progress would automatically result in social and
moral progress. This view of the better future is primarily economic, focusing
largely on human activities of production and consumption. The “good life”
became synonymous with self-seeking and the ability to produce and consume
ever-increasing quantities of goods and services. 611
Ghana’s development programmes from the pre-independence period to the present time
have been designed along western or secular ideology development. As a result of that,
the pre and post-independence socio-economic interventions which were intended to
improve the standard of living of Ghanaians did not fully realize the anticipated
objectives. For instance, it is claimed that whereas some Ghanaians must have
immensely benefitted from these interventions, paradoxically, such interventions
increased the poverty of a majority of citizens and worsened their plight.612Key aspects
of development in Ghana such as the quest for ecological balance or environmental
sanitation consciousness,613 harmonization of faith-based organizations and holistic well-
being of Ghanaians appear either peripherally pursued or conspicuously overlooked by
the country’s western orientation of socio-economic interventions. The implication is
that the western ideology of development understood purely in socio-economic terms is a
mixed-blessing in Ghana. It is a clear reflection of Thierry Verhelst’s opinion that there
are those for whom development means the inevitable Westernization and
611 Tom Sine, ‘Development: Its Secular Past and Its Uncertain Future’ in Vinay Samuel and Chris Sugden
(eds) The Church in Response to Human Need (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 1987), pp. 2-3.
612 Dovlo, ‘Religious Bodies, Subsidiarity and Development in Ghana’, p. 66.
613Environmental sanitation consciousness in this context refers to peoples’ efforts to ensure clean and
healthier sourroundings
195
standardization of human existence.614 In fact, Abraham Akrong frowns upon this as
follows:
This triumphalist western idea found in both capitalist and socialist ideologies
cannot be an obligatory model for the whole world and, therefore, it will be an
error to identify [development] with westernization. Indeed, there are alternative
forms of development, which various people from their own cultural contexts
can develop to free themselves from destitution, because the autonomous human
spirit that thrives to create conditions for the good life is the same spirit that
continues to resist acculturation in the name of development. The acculturation
that identifies [development] with westernization occurs on these levels –
external controls and dependency, borrowed institutional structures and worship
of foreign values. Where these variables are present, development results in
dependency and loss of identity.615
John G. Sommer therefore rightly contends that ‘the measuring of development
on the materialistic basis of per capita gross national product is inadequate and often
misleading.’616 He thus advocates a rethinking of the definition of development to
include the spiritual, cultural and economic dimensions of people. By this argument,
Sommer articulates the inclusion of religion if the equation of development is to be
complete. Sommer’s contention suggests the need for a holistic development paradigm
which is aptly defined and informed in the context of religion.617
5.4 The Indispensability of Religion in Development Discourse: A Paradigmatic
Shift in Development Models
The understanding of development in only socio-economic terms has been found
to be an inadequate yardstick of determining human well-being because it excludes other
vital components such as the spiritual and cultural dimensions.618 This limitation has
614 Thierry Verhelst, No Life Without Roots (New Jersey: Zed Books Ltd., 1987), p. 56.
615 Abraham Akrong, ‘African Traditional Religion and Development: Clash of two Worlds of Discourse
and Values’, Trinity Journal of Church and Theology XVIII (2003), p.36.
616 John G. Sommer, Beyond Charity: U.S. Voluntary Aid for a Changing Third World (Washington, D. C.:
Overseas Development Council, 1977), p.3.
617 Molefe Tsele, ‘The Role of the Christian Faith in Development’ in Deryke Belshaw, Robert Calderisi
and Chris Sugden (eds) Faith in Development: Partnership Between the World Bank and the Churches of
Africa (Oxford, U.K.: Regnum Books International, 2001), p. 205.
618 Sommer, Beyond Charity, p.3.
196
necessitated the need for a comprehensive development ideology which does not deal
only with the socio-economic aspects of life, but also spiritual aspects as well. This
suggests the need for a paradigmatic shift in models of development from their purely
western / secular economic orientations to a more humane approach which advocates a
holistic emphasis of development. The humane approach affects the totality of man’s
existence: social, economic, political, cultural, spiritual, moral, etc.619It is, thus the
approach to development which is driven by the need to achieve significant impact on
the overall quality of life of the people. John Pobee has noted that ‘economics is about
life and not only about money and wealth. It is therefore stressed that economics must
enter on how life can be sustained and made to flourish.’620
The humane approach to development is grounded and defined in the context of
religion. The humane approach to development also referred to in this study as the
religious or faith-based approach to development, interrogates the purely western or
secular economic orientation of development which grossly relegates religious
phenomena to the background.621 The faith-based approach underscores Gerrie ter Haar’s
position on the indispensability of people’s religious or spiritual resources in
contemporary development discourse.622 It is anchored on the premise that without
religion and its related religious phenomena as its base, development is bound to be
reduced to an appendage of capitalist ideology and, therefore, would not offer much to
the poor in Africa and Ghana in particular.623
619 Dovlo, ‘Religious Bodies, Subsidiarity and Development in Ghana’, p. 66.
620 Cited in Dovlo, ‘Religious Bodies, Subsidiarity and Development in Ghana’, p.66. (Emphasis original).
Pobee’s view underscores the fluidity and broad nature of ‘Economics’ as a discipline.
621 Sine, ‘Development: Its Secular Past and Its Uncertain Future’, pp.8-9.
622 Gerrie ter Haar, ‘Religion and Development: Introducing a New Debate’ in Gerrie ter Haar (ed.)
Religion and Development: Ways of Transforming the World (London, United Kingdom: C. Hurst & Co.
(Publishers) Ltd., 2011), p. 8.
623 Tsele, ‘The Role of the Christian Faith in Development’, p. 205.
197
One of the stark realities of post-independent Ghana is the perception that
governments have failed to deliver on their promises of development.624 The
disappointing experience with development has prompted the quest for alternative views
of development which rely less on state institutions and more on the creativity and
resourcefulness of private non-governmental and faith-based organizations. Part of this
self-reliance has been an intellectual and productive engagement with religious
organizations to promote development in Ghana.625 This engagement has introduced
religion into the discourse of development as an essential concept for the modernization
of socio-economic and political institutions for development. This comes from the
realization that development discourse that includes religion tends to produce
progressive outcome, which is usually consistent with human values.626
A religiously pluralistic country such as Ghana does not lack religious resources
as some of the essential variables in her equation of development. That Ghana is a
religiously pluralistic country is attested to by the preliminary figures from 2000
Housing and Population Census conducted by Ghana Statistical Service. The Housing
and Population Census has revealed that Christianity, Islam and Traditional Religion are
the major faiths practised in Ghana with the following representation: Christianity
(69.0%), Islam (15.6%) and Traditional Religion (8.5%).627 There are also some New
Religious Movements (NRMs) in Ghana. Elom Dovlo’s classification of such NRMs is
revealing: New African Traditional Religious Movements (NATRMs), Oriental New
Religious Movements (ONRMs), New Religious Movements from the African Diaspora
624Akrong, ‘African Traditional Religion and Development’, p.36. See also Paul Gifford, Ghana’s New
Christianity: Pentecostalism in a Globalising African Economy (London, United Kingdom: C. Hurst & Co.
(Publishers) Ltd., 2004), pp.1-19., Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism, pp. 20 – 23.
625 Akrong, ‘African Traditional Religion and Development’, p. 36.
626 Akrong, ‘African Traditional Religion and Development’, p. 36.
627 From ‘Selected Social Characteristics of Population by Religion’, preliminary figures from the 2000
Housing and Population Census conducted by Ghana Statistical Service. See also Omenyo, Pentecost
Outside Pentecostalism, p. 25.
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(NRMAD), Islamic New Religious Movements (INRMs) and Christian New Religious
Movements (CNRMs).628 These religious bodies and their related religious traditions are
indispensable agents or partners with governments to promote Ghana’s development.629
Assimeng brilliantly articulates the social function and indispensability of
religion in society, and of course, in development debates. In his thinking,
The main sociological crunch for which religion is of profound interest to the
student of society is thus that although religious activities relate to unseen forces,
these activities take place in this seeing and feeling world. Religious beliefs, as
of any other form of belief in a society, have direct and indirect influence on
individuals and social groups, and on their disposition to enter into commerce
with others in the wider society. Religious beliefs influence social action,
determine social interaction and social distance, and can never be completely
divorced from other forms of social activities, especially those activities that deal
with the social and economic order.630
The indispensability of religion is thus understood in its universality in human
society, its role in the historical development of civilizations, its resilience and
adaptation to different and changing cultural forces and the moral, socializing and
integrative role of religion in individual and social life as a whole.631
Despite the obvious relevance of religion in development discourse, scholars
posit that ‘religion, until very recently, has been ignored in the development equation.’632
Theories of development in Africa have not paid much attention to the central role of
religion although in traditional thought, politics, economics, and religion are so
inextricably interwoven that political conflicts often have obvious and very strong
religious dimensions.633 Within the various theoretical schools of development, religion
and its related phenomena were considered as expressions of anachronistic and
dysfunctional traditions in culturally stagnated and static communities. These anti-
628 Elom Dovlo, ‘The Church in Africa and Religious Pluralism’ Exchange, 27 (1998), p. 53.
629 Dovlo, ‘Religious Bodies, Subsidiarity and Development in Ghana’, pp. 68 - 70.
630 Assimeng, Religion and Social Change in West Africa, p. 14.
631 Assimeng, Religion and Social Change in West Africa, p. 16.
632 Akrong, ‘African Traditional Religion and Development’, p.37. See also Gabriel Andreescu,
‘International Relation and Orthodoxy in Eastern Europe’, International Studies 4(1998), pp.35-47.
633Akrong, ‘African Traditional Religion and Development’, p.37.
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religion theoretical schools of development predicted that religion and its related
phenomena would vanish as the development of national societies on the basis of modern
economy, rationality and western science accelerate. Religious groups were regarded as
less evolved alternatives to politics for ‘traditional’ or ‘indigenous’ people who are
literally waiting to be secularized, as they become more modern. In that sense,
development or political transformation was conceptualized as a shift from tradition to
modernity.634 The indispensability of religion in contemporary development discourse, in
my opinion, is an interrogation of the previously-held notion of the inverse correlation
between religion and development, as was loudly espoused in various theoretical schools
of development. Abamfo Ofori Atiemo succinctly points out that the surprising
resurgence of religion and its related religious phenomena in local and international
affairs in the 21st Century has challenged the validity of such conclusions made by major
proponents of secularization thesis.635
It is in the light of the indispensability and renewed visibility of religion in
development discourse that I attempt to discuss the religious phenomenon of PMs in
contemporary Ghanaian development debate. As I have already indicated, I am focusing
on the extent to which pilgrims’ belief in the sacredness of PMs contributes to the quest
for Christian eco-theological discourse in Ghana; the appropriation of PMs as sacred
spaces and how that promotes ecumenical / interdenominational networking in Ghana
and how the activities surrounding PMs in Ghana enhance pilgrims’ economic
wellbeing.
634 ‘African Traditional Religion and Development’, p.37.
635 Abamfo O. Atiemo, ‘International Human Rights, Religious Pluralism and the Future of Chieftaincy in
Ghana’, Exchange, 35 (2006), p. 365. For details on ‘Secularization thesis’, see Linda Woodhead and
David G. Robertson, ‘The Secularisation Thesis’ The Religious Studies Project (Podcast Transcript).
Available at: http://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/podcast/podcast-linda-woodhead-on-the-
secularisation-thesis/ [Accessed 2 March 2018].
200
5.5 The Extent to which Pilgrims’ Belief in the Sacredness of Prayer Mountains
Contributes to the Quest for Christian Eco-theological Discourse in Ghana
The efforts of Thorley and Gunn to unpack the meaning of sacred are important
in my attempt to examine pilgrims’ perception about the sacredness of PMs and the
extent to which their belief in the sacredness of the sites contributes to the quest for
Christian eco-theological discourse in Ghana. Thorley and Gunn variously refer to sacred
as that which is set apart to or for some religious purpose or that which is dedicated /
consecrated to a deity. They further maintain that sacred connotes that which is accursed,
execrable, horrible, infamous or devoted to a divinity for destruction.636 The implication
is that sacred underscores a powerful force for injury and destruction, as well as the idea
of simply being exceptionally regarded or revered. Thus although sacred may be
conceptualized as a relatively simple word in terms of its contemporary usage, it is
actually a complex word shouldering a fascinating blend of meanings.
Prayer Mountains as sacred places, therefore, may be understood as awe-
inspiring sites where pilgrims’ possible encounter with the transcendental realm is almost
akin to their experience of supernatural potency in terms of divine interventions and
complexity or danger.637 Almost all the pilgrims who appropriate APM and NMOPC
regard these sites as places of sanctity. This is because as sacred mountains, they have
well-established networks of myths, beliefs and religious practices such as meditation,
sacrifice, worship, prayer / fasting and miracles.
The question that engages my attention in this section of the study, however, is:
to what extent do pilgrims’ belief in the sacredness of PMs contributes to the quest for
Christian eco-theological discourse in Ghana? I attempt to answer this question by
briefly explaining Christian eco-theological discourse and by examining some of the
636Thorley and Gunn, Sacred Sites, p. 22.
637 Anttonen, ‘Sacred’, p. 272
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modern growing awareness of ecological crisis that appear to warrant the intervention of
stakeholders such as faith-based organizations. I then contend that the prevalence of
environmental sanitation consciousness at the PMs, owing largely to pilgrims’ perception
of their encounter with the transcendental realms, seems to be a novel theological
paradigm for containing the escalating and developmental issue of environmental
filthiness or crisis in Ghana.
5.5.1 Christian eco-theological discourse briefly explained
Pilgrims’ perception of the sacredness of PMs may have implications for the
quest for Christian eco-theological discourse in Ghana. Christian eco-theological
discourse refers to a form of constructive theology that focuses on the interrelationships
of Christianity and nature, particularly in the light of environmental concerns.638 Eco-
theology generally begins from the premise that a relationship exists between human’s
religious or spiritual worldviews and the degradation of nature.639 It explores the
interaction between ecological values, such as sustainability, and the Christian’s
dominion mandate (Genesis 1:28).640
Christian eco-theology draws on the writings of such authors as Jesuit priest and
paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, process theologian Alfred North Whitehead,
and is well represented in Protestantism by John Cobb, Jr. and Jürgen Moltmann and
eco-feminist theologians Rosemary Radford Ruether, Catherine Keller and Sallie
McFague.641
The relationship of theology to the modern ecological crisis became an intense
issue of debate in Western academia in 1967, following the publication of the article,
638 www.unitingearthweb.org.au/about-us/1-what-is-ecotheology.html [Accessed 25 July 2016].
639 www.unitingearthweb.org.au/about-us/1-what-is-ecotheology.html
640 www.unitingearthweb.org.au/about-us/1-what-is-ecotheology.html
641 www.unitingearthweb.org.au/about-us/1-what-is-ecotheology.html
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‘The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis,’ by Lynn White, Jr., Professor of History
at the University of California at Los Angeles. In this work, White postulates a theory
that the Christian model of dominion mandate, understood as human’s dominion over
nature, has led to environmental devastation.642 White implies that Christianity has often
been viewed as the source of negative values towards the environment. In 1973,
theologian Jack Rogers published an article in which he surveyed the published works of
approximately twelve theologians which had appeared since White's article. They
reflected the quest for ‘an appropriate theological model’ which adequately assesses the
biblical data regarding [Christians’ relationship with God and its implications on
nature].643
The contemporary burgeoning awareness of environmental crisis that seems to
have necessitated the quest for active intervention by stakeholders, including faith-based
organizations, has been amply raised by several scholars.644 Roger S. Gottlieb, for
instance, has summarized his view of the modern global ecological crisis as follows:
Global climate change has already damaged, and will damage at an
increasing rate, agriculture, wild lands and animals; raise the ocean level
and precipitate more intense storms and worse droughts; expand the range
of tropical insects and diseases and kill coral; and in all likelihood have
effects that we cannot foresee. A staggering accumulation of chemical,
heavy metal, biological, and nuclear wastes is found in every region, no
matter how remote, and leads to a plague of environmentally caused
diseases – most obviously the dramatic increase in cancer, immune-
system problems and birth defects. From overuse of chemical agriculture
and the destruction of forests, loss of topsoil threatens the production of
food throughout the developing nations and leads to erosion and
desertification everywhere. Massive erosion can also destroy ecosystem
balance in rivers and coastal fishing areas. In what some call a crisis of
biodiversity, the decimation of habitats through the expanding human
642 Lynn White Jr. ‘The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis’, Science, New Series, Vol. 155, No.
3767 (1967), pp. 1203-1207. Available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/1720120. [Accessed 5 August
2009].
643 www.unitingearthweb.org.au/about-us/1-what-is-ecotheology.html
644 Celia Deane-Drummond and Heinrich Bedford-Strohm (eds.) Religion and Ecology in the Public
Sphere (New York: T&T Clark International, 2011). See also Harry & Sophia Awortwi, Mind Your
Environment: It Is Your Life Support (Accra, Ghana: New Image Foundation, 2010); Roger S. Gottlieb
(ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).
203
settlements, logging, mining, agriculture, and pollution and the killing of
animals for sport, use, or food have raised rates of extinction to the
highest they have been for sixty-million years. Potential medicines vanish,
ecosystem are destabilized, water supplies threatened, and irreplaceable
natural beauties are lost forever. As we witness the harm we are doing we
also lose ethical confidence in humanity’s own worth. Loss of wilderness
is seen in the increasing rarity of ecosystems that are free to develop
without human interference or intrusion. Besides the dwindling of
biodiversity that this entails, human beings face a paradoxical loneliness.
People are everywhere; yet we are haunted by a deep loneliness for those
natural others who have been our companions for biological ages. …
Unsustainable patterns and quantities of consumption deplete natural
resources and contribute to global warming and accumulation of waste. In
the underdeveloped world, overpopulation relative to existing
technological resources and political organization decimates the
landscape. Genetic engineering menaces us with the dismal prospects of
engineered life-forms and the potentially catastrophic invention of
insufficiently tested organisms. Given our track record with nuclear waste
and toxic chemicals and our political and economic elites’ pronounced
tendency to short sightedness and greed, it seems highly doubtful that we
are ready to create new life-forms in a cautious and sensible way.645
Given the diverse nature of environmental issues, Kerby Anderson suggests the
need for a framework to discuss the extent of these problems.646 Calvin DeWitt’s
framework of seven degradations of the creation, apparently corroborated by Gottlieb,
provides a brief but insightful survey of the extent of environmental problems facing
humankind. His seven degradations are as follows: land conversion and habitat
destruction; species extinction; land degradation; resource conversion and waste and
hazard production; global toxification; alteration of planetary exchange; human and
cultural degradation.647 This scope and framework of contemporary global ecological
crisis implies that ‘nature – however it was thought of before this time – has been
transformed into something new: the environment, that is a nonhuman world whose life
645 Roger S. Gottlieb (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2006), pp. 4-5 (Emphases original).
646 Kerby Anderson, Christian Ethics in Plain Language (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.,
2005), p. 181.
647 Calvin DeWitt, ‘Seven Degradations of Creation’, in Calvin DeWitt (ed.), The Environment and the
Christian (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1991), pp. 15-22. See also Anderson, Christian Ethics in Plain Language,
pp. 181-183.
204
and death, current shape and future prospects, are in large measure determined by human
beings’648, including their religious institutions.
5.5.2 A brief survey of ecological / environmental filthiness in Ghana
The survey of ecological crisis by DeWitt and Gottlieb appears to provide a
broader context within which Ghana’s modern environmental crisis, specifically
insanitary conditions, can be briefly examined and articulated. In Ghana, ‘It is estimated
that more than 20,000 tonnes of waste is generated … daily, with Accra [the capital city]
alone accounting for 3,000 tonnes. The waste, which comes in solid, liquid, electronic
and plastic forms, does not only destroy the land but also end up in water bodies, leading
to a reduction in fish stock in those water bodies.’649 In addition to the pollution of land
and water, the issue of environmental crisis in Ghana, in the opinion of Harry and Sophia
Awortwi, also entails land degradation and wanton depletion of forest resources through
activities such as illegal mining, logging and bush fires.650 These activities aggravate the
already nasty and insanitary conditions in the country which undoubtedly culminate in
outbreak of diseases such as malaria, bilharzia, onchocerciasis (river blindness),
dysentry, cholera and typhoid.651
The above disturbing environmental or ecological crisis in Ghana coupled with
its attendant catastrophic health consequences warrant the intervention of stakeholders
such as faith-based organizations. My general position on this matter is that the issue of
environmental crisis in Ghana, like all other developmental issues, cannot be adequately
managed without recourse to religion. This is because of the common positions of
648 Gottlieb (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology, p. 5 (Emphasis original).
649 Nana Dei, ‘Sanitation Problem can be solved with attitudinal change’, Daily Graphic, 12 March, 2018,
p. 16.
650 Harry & Sophia Awortwi, Mind Your Environment: It Is Your Life Support (Ghana: New Image
Foundation, 2010), pp. 109-184.
651 Harry & Sophia Awortwi, Mind Your Environment, pp. 93-104.
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scholars such as Ben-Willie Kwaku Golo, Matthew Clark and Gottlieb on the
indispensability of religion in society, as far as the management of environmental crisis
is concerned. Golo brilliantly articulates the interplay of faith-based organisations,
specifically Christianity, Islam and indigenous African religion, as indispensable agents
of environmental sanitation in Ghana. In his abstract to the paper, he indicates, among
others, that ‘Contemporary resurgences of religious environmentalism are reflections of
the sense of urgent need to re-orientate humankind’s relations with the created order,
based on a basic common denominator in the teachings and affirmations delivered in a
range of religious doctrines. One of the unifying hubs of different religious traditions in
Ghana is their common mandates for the mitigation of further environmental
problems.652
In Clark’s observation, not only does eighty percent of the world’s population
claim to profess religious faith, but also religious belief is generally pervasive, profound,
persuasive and persistent in influencing social behaviour.653 In Gottlieb’s view, ‘religion
remains the arbiter and repository of life’s deepest moral values. … More broadly we
might say that it is part of the essential role of religion in social life to serve as a realm in
which the pursuit of power, pleasure and wealth is suspended in favour of attention to
and conformity with humanity’s “ultimate concern”. Religion [thus] prompts us to
pursue the most long-lasting and authentic values’654 which, in my view, include
environmental sanitation or environmental preservation.
652 Ben-Willie Kwaku Golo, ‘Tending Creation Together: Religious Environmentalism as a Matrix for
National Cohesion and Unity in Ghana’, in Helen Lauer, Nana Aba Appiah Amfo and Joanna Boampong
(eds.), The One in the Many: Nation Building through Cultural Diversity (Legon-Accra: Sub-Saharan
Publishers, 2013), pp. 201-223 (201) (Emphasis original).
653 Matthew Clark, Development and Religion – Theology and Practice (Cheltenham, U.K.: Edward Elgar
Publishing, 2015), p. 5.
654 Gottlieb (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology, pp.12-13.
206
Specifically, I posit that to some extent, Christian pilgrims’ belief in the
sacredness of PMs contributes to the quest for Christian eco-theological discourse in
Ghana. Considering the relatively huge number of Ghanaian Christian pilgrims who
patronise the PMs,655 I argue that the prevalence of environmental sanitation
consciousness at the PMs owing to the pilgrims’ perception of their encounter with God
or the Ultimate Reality, may possibly be a groundbreaking theological paradigm for
containing the mounting developmental issue of environmental crisis or filthiness in
Ghana. This position immediately alludes to the possibility of transporting or replicating
the notion of pilgrims’ sanitation consciousness from the sacred sites to the larger
Ghanaian public space where environmental filthiness commonly prevails. Before I
attempt a discussion of the possibility of replicating the pilgrims’ sanitation
consciousness from sacred sites to the larger Ghanaian context, I examine the pilgrims’
perception of the sacredness of PMs and how that perception is believed to enhance their
environmental sanitation consciousness at the sacred sites.
5.5.3 The interface between pilgrims’ perception of the sacredness of Prayer
Mountains and the heightening of their environmental sanitation consciousness
During pilgrimage, the pilgrims’ perception of the supernatural orientation of the
PMs appears to significantly influence their interactions even with the physical
environment. Some of the pilgrims believe that objects such as trees, leaves, sand,
stones, water, etc., found on the PMs are not mere objects without the potency to mediate
spiritual benefits or results. They consider these objects as aids to prayer or prayer
accessories which facilitate their interaction with the transcendental realms. The
pilgrims’ reverential attitude towards some physical objects on the PMs seems to be
655 More than ten thousand pilgrims patronise the Prayer Mountains a year. For details, see Okyere,
‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, p. 106.
207
aspects of sacramental theology which, in the opinion of Douglas Davies, is closely
related to the doctrine of the incarnation. Davies writes:
[The] process of God entering into humanity in the individual man, Jesus of
Nazareth, is spoken of in theology as the doctrine of the incarnation. It is a
doctrine closely associated in Christian belief with what is often called
sacramental theology, emphasising how ordinary aspects of life can be endowed
with religious significance. This refers not only to official church sacraments
using wine, bread, or water as in the eucharist or baptism, but to many other
aspects of life, and in one sense it embraces the very matter of the universe itself.
In this incarnational-sacramental theology, God employs natural phenomena as
vehicles for religious truth. For Christians committed to this view of the
universe, attitudes to nature are grounded in a world of divine value and
significance.656
It is therefore no wonder that as sacred spaces, stringent rules and programmes
of sanitation permeate the activities of all the PMs under study in this work. On the PMs,
littering, spitting, urinating and defecating in the open spaces are deemed serious
infractions by the culprits. All pilgrims are obliged to fully and actively participate in the
regular clean up exercises. These include weeding, sweeping, scrubbing and proper
disposal of refuse. Waste disposal bins are placed at vantage points to augment
cleanliness and the creation of environmental sanitation consciousness among the
pilgrims. Availability of lavatory facilities for males and females as well as designated
places for refuse dumping are undoubtedly some of the measures to augment sanitation
activities on the PMs.
The rules and programmes of sanitation on the PMs are not novel. Rather, they
are reflections and appropriations of biblical antecedents of cleanliness at military
camps. In Deuteronomy 23:9-14, for instance, the instructions on environmental
sanitation at the military camp were unambiguously articulated:
When you go forth against your enemies and are in camp, then you shall keep
yourself from every evil thing. If there is among you any man who is not clean
by reason of what chances to him by night, then he shall go outside the camp, he
shall not come within the camp; but when evening comes on, he shall bathe
himself in water, and when the sun is down, he may come within the camp. You
656 Davies, ‘Christianity,’ p.40.
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shall have a place outside the camp and you shall go out to it; and you shall have
a stick with your weapons; and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole
with it, and turn back and cover up your excrement. Because the LORD your
God walks in the midst of your camp, to save you and to give up your enemies
before you, therefore your camp must be holy, that he may not see anything
indecent among you, and turn away from you.657
In their commentary on this text, Luciano C. Chianeque and Samuel Ngewa indicate that
a nocturnal emission at the camp made a man ritually unclean. He was required to
remain outside the camp till evening, when he could wash himself and return to camp.
The legislation also laid down rules relating to hygiene. A specific area outside the camp
ought to be set apart to be used as a toilet and needed to be kept clean by burying
excrement. Such cleanliness was necessary to avoid offending the Lord God who moved
about inside the camp. The camp was to be kept holy in his honor and to prevent him
from leaving. This regulation was perceived to contribute to the health of the campers (or
soldiers) by removing one possible source of infection.658
Thus the notion of the sacredness of PMs or spaces such as APM and NMOPC is
not a mere metaphysical or abstract apprehension. Rather, it appears to be an empirically
verifiable religio-social reality which significantly influences or conditions human
behaviour.659 In that sense, I agree with Geertz in his assertion that ‘The holy [sacred
symbol] bears within it everywhere a sense of intrinsic obligation … [which also]
enforces emotional commitment…. That which is set apart as more than mundane is
inevitably considered to have far-reaching implications for the direction of human
conduct.’660
Notwithstanding my observation about the pilgrims’ consciousness of
environmental sanitation on the PMs, I further observed that the massive influx of
657 The biblical quotation was from the Revised Standard Version.
658 Luciano C. Chianeque and Samuel Ngewa, ‘Deuteronomy’ in Africa Bible Commentary (Nairobi,
Kenya: WordAlive Publishers, 2006), p. 240.
659 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, p. 76.
660 Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, p. 127.
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pilgrims (an average of over twelve thousand pilgrims a year) to the PMs poses several
environmental challenges to the pilgrims and the local people of Abasua and Nkawkaw
communities. These challenges include deforestation, congestion and sanitation
problems. It is worth noting that the two PMs under study are located in thick forest
areas. Deforestation therefore results from the wanton felling of trees from the forest by
the management of the sites or camp owners who embark on building projects such as
accommodation facilities and chapels. Whether those deforesters had the approval of the
traditional authorities or not, my contention is that paradoxically, the upsurge of
development projects on the PMs also means the deterioration of the environment
through deforestation. The debilitating effects of deforestation on climate change in
Ghana and Africa have been scholarly accentuated.661
Another environmental challenge posed by the pilgrimage movements to the PMs
is congestion. During the peak seasons for pilgrimage activities by the MCG and the
PCG, the small Abasua community, for instance, gets choked up with vehicles and
human beings. Vehicular and human traffic and intermittent downfall of pilgrims on the
rugged path to the PMs are almost always unavoidable. Human congestion also
characterises the camps where religious activities take place. Many pilgrims therefore
sleep on the bare rocky floor, while others also resort to makeshift tents. This implies
that the accommodation facilities on the PMs are woefully inadequate to contain all the
pilgrims during the peak seasons for pilgrimage activities. Human congestion is believed
to be one of the causes of infectious respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis, common
cold, influenza, strep throat and pneumonia.662
661 For details on the negative consequences of deforestation on climate change in Ghana and Africa, see
Ebenezer Yaw Blasu, ‘‘Compensated Reduction’ as Motivation of Reducing Deforestation: An African
Christian Response’ Journal of African Christian Thought Vol. 18, No.1 (June 2015), pp. 18-27.
662 For details on these diseases, see Meeks, Heit and Page, Comprehensive School Health Education, pp.
413-417.
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Related to the issue of congestion are sanitation problems. In spite of the
prevalence of clearly spelt-out rules and regulations governing environmental cleanliness
on the PMs, sanitation problems (indiscriminate littering, irresponsible refuse dumping
and unpleasant smell exuded from the lavatories, etc.) were observed and, sometimes,
experienced on the mountains. But information gathered from some of the camp
workers, for example, seemed to counteract my perception of littering and irresponsible
refuse dumping as sanitation-related problems. Evangelist Richard Afriyie, the Overseer
of APM (Camp Three) and Evangelist Gyasi, the Overseer of NMOPC disclosed to me
that the more the PCs become dirty and camp workers endeavour to tidy up the places
through sweeping, scrubbing, weeding, etc., the more blessings they claim to receive.663
This information corroborated what Nana Kwame, a worshipper at APM (Camp
Three) and Mr. Fordjour Boateng, the secretary of Camp Three, disclosed to me some
time ago at APM. They claimed that the camp workers are almost always delighted by
the insanitary conditions at the camp because it provides them the opportunity to tidy up
the place and receive more blessings. They buttressed their point with the testimony of a
woman believed to be poor and who allegedly came purposely to embark on cleaning
activities at APM, specifically Camp Three. It was reported that the single woman had
more than five children. It is said that her belief was that through her devotion to the
sanitation work on the mountain, the Lord would be merciful and gracious to her. In the
course of working, it is said that some unknown philanthropists came to her aid by
picking five of her fatherless children abroad664 (Europe and America) on humanitarian
663 Evangelist Richard Afriyie, Interview, 12 March, 2016, Abasua Prayer Mountain; Evangelist Gyasi,
Interview, 27 July, 2016, Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp.
664 Gerrie ter Haar points out that African Christians who travel to Europe are perceived to be ‘Halfway to
Paradise.’ For details, see Gerrie ter Haar, Halfway to Paradise: African Christians in Europe (Great
Britain: Cardiff Academic Press, 1998), pp. 128-146.
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grounds.665 The case of this woman, in my opinion, is miraculous and therefore quite
exceptional, even though an explanation of the same case from the perspective of eco-
theology is plausible. Like all other faith-based issues, the miraculous nature of the
woman’s experience certainly transcends empirical verification and rational analysis.
5.5.4 Replicating the notion of pilgrims’ sanitation consciousness at sacred sites:
The perspective of African Christian eco-theology as holistic and sustainable
motivation for environmental sanitation in Ghana
The possibility of replicating the notion of pilgrims’ sanitation consciousness
from the PMs or sacred sites to the larger Ghanaian context where environmental
filthiness dominates, I contend, would be a viable remedy for environmental sanitation
crisis in Ghana. This implies that the pilgrims’ environmental sanitation consciousness at
the PMs hints at the quest for Christian eco-theological discourse which attempts to
address the developmental issue of environmental filthiness in Ghana. I pursue this
argument from the perspective of African Christian eco-theology as holistic and
sustainable motivation for environmental sanitation in Ghana.
One of the clearest and penetrating voices on the justification for African
Christianity’s active involvement in responding to civil society issues such as
environmental sanitation crisis in Ghana and other African countries is Walls. He writes:
It is widely recognised that there has occurred within the present century a
demographic shift in the centre of gravity of the Christian world, which means
that more than half of the world’s Christians live in Africa … and that the
proportion doing so grows annually. This means that we have to regard African
Christianity as potentially the representative Christianity of the twenty-first
century….. [The implication of this demographic shift in the centre of gravity of
the Christian world is that] the things by which people recognise and judge what
Christianity is will (for good or ill) increasingly be determined in Africa. The
characteristic doctrines, the liturgy, the ethical codes, the social applications of
the faith will increasingly be those prominent in Africa. New agendas for
theology will appear in Africa. And one of the anvils on which the Christianity
665 Nana Kwame and Mr. Fordjour Boateng, Interview, 3 March 2012, Abasua Prayer Mountain.
212
of the future will be hammered out will be the question of the nation, the state,
the nature of civil society.666
The attempt to replicate the notion of pilgrims’ environmental sanitation
consciousness from the PMs to address the issue of environmental filthiness in Ghana is,
to the best of my knowledge, one of the social applications of the Christian faith
especially, in the area of environmental crisis, and a new agenda for African Christian
eco-theology. A replication of the notion of pilgrims’ environmental sanitation
consciousness is the attempt by Christian pilgrims to reproduce, upon their return, their
experience of environmental cleanliness at the PMs, to address environmental filthiness
in the larger Ghanaian public space.
This definition, undoubtedly, entails several implications. Two of such
implications are considered. First, it calls for a deconstruction of the Christian pilgrim
motif to encapsulate other Christians in Ghana who may not have had any pilgrimage
experience at all to PMs, but who cannot also be ignored in the quest to construct
environmental sanitation consciousness to address environmental filthiness in Ghana.
Here, Webb’s perspective of the true identity of Christians is worth reconsidering. In her
scheme of thought, ‘Christians [are] true peregrini in the original sense of the Latin
word, ‘strangers’ or ‘foreigners’ in the midst of a sometimes hostile society, spiritual
pilgrims between earth and heaven, between physical birth into this world and spiritual
rebirth into eternal life.’667 Webb seems to agree with the theme of Apostle Peter’s first
epistle: ‘living as an alien.’ It is said that Peter called his Christian readers ‘aliens’ or
‘strangers’ to make the emphasis that ‘Christians are really citizens of heaven and our
666 Walls, The Cross-cultural Process in Christian History, p.85. (Emphasis original).
667 Webb, Medieval European Pilgrimage, p.2.
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sojourn here on earth is only temporary.’668 Thus from a theological perspective, every
Christian, irrespective of their geographical location, is a pilgrim.
Second, the definition also calls for every Christian pilgrim’s renewed
ontological perspective or worldview that hardly draws a sharp distinction between the
sacred and the secular realms of existence. In other words, Christian pilgrims must
ideally see the larger Ghanaian public space as essentially and qualitatively the same as
the PMs. This puzzle, however, does not appear insurmountable. It can be unraveled in
the context of African Christian eco-theology as holistic and sustainable motivation for
environmental sanitation.
African Christian eco-theology as holistic and sustainable motivation for
environmental sanitation emphasises the need to see ecology from the perspective of
African Christian theological lens. It is couched on the theological premise that the
African theistic cultural self-understanding of life, interpreted by the gospel, contains a
motivation for African Christians to naturally appreciate the need for environmental
sanitation from a religious awe of God first and foremost and, hence, act in obedience to
his command to seek first his kingdom in all things (Matthew 6:33).669 It underscores
African Christian pilgrims’ intentional and conscious adherence to environmental
sanitation as a divine or biblical imperative. In the light of this theological premise,
Ebenezer Yaw Blasu points out that the African Christian’s ‘failure to let God’s concern
for his environment be central in [ensuring environmental sanitation] could be classified
for the Christian as ‘ecological sin’, because it reflects a refusal to do all things for the
glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31), or to be not so constrained by love for God (2 Cor. 5:14)
668 Mark Bailey, Tom Constable, Charles R. Swindoll and Roy B. Zuck (eds.), Nelson’s New Testament
Survey (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1999), p. 557.
669 Blasu, ‘‘Compensated Reduction’ as Motivation of Reducing Deforestation’, p. 24.
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and neighbour … as to obey him (Jn. 15:10).670 Thus Christian pilgrims, who by
theological designation are aliens or strangers here on earth, are not excused by their
perceived foreignness as far as their adherence to environmental cleanliness here on
earth is concerned. In other words, the ‘other-worldly’ mindset of Christian pilgrims
does not guarantee their exclusion from active involvement in ensuring environmental
sanitation. Emmanuel Asante’s position on this matter is apt and revealing:
[Christians’] concern for personal salvation, wellbeing, wholeness and integrity
cannot be separated from a deep respect for everything that God created and
pronounced as good. The well-being, and for that matter, the peace of the nation
depends, among other things, on the conservation of the environment including
bio-diversity, ecology and climate. Protection of the ecology is necessary both in
terms of ensuring the sustenance of production of material goods and of ensuring
availability of potable water, non-polluted air and the protection of life from
radiation, toxic substance and climate change. Lack of care for the environment
endangers tomorrow’s well-being.671
Inherent in the theological premise of African Christian eco-theology is the need
for African / Ghanaian Christians, understood as pilgrims, to recognise the larger
Ghanaian context as spatially homogeneous and qualitatively indifferent to special
sacred sites where their environmental sanitation consciousness is normally heightened.
This does not only imply the possibility of pilgrims or Christians encountering the
transcendent and immanent God in the Ghanaian public space, but it also implies that
Mircea Eliade’s designation of sacred sites as spatial non homogeneity may be deemed
contentious, if not questionable, in this context.
It is instructive to observe that African Christian eco-theology as holistic and
sustainable motivation for environmental sanitation, in the opinion of Blasu, has the
African primal religious context as its substructure. He posits that:
From an African traditional cultural perspective, people may see ‘ecological sin’
in terms of the breaking of ecological taboos, as what will incur the wrath of
God (or the divinities and ancestors). Though based on fear-imposing religious
670 Blasu, ‘‘Compensated Reduction’ as Motivation of Reducing Deforestation’, p. 24. (Emphasis original).
671 Emmanuel K. Asante, ‘Religion, Politics and National Peace’, S.H. Amissah Memorial Lectures
(Compiled Series) (MCG headquarters, Accra: Alpha Royal Publications, 2017), pp.6-27.
215
myths that do not necessarily explicitly elucidate any ecological values, the
taboos are invariably ecological ‘ethical codes’ for ecosystem conservation. The
effectiveness of the taboos as motivating tools in sustaining the ecosystem arises,
perhaps, from the African fear of the divinities or respect for the ancestors; the
latter, who are ‘interested in the welfare of their descendants … serve as
custodians of traditional moral order [including environmental sanitation]… with
power to punish …or reward’ breakers or upholders, respectively. This implies
that the traditional African impulsion for [environmental sanitation] is essentially
theocentric, as it is centered round divinities as the channels through which God
works… 672
Thus Ernestina Afriyie appropriately states that ‘traditionally, Africans are likely
to treat the environment with little or no special respect when their belief in the
relationships of the divinities and ancestors with nature are undermined.’673 In the light
of Afriyie’s statement, it is plausible to argue that the current environmental filthiness
apparently engulfing Ghana may underscore Ghanaians’ disbelief in the relationships of
the divinities and ancestors with the environment. This is, however, a viable research
area that can engage the attention of future interested researchers. Noting the
importance of the absence of theocentric inclination to eco-care [including
environmental sanitation] in the Western church, Hugh Montefiore is reported to have
lamented the seeming disinterestedness in the environment and called for a review of
Western ecological theology and praxis.674
The validity, appropriateness or otherwise of the African primal religious
standpoint on ecological or environmental issues is determined by the index of Scripture.
Kwame Bediako asserts that the Bible must be central in the engagement of gospel with
culture.675 This is because Scripture is the yardstick, the model and measure for testing,
672Blasu, ‘‘Compensated Reduction’ as Motivation of Reducing Deforestation’, p. 24. See also Gyekye,
African Cultural Values, p. 162.
673 Cited in Blasu, ‘‘Compensated Reduction’ as Motivation of Reducing Deforestation’, p. 24.
674 Blasu, ‘‘Compensated Reduction’ as Motivation of Reducing Deforestation’, p. 24. (Emphasis original).
See also Hugh Montefiore, ‘Why aren’t more church people interested in the environment?’,
Transformation: An Internatioanl Journal of Holistic Mission Studies Vol.16, No. 3 (July 1999), pp.74-77.
Avaialble at https://doi.org/10.1177%2F026537889901600302 [ Accessed 10 March 2018].
675 Kwame Bediako, ‘Scripture as the hermeneutic of culture and tradition’, Journal of African Christian
Thought, Vol. 4, No. 1 (June 2001), pp. 2-11 (2).
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urging and opening up, for pointing to, and also controlling all engagements of gospel
and culture in the continuing divine-human encounter that characterises Christian
faith.676 In the view of Blasu, the implication of the Bible’s centrality in the engagements
of gospel and culture is that ‘an African Christian eco-theology needs to pass traditional
African beliefs and praxis about … [environmental sanitation] through the prism of
scripture, to reveal its light and shade, a process that will be of benefit to the universal
Christian community.’677 As far as environmental issues are concerned, the primal
religio-cultural self-understanding that seems to have theological affinity to the biblical
world-view, according to Harold W. Turner, is a person’s ‘sense of kinship with
nature… [as the basis for] the environment itself [to be] used realistically and
unsentimentally but with profound respect and reverence and without [pollution].’678
This environmental sanitation consciousness of primal religions is considered to be ‘a
profoundly religious attitude to man’s natural setting in the world.’679 A person’s ‘sense
of kinship with nature’ implies that humankind is inextricably linked to nature680 and
therefore, the environment. Human sinfulness which results in environmental crisis681 or
filthiness ultimately affects human beings negatively.
African Christian eco-theology is holistic and sustainable incentive for
environmental sanitation because it ideally emphasises the need for African / Ghanaian
Christian pilgrims to integrate the views of environmental sanitation inherent in primal
religious tradition and Christianity, and relevantly apply them in the larger Ghanaian
context as they would at designated sacred sites such as PMs. This fusion of ‘two worlds
676 Bediako, ‘Scripture as the hermeneutic of culture and tradition’, p. 3.
677 Blasu, ‘‘Compensated Reduction’ as Motivation of Reducing Deforestation’, p. 24.
678 Harold W. Turner, ‘The Primal Religions of the World and their study’, in Victor Hayes (ed.)
Australian Essays in World Religions (Bedford Park: Australian Association for World Religions), pp. 27-
37 (30).
679 Bediako, Jesus in Africa, p. 87.
680 Blasu, ‘‘Compensated Reduction’ as Motivation of Reducing Deforestation’, pp. 25-27.
681 Anderson, Christian Ethics in Plain Language, 184.
217
of religious discourse’682 in fashioning out environmental sanitation programme in
Ghana has liturgical, hermeneutical and policy implications ‘for national cohesion, unity
and development.’683 In Ghana where about 69% of the population claims to profess
Christianity, African Christian eco-theology seems to be a unifying hub of the various
Christian denominations to consciously mitigate environmental sanitation challenges, to
promote unity and solidarity among the different Christian denominations and to
stimulate sustainable national development.
Furthermore, in Ghana, African Christian eco-theology appears to be one of the
indispensable tools for the realization of goal six (6) of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development dubbed ‘Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).’ Goal six
(6) of the seventeen (17) SDGs emphasises the need for governments to ensure
availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.684
Another important aspect of development that I pursue in this section of the
study is how the appropriation of PMs as sacred spaces promotes ecumenical /
interdenominational networking in Ghana.
5.6 The Appropriation of Prayer Mountains as Sacred Spaces and its potential for
Ecumenical / Interdenominational Networking in Ghana.
The appropriation of PMs and its potential for ecumenical / interdenominational
networking point to Christian pilgrims’ patronage of PMs and the possibility of that
patronage to stimulate unity among churches or denominations in Ghana. Almost
throughout this work, I have attempted to indicate, among other things, the biblical
antecedents of mountains as places of ‘transcendent spiritual experiences, encounters
682 Part of the title of Akrong’s paper, ‘African Traditional Religion and Development.’
683 Golo, ‘Tending Creation Together’, pp. 201, 217-221
684 For details on the SDGs, see Zadok Kwame Gyesi ‘Creating a new world; changing the MDGs to
SDGs’, Daily Graphic, October 21, 2015, pp. 40-41.
218
with God or appearances by God.’685 For the sake of emphasis in this section, I recap the
central ideas of biblical antecedents of PMs already espoused. Ezekiel 28:13-15 locates
the Garden of Eden on a mountain. Abraham demonstrates his willingness to sacrifice
Isaac and then encounters God on a mountain (Gen. 22:1-14). God appears to Moses and
speaks from the burning bush on ‘Horeb, the mountain of God’ (Ex. 3:1-2 NRSV), and
he encounters Elijah on the same site (1 Kings 19:8-18). The experience of the Israelites
at Mount Sinai, which Moses ascends in a cloud to meet God (Ex. 19) seems to be one of
the most impressive Old Testament (OT) accounts of God’s encounters with people on
mountains.686 The OT further alludes to Jewish pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a
geographically mountainous holy city, as the venue for the Israelites to celebrate three
festivals in God’s honour (Exodus 23:14-17).
The New Testament (NT) is also replete with accounts of Jesus’ association with
mountains. It is said that ‘Jesus resorted to mountains to be alone (Jn. 6:15), to pray (Mt.
14:23; Lk. 6:12) and to teach his listeners (Mt.5:1; Mk.3:13). It was on a mountain that
Jesus refuted Satan’s temptation (Mt. 4:8; Lk.4:5). He was also transfigured on a
mountain (Mt.17:1-8; Mk.2-8; Lk.9:28-36), and he ascended into heaven from the Mount
of Olives (Acts 1:10-12).687
These biblical antecedents are undoubtedly some of the main reasons Christian
pilgrims employ to justify their appropriation of PMs as pilgrimage sites.688 It seems to
me, however, that Christian pilgrims’ appropriation of PMs as sacred sites and the
potential of that appropriation for ecumenical / interdenominational networking in
Ghana, has not yet attracted scholarly gaze. The relevance of unity among Christians and
the aggregate positive effect of that unity on the overall development of Ghana cannot be
685 Ryken, et al, Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, p. 573.
686 Ryken, et al, Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, p. 573.
687 Ryken, et al, Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, p. 573.
688 Evangelist Gyasi, Mobile Phone Interview, 7 March, 2017.
219
underestimated. David N. A. Kpobi rightly asserts that ‘Christians cannot hope to make
impact if they are divided along racial, social, gender, economic [and denominational]
lines.’689 Kpobi aptly reinforces T. P Weber’s definition of ecumenism as ‘the organized
attempt to bring about the cooperation and unity of all believers in Christ.’690
Therefore, in this section of the study, I attempt to examine Christian pilgrims’
appropriation of APM and NMOPC and the potential of the pilgrims’ influx to these
sacred sites to promote ecumenical / interdenominational networking in Ghana. My
attempt to explore the interface between Christians’ pilgrimage to PMs and its potential
for ecumenical networking is deemed biblically underpinned. It is instructive to note that
the two eschatological images in the OT which envision the nature of Christian unity in
mission, according to Kpobi, are all mountain-related. He writes:
The first image is that of Mount Zion as the dwelling place of Yahweh to which
all nations shall flock (Isaiah 24:1-4; Isaiah 25:6-7; Micah4:1-3). Christian
mission envisions that future period where the church will become the unifying
factor to bring not only Christians but also all religions and races together to
worship Yahweh. The second image is that of Jerusalem restored and inhabited
as a city without walls (Zechariah 2:4-5) where God himself would become the
wall, not of separation but of unity.691
In addition to the significance of APM and NMOPC as places of ‘transcendent
spiritual experiences, encounters with God or appearances by God’, field data from these
two sacred sites also label them as religious contexts for ecumenical /
interdenominational networking in a religiously pluralistic Ghanaian context. They are
sites which Christian pilgrims from different denominations patronise for various
reasons.
It is scarcely doubtful that the influx of pilgrims to sacred sites also has an
inherent propensity to stimulate interdenominational linkages. For instance, Evangelist
689 David N. A. Kpobi, Mission in Ghana: The Ecumenical Heritage (Accra, Ghana: Asempa Publishers:
2008), p.8.
690 T. P. Weber, ‘Ecumenism’ in Walter A. Elwell (ed.) Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (2nd edition)
(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2001), p. 363.
691 Kpobi, Mission in Ghana, p. 9.
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Gyasi maintains that the All-Night prayer programme he organizes every Wednesday at
NMOPC attracts not less than eight hundred pilgrims from different Christian
denominations. Moreover, organized field data on pilgrims’ appropriation of ‘Camp
Three’ of APM, from the year 2002 to 2015, underscore the ecumenical networking
potential of PMs in Ghana.692 A table to this effect is presented and discussed below.
Table 5.1: A table showing the statistics of pilgrims’ visits to Camp Three of APM
from the year 2002 to 2015693
(A) (B) (C)
Methodists and Non-Methodists Non-Methodists Methodists
Year Males Females Total Males Females Total Males Females Total
2002 11666 10355 22021 - - - - - -
2003 9906 10550 20456 - - - - - -
2004 8469 10023 18492 6940 7647 14578 1629 2376 4005
2005 8914 9643 18557 7221 7421 14642 1693 2222 3915
2006 9487 10618 20105 7680 8153 15833 1807 2465 4272
2007 9366 9504 18870 6174 5477 11651 3192 4027 7219
2008 8457 10566 19023 5550 4872 10422 2907 5694 8601
2009 14275 11979 26254 7857 8276 16133 4122 5999 10121
2010 12342 15829 28171 7262 7169 14431 5080 8660 13740
2011 14338 18554 32892 7723 9127 16850 6615 9427 16042
2012 14562 19957 34519 7536 9794 17330 7026 10163 17189
2013 13130 22650 35780 7010 12370 19380 6120 10280 16400
2014 17036 22564 39600 9875 12387 22262 7161 10177 17338
2015 20724 23710 44434 14628 16713 31341 6096 6997 13093
Grand
Total 172672 206502 379174 95456 109406 204862 53448 78487 131935
The above table shows the statistics of pilgrims’ visits to Camp Three of APM from the
year 2002 to 2015. Because Camp Three is believed to be the premier and the most
patronised PC in Ghana,694 it seems to me that the statistics are a fair representation of
PMs’ role in stimulating ecumenical networking in Ghana. Writing on ‘Islamic
692 I limited himself to this time frame because that was the period statistics on pilgrims’ annual visits to
Camp Three could be made available.
693 Source: From Pilgrims’ Records Note Book kept at the office of Mr. Fordjour Boateng, the Secretary to
Camp Three. He gave these data to me on 14 March 2016 at Camp Three, Abasua Prayer Mountain.
694 Evangelist Afriyie, Interview, 12 March, 2016, Abasua Prayer Mountain.
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Pilgrimage to Mecca’ and ‘Roman Catholic Pilgrimage in Europe’ in his ‘Geography and
Religion’, Park indicates that ‘number of pilgrims at a sacred space within a period of
time’ is one of the clear indicators of pilgrims’ perception about the spirituality of sacred
spaces.695 I argue that the greater the number696 of pilgrims who patronise the PMs in a
period of time, the higher the pilgrims’ perception about the spiritual relevance of the
place. The table is made up of three main sections. These are sections A, B and C.
Section A is the combination of Methodists and non-Methodist pilgrims who patronised
Camp Three from the year 2002 to 2015. Section B is the number of non-Methodist
pilgrims who patronised the site from the year 2004 to 2015. Section C is the number of
Methodist pilgrims who patronised the PM from the year 2004 to 2015.
The table indicates that generally, the spiritual significance of APM in the life of
pilgrims can scarcely be disputed. The site is perceived as an ideal place for the
enhancement of pilgrims’ spirituality; understood as their awareness and belief in the
existence of an Ultimate Reality or God and the possibility of personal interaction with
this Reality through prayer rituals. In that sense, the PM facilitates the bridging of the
gap between pilgrims and the transcendent realms, an index of the pilgrims’ spiritual
uplift. Scott asserts that the closer a person is to a relic, the more likely they would be
empowered. The same logic is plausible here to establish the empowering effect of
pilgrims’ proximity to an Ultimate Reality.697
I have already indicated elsewhere in this study that the sacredness of a space is
defined by the belief in the presence of a god or a supernatural deity in that site, and the
695 Park, ‘Geography and Religion’, p. 25.
696 Ten thousand (10,000) and above pilgrims who visit the Prayer Mountains annually is believed to be a
great number.
697 Scott, The Gothic Enterprise, p. 151.
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possibility of human’s interaction with that deity through prayer rituals.698 On this
conceptual foundation, sacred sites are believed to be places of supernatural potency
where pilgrims can be connected to the transcendent realms through prayer rituals and
religious symbols. Pilgrims’ encounter with the transcendent realms stimulates spiritual
development, generally conceptualized as the existence of vertical relationship between
religious practitioners and the realms of transcendence. In this work, spiritual
development refers to pilgrims’ relationship with God expressed through their
appropriation of prayer rituals at the PMs.
It is obvious from the table that from the year 2002 to 2015, a grand total of three
hundred and seventy-nine thousand, one hundred and seventy-four (379,174) pilgrims
comprising one hundred and seventy-two thousand, six hundred and seventy-two
(172,672) males and two hundred and six thousand, five hundred and two (206,502)
females patronised the PM. It is also clear under section B that from the year 2004 to
2015, a grand total of two hundred and four thousand, eight hundred and sixty-two non-
Methodist pilgrims (204,862) comprising ninety-five thousand, four hundred and fifty-
six (95,456) males and one hundred and nine thousand, four hundred and six (109,406)
females appropriated the site. Section C shows that from the year 2004 to 2015, a grand
total of one hundred and thirty-one thousand, nine hundred and thirty-five (131,935)
Methodist pilgrims comprising fifty-three thousand, four hundred and forty-eight
(53,448) males and seventy eight thousand, four hundred and eighty seven (78487)
females patronised the site.
Sections B and C of the table clearly show that pilgrims who were not Methodists
really patronised the site more than the Methodists who claim to have ownership of
698 Joe Edward Watkins, Contemporary Native American Issues: Sacred Sites and Repatriation (United
States of America: Chelsea House Publishers, 2006), pp. 88 - 89.
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Camp Three. The implication is that the non-Methodist pilgrims appear to harness the
spiritual benefits of the mountain more than the Methodists.
It is further discerned from the table that generally, the female pilgrims who
patronise the site outnumber the males. Out of the grand total of 379,174 Methodist and
non-Methodist pilgrims who visited the site from 2002 to 2015, 172,672 were males,
whilst females totaled 206,502. Again, out of the grand total of 204,862 non-Methodist
pilgrims who visited the site within the period under consideration, 95,456 were males,
whilst 109,406 were females. Moreover, out of the grand total of 131,935 Methodist
pilgrims who patronised the site from 2002 to 2015, males totaled 53,448, whilst females
totaled 78,487. Does this mean that many females in general prefer to pray at Camp
Three? Or does it have any hint to the popular perception that females in general are
more ‘spiritual’ than their male counterparts? A detailed comparative study of the
patronage of PMs by gender may provide responses to these rhetorical questions, but that
falls outside the scope of this work. Interested future researchers may take it up.
Even though Camp Three of APM belongs to the Methodist Church Ghana, the
church does not actually monopolise the site. It is a sacred site for all Christians
irrespective of their denomination. This explains the dominant presence of non-
Methodist pilgrims at the site since 2002 when the management began to compile the
statistics of pilgrims who patronise the site. The non-Methodists included pilgrims from
other Christian denominations. The implication is that both APM and NMOPC have the
potential to foster ecumenism in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity. The PMs’
potential to engender cooperation and unity among pilgrims of different Christian
denominations must be understood against the backdrop of the pilgrims’ quest for
spirituality which appears to be a fundamental motivation for their religious pilgrimage
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to the sacred sites. Of course, the pilgrims’ perception of the spiritual potency of the PMs
cannot be excluded from the factors that determine their pilgrimage to those sacred sites.
On the PMs, all pilgrims, irrespective of their Christian denominations, embark
on religio-social activities together. These include worship services (such as healing and
deliverance, All-Night Prayer, divine services, etc.) and communal labour which usually
includes weeding, sweeping, scrubbing, etc. These religio-social activities executed
together by pilgrims of diverse Christian denominational backgrounds promote social
interaction, unity, solidarity and cohesion among the pilgrims. Significant aspects of the
sites’ religio-social activities which bring pilgrims together and bind them in a shared or
mutual experience are prayer rituals such as the biannual Connexional Prayer
Convention of the MCG, the biannual Prayer Retreat of the PCG and Communion
Services. Owusu-Ansah indicates that pilgrims appropriate these prayer rituals for
several reasons: healing/deliverance, spiritual empowerment, divine favor, spiritual
protection, etc.699 The implication is that the main preoccupation for pilgrims’
appropriation of sacred sites is what Asamoah-Gyadu refers to as ‘empowerment’,
understood variously as a redemptive uplift, anointing and the restoration of spiritual
gifts.700
The fostering of ecumenical networking eventually results in social development
among pilgrims. Robert Moffitt is of the view that social development is expressed in the
need for people or individuals to develop, nurture and maintain horizontal relationships
with other people and groups.701 Moffitt’s view of social development seems to be a
reflection of Durkheim’s position on the social and collective function of religion.
699 Owusu-Ansah, Abasua Prayer Mountain in Ghanaian Christianity, pp. 15-21.
700 Asamoah-Gyadu, African Charismatics, pp. 152-163.
701 Robert Moffitt, ‘The Local Church and Development’ in Vinay Samuel and Chris Sugden (eds) The
Church in Response to Human Need (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,
1987), p. 234. C.f. John & Agnes Sturt, Created to be Whole (Guildford, Surrey: Eagle, 1998),pp. 87- 186.
225
Durkheim (1858-1917) argued that religion functions to reinforce the collective unity or
social solidarity of a group: ‘There can be no society which does not feel the need of
upholding and reaffirming at regular intervals the collective sentiments and collective
ideals which make its unity and its personality.’702 Durkheim maintained that one way in
which a society could express its shared identity and unity was through symbols and
rituals.703 Thus symbols and rituals were vital to Durkheim’s analysis of the social
function of religion, just as they appear to be very crucial in promoting social interaction
among pilgrims on the PMs.
In O’Donnell’s thinking, religious symbols such as the Christian cross provide a
focus of emotion and belief. Rituals such as sacrifice, Catholic mass or Eucharist bring
people together and bind them in communal or mutual experience.704 In addition to the
above religio-social activities which facilitate unity among the pilgrims, there are other
religious symbols on the PMs which are believed to be potent in attracting them. The
symbols include the mountains themselves, erected crosses at the sites and other prayer
accessories (for example, water, anointing oil, sand and leaves believed to be of
medicinal quality). Pilgrims who utilise these religious symbols believe that they are
potent in alleviating their suffering or challenges.705 On APM, for instance, almost all
pilgrims fetch the rain water that is accumulated on the bare rocky floor. Besides, at
NMOPC, the water that flows from the mountain is vigorously fetched by almost very
pilgrim who visits the site. The belief is that the water is ‘holy and powerful’ in bringing
about healing, business expansion, prosperity, restoration of broken marriages, etc.
702 O’Donnel, Sociology, p. 530.
703 O’Donnel, Sociology, p. 530.
704 O’Donnel, Sociology, p. 530.
705 This does not mean that pilgrims patronise the Prayer Mountains only to find solutions to problems.
There are several reasons for pilgrims’ appropriation of sacred spaces, one of which is to find solutions to
suffering or predicament. I agree with John Bowker that suffering or predicament is one of the central
causes of religion. For details, see John Bowker, Problems of Suffering in Religions of the World (London:
Cambridge University Press, 1980), p. 1.
226
The sand on the mountains is even thought by some pilgrims to be powerful in
bringing about progress in people’s businesses, occupations and finances. The testimony
of a certain Akan woman who allegedly came to fetch some of the sand at Camp Three is
worth noting. It is said that one day a certain woman came to the site as a pilgrim and
among other things, fetched about a sack full of the sand at Camp Three. The woman
claimed that her cocoa farm was under severe attack by what she referred to as ‘some
evil forces.’ Therefore, she believed that the mere application of the sand as an
insecticide on the cocoa farm would restore it by warding off the ‘evil forces.’ It is said
that the woman came back to the site, after she had allegedly applied the sand on her
farm, and testified about the miraculous deed or the spiritual potency of APM, including
the sand she fetched. The woman claimed that the yield from the farm tremendously
multiplied and the notorious insects which, hitherto, attacked the cocoa trees (but were
not even responding to the application of chemicals or insecticides) immediately
vanished from the farm.706
This testimony certainly substantiates Omenyo’s observation that among the
Akan, causality is understood in the context of the inseparability between the empirical
and the meta-empirical.707 ‘Besides purely organic causation … no interpretation of
causality that does not include elements like preordained destiny, punishment by angered
ancestors and witchcraft can be fully acceptable. The phrase, ‘it is not an ordinary
occurrence’ (εnyε kwa) is invariably, the thought of the Akan in any life crises.’708 In a
religiously pluralistic Ghana where a multiplicity of predicaments is perceived to be
spiritually caused, many religious people do not hesitate having recourse to religious
706 Mr. Fordjour Boateng and Nana Kwame, Interview, 3 March 2012, APM.
707 Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism, p. 30.
708 Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism, p. 30.
227
resources as some of the means of ameliorating their predicaments.709 If the religious
symbols at the sacred sites are believed to be spiritually potent, then in a context such as
Akan in Ghana, where suffering and other forms of predicaments are perceived to be
spiritually related, I argue that those religious symbols would naturally be attractive to
many people and pull them to the PMs. In this sense, the ecumenical interaction of the
pilgrims is the result of the attractive and integrative functions of those religious symbols
on the PMs. In other words, the spiritual orientation of pilgrims such as the Akan woman
in the above narrative makes the role of religious symbols at sacred spaces very crucial.
Pilgrims who have similar or related spiritual challenges and perceive of the sites’
religious symbols to be spiritually potent in ameliorating their crises, often patronise the
sites and participate in the prevailing religio-social activities which in turn foster
ecumenism and social development.
Religion as ‘a social institution’710 seems to provide a relevant conceptual basis
for the interplay of a diversity of religious pilgrims who are knit by their participation in
defined religio-social activities at the sacred sites. The integrative and ecumenical
networking function of the PMs711 is very crucial in the African context because it lends
support to what Pobee refers to as sensus communis.712 In contradistinction to Descartes’
‘cogito ergo sum’, that is ‘I think, therefore I am,’ the PMs, by their integrative function,
promote the African principle of existence which tends to follow the Akan philosophy of
709 In Africa, solutions to problems are often sought for within the ambience of religion.
710 Richard T. Schaefer and Robert P. Lamm, Sociology (5th Edition) (New York, United States of
America: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1995), p. 396.
711 Nana Yaw Obogya II, the Chief of Abasua, informed me on 13 August 2011 at Abasua that his people’s
hospitable attitude, kindness and strong aversion to miscreant practices are partly due to Abasua Prayer
Mountain which, among other things, attracts many pilgrims and other people to the community. My point
of view is that in a context where people are believed to be hospitable, kind and have aversion to miscreant
practices, social cohesion and solidarity emerge.
712John S. Pobee, Toward an African Theology (Nashville, Abingdon, 1979), p. 49 (Emphasis original).
C.f. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘Reconciliation: An African Perspective’ Trinity Journal of Church and
Theology XIV (2004), p. 3.
228
‘cognatus ergo sum,’ that is, ‘I am because I belong.’713 In Africa, Asamoah-Gyadu
substantiates Pobee’s opinion that the individual can only say, ‘I am because we are.’
Because of this philosophical notion there is a complete repudiation of ethical egoism in
Africa’s theory of existence.714
The PMs’ role in facilitating ecumenical interaction among religious pilgrims is a
vivid expression of John Donne’s view of human’s / African’s social orientation: ‘No
man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the
main.’715 Thus the integrative function of the PMs through the fostering of ecumenical
networking among religious pilgrims is believed to be theologically appropriate and
relevant given the view of John and Agnes Sturt about the theological perspective of
social interaction. According to them, ‘Human beings are gregarious and do not like to
be isolated from others. This desire to socialise is a direct consequence of the fact that
God has created us in his image to live in community as he does: Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. We were not designed to live in isolation.’716 The communal nature of God is
believed to be one of the theological justifications for the ecumenical interactions among
pilgrims from a diversity of religio-social and cultural backgrounds.
The crux of the discussion of the place and relevance of the PMs in promoting
ecumenical networking and social development is that the sacred sites, in my opinion,
have an integrative function of bringing various pilgrims together to engage in various
forms of religio- social activities which in turn stimulate social cohesion and social
solidarity. This integrative function of the PMs is also thought to be aptly theological in
713 Pobee, Toward an African Theology, p. 49. C.f. Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘Reconciliation’, p. 3.
714 Asamoah-Gyadu, ‘Reconciliation’, p. 3.
715 Cited in John & Agnes Sturt, Created to be Whole, p. 162.
716 John & Agnes Sturt, Created to be Whole, p.162. C.f. Samuel N. Boapeah, Christian Approach to
Development: A Guide for Practical Christian Ministry in Development (Ghana: Challenge Enterprises of
Ghana, n.d.), pp. 34-41-
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orientation, given the view that the God whom the pilgrims seek to interact with, through
various prayer rituals, is believed to be a communal God.
5.7. An Examination of the Economic Significance of Abasua Prayer Mountain and
Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp
This section of the study focuses on the examination of some of the activities
surrounding the PMs and how those activities enhance people’s717 economic wellbeing. How the
activities enhance or stifle the economic wellbeing of pilgrims, traders, drivers and other people
connected to the sites in one way or the other, appear to have eluded scholarly attention. The
examination of how the activities enhance peoples’ economic wellbeing is in the context of
Moffitt’s physical development paradigm. In this development model, Moffitt interprets Jesus’
growth in stature in Luke 2:52 in the context of physical development and associates it with
economic wellbeing or peoples’ ability to meet their physical needs such as food, clothing,
shelter, good health, good physical environment, etc.718
The economic activities surrounding the PMs include buying and selling of goods and
services, revenue mobilization through the tolls paid by pilgrims who patronise the PMs and
fund-raising toward the development of infrastructural facilities at the sites. The economic
activities contribute positively to the material wellbeing of the people, especially, those from
Abasua and Nkawkaw communities as well as those from other adjoining communities. In
addition to their identities as sacred sites, the PMs are also perceived to be hot spots for brisk and
lucrative business for sellers of water, provisions, anointing oil, fruits, food items, herbal
medicines, mobile phone accessories, Christian literature and for people who carry the luggage
of pilgrims to and from the sites. Items sold on the PMs are relatively exorbitant as compared to
the prevailing market prices outside the sacred sites. This is because the retail price of the items
717 The people in this context include the pilgrims who patronise the PMs, the citizens of Abasua and
Nkawkaw, luggage carriers to the PMs, sellers and the commercial drivers who ply the sacred sites.
718Moffitt, ‘The Local Church and Development’, p.235.
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on the PMs often includes the cost price and other expenses such as transportation / cost of
carrying the items to the sites.
At APM, the luggage carriers come from Abasua community and other
neighbouring communities such as Adutwam, Awanya, Krowi, Atwea, Banko, Sekyere,
Effiduasi, Nsuta, etc. to carry luggage of pilgrims or tourists to and from the site. At
NMOPC on the other hand, the luggage carriers come from Nkawkaw and other
adjoining communities such as Atta ne Atta, Osei Krom, Atibie, etc. The luggage carriers
strategically gather themselves almost at the base of the mountains or places where they
are most likely to meet pilgrims, especially during February and August, the peak
seasons for pilgrimage to APM by the MCG and the PCG.
Upon the arrival of any vehicle with pilgrims, the luggage carriers rush to the
vehicle with their baskets and head pans, to struggle for the luggage of the pilgrims.
Usually, the size of the luggage determines how much the carriers charge. During the
peak seasons for pilgrimage movements to the sites, some of the luggage carriers719 said
that they could have between three and ten times a day of luggage carriage to and from
the sites. This enables some of them to mobilize income for their basic education or to
start a trade such as fitting, masonry, carpentry, driving and dressmaking. The example
below further explains the above point.
Yaw Mensah, a twenty-one (21) year old young man from Abasua community
said that he started carrying luggage to and from the PM at age ten (10). Through
the income he generated from this business activity, he fended for himself from
primary four to Junior High School (JHS) form three - he bought his own school
uniforms, fed himself and registered the Basic Education Certificate
Examination in 2006. When he finished writing the examination, he went to
learn driving at Asante Effiduasi at the cost of one hundred and fifty Ghana cedis
719 These luggage carriers at APM include the following natives of Abasua: Mr.Yaw Menash (a driver and
JHS graduate), Mr. Kwame Owusu (No schooling) and Mr. Abass (schooled up to class 4). At NMOPC,
Pastor Richard Ansah told me that during the peak seasons for pilgrimage, luggage carriers sometimes
make between three and eight times of luggage carriage to and from the Camp.
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(GHC 150.00) which he paid from his accumulated income from luggage
carriage. 720
If Yaw Mensah started carrying luggage to the PM at age twenty-one (21), then it seems
plausible to infer that the business is probably dominated by a group of people Esther L.
Megill classifies as early adolescents (ages 12-14 or 15), middle adolescents (ages 14-15)
and late adolescents (ages 16-18 or 20-21).721 It implies that the luggage-carrying
business activity is dominated by young people who are generally considered to be
enthusiastic, adventurous and sometimes, delinquent in behaviour
The luggage-carrying business activities surrounding the PMs are lucrative means
of livelihood as the example below also underscores about APM. Kwame Adu and
Akosua Owusuaa, aged thirty-two and thirty years old respectively, are married couple
with three children. They testify that the luggage-carrying business has been a blessing to
them. They point out that they have been in this luggage-carrying business for over ten
years. They maintain that in February and August when ‘business is good’, meaning
when many pilgrims climb the mountain, they realize about four hundred Ghana cedis
(GHC400.00) a month. When the influx of pilgrims reduces, they claim that they make
about one hundred and fifty Ghana cedi GHC150.00) a month. They further indicate that
some of their friends who stay in the neighbouring communities such as Effiduase and
Juaben, sometimes come to stay at Abasua to carry luggage during the busy months of
February and August. They allegedly go with huge sums of money.722
I have already stated elsewhere in this work that the water that flows from
NMOPC is perceived by pilgrims to be unimaginably potent in healing and deliverance.
720 Mr. Yaw Mensah, Interview, 12 August 2011, Abasua community. See Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred
Space’, p. 116.
721 For details, see Esther L. Megill, Education in the African Church (Accra, Ghana: Safeway Printing
Works, 1998), pp. 108-110.
722 Ampaw-Asiedu, Atwea: The Mountain of God’s Presence, p. 44.
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During All-Night prayer on Wednesdays, most pilgrims come along with empty gallons
to fetch the water and engage energetic young men and women (luggage carriers) to
carry them to the base of the mountain at a fee. Thus the PM phenomenon in
contemporary Ghanaian Christianity is also a form of natural economic / poverty
reduction intervention that engages the youth who, out of frustration emanating from
unemployment and disillusionment, might have engaged themselves in all sorts of
miscreant or socially irresponsible practices in their communities. As a result of the
young people’s active engagement in the relatively lucrative luggage-carrying business
prevailing at APM, Nana Obogya II, the Chief of Abasua, disclosed to me that the people
in his community, especially the youth, eschew social vices such as pilfering or stealing.
This attitude of the youth, according to the Chief, endears them to the admiration and
pleasure of many pilgrims. Therefore pilgrims who come to spend several days on the
mountain do not hesitate leaving their cars, vehicles and other property in the custody of
the youth and other people in the community.723
In as much as the chief’s defense of his people sounds credible, logical and
thoughtful, it cannot be wholly sustained without some interrogation. If it is true that the
young people have strong aversion to deviant practices as indicated by the chief, I am of
the opinion that such dislike may also be attributed to some prevailing old taboos or
restrictions in the community, which, to some extent, may have functioned for a long
time to condition the behaviour of the citizens, thereby restraining them from indulging
in miscreant practices. Peter K. Sarpong asserts that ‘a taboo is something that must not
be eaten or touched or seen or smelt or said.’724 He further maintains that it is a taboo to
723 Nana Yaw Obogya II, Interview, 13 August 2011, Abasua community. See also Okyere,
‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, pp. 116-117.
724 Peter Sarpong, Peoples Differ: An Approach to Inculturation in Evangelisation (Accra, Ghana: Sub-
Saharan Publishers, 2002), p. 104.
233
have sex in the bush even with your own wife. It is also a taboo to insult the king.725 It is
believed that taboos form a great part of traditional religion.726 If this is true, then it is no
wonder that Abasua community, which was previously dominated by Traditional Akan
Religion, has some old taboos.727
It was also observed that the influx of pilgrims to the PMs provide employment
for many commercial drivers, especially those who convey pilgrims to and from the sites
during peak seasons for pilgrimage. In February and August, the peak seasons for
pilgrimage to APM by the MCG and the PCG, some drivers from the length and breadth
of Ghana get temporary employment as they busily convey pilgrims to the site and back
to their destinations. For example, some of the drivers who ply Abasua whom I
interviewed at Asafo Market in Kumasi disclosed that apart from the employment
opportunities which their plying Abasua and Kumasi offers them, some of them have
been able to buy their own buses or vehicles, through the business of conveying pilgrims
and other people to and from Abasua.728
The activities surrounding the PMs also contribute to the development of
infrastructural facilities at the sacred sites and the communities in which the PMs are
located. At Abasua community, it was discovered that the tolls collected from pilgrims
and others who patronise the PM is one of the main sources of revenue for the
construction of a new classroom block and procurement of light poles for the
community’s electrification project. It is said that the road linking Atwea and Abasua
was constructed in the early 1990s by the government of Ghana because of the massive
725 Sarpong, Peoples Differ, p. 104.
726 Sarpong, Peoples Differ, p. 104.
727 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, p. 117.
728 The following were some of the drivers I interviewed at Asafo Market (Abasua station in Kumasi) on
13 August 2011: Appiah Kwasi (Urvan Bus driver), Kwasi Badu (Hyundai Grace driver), Kofi Abunua
(207 Benz Bus driver) and Sampson Adu (207 Benz Bus driver).
234
influx of pilgrims to the Abasua Prayer Mountain.729 Mr. Boakye further discloses that
prior to the construction of the road, vehicles and cars conveying pilgrims could not
come to Abasua community, owing to the rugged and deplorable nature of the road. The
drivers therefore only stopped at Atwea and the passengers / pilgrims walked from there
to Abasua. The construction of the road, according to him, has not only facilitated the
easy movement of vehicles to the place, but the stress, exhaustion and ordeal experience
by the people who walked from Atwea to Abasua and Abasua to Atwea have been
considerably reduced.730
Moreover, the PMs have various infrastructural facilities. These include chapels,
separate accommodation facilities for male and female pilgrims, power plants for
provision of light in the evening, lavatory facilities and stair case to facilitate the
movement of pilgrims. Some of these facilities were donated by individual
philanthropists and churches whiles others were provided through the funds generated
from fund-raising activities which are normally integral part of almost all church services
held. Labour force for the construction of almost all these projects was provided by the
local people from Abasua, Nkawkaw and other neighboring communities.731 Prior to the
provision of these infrastructural facilities, pilgrimage to the sites were characterised by
congestion. Many pilgrims also slept on the bare rocks at night owing to inadequate
accommodation facilities. They were exposed to unfavourable weather conditions and
other health related hazards. The provision of these facilities has considerably minimized
the unbearable experiences of pilgrims as far as accommodation facilities and places of
convenience are concerned. The wellbeing or welfare of pilgrims and others who
patronise the PMs is thus enhanced. This observation corroborates Park’s view of the
729 Mr. Kofi Boakye (a royal citizen of Abasua), Interview, 13 August 2011, Abasua community.
730 Okyere, ‘Reconstructing Sacred Space’, pp. 118-119.
731 Mr. Kofi Boakye, Interview, 13 August 2011, Abasua community; Mr. Fordjour Boateng, Interview, 14
March, 2016 Evangelist Gyasi, Interview, 27 July, 2016, Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp.
235
role of pilgrimage in infrastructural development at sacred spaces. He posits that
‘[pilgrimage] can have a major effect on local economies, by encouraging the
development of infrastructure such as shrines, shops selling devotional articles, and
facilities for overnight accommodation [including dormitories and camp sites].’732
The upsurge of physical developments at sacred spaces and their contribution to
human development have attracted the attention of some scholars of religion. Afe
Adogame, for example, writes about the emergence of infrastructural facilities at the
Redemption Camp (a.k.a Redemption City) believed to be the most important sacred
space of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Nigeria. Adogame
maintains that:
The Camp now physically occupies over ten square kilometres of land acquired
within two decades of its inauguration. The most expansive facility at the site is
a large auditorium believed to host over half a million people at a single
religious event. The geography of the Camp is diversified with physical
structures hosting a conference centre, guesthouse and chalets, and a presidential
villa set aside for government functionaries and politicians who visit the Camp.
Also situated at the site are a maternity centre, an orphanage, a post office, a gas
station, bookstores, supermarkets, bakery, and canteen. Other significant
facilities include two banks, a secondary school, and a bible school. An estate
consisting of residential buildings have come to characterise its topography.
Interested members are allotted space to erect private residential homes. Thus
the significance of the Redemption Camp lies not only in the religious and
spiritual functions it serves for members and non-members alike. It also has
come to represent an avenue where social, economic, cultural, ecological, and
political functions meet at a crossroads.733
Dele Olowu also highlights RCCG’s missions and development activities and
thus reinforces Adogame’s position on the place and relevance of sacred space in the
development of infrastructural facilities. He highlights the upsurge of infrastructural
facilities in Africa Mission (AM), an organisation within the RCCG responsible for the
economic and social conditions of members and others to whom the church has been
called to minister. There are six AM chapters undertaking various developmental
732 Park, ‘Geography and Religion’, p. 22.
733 Afe Adogame, ‘Contesting the Ambivalences of Modernity: The Redeemed Christian Church of God,
North America’, Studies in World Christianity 1 (2004), 9-10.
236
projects: in Canada, continental Europe, Ireland, Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the
United States.734 The infrastructural and other developmental projects of Africa Missions
Nigeria are noteworthy. Olowu writes:
Africa Missions Nigeria has undertaken several projects from its time of
inception to date…. The construction of church buildings, classroom blocks,
clinics / maternities, staff quarters and student dormitories has been a major
focus of the mission. These projects constitute part of the infrastructural facilities
needed by these communities in order to establish a sustainable development
framework for them to thrive. Some of the projects in which AM Nigeria has
been involved include the building of classroom blocks at the RCCG School of
Missions in Ede in southwestern Nigeria; the erection of a hostel room, class
room blocks and staff quarters for the first primary schools in Komla Hills in
Northern Nigeria; … Other projects range from the purchase of motorcycles,
bicycles and vehicles as assistance to the missionaries or local communities at
the various project sites, to the building of a maternity centre at Bakassi
Peninsular Cross River State), and the provision of boreholes and potable water
in Maiduguri in the north of Nigeria. Many more projects are in the pipeline.735
Olowu and Adogame are trying to establish that the significance of sacred space
such as RCCG in the creation of human-centred development projects is scarcely
disputed.
The seeming inseparability between the activities surrounding sacred space or
PMs and the emergence of human-centred development projects come into sharp focus
in Evangelist Gyasi’s poverty reduction intervention at NMOPC. It has already been
indicated elsewhere in this work that after the training and graduation /ordination of
ministers from the SMTC at the NMOPC, the new ministers are allegedly assisted by
Evangelist Gyasi to establish their own churches or ministries. The Evangelist disclosed
to me that the ministers whom he assists to establish their churches are also obliged to
show appreciation and reciprocate his sacrifices. They demonstrate their appreciation and
reciprocate his sacrifices by periodically contributing an amount of money to his fund-
734 Dele Olowu, ‘Faith-Based Organisations and Development: An African Indigenous Organisation in
Perspective’ in Gerrie ter Haar (ed.), Religion and Development: Ways of Transforming the World
(London, United Kingdom: C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 2011), p. 71.
735 Olowu, ‘Faith-Based Organisations and Development’, pp. 71-72.
237
raising programmes meant to ameliorate the suffering of the poor (that is, orphans,
widows, school drop-outs, the unemployed, the sick, etc.) at Nkawkaw and other
neighbouring communities in Ghana.
It is plausible to surmise that the evolution of sacred spaces correspondingly
gives rise to socio-economic activities and infrastructural facilities which ultimately
enhance the wellbeing of pilgrims and other people. In that sense, it is appropriate to
infer that the economic activities surrounding the PMs help in one way or the other in
Ghana’s quest to attain goals one (1) and three (3) of the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development / SDGs. Goal one of the SDGs aims to end poverty in all its
forms by2030, while goal three is to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for
all.736
The development orientation of activities surrounding the PMs are considered to
be of immense theological significance because they appear to variously promote the
dignity of pilgrims who patronise the PMs as well as the local people at the catchment
areas of the PMs. The local people are believed to be economically empowered through
their engagement in luggage carrying, sale of water, food items and other economic
activities on the PMs. Those activities therefore serve as poverty reduction interventions
by which the local people do not only have their dignity enhanced, but also become
economically empowered to effectively contribute to their own development and that of
their dependents.737 The infrastructural facilities at the sacred sites promote what Samuel
N. Boapeah refers to as ‘sustainable development’ since those facilities are seen as
development projects that meet the needs of the pilgrims and the local people.738
736 Gyesi, ‘Creating a new world’, p. 40.
737 Samuel N. Boapeah, Christian Approach to Development: A Guide for Practical Christian Ministry in
Development (Accra, Ghana: Challenge Enterprises of Ghana, n.d.), p. 65.
738 Boapeah, Christian Approach to Development, p. 67.
238
Despite the seemingly impressive contributions of the PMs to the economic
wellbeing of pilgrims, it was observed that the massive influx of pilgrims to the sites
poses several challenges to the pilgrims and the local people of Abasua and Nkawkaw
communities. An examination of some of the responses revealed that the activities
surrounding the PMs sometimes stifle the people with respect to their social
development. On the research field, I found out that even though the luggage-carrying
business in the communities economically empowers the youth and other carriers in one
way or the other, the same activity paradoxically appeared to stifle them by breeding
juvenile delinquency in the communities. Almost all the youth I interviewed affirmed
that the luggage-carrying business economically and socially empower them. By ‘social
empowerment’, I mean the youths’ claim to have a strong aversion for health-impairing
practices (such as smoking and drunkenness) and being in good relationship with
themselves and their elderly people. The elderly people (some of whom were parents and
guardians of some of the luggage-carriers), whom I interviewed,739 disclosed, among
other things, that the luggage-carrying activity economically empowers the youth but
socially stifles them. Owing to what the elderly people referred to as ‘the young people’s
easy access to money through luggage-carrying and other forms of business activities’,
the elderly people claimed that some of the youth were not disciplined at all.
Unwholesome practices such as smoking, truancy, drunkenness, etc., were not only
reported by the elderly respondents as prevalent among some of the youth, but I also
observed those practices among some of them, especially the male luggage-carriers. The
implication is that because the youth who engage in the luggage-carrying activity
considered themselves to be financially independent and capable of managing their own
739 The elderly people interviewed at Abasua from 12-14 August 2016, include Elder Addo (Leader in the
Church of God), Mr. Bismark Adu Gyamfi and Nana Akosua Achiaa (ↄbaapanin of Abasua); Nana Ofori
Agyapong (Nsuta Dikro), Interview, 10 September, 2016, Nkawkaw; Nana Kwaku Kwarteng (Atwea
Dikro), Interview, 29 March, 2017, Abasua.
239
affairs, some of them had become wayward, stubborn and incorrigible to their parents
and guardians. In this sense, the significance of the PMs in enhancing people’s economic
wellbeing becomes paradoxical. For on the one hand, the economic activities
surrounding the PMs promote the development of infrastructural facilities, create
employment for people and hence, enhance their economic wellbeing. On the other hand,
the economic activities which ultimately enhance people’s wellbeing indirectly impair
the relationship between parents or guardians and their children.
5.8 Conclusion
In this chapter, I have discussed the place and relevance of PMs in contemporary
Ghanaian development discourse. The discussion has essentially been anchored on three
central questions. First, to what extent does the belief in the sacredness of PMs
contribute to the quest for Christian eco-theological discourse in Ghana? Second, how
does the appropriation of PMs as sacred spaces promote ecumenical /
interdenominational in Ghana? Third, how do activities surrounding PMs in Ghana
enhance pilgrims’ economic wellbeing? In order to highlight some of the scholarly gaps
that the responses to these questions attempt to fill, I have undertaken a cursory
examination of antecedents of development in the thought of some early philosophers
and some economic development ideologies governments have pursued in Ghana.
Moreover, the chapter has explored the perceived indispensability of religion in
contemporary Ghanaian development discourse. The justification for this is an attempt to
provide of a wide-ranging empirical context and relevant link to the discussion of the
influence of pilgrimage to PMs on Ghana’s quest for Christian eco-theology, on
ecumenical or interdenominational networking and on pilgrims’ economic well-being. It
is obvious that the three central questions undergirding the discussion generally border
on some important aspects of religion and development in contemporary scholarly
pursuits, but which are thought to have eluded academic gaze.
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CHAPTER SIX
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 Introduction
The summary, conclusion and recommendations on the study are presented in
this chapter. The crux of the issues raised and discussed in the study is captured under
the summary session. The conclusion session examines the sustainability of PMs in
Ghanaian Christianity, in the light of some of the themes discussed in the research. The
recommendations on the study focus on areas of this work that require further academic
research.
6.2 Summary of the Research
That there is scarcely any dearth of scholarly discourse on PMs as sacred spaces
in academic, religio-social and cultural contexts, has been accentuated in this study.
Notwithstanding the bourgeoning compendium of literature on PMs, scholarly discourse
on them in contemporary African and Ghanaian Christianity seems limited only to their
role in enhancing pilgrims’ spirituality.
Using Atwea Boↄ, Ͻboↄ Tabiri, APM and NMOPC in Ghana as contextual
examples, this study argues that scholarly focus on PMs as sacred spaces in global
religious cosmology should not be limited only to the conventional thinking of them as
‘sites of transcendent spiritual experiences, encounters with God or appearances by
God.’740 Rather, there are other aspects of PMs considered to be of academic importance
and of national policy implications, but which seem to have fallen out of scholars’ grasp.
These gaps include the perception that:
740 Ryken et al, ‘Mountain’, p. 573.
241
Christians’ pilgrimage to PMs in Ghana has not been examined in the context of
its continuity in primal religion.
Scholars have not paid enough attention to the historical narratives of the
emergence PMs
Scholars have not considered how Pentecostal / Charismatic Christianity serves
as a vehicle for promoting Christians’ appropriation of PMs in Ghana.
Pilgrimage to PMs by large numbers of Christians has implications for
environmental sanitation in Ghana.
The visitation by large numbers of Christian pilgrims around the year is
considered to have implications for ecumenical / interdenominational networking
in Ghana.
Christians’ pilgrimage to PMs has implications for the enhancement of the
economic wellbeing of the communities in which those mountains are located.
Thus the study maintains that scholars’ conventional understanding of PMs as sites
mainly for prayer, worship and divine revelation needs rethinking. Therefore, the main
research question that guides the study is: In what other ways do PMs as sacred spaces
and their perceived continuity in Akan primal religion enhance the development of
Ghanaian Christianity, apart from the conventional thinking of those sacred mountains as
sites for prayer, worship and divine revelation?
In an attempt to respond to this central question, the following sub-questions
were explored:
How do sacred mountains in Akan primal religion constitute a sub-structure
for PMs in Ghanaian Christianity?
What are the historical narratives of the evolution of PMs in Ghanaian
Christianity?
242
How does Pentecostal / Charismatic Christianity serve as a vehicle to promote
pilgrimage to PMs?
To what extent does the belief in the sacredness of PMs contribute to the
quest for Christian eco-theological discourse / environmental sanitation in
Ghana?
How does the appropriation of PMs as sacred spaces promote ecumenical /
interdenominational networking in Ghana?
How do activities surrounding PMs in Ghana enhance people’s economic
wellbeing?
The research is theoretically anchored on Clifford Geertz’s social-anthropological
model. This model to the study of religion highlights the efforts of contemporary
sociologists and anthropologists to find out the function of religion in the society. In his
examination of ethos, worldviews and sacred symbols, Geertz discloses the
interrelationship between religion and social phenomena.
Methodologically, the study is mainly a qualitative one. It generally attempts to
revise the traditional notion of PMs as sacred sites mainly for the promotion of pilgrims’
spirituality. Specifically, the research:
Examines the continuity of Christians’ ritual of pilgrimage to PMs in primal
religious context, with special focus on pilgrimage to Atwea Boↄ and Ͻboↄ
sacred mountains in Akan primal religiosity.
Explores the historical narratives of the evolution of PMs in Ghanaian
Christianity
Investigates how Pentecostal / Charismatic Christianity stimulates pilgrims’
appropriation of PMs
243
Examines the extent to which belief in the sacredness of PMs promotes the quest
for Christian environmental sanitation consciousness or eco-theological discourse
in Ghana
Studies how PMs as sacred spaces enhance ecumenical / interdenominational
networking in Ghana
Explores how PMs in Ghana contribute to the economic wellbeing of people
A diverse approach including historical, theological and phenomenological methods
were employed to guide the collection of relevant field data. I have employed Kenneth L.
Pike’s emic and etic viewpoints for the description of behaviour and examination /
discussion of field data to supplement the multi-dimensional approach to the study. Both
primary and secondary data sources have been used to conduct the study. On the research
fields, I obtained primary data from sources such as participant observation, observation,
structured interviews and unpublished works. Secondary data were collected from
published books, scholarly journals in electronic data bases and other internet sources. A
purposive sampling technique was used to select the four sacred mountains and the
respondents for the study.
I have attempted to point out that Ghanaian Christians’ appropriation of PMs as
sacred spaces for prayer rituals seems rooted in primal religious consciousness. Sacred
mountains in Akan primal religiosity such as Ↄboↄ Tabiri and Atwea Boↄ and their
associated pilgrimage attractions and prayer rituals may be antecedents of the
appropriation of PMs in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity. It is discerned from the
narratives that peoples’ religious inclinations are inextricably linked to their diverse
historical, political, social and cultural experiences. The diverse experiences of the Old
Juaben rebels who migrated to found New Juaben state and the narrative of the founding
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of Abasua and Atwea communities seem to indicate the basis of the peoples’ ardent
primal religious inclinations embodied in sacred mountains; Ↄboↄ Tabiri and Atwea Boↄ.
The Old Juaben peoples’ primal religious consciousness expressed through their
deities, Atwere, Ateko, Abrampon and Boↄnson, the narrative indicates, was a major
catalyst to their encounter with and obedience to the mountain deity (Ↄboↄ Tabiri). Their
encounter with Ↄboↄ Tabiri was also underpinned by their political experiences of defeat,
humiliation, insecurity and social marginalization and their quest for new identity
characterized by migration, new settlement, socio-political, economic and religious
freedom and selfhood. Their encounter with Ↄboↄ Tabiri resulted in the birth of
traditional religious culture which informs and defines the identity of the New Juaben
citizens. The traditional religious culture includes the re-activation of primal religious
services through the institution of annual pilgrimage rituals to the mountain deity and the
establishment of Ↄboↄ Tabiri shrine to provide traditional priesthood services through the
calling and empowerment of Ↄkↄmfoↄ Nana Afua Tabiri.
The indigenous Atwea people’s historical awareness of Atwea boↄ as the source
of the initial settlers, the source of a dog bearing a live coal in its mouth and the source
of a toad mysteriously caring a pot of water had several religious, historical and socio-
cultural ramifications. First, it underscored their historical identity as a people originated
from a mountain deity (that is, ↄboↄ mma).741 Second, it defined their cultural identity as
aduana people (that is the meaning a dog bearing a live coal in its mouth).742 Third, it
formed the basis of their belief in the mountain deity’s influence and power to
favourably respond to their existential concerns (that is, the interpretation of a toad
741 Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, Interview, 29 March 2017, Abasua community
742 Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, Interview, 29 March 2017, Abasua community
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carrying a pot of water).743 Fourth, it reinforced their allegiance to the mountain deity
through religious pilgrimage rituals and other traditional religious practices.
It can be gleaned from the discussion that the quest for identity construction is
one of the primary motivations underlying Akan primal religious practitioners’
allegiance to mountain deities through various pilgrimage rituals and other traditional
religious practices. On the basis of this thesis, I have argued that pilgrimage to sacred
mountains in Akan primal religion is a precursor of Christians’ religious pilgrimage to
PMs. This is because Christians who embark on pilgrimage to PMs also seem to have
identity construction as one of their essential motivations. Unpacking identity
construction as one of the key impetuses for pilgrimage to sacred mountains in both
Akan primal religion and Christianity, it is observed from the narratives that the
adherents of both religious traditions appropriate sacred mountains for utilitarian744
reasons or for what Larbi refers to as ‘salvation that relates to the existential here and
now.’745 The adherents of both religions embark on pilgrimage to sacred mountains
mainly to encounter the transcendental realms in order to experience salvation embodied
in ‘the enjoyment of life, vitality, vigour, and health; a life of happiness and felicity; the
enjoyment of prosperity; that is, wealth, riches, and substance, including children; life of
peace, tranquility; and life free from perturbation.’746 Herein lies the continuity of
Christians’ pilgrimage to PMs in Akan primal religion.
743 Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, Interview, 29 March 2017, Abasua community.
744 Utilitarianism is the theory that the rightness of an act derives from the happiness or pleasure it
produces as its consequences. Utilitarian philosophers include Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), Harriet
Taylor (1807-1858) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). For details, see Moore and Bruder, Philosophy, pp.
286-287.
745 Larbi, Pentecostalism, p.420. See also ‘ New Juaben traditional leaders’ annual pilgrimage to Ͻboↄ
Tabiri…’ in chapter two for the salvific or utilitarian orientation of pilgrimage to sacred mountains in
Akan primal religious thought.
746 Larbi, Pentecostalism, p.420.
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Even though identity construction in terms of the pursuit of total salvation
appears to be a major impetus for pilgrimage to sacred mountains in the two religious
traditions, there are some discontinuities which warrant thoughtful consideration. The
utilitarian orientation of pilgrimage to sacred mountains in Akan primal religious
worldview is single-faceted in the sense that it relates solely to the here and now. There
is no concept of heaven tomorrow.747 The theological identity of Christian pilgrims as
‘strangers’ or ‘foreigners’ here on earth,748 on the other hand, suggests that the utilitarian
orientation of Christians’ pilgrimage to PMs incorporates ‘this-worldliness’ and ‘other-
worldliness’.
Moreover, different prayer rituals are performed in the two religious traditions as
far as their attainment of pilgrimage goals are concerned. The New Juaben traditional
leaders’ annual pilgrimage to Ͻboↄ Tabiri, for instance, implies among others, that
during pilgrimage to sacred mountains, the adherents of Akan primal religion employ
traditional forms of supernatural succour which include the invocation of divinities and
ancestors through libation, to access the desired blessings from the transcendental
realms. Christian pilgrims on the other hand appear to be uncompromisingly hostile to
these traditional religious ways of connecting to the transcendental realms. In Larbi’s
words, ‘[t]hey look to the Christian God as the only and ultimate supernatural succour’749
through several Christian religious rituals such as prayer, fasting, healing, deliverance,
meditations, etc.
Moreover, using APM and NMOPC as case studies, I have tried to explore the
historical narratives of the evolution of PMs in Ghanaian Christianity. The discourse is
747 Larbi, Pentecostalism, p.420.
748 See chapter five of this work.
749 Larbi, Pentecostalism, p.421.
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essentially an account of the construction of previously wild mountainous sites into
sacred spaces for Christian prayer rituals.
It has been found out, for instance, that prior to its evolution as a sacred space for
Christian prayer rituals, APM was called Krↄbo boↄ or Krↄbo Kwasi Bediatuo. Formerly,
it was a powerful mountain deity whose overarching spiritual potency and influence
attracted many clients including warriors and political leaders for ritual bathing and
mystical insulation against potential attacks especially, from malevolent forces and gun
shots.750 Again, as a mountain deity, it had a traditional priest by name Kwabena Adu
who did not only function as the mouth piece of the mountain deity, but also as the
medium through whom clients could reach the deity with their existential concerns.751
Apart from these Akan traditional religious roles of the mountain, it was also the venue
for some other social engagements or activities. It is said that between the year 1959 and
1965, the mountain was a tourist and merry-making centre for some Lebanese and Syrian
traders who utilized the place annually. In the context of Geertz’s social-anthropological
model, the activities on the mountain almost simultaneously function to incorporate the
sacred and the secular realms of existence.
It has also been found out that NMOPC is traditionally referred to as ‘Ͻboↄ
anim’, meaning ‘in front of a rock or mountain’.752 The narrative of the discovery of
‘Ͻboↄ anim’ has explored, among others, the customary ownership of the site and its
tripartite orientation as a cocoa farm, a village site and a non-denominational prayer
ground, prior to its current status as a Christian pilgrimage site. From the narratives of
the discovery of Krↄbo boↄ and Ͻboↄ anim as sacred sites for Christian prayer rituals, it
is plausible to point out that PMs as sacred spaces hardly evolve in a vacuum. They
750 Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, Interview, 29 March 2017, Abasua Community.
751 Nana Kwaku Kwarteng, Interview, 29 March 2017, Abasua Community.
752 Nana Ofori Agyapong, Interview, 10 September, 2016, Nkawkaw.
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gradually emerge and ultimately develop into Christian sacred sites through the interplay
of a diversity of religio-cultural, socio-economic and political forces. Prior to the
discovery of Krↄbo boↄ and Ͻboↄ anim as APM and NMOPC respectively, both sites
played significant roles in the lives of people. They were therefore not on the periphery
of their respective pluralistic contexts.
Moreover, it has been observed that the inception of hierophanic and theophanic
events are significant markers of the sites as sacred spaces for Christian prayer rituals.
The onset of hierophanic and theophanic events at places does not only result in the
discovery of those sites as sacred spaces for Christian religious practices, but it also
culminates in the reconstruction of the sites’ identities; that is, from Krↄbo boↄ to APM
and from Ͻboↄ anim to NMOPC.
Closely related to the evolution of PMs as sacred spaces is the influence of
Pentecostalism on pilgrims’ appropriation of PMs. It has been noted that Pentecostalism
as a modern religious phenomenon has had a great influence on global Christianity,
including Christians’ pilgrimage to PMs. I have argued that Pentecostal experiences such
as dreams, divine revelations, visions and prophecies do not only constitute the reasons
for some pilgrims’ appropriation of PMs, but they also present God as the driving force
of their pilgrimage to PMs and the inspiration for their establishment of Pentecostal /
Charismatic Churches, upon their return.
Furthermore, it could be deduced from the historical narratives of the evolution of
PMs in chapter three of this study that, both APM and NMOPC were believed to be
discovered by Pentecostal Christians. The Rev. Abraham Osei Asibey and Evangelist
Kwadwo Gyasi who are reported to have discovered APM and NMOPC respectively
claimed to have various Pentecostal experiences as part of the rituals culminating in the
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discovery of the sites as sacred spaces. In the light of this, it is plausible to argue that
Pentecostal Christianity influences Christian pilgrims’ patronage of those sites.
Moreover, I have pointed out that one of the features of contemporary Ghanaian
Pentecostalism is the institutionalisation of prayer centres. Since Pentecostalism has
significantly influenced global Christianity including the historic mission denominations,
my argument is that the institutionalisation of pilgrimage to PMs or prayer centres by
historic mission denominations such as the MCG and the PCG, may be understood as a
replication of a Pentecostal practice. In that sense, Pentecostalism is deemed to have
positively influenced the phenomenon of nstitutionalised pilgrimage, especially, among
the historic mission denominations.
Again, it has been observed that Pentecostal Christianity influences pilgrims’
visit to PMs through the setting up of ministerial colleges on PMs. The SMTC at
NMOPC, for instance, is a Pentecostal college which was established through the
initiative of Pentecostal Christians. The instructors who are mainly Pentecostals also
inculcate Pentecostal ideas into the students. The rigorous spiritual renewal programmes
which form an integral part of the students’ training implies that the students do not
climb the mountain only as learners, but also as pilgrims who aspire to encounter the
transcendental realms through various prayer rituals. The implication is that the students’
appropriation of the PM is considered to have been largely motivated by Pentecostal
Christianity.
Besides, I have endeavoured to explain holiness ethics as one of the essential
marks of Pentecostalism. Regular insistence on holiness at the PMs and the dire need for
pilgrims to adhere to it, in my view, are indicative of some of the ways in which
Pentecostal Christianity positively influences Christian pilgrims at the PMs.
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The study however shows that the prevalence on the PMs of various forms of
imprecatory prayers, akin to some aspects of traditional Akan religious practices, and the
theological debates surrounding those prayers, make it contentious for the full sustenance
of the view that Pentecostalism promotes pilgrims’ appropriation of PMs. I maintain that
‘the seeming endless debate about the theological justification or otherwise of
imprecatory prayers is … a reflection of the centrality and sensitive nature of the concept
in Christian theology. The position of each exponent sounds theologically valid as long
as each one avoids relying on the proof-text approach to biblical hermeneutics.
Besides, the study has found out that PMs are significant players in contemporary
Ghanaian development discourse. It has been said that development has been a major
focus of many African countries including Ghana since independence. In its general
terms, development points to release from that which holds a person or a group of people
back. It indicates restoration and transformation which find expression in progress and
well-being. In that sense, development underscores a sequence of positive and systematic
changes that lead to the growth and progress of people and their community.
Development thus culminates in some positive progress in the condition of people in a
country. Its basic objective is, therefore, to create an enabling environment for people to
enjoy long, healthy and creative lives.
As a major aspiration of many countries including Ghana, development has for a
long time been pursued such that social, economic and political arrangements ought to be
judged by the extent to which they promote human good or wellbeing. Ghana’s
development trajectory indicates that the country has had an interesting human
development strategy from pre-independence period to the present time. Development
has been pursued from socio-economic perspectives. Unfortunately, the socio-economic
interventions which aimed at improving the standard of living of Ghanaians did not fully
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realize the intended objectives. Whereas some Ghanaians must have massively benefitted
from these interventions, paradoxically, such interventions plunged the majority of
citizens in a quagmire of poverty and sapped their very existence.
This implies that it is inadequate to pursue development in only socio-economic
terms, since it excludes other important components such as spiritual dimensions. This
inadequacy has necessitated the need for a comprehensive development ideology which
does not deal only with the socio-economic aspects of life, but also spiritual aspects as
well. This suggests the need for a paradigmatic shift in models of development from their
purely socio-economic orientations to a more humane model which advocates a holistic
emphasis of development. The humane approach encapsulates the totality of man’s
existence: social, economic, political, cultural, spiritual, moral, etc. The constituents or
elements of the humane approach underscore the resurgence of religion in contemporary
development discourse.
Against this backdrop, I have examined the interface between religion and
development, with special attention to the place and relevance of PMs in contemporary
Ghanaian development discourse. I have concentrated on three thematic areas of the
interface between PMs and development. The first is the extent to which pilgrims’ belief
in the sacredness of PMs contributes to the quest for environmental sanitation
consciousness or Christian eco-theological discourse in Ghana. Christian eco-theological
discourse and some of the modern growing awareness of ecological crisis that appears to
justify the intervention of stakeholders (such as faith-based organizations) have also been
briefly explored. My contention is that the prevalence of environmental sanitation
consciousness at the PMs, owing largely to pilgrims’ perception of their encounter with
the transcendental realms, seems to be a novel theological paradigm to be employed to
mitigate the escalating and developmental issue of environmental filthiness in Ghana.
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In the light of this contention, it has been established that African Christian eco-
theology is holistic and sustainable motivation for environmental sanitation. This is
because it ideally emphasises the need for African / Ghanaian Christian pilgrims to
integrate the views of environmental sanitation inherent in primal religious tradition and
Christianity, and relevantly apply them in the larger Ghanaian context, as they would at
designated sacred sites such as PMs. This fusion of two religious worldviews in
fashioning out environmental sanitation programme in Ghana has liturgical,
hermeneutical and policy implications for national cohesion, unity and development. In
Ghana where majority of the population (about 69%) claims to profess Christianity,
African Christian eco-theology appears to be a unifying hub of the various Christian
denominations to conscientiously mitigate environmental sanitation challenges, to
promote unity and solidarity among the different Christian denominations and to
stimulate sustainable national development.
It has been underscored that in Ghana, African Christian eco-theology appears to
be one of the indispensable tools for the attainment of goal six (6) of the United Nations’
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, popularly referred to as the ‘Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs).’ Goal six (6) of the seventeen (17) SDGs urges
governments to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation
for all.
Secondly, the chapter has explored how the appropriation of PMs promotes
ecumenical / interdenominational networking in Ghana. It has been observed that the
sacred sites have an integrative function of bringing pilgrims from various backgrounds
together to engage in various forms of religio-social activities which in turn stimulate
social cohesion and social solidarity.
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The integrative function of PMs is substantiated by the following statistics on
gender and denominational patronage of Camp Three of APM. The study reveals that
from the year 2002 to 2015, a grand total of three hundred and seventy nine thousand,
one hundred and seventy four (379,174) pilgrims, comprising one hundred and seventy
two thousand, six hundred and seventy two (172,672) males and two hundred and six
thousand, five hundred and two (206,502) females patronised the site. The study further
indicates that from the year 2004 to 2015, a grand total of two hundred and four
thousand, eight hundred and sixty two (204,862) non-Methodist pilgrims, comprising
ninety five thousand, four hundred and fifty six (95,456) males and one hundred and nine
thousand, four hundred and six (109,406) females appropriated the site. Moreover, the
research shows that from the year 2004 to 2015, a grand total of one hundred and thirty
one thousand, nine hundred and thirty five (131,935) Methodist pilgrims, comprising
fifty three thousand, four hundred and forty eight (53,448) males and seventy eight
thousand, four hundred and eighty seven (78487) females visited the Camp.
It could be inferred from these statistics that generally, the female pilgrims who
patronise the site outnumber the males. Out of the grand total of 379,174 Methodist and
non-Methodist pilgrims who visited the site from 2002 to 2015, 172,672 were males,
whilst females totaled 206,502. Again, out of the grand total of 204,862 non-Methodist
pilgrims who visited the site within the period under consideration, 95,456 were males,
whilst 109,406 were females. Furthermore, out of the grand total of 131,935 Methodist
pilgrims who patronised the site from 2002 to 2015, males totaled 53,448, whilst females
totaled 78,487. The integrative function of the PMs is considered to be theological in
perspective, since it reflects the notion of the perceived communal orientation of the
Christian God whom the pilgrims seek to engage through various prayer rituals.
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Thirdly, I have examined how the activities surrounding PMs in Ghana enhance
pilgrims’ and other people’s economic wellbeing. It has been found out that the influx of
pilgrims to PMs stimulates economic activities which also have ripple effects on the
development of infrastructural facilities and enhancement of pilgrims’ and other people’s
economic wellbeing. It is therefore reasonable to surmise that the emergence of sacred
spaces and their attendant pilgrimage attractions correspondingly stimulate economic
activities and the wellbeing of pilgrims and other people. The implication is that the
economic activities surrounding the PMs help in one way or the other in Ghana’s quest
to attain goals one (1) and three (3) of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development / SDGs. Goal one of the SDGs aims to end poverty in all its forms by2030.
Goal three, on the other hand, is to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all.
Notwithstanding the laudable contributions of the PMs to the enhancement of the
economic wellbeing of pilgrims and other people, the massive influx of pilgrims to the
sites poses several challenges to the pilgrims and the local people who also patronise the
sites.
6.3 Conclusion: The Sustainability of Prayer Mountains as Sacred Spaces in
Ghanaian Christianity
The fallouts from the study seem to present two diametrically opposed
standpoints with respect to the sustainability of the PMs phenomenon and its attendant
pilgrimage attraction in Ghanaian Christianity. Some of the findings appear to suggest
that the phenomenon is sustainable, while other findings seem to suggest the opposite.
These two divergent positions are examined below. I first consider the sustainability
debate.
The PM phenomenon promises to have an enduring and sustainable future owing
largely to its strong affinity with sacred mountains in Akan primal religion. The study
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has revealed that pilgrimage to sacred mountains (such as Ͻboↄ Tabiri and Atwea Boↄ)
in Akan primal religion is the substructure of Christians’ pilgrimage to PMs (such as
APM and NMOPC). Scholars maintain that contemporary religious traditions or
phenomena that maintain strong affinity with the primal religion are known to have the
propensity to endure, to remain focused and to become resistant to secularization
pressures.753 Empirical evidence in Ghana that seems to attest to the future sustainability
of the PM phenomenon is that PMs have been attracting many pilgrims from diverse
Christian denominational persuasions, since their discovery as sacred spaces. Moreover,
some churches in Ghana are currently developing additional mountainous prayer sites to
augment the few already in existence. Examples of such churches are the MCG and the
PCG.
Another development that appears to significantly contribute to the sustainability
of the PM phenomenon, the study shows, is influence of Pentecostalism on the
appropriation of PMs by pilgrims. The influence of Pentecostalism on global Christianity
is scarcely disputed. Ghanaian Pentecostal scholars such as Omenyo, Abamfo Ofori
Atiemo, Asamoah-Gyadu and Kingsley Larbi have argued that as far as the African
situation is concerned, Pentecostalism offers the most palpable evidence of the current
exponential growth taking place within African Christianity.754 In the light of the
enduring and favourable influence of Pentecostalism on pilgrims’ patronage of PMs, it is
753 Rev. Dr. Benhardt Quarshie, the Rector of Akrofi-Christaller Institute (ACI) of Theology, Mission and
Culture at Akropong, Ghana, made this statement as part of his response to a question I asked, when the
graduate students of the Department for the Study of Religions of the University of Ghana, Legon, visited
the ACI on the 18th March, 2016, as part of the Experiential Learning component of the Department’s PhD
students. Rev. Dr. Quarshie attributed this statement to Andrew F. Walls, one of the World’s doyen
Missiologists. See Bediako, Jesus in Africa, p. 21., Andrew F. Walls, The Missionary Movements in
Christian History: Studies in the Transmission of Faith (New York: Orbis Books, 2004), pp. 119-139.
754 Omenyo, Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism, pp. 301-306. See also Abamfo Ofori Atiemo, The Rise of
Charismatic Movements in the Mainline Churches in Ghana (Accra, 1993); Asamoah-Gyadu, African
Charismatics, pp. 233-248; Emmanuel Kingsley Larbi, Pentecostalism: The Eddies of Ghanaian
Christianity (Ghana: Blessed Publications, 2001), p. xii.
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just logical to infer that the phenomenon of PMs in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity
has a promising future. As a result of Pentecostal Christianity, the PMs are seen as
‘Spiritual Power Houses’ of contemporary Ghanaian Christianity. They are sites where
some pilgrims claim to receive spiritual gifts or divine calling to start their own Christian
Ministries (CMs) which are almost always Pentecostal / Charismatic churches.
The role of Pentecostalism in stimulating pilgrims’ patronage of PMs, the study
reveals, are the establishment of ministerial training school on NMOPC,
institutionalisation of pilgrimage and emphasis on holiness ethics. The curriculum of the
ministerial training school, thorough spiritual preparations of the ministerial candidates
prior to their graduation / ordination and the support the newly ordained ministers
receive to start their churches, in my view, hint at efforts to sustain the PM phenomenon.
As ‘Spiritual Power Houses’, PMs have the propensity to be sustainable because almost
all Christian pilgrims recognise them as contexts for spiritual renewal, vitality and
nourishment.
Furthermore, the quest for Christian eco-theological discourse in Ghana to
mitigate her environmental filthiness, huge Christian pilgrims’ patronage of PM and the
possibility of replicating the notion of pilgrims’ sanitation consciousness at sacred
spaces, are some of the vivid pointers to the sustainability of the PM phenomenon in
Ghanaian Christianity. The study shows that the fusion of the notions of environmental
sanitation consciousness inherent in Akan primal religion and Christianity, would be a
viable force to address the developmental issue of insanitary environmental conditions
currently engulfing Ghana.
Besides, in a religiously pluralistic Ghana, a religious phenomenon (such as
Christians’ pilgrimage to PMs) that has a strong integrative function appears to be
overtly sustainable. This is partly because it breeds cross-cultural interactions, unity,
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solidarity and cohesion, thus providing the necessary safety valves against potential
religious, political or ethnic conflicts.
In addition, the PM phenomenon is sustainable owing to the economic well-being
opportunities it offers pilgrims and other users of the sites. The study reveals that
lucrative economic activities, including luggage carriage, buying and selling, etc.,
surrounding the PMs are seen as timely interventions that salvage some pilgrims and
other users of the site from economic destitution.
In spite of the above arguments in favour of the sustainability of the PM
phenomenon in Ghanaian Christianity, other scholarly views appear to suggest
otherwise. Thus the second divergent position focuses on the non-sustainability debate.
The prevalence of some counter-productive practices associated with pilgrimage
to the PMs seems to challenge the validity of the sustainability debate. For instance, the
study reveals that the prevalence on the PMs of imprecatory prayer rituals akin to some
African primal religious practices, appears to negate pilgrims’ quest for holiness,
understood as transformation of character, love of God and neighbor. The practice of
imprecatory prayers seems to casts doubt about the perceived authentic Christian
spiritual orientation of the sites.
Moreover, the study shows that the economic activities that promote the
wellbeing of the youth who carry luggage at the sites, paradoxically impairs them. It has
been observed in the study that owing to the young people’s relative financial or
economic independence as a result of their engagement in the economic activities
surrounding the PMs, some of them are disrespectful to their parents. The miscreant
behaviour of the youth is crucial in this context because it is partly attributed to
pilgrimage which is ostensibly a productive religious activity. In this sense, pilgrimage to
PMs becomes an enigma. The escalating delinquency of the youth would inevitably
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arouse the displeasure of concerned stakeholders such as traditional, political and
ecclesiastical authorities. Some of the possible outcomes of the intervention of these
stakeholders may be de-institutionalisation and anathematization of organized pilgrimage
to such sites.
Furthermore, owing to what I refer to in this study as geo-cultural homogeneity
of sacred sites755, the development of other prayer centres by some churches in Ghana
may ultimately reduce pilgrims’ preference for and patronage of PMs as sacred sites.
This implies that PMs functioning as centres of massive pilgrimage attractions may not
be the case always.
The debate on the non-sustainability of the PM phenomenon corroborates
Kwame Bediako’s observation attests to the inevitable variations in the centres of
Christian religious attraction:
It does not require exhaustive investigation to demonstrate that the history of
Christian expansion from its origins is not marked by inexorable, uniform, and
cumulative growth in every context of its manifestation. Through the successive
shifts in its centre of gravity and relocation of its heartlands – from the Jewish to
the Hellenistic world, to the Barbarian world of Northern and Western Europe,
and to its present heartlands in the southern continents of South America, Asia
and Africa – the evidence of Christian expansion shows that both accession and
recession belong within Christian religious history. This itself qualifies as a
unique feature of the Christian religion: among all major religions, the Christian
religion presents the unusual characteristic of being comparatively marginal in
the land of its birth. One could reasonably conclude that there is no such thing as
a permanent centre of Christianity. Every centre is a potential periphery; while
every periphery is a potential centre.756
Even though Bediako’s observation is in respect of the historical geographical
shifts characterising Christianity, it may in this context also allude to the possible
variability of PM phenomenon in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity. In that sense, it is
755 I define geo-cultural homogeneity of sacred sites as the attraction of sacred sites to religious pilgrims of
diverse geographical and cultural persuasions who are indifferent to the popular perceptions of spiritual
potency of the sites.
756 Kwame Bediako, ‘Whose Religion is Christianity? Reflections on Opportunities and Challenges in
Christian Theological Scholarship: The African Dimension’, in Andrew Walls and Cathy Ross (eds.)
Mission in the 21st Century: Exploring the Five Marks of Global Mission (New York: Orbis Books, 2008),
pp. 107-117 (108).
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plausible to contend that APM and NMOPC as important sacred sites as they are, may in
future be on the periphery of Ghanaian Christian pilgrimage sites. However, it seems to
me that Bediako’s position is contentious, at least in Ghana, because of the argument in
favour of the sustainability of PM phenomenon predicated on the phenomenon’s strong
affinity with primal religious tradition.
The attempt to rethink the conventional understanding of PMs and the debate on
the sustainability of PMs appear to underscore the fluidity of the phenomenon in
Ghanaian Christianity. In addition to the traditional notion of PMs as centres for the
enhancement of pilgrims’ spirituality, this study has endeavoured to unearth other
dimensions perceived to be oblivious to scholars. These dimensions include the
continuity and discontinuity of Christians’ pilgrimage to PMs in Akan primal religious
thought; the historical narratives of the emergence of PMs in Ghanaian Christianity and
Pentecostalism as a religious phenomenon that may promote pilgrims’ appropriation of
PMs in Ghana. It has also been emphasised in the work that Christians’ pilgrimage to
PMs seems to have implications for environmental sanitation, ecumenical /
interdenominational networking and economic wellbeing of the communities in which
the PMs are located.
6.4 Recommendations
In spite of the few areas where PMs seem to stifle the development of the people
or communities where the sacred mountains are located, the place and relevance of PMs
in development discourse is, in my opinion, scarcely doubted. Therefore, churches
should collaborate with corporate bodies, Non- governmental organisations (NGOs) and
the government of Ghana to develop more PMs to stimulate more development in the
country.
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The following are some of the areas in the study which are recommended for further
academic research:
A detailed study of the initiatives of Ghanaian Christians in the development of
PMs in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity757
Founders of Prayer Mountain-related-Pentecostal Churches in Ghanaian
Christianity: A narrative of their alleged encounters with Jesus Christ on the PMs
and the culmination of such encounters in the establishment of their
denominations.758
A comparative study of gender patronage of PMs in Ghanaian Christianity759
757 See chapter three of this work.
758 See chapter four of this work
759 See chapter five of this work
261
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APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Interview Schedules
A. Interview schedule for traditional leaders of Abasua and Nkawkaw
communities
1. Please what is your full name?
2. Please kindly tell me the history of this community.
3. Please tell me the nature of religion in the community before Christianity was
introduced.
4. Please kindly tell me the history of this Prayer Mountain.
5. Please apart from its relevance as a prayer / pilgrimage site for Christians, in what
other ways is the Prayer Mountain beneficial to this community?
6. Please are there any disadvantages of the Prayer Mountain to the development of
this community? Please explain, if yes.
B. Interview schedule for pastors and lay people who patronise the APM and
NMOPC as pilgrims
1. Please what is your full name?
2. Please are you a pastor or a lay pilgrim?
3. Please how did you hear about the Prayer Mountain?
4. Please why do you come to this Prayer Mountain?
5. Please have you personally experienced any miracle or divine revelation on
this Prayer Mountain before? If yes, please tell me.
6. Please how does the sacredness of the Prayer Mountain promote:
a. ecumenical networking
283
b. economic wellbeing of the communities in which the Prayer Mountains
are located
c. pilgrims’ awareness of environmental sanitation?
7. Please are there any disadvantages of the Prayer Mountain to the development
of this community? Please explain, if yes.
C. Interview schedule for luggage-carriers at the Prayer Mountains
1. Please what is your full name?
2. Please how old are you?
3. Please what is your level of education?
4. Please what is your occupation?
5. Please in your opinion, how relevant is the Prayer Mountain to you or the
youth in this community?
6. Please does the Prayer Mountain stifle you or this community in any way? If
yes, please explain.
D. Interview schedule for drivers
1. Please what is your name?
2. Please what are some of the benefits you derive as a driver from Christians’
use of the Prayer Mountains?
3. Please what are some of the disadvantages in your work as driver who plies
the communities in which APM and NMOPC are located?
E. List of some of the ministerial students who were ordained / graduated by
Salvation Ministerial College at NMOPC on 3rd September, 2016
1. Rev. Richard N. Ansah
2. Rev. Nicholas O. Sasu
3. Rev. Prince K. Antwi
4. Rev. Sampson Owusu
5. Rev. Opari Junior
6. Rev. David Antwi
7. Rev. Daniel Appiah
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8. Rev. Esther Baffolo
9. Rev. Esther Woadie
10. Rev. Mary Mperah
11. Rev. Ernest Kwako Owusu
12. Rev. Gifty Ansah
13. Rev. Douglas Fosu Boateng
14. Rev. Owusua Diana
15. Rev. Darkoster Osei
16. Rev. victoria S. Agyapong
285
Appendix 2: Photographs
A picture of Nana Afua Tabiri in ‘Kente cloth’ under possession by the Mountain Deity
ↃboↃ Tabiri.
A welcome signpost of Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp
286
Some rules and regulations at Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp
287
Evangelist Frank K. Gyasi (right) in a handshake with the researcher after an interview
the Evangelist granted the researcher at Nkawkaw Mountain Olive Prayer Camp.
Areaview of Camp Three of Abasua Prayer Mountain
288
A bare rocky compound of Camp Three of Abasua Prayer Mountain. Pilgrims have
placed their items such as water and anointing oil at where the Rev. Abraham Osei
Asibey was allegedly engulfed in a clouds on his maiden visit to the Mountain.
A man carrying pilgrims’ luggage to Abasua Prayer Mountain
289