Features
Getting a wife
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For some curious reasons, marriage is becoming popular. The churches are even encouraging it, although if you are caught romancing before marriage, you are likely to be summoned before a disciplinary committee which will be empowered to investigate whether there is an evil spirit involved.
After the offending church members are made to testify, a deliverance session will be organised so that the evil spirit responsible for pre-marital licence can be paid off. The spirit will be asked to vamoose and come back no more.
The ‘couple’ now free of evil, one will be asked to go through counselling to prepare them for marriage that is if they really want to become man and wife.
Prospective brides and grooms are always advised to attend counselling together, they are taught all about the need for marriage and how marriage should be conducted along biblical lines.
They are taught to love and not to hate, and tutored on issues concerning reproductive health and child bearing and courtship.
Normally when it comes to courtship, the Pastor realises that those he is counselling are more knowledgeable in the subject than himself. In that sense, the Pastor should be the one who deserves counselling, because there are some tricks he should be made to learn judging from his ignorance.
However, in some cases, a counsellor has so much experience that those counselled are compelled to listen. The counsellor takes the pains to teach even the art and craft of lovemaking, which aims at equipping the man with all knowledge he needs to satisfy his wife in bed and vice versa.
In doing all these, the pastor assumes that the man and woman before him, listening with rapt attention, aren’t already copulating. It means they do not know each other, of course in the carnal sense.
But if they already know themselves, they are supposed to keep it a secret from the pastor, otherwise they would be charged with engaging in pre-marital sex, which is against the doctrine of the Lord Jesus, the Christ.
After the counselling sessions, which can take some six weeks, the prospective couple are supposed to be ready for the altar, where they would be blessed and whatever they do in bed can be regarded as sanctioned by the church, encouraged from the pulpit and blessed in heaven . Halleluyah!
The fact that man and woman have gone through counselling means they must wed. These days, however, the pastor would require an AIDS certificate before the two are bonded together. The idea is that, the church must not be party to situations where two individuals are joined together to infect each other, in short, for one to kill the other.
But the issue of AIDS certificates often becomes untenable, because in many instances, before counselling, the man had already known the woman about thousand times and without condoms, so the issue of one infecting the other doesn’t rise.
So it is the duty of the man to tell the pastor not to worry his head, because even ‘yesterday was a good time.’
The only problem is that people fear to tell the pastor the truth, meaning that hypocrisy in the church is accepted as a virtue and plain talk a vice.
Plain talk can only complicate matters for you, because in the first place the pastor expects you to hide certain things from him. Even if you are having pre-marital sex, the pastor expects you to say nay! Never! God forbid! Then you’ll be regarded as good material for heaven.
For man and woman who have long known each other succumb to an AIDS test, which I bet, isn’t an easy thing.
The problem with the test is that a positive result is worse than a death sentence. So you’d want to live without knowing whether you are positive or negative.
I have also learnt one strange thing about the disease and the test. Those who sound very confident that they are virus-free are those who test positive. Those who are not quite sure all come out negative.
When you present a negative result to the pastor, he rejoices with you, pending the outcome of that of your mate. If she is negative, praise the Lord.
A positive result, however, prompts the pastor to quickly ask you to leave the church premises lest you infect the congregation. So you leave mournfully and start preparing for your obituary.
It is quite interesting the way pastors insist on the AIDS certificates as the only foolproof passport into marriage. For their information it is not.
When the AIDS virus enters into the human body, it might not be detected until sometime after six months. So an AIDS test can be negative today but positive when it is done after six months.
The pastors, themselves need to be tutored on the disease and should also be tested to show their congregation that they are free from the virus, and that they are being faithful to their wives.
On Sunday, 16 August 2026, the Church of Pentecost (COP) in Finland held a befitting farewell church service for Apostle Francis Owusu Kwaah, the National Head of COP in Finland. It was a well-attended event and, by all measure, a perfect way to offer a well-deserved gratitude to Apostle Owusu Kwaah for his service and contribution to the growth of the church in Finland.
Apostle Owusu Kwaah arrived in Finland on 22 November 2020 and took up the position as the National Head of COP in Finland, taking over from Apostle Edmund Appiah who then moved to the UK.
Many people extolled the remarkable character and excellent leadership qualities of Apostle Francis Owusu Kwaah.
Achievements of Apostle Owusu Kwaah
A key farewell message stated that under Apostle Owusu Kwaah’s leadership the church has experienced remarkable growth and transformation.
The message said further that there have been significant increases in church membership—two (2) more Assemblies have been added to the church fold while three pastors have been ordained (2 of them have been sent into missions abroad, with the other one is working in Finland).
Testimonies and Appreciations
Testimonies and messages of appreciation were delivered as appeared in the programme by the National Presbytery, the Men’s Ministry, Women’s Ministry, Children’s Ministry, and other well-wishers.
“Our Apostle is known for being approachable and reliable. His warm personality and humility have endeared him to many”, the farewell message further said, adding that his ministry has extended far beyond the walls of the church. He has faithfully visited hospitals, homes, and prisons to preach the word of God, pray with people, and bring hope to those in need.
For the over 20 years that the church has existed after it was started in September 2000 as a prayer group with a small number of devoted persons in Helsinki (see www.copfinland.fi), the COP has had smooth running and change of leadership to its advantage.
Apostle Owusu Kwaah took over from Apostle Edmund Appiah, who was the first to be appointed as National Head of COP in Finland from 2013 until early 2020. Indeed, under the leadership of Apostle Owusu Kwaah, and Apostle Appiah before him, the Church has grown and spread to other cities and towns in Finland.
Apostle’s response
Surrounded by his beloved wife, Mrs Joyce Owusu Kwaah, and their five children, Apostle Owusu Kwaah delivered a powerful and infectious message in response to the messages of gratitude to him and his family for their good work in the church.
He preached the importance of loving God with one’s whole heart. He entreated the audience to love God and do His work to glorify his name.
The Apostle thanked the COP Finland, the numerous friends and well-wishers who supported him and interacted assuredly with him and his family and thus made their stay very comfortable in Finland.
COP’s future and growth in Finland
The COP Finland has become very formidable in the religious space in Finland.
Indeed, it has played a prominent role in the religious or spiritual existence of its members, as well as in people’s social lives as a key aspect of integration into the Finnish society.
The church continues to grow and, for example, it has been one of the major channels through which the Ghana Union Finland (GUF), an association for Ghanaian immigrants in Finland, has made more contacts with members of the Ghanaian immigrant community.
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“A woman who abandons her baby in a dustbin at Kasoa Lorry Station is not always a wicked woman. Sometimes, she is a wounded woman whose mind has broken, whose family has rejected her, and whose society has left her with only one terrible option: disappear or be disgraced.”
That is the hard truth Ghana must hear.
In the last 10 days alone, our nation has been confronted with the same painful headline, twice.
Case 1 – Kasoa Main Lorry Station, Central Region: A newborn baby girl was found abandoned inside a dustbin at the public toilet of the Kasoa Main Station. A woman who went to use the facility discovered the infant and raised an alarm. Commercial drivers and bystanders quickly retrieved the baby and rushed her to the Kasoa Polyclinic for emergency medical care.
Case 2 – Asante Bekwai, Ashanti Region: On Thursday morning, August 20, 2026, a two-week-old neonate was reportedly abandoned by an unknown nursing mother at Bekwai in the Ashanti Region. Residents who came across the child raised the alarm. The baby was admitted to the Bekwai Government Hospital as police commenced investigations.
Let me be clear from the start: Newborn abandonment is wrong. It is dangerous. It is criminal. And it can kill. This article does not excuse it. But if we only arrest and shame, we will never stop it. We must treat the root, not just punish the fruit.
What exactly is newborn abandonment? – The two definitions
The Legal Definition: Under Ghana’s Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), Section 96, and the Children’s Act, 1998 (Act 560), abandonment of a child under 12 years is a criminal offence. It is classified as exposure and abandonment, punishable as a misdemeanor or felony. The law sees the mother as a perpetrator.
The Psychological definition: In clinical textbooks, newborn abandonment is defined as the intentional, permanent relinquishment of all parental rights, care, and responsibilities over an infant within the first 28 days of life without making formal, legal arrangements for care.
To understand this crisis properly, we must not confuse it with child abandonment. Newborn abandonment happens within 0-28 days of life, often driven by acute panic, denial of pregnancy, or postpartum psychosis where the attachment bond never formed. Child abandonment, on the other hand, involves toddlers to teenagers where a bond existed but collapsed over time due to chronic poverty, family breakdown, or parental burnout. One is an acute crisis of the first month; the other is a chronic breakdown over years. Both are harmful, but they need different interventions.
Psychologically, newborn abandonment is the ultimate rupture of the primary attachment bond. Think of a 19-year-old university student who secretly gives birth alone in her hostel room, wraps the crying baby in a polythene bag, and drops it at a refuse dump at midnight. That is not just a crime scene; it is a scene of extreme panic and psychological dissociation.
Why would a mother carry a baby for 9 months and then abandon it?
This is the question every Ghanaian asks. If you wanted to abandon it, why not abort? The answer is deeply psychological:
1. The psychodynamics of denial of pregnancy: This is a profound defense mechanism, not a lie. The mother’s subconscious mind completely rejects the reality of the pregnancy. She does not gain weight normally, feels no kicks, does not seek antenatal care, and genuinely convinces herself she is not pregnant until sudden, shocking labour pains take her by surprise in a toilet or bedroom.
2. Fantasy of a dissolving problem: This is called cognitive avoidance. She believes “my boyfriend will come back,” “my mother will forgive me,” or “something miraculous will happen before birth.” So she waits, paralyzed, until the baby is here.
3. Barriers to safe abortion: Deep religious guilt, moral anxiety, fear of dying from a back-alley abortion, lack of money for a safe procedure, and family laws force her to carry to term even when she feels incapable.
4. The shock of reality and acute panic: Upon delivery, the physical presence and crying of the newborn shatters all denial. Confronted with immediate exposure, shame, and reality, her brain enters a trauma response — “fight, flight, or freeze.” For many, it becomes “flight” — physically escape the threat of exposure to survive socially. That is why babies are left in places where others will find them -lorry stations, churches, hospitals.
Source:
Counselor Prince Offei, CPAC’s founder, is a leading Mental Health Professional, Marriage Counsellor, Author, ADR Expert/Arbitrator, and Spectator Newspaper Columnist. He writes on relationships, marriage, parenting, special needs support, and their connection to mental health. For therapy, counselling, or enquiries, contact Counselor Prince & Associates Consult (CPAC) in Accra on 0559850604 / 0551428486.
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