Testimonies

Pastor Eric Newman Otsiwah, GHANA

PERSONAL TESTIMONY

A POPULAR CHRISTIAN SONGSTER HAS THESE HEARTFELT WORDS IN HIS LYRICS  “I CANNOT TELL IT ALL, WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR ME”.

I will base my testimony on the above lines of words because no amount of words can really express my heartfelt gratitude to the King of Kings for all that He has done for me as to where and who I was, where the Saviour found me and delivered me, transformed me to be what I am today and finally what He is using me to achieve for His kingdom.  May His GLORIOUS name be forever praised--TO GOD BE THE GLORY!  

I am the eldest of three children (two boys and a girl) born in one of the remotest villages in the central region of Ghana to parents who were illiterates.  I wouldn’t say my parents were stark poor but they were traditional worshippers who worshipped God through various strange media.  Their way of worship was so weird and queer that one finds it very difficult to understand from the outside.

People from this part of the country were predominantly idol worshippers.  There are the few who think of themselves as religious--but come from the same religious set up--I would classify them as occultists (thanks to my faith now in Christ) based on their mode of worship. 

Spiritual churches like the African faith (Nkansah), Nkaba, Aladura, Musama Disco Christo Church, just to mention but a few, are the so-called churches that dominate and exploit the people of my area.  No wonder the region is classified among the most deprived and less developed regions in the country.

I was born into the idol worshipping section of the society called the “Tigari” and I grew up in this society believing that their way of life was the only best way until I met the Saviour.

According to my mother, the very day I was born, a native (witch) doctor was called to perform the usual necessary rituals and rites that go with the birth of a new child (especially being the first male child) for me.  It was during this ceremony that the native doctor declared that I was a special baby and as a result the gods had given me as a gift to that society (my mother told me this later after my conversion, because of this I was bathed with some special leaf concoction to protect me from the cuts of cutlass (a sword), gunshots, bites of snakes, scorpions etc.  Every part of my body was incised (cut) and some black powdered stuff was rubbed into the cuts to signify the acceptance of the spirit that was to specially protect me so that no evil would befall or harm me in any way.  At the age of four, I was taken through another ritual to give me strength and supernatural power that rendered me invisible anytime I was in danger or sensed danger.

I became the toast of the family and the society:  all because of what I was capable of doing.  I was very much feared.

I did many strange and wonderful things, which I myself do not know how these things happened.  Once a man fell from a palm tree and died. When he was brought to the shrine, a strange spirit possessed me.  I took some leaves from the bush, rubbed it in my palms and dropped the content into the ears and eyes of the dead man. Instantly he came back to life.

At times I would dream of myself meeting with weird creatures that are difficult to describe in this testimony and also what I experienced in my dream life was hard to comprehend.  I continued deeply in this life and was totally involved in the activities of the spirits until at the age of seventeen, when I was struck with a strange illness that cannot be described, which also defied all medication.  The spirits could not heal me. The situation became serious and got worse with the days.  Native doctors, powerful priests and priestesses all over the country couldn’t help with the situation.  Doctors and specialists were consulted.  But they could not diagnose the type of sickness I was suffering from, let alone heal me.  When nothing could be done to get me back to life, the high priest of one of the shrines declared that I had seriously offended the spirits  and they were demanding their pound of flesh--hence the sickness was the result of my disobedience.

I was left to suffer this fate alone, as there was nobody to take care of me.  I was left to die in one of the shrines.  For well over nine months I suffered physically, spiritually and emotionally.  Nobody sought after me not even my parents or siblings because they were all afraid of incurring the wrath of the spirits.  I suffered this dilemma in solitude.  I waited for death to take me away but death did not come to me.

It was during this miserable time that a renowned Man of God from Nigeria, the late Most Reverend Professor (Archbishop) Benson A. Idahosa, (may his soul rest in perfect peace)--founder and General Overseer of the Church of God Mission International, Benin City--came to Accra, the capital city of Ghana, to hold a seven day International crusade.  It was on the fourth day of the program (so I was told) that help really came from above and the Lord came to my rescue.

Some friends of mine, who by divine purpose of God had been converted into Christendom and also knew about my predicaments, came and “stole” me deep into the night from the shrine and smuggled me to the crusade grounds at Accra.  I was so weak and sick that I could not perceive anything.  I was later told that I manifested strange spirits and, after the man of God had ministered to me, I was delivered from those spirits and was totally healed from the ailment.  I felt some soundness of mind and that is how I was saved and also acknowledged for the first time that there is a superior power beyond what I used to know.  I was made to confess my evil way and was led to denounce and renounce the old faith and also to receive Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour.  This was the beginning of a newness of life in Christ for me.  Saved by Grace indeed!

For close to three months nobody knew anything about my whereabouts or what had happened to me.  Some speculated that the spirits had taken me to an unknown place and that I would not return.  They thought that was the end of me.  The day I decided to go back to the village, some time later, there was total commotion in the whole village--the village deserted thinking that they had seen a ghost.  It was only my mother who was courageous enough to approach and embrace me.  I was radiating the power of the Spirit of God and most of the people could not come near me.  I was later summoned to appear before the high priest of the shrine to explain why I went out of the shrine, but I declined to honour that call from the priest because I had seen the light and there is no relationship between the light and darkness.
 
I have not turned back since I was converted to the Lord’s kingdom and the Good Lord has deemed it expedient enough in His own wisdom in using me to reach out to people in segregated societies, Aboriginal Reservations, Minority communities, Rehabilitation centers and refugee communities or any place that is considered inferior or segregated from the main stream of the Christian community with the love of Christ through humanitarian assistance by bringing them into the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

With a team of Pastors and Evangelists, we are working assiduously to bring the gospel of life to the doorsteps of those who are under the bondage of the devil.  We are working tirelessly in the following areas:

1.    Rural Evangelism
2.    Prison Evangelism
3.    Child Evangelism
4.    Child delinquencies
5.    Evangelism among the youth; especially students in the Secondary Schools and the
       Universities
6.    Streetism: that refers to street boys and girls in the society and other areas.

I thank God for my life and for the life of all Christians and everybody at large. 

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!