Freezing the Activities of the Church

During my visit in 1988 I had an experience that led to a friendship with a sixteen-year-old priest. The subsequent correspondence with him helped give human perspective to the faithfulness of these early members, who were forced to stand on their own two feet during the eighteen-month freeze. . . .

Almost a year later I received a letter from a young sixteen-year-old priest. This was six months after the government froze the activities of the Church. The letter is dated Christmas Eve, 1989. Some excerpts follow:

“Dear Bishop Pace, “I am very glad to write you this humble letter. My name is Michael. . . .

“I think you know what has happened in Ghana, but all the same I can assure you that it has been a blessing. It is good to give you my version of the story. It all happened on the 14th of June 1989. It was on Wednesday. I had just returned from school for holidays, and I was preparing myself for choir practice, which I enjoy very much.

“So, it came to pass . . . that I was resting in my father’s car when he called, ‘Michael! Have you heard what has happened?’ I said, ‘No,’ he then went on to tell me that the government has frozen the activities of the Church. From this, I just got up and said, ‘They are joking, for no power on this earth can stop this church.’”

He went on to explain how the topic was debated very heatedly in their community. The Church was made to look very ugly and evil.

“From that time onwards in the newspapers, and news bulletins and even in town it was a topic for discussion. We had two sides: those against and those in favor. In one occasion, a riot broke out between a member of a Pentecostal church and a non-church goer. According to the Pentecostal man, he was happy that the Church’s activities had been frozen and this was the reply he got from the other man, ‘Mr., don’t be happy. I know this church very well, I have been to Britain so I know what the Church stands for. It is the only true church on earth, and I tell you that I will be the first person to be baptized when their activity is unfrozen.’ Bishop, these are the words of a nonmember. Due to what has happened, people have got to know about the Church.”

With the persecution it must have been very difficult for Michael to go back to school:

“In my high school, on a Sunday, some students came to me and said brother Michael, are you a Mormon?”

This sounds like Peter’s test during the crucifixion. If so, Michael passed the test.

“I said, ‘Yes,’ they then said tell us more about this church and the Book of Mormon. After hearing this, I said to myself, ‘This is the hour.’ So I explained everything to them and after knowing something about the Church, they became happy. Many people have been inquiring about the Church and after telling them something they pledge to join the Church when it starts to operate again.

“Bishop, all members here in our branch greet you and your family. We like to tell you that our faith is now even stronger than before, we are praying and waiting patiently for the day we will return.”

I was so touched and impressed, I immediately wrote to Michael and soon received a reply. At the date of the next letter, the Church had been closed in Ghana for over nine months.

“Dear Bishop Pace,

I was very grateful and humble when I received your letter dated 21 January 1990. A young boy and coming from a poor home was not expecting this sort of respect. My parents were filled with tears of joy when they heard that you have written. As I am now writing, in the dormitory of my school, I am in deep humility with tears all over my eyes.”

The humble tears shed had little to do with Bishop Pace, but more of the overwhelming desire to be in complete contact with the Brethren and to be able to have the kingdom continue to grow in his land.

“For I feel for the Church and its activities, I feel for the voice of the prophet and all general authorities. But all is not lost yet. For I know that one day we shall meet again.”

He then gave us an idea of how the members were coping and how his family was reaching out to those who were stumbling. This is home teaching and visiting teaching in their purest form.

“Concerning the members, most families hold their sacrament meetings and family home evenings but as you would expect, unfortunately, some have fallen. We usually pay frequent visits to members to strengthen their faith in the gospel due to rising persecutions especially from other churches.”

Next, we find how his own testimony was standing up under the barrage of attacks from the government and other churches.

“Bishop, I attend a Catholic school where all go to worship as the Catholics do. One Sunday, a Catholic priest was invited to come and preach, but in his preaching he totally condemned the ‘Mormons.’ I was there and heard it, which immediately strengthened my faith. After closing, I left the church laughing and saying, ‘Lord forgive him, for he does not know what he is doing.’ To tell you the honest truth, I know that the Church is true and nothing can separate me and my family from it.”

I had asked him in my letter what message he would like me to deliver at a reunion of the missionary couples who had served in Ghana. He wrote:

“This is my message for the returned missionaries. We in Ghana know perfectly well that one day we will resume activities in unity and love to build Zion for as one prophet said, the Church is moving according to the timetable of heaven. But tell them that they should be of good cheer and work hard for he who endures to the end shall be saved.”

How about that! Seventeen-year-old Michael, who was living in a country where the Church could not operate in its fulness, had a testimony of one of the primary premises of this book: The rolling out of the kingdom in accordance with the Master’s plan cannot be stopped. He continues:

“I would like to end with a quotation I usually share with my family members to strengthen ourselves and this can be found in Doctrine and Covenants 122:6–7, which states: ‘If thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife . . . And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee . . . , if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.’

“This is what I leave with you, hoping to get your reply very soon in the hallowed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. [signed] Your Son, Michael.” . . .

After the Freeze

On this trip I was able to go to Ghana again. One Sunday we attended services in Koforidua, Ghana. This is the same congregation I had attended in 1989 just before the freeze and the branch to which the young priest, Michael, belonged. It had been only two months since the freeze imposed by the government had been lifted. I was curious about what happened to the Church in the interim, so I wanted to attend the same branch.

When we arrived, I was pleased to see that the members had worked together to paint their rented facility so it looked even nicer than it had two years earlier. We were greeted warmly, and I hadn’t been there two minutes before the president brought Michael to me. He had grown into a very handsome and strong nineteen-year-old. He went with me to the different classes in order to interpret for me. I was impressed to see that the investigator class had an attendance of twenty-six.

After classes, I was informed that I was the only sacrament meeting speaker. As I looked at the congregation, it appeared there had been no reduction in the number of members since my last visit. I was impressed with the spirit in the meeting. I have never seen more reverence of children while the sacrament was being blessed and passed. The Primary made a presentation and each child had memorized something. One child had memorized all of the Articles of Faith; others quoted various passages from the Bible and Book of Mormon. They also sang a musical number. The choir sang about three numbers, all of which were excellent. After the meetings, I went over to Michael’s home. The Boatengs have ten children, with eight still living at home. Michael is in the middle of the group. It appears that this family was the first to join the Church in Koforidua in 1985.

I asked Michael about the time during the freeze when the boys in school asked him if he was a Mormon. I wanted to know if he was afraid to admit that he was a member of the Church. He said he wasn’t because it was a Catholic school and he was used to being kidded about being a member of the Church. I personally thought it took a lot of courage, or even more important, conviction of the gospel. It was humbling to see the faith of such people as Michael and his family.