a call for transformation by ghanaian believers€¦ · transformation. dr. fountain’s insights...

3
78 W hen challenged to work for the transformation of the mindset that creates the ethos of our homeland that I have been trying to present, we respond with, “at is how it has always been.” We point to our past, we reiterate the ideology of san kofa. Going back into our tradition, our history and our culture, we retrieve for today only what confirms what we want to continue doing. It is our culture, we say, when we want to continue with bribery. But we leave the fact that we are the makers of our culture and that we have been transforming aspects of it continually. We conveniently forget that our forefathers expect us to be creative so that we might straighten what they have left crooked and find innovative ways of journeying together as a people worthy of our heritage and determined to improve upon it for posterity. For Ghana today the most urgent task is the transformation of our mindset. Preachers are pointing at this, only mostly they move us with what will make for our personal advancement only. We need motivational preachers who will direct us towards the prosperity and integrity of the whole nation. San kofa should mean, “go back and retrieve from the store of traditional wisdom, culture, beliefs and practices, what is required for the new duties presented by the new occasions we are faced with.” e hymnist James Russell Lowell says, “time makes ancient good uncouth” (Methodist Hymn Book 898. See the 1933 edition. Methodist Publishing House, England. All the hymns used in these reflections are taken from this edition which continues to be in use in Ghana). e resting places of yesteryears are no longer our resting places. When Owura Amu was teaching us the song about Okofo Kwasi Barima, what he was saying to us is that this confused man struggling to achieve fame should look into the past for wisdom and well-being as the birds go to the fatty glands of their tail to fetch oil to preen themselves. He was saying there is a wealth of resources in our culture that can make us noble and compassionate and just. When we look back it is these things that we should bring back. A CALL FOR TRANSFORMATION BY GHANAIAN BELIEVERS

Upload: others

Post on 06-Jul-2020

0 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: A CALL FOR TRANSFORMATION BY GHANAIAN BELIEVERS€¦ · transformation. Dr. Fountain’s insights into health and wholeness have changed countless lives and communities. Part memoir,

78

W hen challenged to work for the transformation of the mindset that creates the ethos of our homeland that I have been trying

to present, we respond with, “That is how it has always been.” We point to our past, we reiterate the ideology of san kofa. Going back into our tradition, our history and our culture, we retrieve for today only what confirms what we want to continue doing. It is our culture, we say, when we want to continue with bribery. But we leave the fact that we are the makers of our culture and that we have been transforming aspects of it continually. We conveniently forget that our forefathers expect us to be creative so that we might straighten what they have left crooked and find innovative ways of journeying together as a people worthy of our heritage and determined to improve upon it for posterity.

For Ghana today the most urgent task is the transformation of our mindset. Preachers are pointing at this, only mostly they move us with what will make for our personal advancement only. We need motivational preachers who will direct us towards the prosperity and integrity of the whole nation. San kofa should mean, “go back and retrieve from the store of traditional wisdom, culture, beliefs and practices, what is required for the new duties presented by the new occasions we are faced with.” The hymnist James Russell Lowell says, “time makes ancient good uncouth” (Methodist Hymn Book 898. See the 1933 edition. Methodist Publishing House, England. All the hymns used in these reflections are taken from this edition which continues to be in use in Ghana).

The resting places of yesteryears are no longer our resting places. When Owura Amu was teaching us the song about Okofo Kwasi Barima, what he was saying to us is that this confused man struggling to achieve fame should look into the past for wisdom and well-being as the birds go to the fatty glands of their tail to fetch oil to preen themselves. He was saying there is a wealth of resources in our culture that can make us noble and compassionate and just. When we look back it is these things that we should bring back.

A CALL FOR TRANSFORMATION BY GHANAIAN BELIEVERS

Page 2: A CALL FOR TRANSFORMATION BY GHANAIAN BELIEVERS€¦ · transformation. Dr. Fountain’s insights into health and wholeness have changed countless lives and communities. Part memoir,

79

A CALL FOR TRANSFORMATION BY GHANAIAN BELIEVERS

Today, Ghana needs churches that will inspire their members to have the strength not to seek to hurt the weak by deed or thought. Ghana needs people who will promote ministries that enhance life and eschew all deeds of death. We are praying and struggling to become a noble people, more loving and more caring. We want to be a people glad to give honor where honor is due. We want to be a people who are ready to praise what is praiseworthy and to render thanks where gratefulness is called for.

A CALL TO PRAYER

Today we need to pray and work for a united Ghana. We need to be united across all our differences so that together we may sing the song of justice and peace and be able to rejoice in God who has held us these 52 years. We need to pray to God to purge our nation of all bitterness. While we decry sins we ourselves should refrain from indulging in them. We need to guard our tongues against careless words and avoid cruel deeds if we cannot do the positive good. We need to eschew pride and the inordinate ambition that trample on others in our bid to climb up. If you are a Christian I recommend that you strip yourself of all pretenses and stand naked looking at yourself in the mirror of Christ. You will never be the same again and the deed that Christ did will be reflected in how you live your life.

http://www.visionintlm.com/pages.asp?pageid=83333

VISION INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

310-672-1500

Page 3: A CALL FOR TRANSFORMATION BY GHANAIAN BELIEVERS€¦ · transformation. Dr. Fountain’s insights into health and wholeness have changed countless lives and communities. Part memoir,

DAY 31

Political and economic turmoil. SickneSS and SPiritual darkneSS. a hoSPital without running water.

and 250,000 PeoPle in need of a doctor.

When Dan Fountain and his wife arrived in the Congo in 1961, the challenges to effective medical missions seemed overwhelming. As the only doctor for a quarter of a million residents of the Vanga Health Zone, and with nothing but a dilapi-dated mission hospital and an undertrained staff to run it, Dr. Fountain turned to prayer, innovation, and local partnerships to meet the vast needs of his area.

Health for All tells the story of an ever-increasing vision—from curative care to community health, from a barely functioning hospital to a network of success-ful health services, from a lack of qualified workers to a local residency training program, from biomedical reductionism to whole person care, from cultural stalemate to worldview transformation.

Dr. Fountain’s insights into health and wholeness have changed countless lives and communities. Part memoir, part history, part textbook, Health for All is the legacy of a man who patterned his life and labor after that of the Great Physician.

Praise for health for all

This ought to be a required textbook for anyone even considering doing cross-cultural healthcare. — Carolyn Klaus, MD, founder of Esperanza Health

Center, Philadelphia, and author, Prescription for Hope

I highly recommend Dan Fountain’s new book … Vanga’s impact has been unmatched with its focus on decentralized rural healthcare. Don’t miss it!

— Stan Rowland, initiator of Community Health Evangelism (CHE)

There are plenty of lessons to learn from this book for those working in the developing world who want to make a difference.

— Ravi I. Jayakaran, PhD, vice president, Global Programs, MAP International

www.missionbooks.org

healthforallTHE VANGA STORY

FOREWORD BY DAVID STEVENSCEO of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations

DANIEL E. FOUNTAINDANIEL E. FOUNTAIN, MD, MPH, was a medical missionary, teacher, author, innovator, and tireless trainer of others in wholistic cross-cultural healthcare. He passed away in February 2013 before he could see his final book published.

health for all

foun

tain

Health for All: The Vanga Story

When Dan Fountain and his wife arrived in the Congo in 1961, the challenges to eff ective medical missions seemed overwhelming. As the only doctor for a quarter of a million residents of the Vanga Health Zone, and with nothing but a dilapidated mission hospital and an undertrained staff to run it, Dr. Fountain turned to prayer, innovation, and local partnerships to meet the vast needs of his area.

Health for All tells the story of an ever-increasing vision—from curative care to community health, from a barely functioning hospital to a network of successful health services, from a lack of qualifi ed workers to a local residency training program, from biomedical reductionism to whole person care, from cultural stalemate to worldview transformation. Dr. Fountain’s insights into health and wholeness have changed countless lives and communities. Part memoir, part history, part textbook, Health for All is the legacy of a man who patterned his life and labor after that of the Great Physician.

List Price: $14.99Our Price: $11.99ISBN: 9780878085354Daniel Fountain (Author)Published by William Carey Library, 2014Paperback, 234 pages

WILLIAM CAREY LIBRARY

www.missionbooks.orgUS: 1-877-333-4411

Global Prayer