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The Dawn Preachers
The dawn of each day marks the transition of darkness into daylight. And according to my friend Weddeye, it is a period when good (light) gradually overcomes bad (darkness).
He adds that this transcient period is of much significance to many people either as a time of sorrow or a time of joy.
Normally, the dawn of every day is the period when most people enjoy their sleep best and snore like thunder. The cool morning air that caresses the body has a soothing effect on the mind and the soul is transported, the nose becomes charged and snoring becomes rather rhythmical but hazardous.
To some, the dawn is the most romantic period of the night when they are inseparably close to their lovers. When daylight sets in they must mandatorily separate. That is a law nature. The dawn is also a period when most people think clearly and rationally except when one is experiencing a hangover. Thinking at dawn normally centres on the payment of school fees, rent, and perhaps, how best to advise Saddam Hussein to stop being a “problem child.”
The social significance of the dawn is well known to most people, especially those who owe sums of money. If you are one of such people, creditors are most likely to attack you at dawn, unless you are clever enough to anticipate the commando-type movement, to escape well before dawn sets in.
But assuming you were sleeping cozy when the creditor arrived and knocked your door. “Who are you,” you are likely to bark. “I am coming to collect my money with interest. No need to mention my name. Immediately I mention it you will develop hernia because the pressure will be too much to bear.”
At this point of time, your first instincts will be to hide under the bed and start reciting the Lord’s Prayer, or to silently open the window and stylishly fly through it and show a very clean pair of heels.
But that would not be politic enough. The creditor may shout after you “thief! thief!” and that is not a very good compliment. I should think that it is always better to confront your creditor and explain matters with all the hope that he’ll give you some breathing space.
Parents are more inclined to rebuke or advise their wards at dawn and it is also a time when wives are likely to confront their husbands over extra-marital improprieties. And lest I forget, convicted criminals are most often executed at dawn. Is it because most criminals are allergic to daylight? They operate under the cover of darkness and must face the bullet under the cover of darkness, armed robbers, especially.
Born again Christians also make good use of the dawn for reasons best known to themselves. They preach the GOOD NEWS at this time of the night and some people consider it a nuisance. A Muslim for instance would not enjoy being disturbed by a doctrine quite alien to his circumstances.
And others who are not Christians and do not intend to be one in the foreseeable future will naturally be angered. And naturally most Christians would enjoy this dawn session tremendously and pray that it becomes a regular feature.
It was at Legon that I realised how these Christian enterprises were both loved and hated. The dawn preachers came mostly on Saturday mornings and the preacher was usually a baritone-voiced apostle who preached the gospel with vim and fervour.
And he was supposed to be a man capable of speaking in at least thirteen foreign languages without error in grammar, usage, vocabulary and phonetics. The preacher was also not supposed to have learnt any of these languages. They are special gifts by the Holy Spirit and he becomes more or less a multi-lingual secretary.
Anyhow, his preaching always touched many hearts and also annoyed many hearts as the message reverberated across the silent hall. And the message was specifically directed to fornicators.
Quite fortunately or unfortunately, Fridays were days when “external” girlfriends came to spend the night on campus. And the dawn of Saturday dangerously coincided with gospel time, a time when lovers were supposed to be inseparable. It was so very untimely and very undemocratic on the part or the preachers.
An aggrieved student often expressed his disaffection by hurling the following across like a projectile: “Hey born again, go and preach to your parents at home. They need Jesus more than we do. Don’t waste our ears”.
I quite remember that in response to a similar remark one dawn, the deep-throated preacher shouted back “Be gone, Satan!”
Today, preachers of the good news minister the word in mummy trucks, buses, lorry parks and residential areas where the dawn is the most suitable period.
Their message is almost always the same. “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16”
You have to confess your sins, repent, accept Jesus Christ, fellowship with the assembly of saints and the way to heaven is opened to you. If you do not, you go to hell. The choice is yours.
I realise that barring any prejudices that might be harboured against the Christian doctrine, the apostles of Christ are doing a good job because they do not preach anything bad. To me, the Christian religion is credible and worth following since it is a sure way of reforming bad morals and keeping righteous.
But I also realise that the dawn preachers only focus on the spiritual side of man and ignore the numerous social problems afflicting him. It is not enough to pave the golden way to heaven. For the time being, man must also see to his earthly problems, alongside.
I have, always expected the dawn preachers for example to talk a little on advisıng people to steer clear of drug abuse and sloth, respect for one another, prevention of AIDS and teenage pregnancies.
The preachers must realise that preaching against fornication alone will not help stop the spread of AIDS for instance because people are always going to mate, anyway. So after preaching against fornication, the preachers could go on to educate their hearers on the deadliness of AIDS, how it is spread, and what pre-cautionary measures to take, e.g. the use of condoms. There is nothing sacrilegious in preaching practical ways of preventing the spread of the disease.
This information will not be useful to Christians alone but to everyone. When Christ came, he ministered, not only to the spiritual needs of the people but to their physical needs as well. The fact that he fed five thousand people with five loaves and two fishes means that he perfectly understood the physical needs of man as well.
Let our dawn preachers do more than merely telling us to repent and go to heaven. Repent we shall.
But do we need to die of AIDS for instance before we repent?
This article was first published on Saturday, December 15, 1990.
MerariAlomele’s
Merari Alomele’s
‘
I realise that barring any prejudices that might be harboured against the Christian doctrine, the apostles of Christ are doing a good job because they do not preach anything bad. To me, the Christian religion is credible and worth following since it is a sure way of reforming bad morals and keeping righteous.
’
Your Weekend Companion
www.spectator.com.gh
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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