Women in Ministry in Ghana

Women are in the minority in my classes, training ministers in Ghana. I thought I should ask about that and try and understand it from the viewpoint of the women that I have had a chance to teach.

Women are in the minority in my classes, training ministers in Ghana. I thought I should ask about that and try and understand it from the viewpoint of the women that I have had a chance to teach.

After I gave my final exam to my second year Catechists (think licensed ministers) I made arrangements to interview Eunice Aowoa Amobea-Kpendo.  Eunice is 47 years old.  I discovered that it is not bad manners to talk about a women’s age here in Ghana, so I feel I can share that with you openly.  When I first meet a new class of students, I like to ask questions of them to get a feel for the makeup of the class. They seem to appreciate the effort to get to know them a little bit and to have some interest in their lives and situations.  When I ask Eunice what she “does”, she told me she is an Evangelist.  During this interview I was looking forward to exploring what that meant.  Eunice is married with three children who are old enough to allow her to take the time off and be away to study.  Her husband is a contractor who builds roofs. The demand for construction in the capitol city of Accra drew them to relocate there years ago.  Eunice enrolled in a Bible program in a local school where they used the term evangelist in the literal biblical sense of someone who teaches non-believers the good news.  She feels called to tell people about Jesus. I ask her if she was paid by anyone to do this work and she said no.

When I asked her about struggles that are unique to women in the ministry here in Ghana, she was surprised at the question.  When I tried to refine the question to see if they met any kind of discrimination as women in contrast with men training for the ministry, she replied that she didn’t experience anything that would make her think that is the case. When I asked why there are not more women in the program, the answer seemed so obvious to her that she didn’t understand why I would even have to ask.  Until it is possible for a woman to be in the situation where she can leave her children and have the support of her husband, there is just no way could they take the time to receive the training.

I am grateful that Eunice has the support of her family to come and spend time in the program here in Peki.  She will be a great blessing to the Church that gets to work with her and watch her love for those who have not heard the Good News.  I pray for blessings on her ministry and it will be a joy to see her graduate this June!

In Jesus,

Gary in Ghana

Gary Luallin serves with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana. He serves as a university professor.