This is a true story of a young man in one of the rural areas of Ghana.
Kojo’s childhood experience was a rough one. His father left home when he was 12 years old and so he was sent to live with his grandfather who was an idol worshipper; that was how he dropped out of school.
As a boy, Kojo never had friends to play with. Coming from the house of idols created some fear about him among the children of his neighbourhood, as a result, he had no friends and would often be found playing by himself. This made him feel different and lonely. It also created in him a sense of rejection.
“I would try to talk to people and make friends,” says Kojo, “but they would just avoid me. They see me as weird, and gross.” Kojo felt like an animal.
“I have nothing to look forward to, no one cares for me, no one loves me“; Kojo often thought.
“No matter how hard I tried, all I knew was pain, hurt, misery and loneliness.”
He would go out and look upwards to the skies and shout to God in heaven to give him one reason he shouldn’t take his own life. On one of such days, Kojo heard an inner voice, so loud and yet peaceful, that said, “Don’t do this, for I have plans for you,”
Kojo continued to have terrible treatment from his grandfather, since he was not interested in the fetish and idol business. He failed to learn the art of idol worship and so was beaten and deprived of food for days. On the contrary, Kojo loved to hide and sneak to Church to listen to the preaching there.
He was always encouraged after church and felt peace in his heart from the God of love who was very different from the gods his grandfather served, who were ruthless, and would be quick to inflict pain and even meted out death for offences committed.
The pastor of the local church in his village, not too long ago, invited the Jesus Film team from the Bible Society of Ghana to come and minister, and during the altar call, Kojo was among the multitude who rose to commit their lives to Christ. He later joined the church and participated in the Faith Comes by Hearing (FCBH) session.
His grandfather was highly disappointed and attempted to harm him spiritually but was unsuccessful. He claimed Kojo’s newfound God was powerful and all efforts to destroy him had failed.
Kojo’s desire to hear the Word of God led him to participate in the literacy class in the church. Within 6 months, he had mastered basic reading skills. This, therefore, qualified him to own his Bible, under a special program called the E2E.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank the team who came to our area to show the Jesus film, my life has changed completely”; Kojo shares. He now serves in the church, after his grandfather finally sacked him from the house. Thankfully, his mother’s business is doing well now and so with her help he has gone back to school.