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.

’

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