Apostle Henry Dodoo-Amoo: Moved by God to excel
Apostle Henry Nii Otoo Dodoo-Amoo appears to have an innate navigational system that enables him to operate in spaces where his efforts are always crowned with resounding success. When he turned 60 years old yesterday, May 11, he proudly looked back on his life and praised God for granting him the mercy to be an astute banker, doting father and a spirit-filled priest.
Childhood poverty
Born into a large family of 17 children, Apostle Dodoo-Amoo still carries memories of having to survive the hardships of poverty and the delight of embracing discipline from his blacksmith father.
According to the retired banker, there were times they had to go for an entire day without food simply because there was no money; the family had borrowed from all the sellers in the community until there was no one left to borrow from in the neighbourhood.
Most of his childhood was spent at Tarkwa in the Western Region where his father was on transfer as a blacksmith with the then Ghana Railway Corporation.
“Though my father didn’t go far with formal education, he read a lot. He was a member of a book club from where he received books every month. His reading habit opened his mind to the fact that through getting his children educated, he could pull them out of poverty.
“My father used to say, ‘Don’t allow anybody to look down on you because you are poor. When you educate yourself well, you’ll get out of poverty’,” Apostle Dodoo-Amoo pointed out.
That saying encouraged him to work extremely hard at his studies. He and the rest of his siblings were aware that at the end of each term, they would sit before daddy to give an account of their performance in each subject. As such, the drive to learn overpowered the urge to do anything else.
Accra days
At the age of 12, he came to Accra where he grew up at the Bukom, Akoto-Lante and Jamestown areas.
He used to go to the beach to help fishermen haul in their catch. He would then get some fish to sell and bring some home.
He also used to sell polythene bags after school every afternoon at the nearby Salaga Market to those coming to buy fish.
When he entered secondary school, he and a brother used to go to construction sites to carry concrete and blocks during vacations so they could make money to take care of their needs for the following term.
He said they paid their way through secondary school mostly with money made from their vacation jobs.
Today, one of his brothers is a professor in a top university in the United Kingdom and the youngest of them, who used to sell newspapers, is a nuclear scientist in the United States.
Apostle Dodoo-Amoo initially did not conceive of himself working in a bank. An internship served at the head Office of UAC at Swanmill in Accra during his secondary school days, however, turned his mind to working in a smart uniform in a cosy office after school.
Work at Stanchart
He started working in Stanchart with an O’ Level certificate. He was later encouraged to do the Bankers’ Association Examinations. There came a time that the bank started recruiting university graduates to be placed in higher ranks than people like him who had more experience.
Inspired to improve himself, Apostle Dodoo-Amoo quit the banking course at a certain stage and approached his managing director for a loan to finance his education for a degree.
He was surprisingly informed by the boss of a Master’s degree programme sponsored by the bank.
He applied for the course and out of over 2,000 applicants from across the globe, he was one of the 18 who qualified to pursue the programme sanctioned by a graduate school in the United Kingdom.
He was the only one without a degree but got in due to his demonstration of knowledge at the workplace and level of competence.
Apostle Dodoo-Amoo steadily rose through the ranks of the corporate ladder from being a clerk to a supervisor, junior manager, senior manager and then international manager until he finally retired as a Chief Risk Officer of the bank, an official who sits on the executive board of the bank, as well as a member of the board.
He was also a Stanchart regional trainer for West Africa and that enabled him to travel to many countries in the sub-region.
He gleaned a lot of values from Stanchart including trust, honesty, diversity, responsiveness, responsibility and transparency which guided him in his 35 years of work with the bank.
“I am who I am partly because I worked in that great organisation,” asserted the man who likened his work at the bank to service to God.
Born again
While attending an event organised by Joyful Way Incorporated on December 26, 1977, Apostle Dodoo-Amoo got born again but he struggled with the decision to surrender wholly to Jesus as his Lord and Saviour.
He was eventually led to Christ in June 1978 at a programme by Youth for Christ which was then led by Uncle Ebo Whyte.
This was sometime after he joined Stanchart. Since he was involved with a lot of Christian activities, he hardly had the time to consider getting into a relationship until he turned 27. He started feeling the need to know a lady as his beloved.
He had a conversation with his pastor and told him he had reached a point where he needed to start looking at marriage.
His pastor pointed to a lady but the then young banker had his eyes on a another one called Frances whom he had come to admire mainly for her zeal for serving God.
Apostle Frances Dodoo-Amoo
Today, Apostle Dodoo-Amoo and Apostle Frances Dodoo-Amoo have been married for over three decades in a union of ever-increasing love that has brought forth three grown-up offspring: James, Harry and Eric. They also have three adopted daughters: Winifred, Martha and Leticia.
Apostle Dodoo-Amoo says his wonderful and anointed wife is the best thing that happened to him after he got born again and that he attributes the ability to be a wonderful husband and father to the grace of God.
He joined the Gospel Light International Church in March, 1990 because “I came. I saw. I loved it and I stayed.”
Apostle Dodoo-Amoo says the Presiding Bishop of Gospel Light, Bishop Matthew Addae-Mensah, has impacted his life in more ways than he could describe.
Starting off as an elder, he became a pastor and was ordained as a Reverend Minister in 2009. With a congregation of just 49 members at Nungua PRESECO, Apostle Dodoo-Amoo has now established a solid network of Gospel Light branches spread across the eastern end of Accra.
‘You are extra useful to God’
At a recent programme dubbed ‘Time with a Legend’, Apostle Dodoo-Amoo advised the teeming crowd thus:
“Have a strong desire and a burning passion in you to make it in life. God wants you to make it because you are extra useful to Him. If you are placed at a higher position, you can influence more for Christianity.
“When I got born again, I was running a fellowship in the bank. I preached on the bus that brought the bank staff to work in the mornings and evenings. I was hardworking and very respectful. I did what I had to do.”
60th year celebration
Yesterday, May 11, friends, family and other acquaintances of Apostle Dodoo-Amoo celebrated 60 years of fruitfulness, productivity and grace in the life of a great general of God, a true banker and a loving father.
The past 60 years have been great. All who know Apostle Dodoo-Amoo, however, believe the coming years would be more glorious and the man of God would have greater testimonies to share.