3-foot-10 Baptist evangelist draws crowds in Ghana

GHANA, West Africa (FBW)—Rising over the dusty African earth, the moon peeks through a blanket of slowly moving clouds, seeming to look over the activity happening below. People are gathering. More come, then more—fanning out from a rustic wooden stage. A small figure emerges on the front of the platform. The energy in the crowd seems to grow as all eyes fix on him. Then a thunderous voice with a twinge of southern accent breaks through the nighttime air.

"If you’re excited to be here tonight, say ‘Boy, am I excited!’"

Hundreds of voices answer back in unison, "Boy, am I excited!" And the message begins.

For the second consecutive year, 3-foot-10-inch Southern Baptist evangelist, James Croft, a member of First Baptist Church, Lake Butler, traveled to Ghana, West Africa, to preach at a non-denominational Christian emphasis, "The Gathering of the Clouds," in the town of Teshie, a suburb of the Ghanaian capital of Accra.

Three other north Florida Christians also served on the missionary team and musical group: Angela Lowery, a telephone company employee and member of Raiford Road Church, Macclenny; Sonja St. John, a kindergarten teacher and member of First Baptist Church, Glen St. Mary; and David McKinney, a recycling technician and member of the Full Gospel Assembly, Starke.

Croft began with the team to prepare for the trip months in advance. They received necessary immunizations, they gathered and prepared materials for a Bible school, and they told folks in Southern Baptist churches in Florida, Georgia and Mississippi about their trip–receiving 80 percent of the trip’s finances from those congregations where Croft ministers. No one foresaw the impact eight days in a land 5,500 miles away from home would have.

After saying farewell to their families at the Jacksonville International Airport, Sept. 5, Croft and his team stand hand in hand in a circle at the terminal. With heads bowed and eyes closed, they prayed.

"Lord, please grant us traveling mercies..." Croft asked, "so that we’ll be ready to minister, ready to go into the battle that lies ahead of us."

Twenty-seven hours later they step off a 747 at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra ready for the mission they all believe they’ve been called by God to do. Outside the terminal, Croft and the others are met by a sea of faces all looking for someone. Then from among the crowd, a familiar shout rises up.

"Papa," the voice says, "Papa, papa James."

Croft immediately recognizes the voice and a beaming smile comes across his face as he scans the crowd for Raphael Adjei Kingbi, the local evangelist in Teshie who first invited Croft to Africa in 2002 after discovering his Web site. In a throng of hundreds of people, the two friends find each other and the reunion is on.

Kingbi commences to say Croft’s name with a lengthy string of "Papa’s" before it—a title he received last year after being referred to as the father figure of the evangelism meeting. The rest of the team is welcomed with smiles and hugs from members of Kinbgi’s Zion Evangelistic Ministry, which he created after feeling called to minister to the youth of Teshie.

Darkness has fallen over the town by the time the team passes through a residential area on the way to their hotel. The narrow dirt streets are congested with hundreds of people. Music is pulsing in the area as the people talk, dance, drink and sing. Kingbi explains that the team is arriving only hours after Homowa, which he says is a festival of the Ga tribe that began as a type of thankgiving to their gods after overcoming great famine.

Looking irritated Kingbi says: "Don’t these people know there is only one true God."

The team stares out the vehicles’ windows at the scene as the driver uses short blasts on the vehicle’s horn to carve a path through the crowds.

"Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could get all these people to the crusade," Croft says with hopes the event will be a larger gathering than last year’s, which peaked at 500 in attendance.

Just days later during the fourth night of the crusade, Croft steps behind a proportionally-sized pulpit hand-crafted by members of Kingbi’s ministry - to preach before more than 1,800 people who gathered under the light of a few floodlamps to hear the Gospel from the lips of an American evangelist. At the end of the service, people flood toward the stage in response to an alter call. Some raise their faces skyward with both hands lifted in praise, others bow their heads to the earth, mouthing words to God. Croft stands before the crowd and prays aloud.

"Father, I have no idea why each person came here tonight, but, God, you know."

Another night, under the concrete skeleton of an unfinished church used for individual counseling, a 13-year-old boy wanders up to team member David McKinney. He is explaining to another seeker the significance of a beaded "salvation bracelet" the team brought to give to those who become born-again Christians.

Getting McKinney’s attention, the boy begins to ask him questions. As the two talk, their expressions quickly become serious. They bow their heads in prayer. Opening his eyes after a moment, McKinney looses his own salvation bracelet and ties it around the boy’s wrist, then surrounds him with a hug.

"If this church had a roof, they’d have to pull me off of it," McKinney says excitedly as he tells the other team members of the boy’s decision to accept Jesus Christ.

Riding back to the hotel, McKinney strums on his guitar. Sonja St. John joins him in voice, and soon everyone in the van has joined the spontaneous jubilation.

"Victory is mine. Victory is mine. Victory today is mine, I told Satan to get ye behind. Victory today is mine," they all sing.

Visiting an orphanage in Teshie, Kingbi and McKinney unload a 100 lb. bag of rice, several loaves of bread and a quantity of sugar the team bought locally. The orphanage director expresses thanks, explaining that the children are fed only by community and missionary donations. He says the food may last a week for the 30 or more children left in his care.

During their visit, Angela Lowery uses her digital camera to take portraits of each of the children. They stand against a roughly painted concrete wall as a soft light bounces into the room through a hole in the roof left when building supplies ran short. Lowery watches their faces light up with amazement and joy as she shows each child’s picture on the camera’s preview screen.

Their busy schedule combined with little sleep each night leaves the team fatigued by the end of the week. Lowery is recovering from a bout with an unusual chicken dish the day before. McKinney’s eyes close in extended blinks after staying awake all night preparing materials for the 300 children in a Bible school the team held daily. St. John breaks down in tears after watching a television news report about the children orphaned after the September 11 attacks on America. She says she misses her 4-year-old and 7-year-old daughters back home. Shouting out his message in excited bursts, Croft’s voice is barely a whisper after the last night of the crusade.

Kingbi, too, appears exhausted when he arrives in the morning to meet the team. After a week of serving as their host and working behind the scenes to make sure all is in order for the crusade, the tall Ghanaian minister, who had shown little other than joyful excitement the days before, appears saddened. He eventually expresses that he is thinking about the team’s time in Ghana coming to a close.

For Kingbi, the team’s departure means returning to the reality of everyday life in Ghana, where the yearly income typically doesn’t exceed $300. Kingbi knows there will be much work after the team is gone, following up with the week’s activity by personally visiting each of the 283 people that came forward to turn their lives over to Jesus; however, the end of the crusade also means having to share his ministry duties with his other job as a lathe worker, making sculpted wood wares to sell as a means of survival for himself and those he ministers to in the often harsh African land.

He expresses gratitude to God that Croft and his team were able to make the trip, and a smile returns to his face as he begins to talk about plans for hosting another "Gathering of the Clouds" next year. Croft talks about the possibility of returning with a larger team. He mentions others in Florida interested in coming to help build a structure for members of Zion Evangelistic Ministry to worship. Kingbi estimates the entire building would probably cost less than $4000. Croft nods.

The following night, 10 or more people from the Zion ministry squeeze into Kingbi’s rented van to accompany the team to the airport to say goodbye. Croft and the others follow in a hotel van. The vehicle’s air-conditioning is an unusual comfort as they ride into Accra. Joseph Okang, the praise and worship leader sits with the team in the back seat. He covers his face and weeps silently. After several minutes riding down the bumpy road he gains his composure and begins to sing slowly but with growing strength as the team joins him.

"Our God is an awesome God. He reigns from Heaven above. With wisdom, power and love. Our God is an awesome God."