Ghana Kasoa Stake Pioneers Remembered and Honoured

In a special programme held at the Ghana Kasoa Stake Centre on 22 September 2024, founding members of the stake were honoured as Church Pioneers in their community.  These individuals, who were the earliest members of the Church there, were instrumental in helping the Church get established in Kasoa, a district on the western edge of Accra.  Through their faithful efforts, the Church has grown from a handful of members who met together as a meeting group, to over 3,100 members meeting together in 9 local wards, all in a period of 20 years.

Although a few of the founding members have passed away, they were remembered, eulogized, and their contributions were recognized even as current members of the stake came out in their numbers to honour those who are still alive.  Many of these pioneers were given the opportunity to speak during the program, and together they recounted to the audience the challenges and the progress of the church in those early years.

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As there was no formal congregation in Kasoa in those days, the few members of the Church who lived there had to travel a long distance to attend another ward for worship services.  One day in early 2003, after the conclusion of a stake conference to which they had travelled a long distance to attend, a few of the Kasoa members approached the stake president (Charles Sono-Koree) to see if it were possible that those in Kasoa could organize and attend within their own community as a group.  Their request was approved, and the Kasoa members held their first sacrament meeting in a small classroom at the St. Mary’s Anglican Church and School Complex on 16 February 2003, with 18 members, including children.  They were; Hayford Yaw Asamoah and Family, Joseph Susu and Family, John Kwame Agbeada and Family, Alloys Yamoah and Family, Janet Frimpong and Family, Asuma Kweku Perprem and Family, Maxwell Appiah Howard and Family, and Diana Sedro and Family.  

Conditions were less than ideal.  As Brother Hayford Asamoah, the group leader, recalls, there was no electricity, no restrooms, and the facility lacked most of the basic amenities and places of conveniences expected in a public meeting place. Brother Kweku Asuma Perprem, who would become the Clerk, remembered that before the group could meet for services, they had to clean up the school, even to the point of removing human waste.  Nevertheless, the members were glad to be able to meet in their own community, and the small group began to thrive. 

Joseph Susu, who became the elders quorum president, recounts the dedication of that small group. “All of us had the desire to serve the Lord, and our commitment to the work of our Heavenly Father was superb. We did all we could, even the missionary work, ourselves.”  Sister Janet Akron Frimpong, who would become primary president, explained that “everybody was doing their part, with money, with time, with everything. We were all trying to do our best for the church to grow. That’s what we did.”  Additionally, Sister Mercy Asamoah, who was in Young Women at the time, and whose father would become the group leader, shared that, “It was quite difficult, but at the end of the day, it was worth it.  We did it for Christ.”

Their efforts paid off. About seven months after that first meeting, membership in the Kasoa group had grown to the point that they were organized from a group into a branch of the Church. A couple of years after that, the branch was divided into two branches with Hayford Yaw Asamoah and Robert Senyo Wurah called as branch Presidents. Sooner than later, those two branches would be combined to form the first ward in Kasoa with Brother Michael Adu Gyamfi called as the first Bishop.

Today, those 18 members of the Church have increased to 3,155.  The Kasoa Stake now has six Church-owned buildings including a full-sized stake center in which sacrament and other church activities are held. Indeed, the current members of the Church in Kasoa owe a debt of gratitude to those early pioneers for their valiant efforts. The current President of the  stake, Daniel Allotey, testified, “If we continue to strive to sacrifice our time, talents, efforts, resources, and all that the Lord will bless us with to build His kingdom here on this earth, we shall be used to fulfill miracles and prophecies.”

Following the stories and testimonies, the pioneers were presented with citations and medals to recognize their perseverance, and the celebration concluded with a cake-cutting ceremony organized by the Kasoa Stake Relief Society in honor of the pioneers, and also for a special memory of Sister Mercy Asamoah (Snr.), who was the late wife of the first group leader and whose contributions were outstanding.