M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

The Day of Africa
Text by Maurine Proctor and Sylvia Finlayson
Photography by Scot Facer Proctor

click photos to enlarge

PART THREE
The Lord Has a Home

Tears were the order of the day.  Miles Cunningham, an early mission president, cried when he spoke of the temple and the landmark growth in the people..  Three of his former missionaries had now become mission presidents in West Africa.  Many more are stalwart Church members and leaders.

The members we interviewed on the temple grounds displayed a richness in understanding of the gospel.  Grace Siriboe, converted in Nigeria, said, “We think that the Lord has not looked upon our imperfections and denied us anything.  Rather I think he has forgiven us our sins and given us this wonderful thing.

“Now, we have a place for the Lord to live in in the country.  If you have a place for the Lord to live, the Love will live with you all the time.  Wherever the Lord is, he makes sure he blesses the people, the land and the efforts of the people. I know the land is going to be blessed, not only Ghana, not only West Africa, but black Africa as a whole.  We are very happy about that.”

Preparing Members

Preparing members for the temple ordinances has been the mighty focus of the local priesthood leaders.  This was a special challenge because up until recently, many of them, lacking means, had not been able to do their own temple work.  How can you prepare a people for the temple if you have no understanding of it yourself?

To solve this, in the last few years, with support,  all of the leaders and their wives have gone to the temple, most to Johannesburg, South Africa,  to receive their own endowments and sealing blessings.  Then, like a candle that can in turn light many others, they have taught their ward and branch members about temple blessings.

This does not mean, however, that their children were sealed to them.  It was not whole families, but couples only in most cases, that received their sealing blessings.  Most Church leaders in Ghana were working exhausting hours, holding temple preparation classes, urging the Saints to be temple-ready, and looking forward to their own blessings as well.

The Ghana temple dedication flung open the doors for these leaders who have worked tirelessly without all of the eternal blessings for their children to be sealed to them.

Who are these people, who have given so much based on faith and promises, without yet having received all of the blessings in return?

Imagine a stake president whose children does not yet have the covenant blessings.  A bishop who has been a loyal Church member for many years who has only recently been sealed to his wife.  This has been West Africa without their own temple.

Isaac Ferguson, the West Africa Area Welfare Manager, has a sign in his office, “What is essential is invisible to the eye.”  The black priesthood leaders in West Africa have kept their eyes on what is essential.

Richard K. Ahadjie, president of the Accra Ghana Stake, for instance, was sealed to his wife and one child, another was born in the covenant, but with the Ghana temple dedicated, four more of his children can be sealed to them.  Bli bi Tok Philippe, President of the du Pieu d’Abidjan Stake in the Ivory Coast brought six children to the temple dedication, none of whom had been sealed.  He and his wife were not returning to the Ivory Coast until that sealing ceremony took place.

President Ahadjie, who has 3,360 people in his stake said, “For the past month, I’ve done at least twenty recommend interviews every day—even up until yesterday.  People have come to the stake center.  They have come to my home, hoping to be ready for the temple.  Everyone has participated in special temple-ready classes.”

Not only will his stake in Accra Ghana swell with an enhanced spirituality from their own temple attendance, the temple opens new opportunities for missionary work.  Last year his stake saw 406 baptisms, but since the temple openhouse yielded more than 2,000 referrals, most of them in his stake boundaries, he anticipates that this year they will see many more.  “This year we will see hundreds of baptisms in our stake,” he said.  “We are going to set a goal of more than 100 for each of the 13 wards in our stake.”

One Ghanaian family who live in London have come for the dedication.  They have chosen to live in London for many years, not because their pay is better, but for one reason.  “We love the temple and we wanted to be close to it.  Now, maybe we can think about coming home.”

Click here to go to Part 4 of The Day of Africa

Click here to sign up for Meridian's FREE email updates.