TRIBUTE FROM REV. SAMUEL F. ODONKOR

BEREAN BAPTIST CHURCH, LARTEBIORKORSHIE

Ao! Owuo sɛe fie. Owuo yɛ ya. Owuo amma manka masɛm. What shall I say about this nobleman of the Noble Berean Baptist Church – this selfless, friendly, humble, respectful, and easy-to-approach servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, and a great soldier of the Cross of Calvary –who openly speaks his mind without fear or favor? Time and space will not permit me to say it all.

He was in my Church since 1991 but was not saved through the ministry of the Church. He joined us from Sunyani Calvary Baptist Church and immediately sold himself out for service to the Lord by being my interpreter. Thank God for the one who led him to Christ and thank God for his former Pastor. Ever since he joined this Church, he has been very active and responsible as he grew in grace in the Church and with the Church, which was only 9 years in existence.

By the providence of God, he found his life partner in the Church and got married to Florence Barbara Nyarko, formerly AduBah, with whom they became a formidable team of husband and wife in the service of God.

All too soon, he is no more. “Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.” Ps 39:4. The LORD of Creation, Who alone has the right to terminate life, has called Ernest Kwadwo Nyarko into glory (he came into this world on a Monday and departed on a Monday) to join the heroes of Hebrews 11:13, which says, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised, they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, and they admi ed that they were aliens and strangers on earth.”

I count myself blessed to have a person like this in my “flock of sheep” who helped me in no small way to li up the Name of Christ and the ministry in the locality. Though a sheep, he was my very good friend as well.

I learned a lot from him and I’m grateful for his wise counsel. I was challenged to dig deeper into the Word of God, for you never know what questions he may ask at Bible Studies. I was appreciated by him, especially when his difficult theological question had been answered to his satisfaction. Last year, he supported me to undergo surgery at a VIP ward in a hospital and was among the first to visit.

There was about him a spirit of genuineness, modesty, gentleness, and humility, which enriched the lives of many, including myself. None of us will forget his broad smiles and good laugh. None of us will forget his strong voice as he reads the Twi Bible at Church Service.

While we mourn him, we know what he believes and in whom he believed, and are persuaded that he is in the arms of his Maker. My dear Ernest, sleep well in the Lord until the sound of the trumpet of the Lord Jesus Christ.