I was introduced to the Navigators in 2012 before I went to the university by Mr. Dogari, who was a missionary and student at the Trinity Theological Seminary. My first encounter with him was at the Trinity church, where I fellowshipped. He was seated beside me in church on a Bible Society Sunday, the church was raising funds to support a Bible Project. I did not have a Bible at that time, so I turned to ask the person seated next to me, which happened to be Mr. Dogari, what the church’s plan was for members who did not have Bibles because the Bible project was to support people outside the church. The following week Mr. Dogari brought me a Good News Bible, to my surprise.
We became friends from there, and he invited me to the Ghana Navigators Labourers’ Retreat ( a retreat for members involved in Ministry) at Abokobi. I enjoyed the fellowship at the Labourers’ Retreat and was also challenged by the different people I met. They explained the scriptures with great insights, and I also enjoyed the meals served at the retreat. The retreat gave me a bigger picture of who the Navigators were though I did not understand everything that was shared. The experience is one I would not forget. Mr. Dogari later introduced me to the Navigators on the University of Ghana (UG) Campus. I was a first-year student at UG at the time. I had the opportunity to connect with the Navigators on the Campus and I started having Bible Studies with the students. Even though my residence was quite a distance from where we had the Bible studies because I was living with my uncle in the Staff Village, Uncle Tony would drive from East Legon to pick me up from home to the Bible studies. I was consistent at the Bible study, and I began to see tremendous growth in my walk with God. I was applying the things we were studying, and seeing the change. After some time, I was made the Bible study leader for Sabbah Hall and I started coming for Labourers’ Retreat. At that time, I understood what the retreat was all about. I also had the opportunity to have my national service on campus as a Teaching Assistant, so I was still actively involved with campus ministry.
I left campus after National Service but occasionally visited the UG ministry. I later got an appointment to teach Christian Religious Studies ( CRS) in one of the Senior High Schools in the Volta Region of Ghana, so I relocated to the Volta Region. With my campus ministry background and conviction about passing on what I know and have been taught to others who would do the same (2 Tim 2:2), I started looking for opportunities to begin a Bible study. I shared the vision with a colleague who was in charge of the chaplaincy, but it was left hanging for about 3 years. A colleague once asked me to take his class for him, a period which I agreed to do. One of the students, Duncan, approached me after the class and said he liked how I taught them. From there, he became a friend and would occasionally come and ask me questions about the Bible. I did not think of starting Bible study with him until I was going through the material for the intentional discipleship training in August last year, which was on the Fear of God. In the course of the preparation, the Lord laid it on my heart that I could start a Bible study with Duncan, so I quickly met Duncan, gave him study material, and introduced the Navigators to him. Duncan was aware of what I hoped we would achieve by having the Bible study. He was enjoying our meeting and started inviting other Scripture Union (SU) executives to join because he was the SU vice president. The Bible study became active, and I started opening the meeting to other students who approached me to help them build their relationship with God. I remember one student who came to seek help on how she can grow a more intimate relationship with God, and I shared the word hand with her. She was amazed at the illustration and concluded that it will take a lot of discipline to cultivate a relationship with God. I also realized that some of the things I knew and took lightly meant a lot to the student anytime I shared with them.
I am intentional about sharing Christ with every student that comes close to me, and I use the different opportunities I have each day to point them to Christ. I am currently meeting about 8 students in my Bible study. I was trusting God for an opportunity to introduce Duncan to the Navigator Ministry and give him field ministry experience. God answered this by giving us the opportunity to join the Rural Missions in April this year. The 10 days in the village have stirred in us a desire to keep sharing Christ because He is all we need to live a meaningful life. Just like Mr. Dogari, Uncle Tony, Melissa, and the other student leaders did for me when I was a student on UG campus, I am trusting God to use me to draw many more students to Himself and raise reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.
Kwame Asomaning is a Christian Religious Studies ( CRS) Teacher in one of the Senior High Schools in the Volta Region. He is passionate about holistic education and seeks to make a lifelong impact in the life of his students and colleagues.