Bishop Prof. Annor-Yeboah: A real gem of God’s ministry
The much celebrated Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth in the First Century: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not forsaken; cast down but not destroyed….
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For we, who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also might be made manifest in our mortal flesh…. For our light affliction, which is for a moment worked for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” – 2 Corinthians 4:8, 9, 11, 16-18.
We have quoted these sources of knowledge, both secular and religious, as a precursor to what we, of your pastorate, have to tell the whole world about you, for we know these to be the hallmarks which underscored your life and ministry.
Our dearest Lord Bishop Prof. Augustine Annor-Yeboah, we generally acknowledge you as one of the rarest gems of the many gifts the resurrected Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, gave to the world upon his ascension.
Papa, in you we saw the tangible manifestations of all the fivefold ministerial offices, namely, Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and astute Teacher of the word of God. Your in-depth exposition of the word of God was always practical, profound and very professional.
Your proficiency in handling and explaining otherwise controversial doctrinal issues in the Bible is unsurpassed. Your insatiable quest for church planting was unbridled; no wonder in such a short period of barely eleven years after leaving your mother church, the Lord helped you to found Christian Praise International Centre and set up as many as 207 branches of the church nationwide, and a few abroad. Your administrative prowess was, to us, matchless.
We all converged on your feet as our tutor and mentor from all spheres of life as we were called into ministry. Most of us came as novices, but just as our Lord Jesus Christ mentored and tutored his disciples who knew next to nothing, they became like their master, so also have you trained us in the way of the Lord as pastors, to effectively deliver to the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Papa, you inculcated in us a God-fearing attitude - which is our watchword in our dealings with God’s people, as well as the people of the world so as to win more souls for Christ. Your personal life and ministry challenged us, and it will continue to be a major motivation for us throughout our lifetime. Your selfless devotion to the work of God and His Kingdom was simply sacrificial.
Your total reliance on God’s ability to do all things was amazing; it was a principle you staunchly believed in and fervently proclaimed publicly. You relentlessly committed all your resources to the church just for its expansion and qualitative growth. You made sure your pastors were well-catered for, hence the institution of some supportive packages for a start, even though you did not take any!
Most of us, as your mentees, could not keep pace with your work rate in ministry, hence your constant admonition and counselling for us to rely and depend on the Holy Spirit in our ministry. Under your ministry, you did not countenance lousy attitudes such as high-mindedness, mediocrity, presumptuousness and worst of all, a lackadaisical approach to the work of God.
Your ministerial standards were so high that those who could not meet them simply had to fall out. While working under you, we realised you did not permit the current trend of misinterpretation and misapplication of scripture to suit one’s reasoning in order to exploit the vulnerable in our society. You would always come out openly to right the wrong in order to make the society know what the word of God says, thus presenting the truth as it is in the Bible.
Papa, you were such a caring father to all of us, always wanting to know what problems we faced, whether financial, domestic or social, you readily solved them for us. You were so down-to-earth, so sociable. Papa, we who were with you in close quarters cannot forget your “tomorrow-today” agenda for us, whereby you personally served us with food which was prepared for you late in the evening - which we enjoyed so much!
This was so because you always returned home very late from your assignments, such as crusades and revival programmes, for which reason your supper was always for “the boys.” We will always remember with nostalgia your professorial pep talks with us any time you gathered us together at seminars and other events. Your huge personality as a man of God presented us with an equally huge responsibility to attempt to describe fully what you truly represented. It is very difficult for us, so we humbly leave the rest to the Omniscient One.
We want to assure you, papa that we shall as much as possible, with the help of God, bear aloft the torch of the Christian Praise International Centre which you lit some 11 years ago, which agenda is to win more souls for Christ to realise the purpose for which He (Jesus Christ) came to die on the cross.
Fare thee well, Papa