Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php 1
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php Can You Hear The Angels Sing? Preview
Edition: First Three Chapters by Rev. Prof. Seth Ayettey 2
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php Copyright 2013 by Seth Ayettey All rights
reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or
used in any manner whatsoever without the express written
permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations
in a book review. Chief Editing by: Melissa Ratajczak Ratel Cover
Design by Flyheart Creative www.yheart-creative.com Printed in
Canada First Printing, 2013 ISBN 978-0-9921188-0-8 Vraeyda LIterary
A Subsidiary of Vraeyda Multimedia Incorporated 9131 207B Street
Langley, BC V1M 2P5 www.vraeydamedia.ca [email protected]
Ordering Information: Quantity sales. Special discounts are
available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and
others. For details, contact the publisher at the address above.
3
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php Acknowledgements To my loving Father and
my Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, I offer my whole heart, soul,
spirit and being in thanksgiving, adoration and worship. The team
of health professionals that managed me including Rev. Dr. Abednego
Addo, Dr. Henry Holdbrook-Smith, Dr. Eugenia Lamptey, Professor
Geore Amoah, Professor Eddie Yeboah, Dr. Ernest Aniteye and
Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng treated me royally. We owe a
debt of gratitude to them and to the nurses, physiotherapists,
pharmacists, technologists, orderlies, security ofcers and drivers
who looked after us. Our children Hannah, Mary, Sarah, Ruth and
Naakai as well as our in-laws blessed us. My sister Regina and my
cousin Mr. Adjemang Hammond and his wife Rev. Korkor Hammond
supported us for months caring for Naakai. Barbara Baeta
Bentsi-Enchill of Flair Catering, Victoria Seidu of UNA Agencies,
Dr. Mrs. Ernestina Naadu Mills (former First Lady), Dr. Mrs.
Adelaide Kastner of the University of Ghana Business School and
several too numerous to mention showed how much they loved us with
their tears. Our family at Faith Presbyterian Church including the
children at the School also laid down their lives for us. The
President of World Vision International, Kevin Jenkins rallied the
world-wide family of friends in prayer. He also personally visited
me in Accra. Cecilia and I are grateful to him, to Roberto
Oliviera, former Chair of the World Vision International Board and
to the rest of the Board, management and staff of World Vision
International for their prayers and comfort. This book could not
have been produced without the contributions of editor Melissa
Ratel, who worked tirelessly with a team of reviewers including Dan
Sullivan, Joey Wilson, David and Julie Phlegar, Jim Thomas, Liz
Smythe, Donna Shepherd and George Savvides. Cecilia and I are
greatly indebted to them and to the music team that produced the CD
of the hymns sang by the Angels. 4
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php In appreciating his friendship, genuine
love and sacrices for Ghana and the world and his practical
demonstration of living faith in Christ Jesus, this book is
dedicated to the memory of His Excellency Professor John Evans Fii
Atta Mills, former President of Ghana who died on the 24th July
2012. He and his wife Mrs. Ernestina Naadu Mills visited me in
hospital and supported us in practical ways. Seth Ayettey October
5, 2012 5
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php Preface: My Encounter with God in a Storm
After October 6, 2010, I should be referred to best as a dead man
walking. Five profes- sional robbers forcibly entered my home in
Accra, threatened my familys lives, stole our valuables and shot me
in the leg. The physical, emotional and psychological trauma from
that event remains indelible in our minds, try as we would to
forget. We had come face to face with evil. On October 10th 2010
while I lay ghting for my life in Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, I had
a supernatural encounter with God. Precisely on my birthday, God
sent His ministering angels to sing to me for a period of two
weeks. The rst prompting to write this book came not from me but
from those that heard the story of our attack. We received scores
of visitors daily for several months. Some came to the hospital,
while others visited our home to commiserate with Cecilia and care
for our daughter Naakai. They came in shock and disbelief. How
could they come to terms with a minister of the Gospel, a doctor
and professor at the University being a target of a violent armed
robbery? Those experienced in intelligence gathering wondered if
this was pure robbery. Quite a number including our police friends
were of the opinion that this was an assassination attempt. They
offered security tips to help protect us. As tradition demanded, we
shared our story with each group. We spoke with Pastors, ministers,
members of government, and Faith Presbyterian Hospital Church
staff. They were convinced an extraordinary event had taken place
not only from what I shared but also from what they saw of us. Some
expected to see me dejected and depressed. Others expected weeping
and sorrow. On the contrary, they observed the peaceful and
tranquil life God had given to enable us to go 6
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php through such a traumatic ordeal.
Invariably, some would remark, we came to comfort you but you
rather have comforted and strengthened us. Our visitors left us
refreshed and relieved, adding assurances that the God who had been
with us at the beginning would help us through the recovery. God
used many of our caring visitors to provide our needs in abundance
and to comfort and pray with us. Among those that visited and felt
strongly that I should document my experience was a renowned
African poet, University of Ghana, Professor Atukwei-Okai. He said
God had chosen me to go through this suffering for the purpose of
revealing His glory. Since 1991 I have had a draft manuscript of a
book titled The Living and Powerful Presence of God, telling some
amazing stories of Gods personal revelations, and what I have seen
through my own research as an anatomist on the ne structure of
mammalian and nonmammalian heart muscle and how the anatomical
features reveal specic functional design. When Professor Atukwei
Okai made his remarks, I knew Gods time had come for the book to be
written, but not with the original plan. Being conned to the house
for months and without teaching or preaching responsibilities I had
the time. It was a divinely ordained sabbatical. October 6th also
marks for me a beginning of a renewed mission to minister to
children and young people around the world. The ve young men who
confronted us in our bedroom did not evoke hatred in our hearts. We
were lled with grief over their lives. Their sad lives prompted us
to seek to reach out to children and young people with the message
of the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. The same hands that
the evil one uses to steal, kill and destroy could be hands
transformed to save and build others. The pain and suffering God
allowed in my life has enabled greater compassion for others,
including victims and perpetrators of crime. 7
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php In the special circumstances of your
life, may this book be a blessing to you, to help you know God
loves you and He will be with you in the struggles and challenges
in your life. Take seriously His promise and without doubting that
He will never leave you or forsake you. May He reveal Himself to
you in ways that will deepen your faith. May His word dwell richly
in you and may He help you to trust Jesus Christ and Him only and
always. As you experience God this way, may your life be lled with
His peace that transcends all human experience. May you also share
with others what you have experienced of Gods abiding presence in
your life. God bless you and yours more richly. Sincerely, Seth
Ayettey 8
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php Hark! hark, my soul! angelic songs are
swelling, o'er earth's green elds and ocean's wave-beat shore: how
sweet the truth those blessd strains are telling of that new life
when sin shall be no more. Frederick William Faber, 1854 9
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php Chapter 1: The Presence of God in the
Storm Begone unbelief, my Saviour is near, And for my relief will
surely appear: By prayer let me wrestle, and He wilt perform, With
Christ in the vessel, I smile at the storm. John Newton, 1779
10
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php The golden tropical sunrise glowed over
the mango trees in my garden on the pleasant October morning in
Accra, Ghana. The West African sun beamed down in tranquil rays
onto my courtyard garden, my familys dogs and their newborn pups.
It was a bastion for devotional contemplation as I arrived early to
the ofce at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, kneeling in my habitual
prayer time. As I used my cherished Revised Standard Bible, my mind
settled on Lou and Pat Hammond, friends from Cambridge who gave me
the Bible many years before. Lou passed into glory a few years back
and Pat has settled in Cape Town, South Africa. The morning seemed
to ow between the Lord and old friends, as my devotions moved
organically to my work for the day. A calm, usual day laid before
me. My wife Cecelia and youngest daughter Naakai went about their
affairs unaware that this was a lull before the hurricane. As
headwinds prepared to lash at my family, God hadn't left us to be
overwhelmed without aid. De Haan's Our Daily Bread devotional was
spirit-led and tailored to prepare my heart for the impending
attack. As the breeze picked up I, like many others, had read the
devotional unaware of its specic motivation. Fear not, God said in
Acts 27:24, do not be afraid for He would be with us. We have been
through several troubles and persecutions before, but this would be
uniquely special and lasting. God graciously and mercifully
provided what we needed most: the assurance of His presence with us
in the furnace of afiction. The barks of our dogs wrested me from
sleep. A violent shake sliced at the house's main gate. The glow of
my alarm clock shone 1:20AM, October 6, 2010. The cacophony of our
dogs was broken only by the pounding of my terried heart. 11
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php The gate clanged. My wife Cecilia woke
with a start. I searched for her in the dark. We recognized that
sound. Several years ago, a thief had scaled the same gate to try
and get into our neighbour's yard. Cecilia and I had woken up and
shouted Thief ! Thief !. He scaled our wall back to the street and
ran. We were so thankful that we had saved our neighbour.
Thankfully, that robber had turned coward. On October 6th however,
we were the targets and we were alone. Cecilia and I raced to the
window. Our hearts pounded as we shouted Thief ! Thief ! Two men
were at our front door. Unlike the robber before, these men were
far from frightened off. We kept scream- ing, hoping our neighbours
would repay our previous kindness. No one came, not even the
security ofcer in the house nearby. Little comfort to us was his
call to the Police, which we remained ignorant of until well after
the attack. Three others joined the two at our door. Boom! Boom!
Boom! We could hear the crackle of splinters breaking away from our
heavy, girded door. Our dogs had silenced. Were they too terried to
help their masters, or had the robbers killed them? Clang! Clang!
Clang! Our door clattered broken to the ground. Adrenaline zzled
into our veins. The robbers were breaking through. The cacophony
was deafening. We counted clumsily in our minds. There were ve
wooden doors between us and them. The noise, the insurmountable
noise struck our 12
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php hearts as each of the doors clambered to
the ground in shards. The fear xed my feet to the oor with each
paralyzing thunderclap. The noise was deafening and should have
woken several of our neighbours in the silence of the autumn night.
But for the grace of God, the intensity of the noise and the fear
could have given me a heart attack, stroke or nervous breakdown. My
adrenalin level was high and my heart was racing faster by each
sound from the splintering of the doors. Worse than the noise was
the building fear driving my imagination to wild terror at what the
insurgents were capable of. What would they do when nally no doors
remained between them and us? I had grabbed my phone to call the
Police. A Police team had passed by the house the previous day and
greeted Cecilia. They had driven by the house several times late at
night and in the early morning patrolling. Little did we anticipate
a robbery attempt on account of the frequent Police patrols. The
thieves were a step ahead. They had planned well and carefully to
choose the date and time for their operation to avoid apprehension.
Their surveillance must have been excellent. I began to shake so
badly as they approached, it was too difcult for me to locate the
number of the police on the phone. My mind, eyes and ngers were not
coordinating properly. I abandoned the attempt. The robbers were
moving fast towards us. Naakai. Our seven year old daughter slept
in her bedroom. My paralysis stopped as a rush of paternal bravery
destroyed the stiffness in my feet. I dropped my phone. Nothing
mattered. No thunderclaps, no amount of banging and clanging on the
doors would stop me from bringing Naakai to our bedroom. I thought
it would be safer to have 13
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php Naakai with us than to leave her on her
own to face the brutalities of armed robbers. Who knew what evil
they would do to her if she was by herself and she panicked. Thank
God I succeeded in bringing our daughter to join us before the
thieves - nally got to our bedroom. She was awake when I got to her
room and was about to rush to us. Like us, she was frightened and
speechless. She knew we were being invaded by thieves. I had time
to lock three doors leading to our bedroom. Each of those doors
were solid wood and had a dead-bolt lock. Secure as these locks
were, I knew by what the robbers had done to enter the house that
these doors wouldnt last. They destroyed them with speed. Later
they would break two other locked doors to gain access to other
rooms in the house after invading our bedroom but would not take
anything from those rooms. Within ve minutes of the rst sign of
their entry into the house, the thieves were in our bedroom. Just
before they entered to confront us, one of them addressed the rest
of the gang in my native Ga language. I did not get what he was
telling them. We were all so frightened we could not concentrate on
anything save to commit ourselves into Gods hands in silent prayer.
I however managed to speak to him in Ga to let him know we would
give to them whatever they asked and had in the house. I also
offered to open the bedroom door for them so they would not break
it. I thought I had made a reasonable gesture to let them know we
would cooperate and therefore they should not harm us. That
statement did not help. As I put my hand to the key to unlock the
door, they broke the door open and the front man violently pushed
me onto the bed. From the time they entered the bedroom 14
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php and from their initial aggressive mood, I
knew anything could happen to us, including being killed. It was a
frightening realization that those few minutes with the thieves
could be the last of my life on earth. I prayed silently for grace
to go through this horrifying ordeal. I prayed that Cecilia and
Naakai would not be molested or harmed in any way. There had been
several reports of armed robbers raping their victims after robbing
them. Some movies we had seen on television had portrayed such
horrendous, senseless and evil acts to both women and children. The
Sunday before the attack had been World-wide communion day. I had
preached at Shiashie Faith Presbyterian Church of Ghana on Luke
17:1-10, where Christ said, when you have done everything you were
told to do, should say, We are unworthy servants; we have only done
our duty. I have chosen this passage for my funeral. I had never
preached on that passage before but had viewed it as the most
appropriate message for servants of God to be reminded of when they
had completed their assigned tasks. Knowing what God has enabled me
to accomplish in life and that I faced the risk of claiming credit
for His work, this passage meant much to me. The servant of God
must always acknowledge Him and, at the same time, rmly resist the
temptation to take the glory that belongs to God for fruit we bear
in our ministry. I had invited another minister to preach the
sermon that Sunday. A day before, he had called to let me know he
would not be able to honor the invitation. I had not taken time to
look at the lectionary to nd the passages chosen for that Sunday.
When I noted that the Gospel reading was Luke 17, I was pleased. I
would be preaching a sermon on the passage I selected for my
funeral. I thoroughly enjoyed preparing the sermon and relished the
opportunity to preach it. I was able to convey to the congregation
and my family 15
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php what I wished to be said about me at my
funeral. I asked that no tribute should be read. Glory should be
ascribed to God and never to man or woman for what is achieved in
His Name. Gods gifts expressed in me must be acknowledged as from
Him. Members of Shiashie Faith Presbyterian Church of Ghana who
heard that sermon wondered if I knew the end of my life was close
and if I was bidding them farewell. When news of the shooting broke
in the early hours of October sixth, they be- came even more
convinced that I was sharing with them parting words. After
surviving the ordeal we understand that God did not intend to take
me Home that morning and that I was not leaving them. God was
preparing the family and I to go through an experience close enough
to death. Yet we did not get the message until it happened. The
robbers were in our bedroom. I had gathered courage and stood up
from the bed to face the attackers. The leader was wild, shouting
at me with his gun pointed at my face. He was wearing black
trousers and red T-shirt. His face was covered across the middle
with a white cloth. He also had a head-band that went over his
forehead. Only his eyes were visible but I dared not look sternly
at him. The other robbers were also masked, save one. They wore
jeans and sneakers with different color shirts. They were dgety and
appeared to be on the edge ready to respond to any situation. There
was no smell of drugs such as cocaine on them but their nervous and
irrational disposition informed us that they could be on drugs.
Except the leader who was about 25 years old, the rest were quite
young, not more than 18 years of age. Also, the tallest was the
leader, being about my height of 62. All of them were armed with
their guns pointed at us as they stood watching the action between
the leader and I. Some 16
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php of them began to search out items in the
room but their attention remained focused on the leader and I.
Where is the money? The leader demanded. This question puzzled and
worried me greatly because we had not received any large amount of
money from anyone. As a family tradition, we never kept more money
than we needed for food, household items and offertory at Church.
All major nancial transactions were by cheque. Had the gang made a
mistake? Were they in the wrong house? Were they trailing someone
and had mistaken his or her house for ours? If money was the prime
reason for the break in, they would get little. I could not answer
his question. To let him know we had very little money to give
would infuriate him and the others. To suggest to him they had come
to the wrong house could provoke them to brutalize me. What should
I say? At this stage, when I should be panicking and shaking
violently for fear of death, I was no longer afraid of them or for
my life. There was an unusual calmness in my soul. I had become
more composed. The panic that had lled me before they entered was
gone. God had given me special strength to be still in my soul and
spirit. I was ready to go through the ordeal. It was at this brief
moment also that the passage I had read in the Book of Acts and the
commentary in the Our Daily Bread devotional came alive. With this
divine intervention, I was able to respond to the question. I
remembered I had a $100 note in my wallet. Being foreign currency,
I thought it might excite them to have it. I also thought it would
calm their aggression towards us. Taking the $100 dollar bill from
me did not help. The leader continued to ques- tion me as if he
knew we had a large amount of money stashed away in the house. He
17
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php shouted louder to bring the money. The
situation had become deeper laden with trouble. Just before leaving
the house in the morning of October 5th, I had asked Cecilia to
withdraw GHC 1000 for the house. Part of this money was to be used
for a party for the children at the Church for my 65th birthday.
When I returned from work that day, I was too tired to discuss
anything with Cecilia. In the presence of the thieves, I could not
ask her what she had done about the transaction. That would have
conrmed to them that we had a large amount of money in the house.
If she had not gone to the bank, then we would have nothing more
than GHC 20 to give plus money for offertory at Church. Their baser
inclinations would deem that reason to kill. Unsure if Cecilia had
been to the bank, I moved towards where we kept money for the
house. I prayed silently, committing my life to the Lord as I did
this, knowing I would be dead in the next few seconds if I had
little or nothing to give them. To my surprise and relief, I found
an envelope containing an amount that I reck- oned would be close
to the thousand Cedis we had decided to withdraw. Cecilia had been
to the bank. We had what I thought the thieves would accept as
signicant amount of money to steal. Quietly in my heart I gave
thanks to God, thinking I now had an amount of money to satisfy
them. I also felt at this stage that our lives would be spared. It
is not enough the Leader said in Ga. I was shocked. What had they
expected? At this juncture, still unusually calm in spirit, I said
we had given them all we had. I added that I am a pastor who had
served in prisons in Ghana for several years. For some strange
reason, the erratic and violent behavior of the leader changed. He
calmed down considerably, stood by me and began searching the
wardrobe where our clothes were without 18
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php asking further questions. Cecilia had,
independently, also noticed this change in the mood and countenance
of the leader. Why this change, we did not know. I also noted that
he was calm as he searched the wardrobe. This gave me some mental
relief, believing that God had acted in a way to soften the heart
of the leader. It was a month later when a group of armed robbers
believed to have been the same group that attacked us had been
killed that we had a clue about the reason for the change in
behavior of the leader towards me. The leader was an ex-convict. He
likely recognized me as someone he had seen ministering in a prison
he had been in but did not recognize me till I made the statement
about the prison ministry. After searching the wardrobe, the leader
talked to me again in a softer tone asking for my laptop. I said it
was at the ofce and that we had a desktop computer in the study
they could have. According to Cecilia, one of the gang left the
room at that point apparently to take a look at the computer. From
the time the robbers entered, Cecilia knelt by the bed and prayed
continu- ally and repetitively in Ga, Lord help us. She never
lifted her head to look at or to plead with them. Her only
intervention was when one of them retorted at my statement
regarding the ministry in the prisons. That member of the gang
thought I meant I was an agent for the security forces and that I
reported armed robbers to the police to prosecute them and have
them imprisoned. Cecilia quickly responded and said he got me wrong
and that I had rather spent my life preaching in the prisons and
helping prisoners. Without warning, one of the robbers red his gun.
A searing pain struck above my right knee. He shot me! I shouted
AO!, as I collapsed heavily on the oor. I knew by this 19
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php wicked act that I might not have the use
of that limb again even if I survived the injury. The limb was
lifeless. The shooting was quite unexpected, as I had felt a
growing rapport between the leader and I. He was no longer
shouting. Rather he acted as if he wanted to protect me. As he
stood by me, there was no indication at all that my life was in
imminent danger before the gun was red. If anyone would shoot me it
would be the leader. His gun was constantly pointed at me till when
he calmed down after I had made the statement about prison
ministry. I was more relaxed on account of this change in behavior.
My attention was still on the leader, and did not notice an action
from the others to shoot me. Cecilia had seen one of the gang
moving with his gun pointed at me. She saw a ash of light, with the
loud sound of the gun but thought he had red a warning shot. She
too was surprised to nd me lying helpless and bleeding. My clinical
training enabled me to stay calm as I assessed the situation,
despite the pain and panic. There was calmness in my spirit from
the blessing of the devotion the day before that had become real to
me soon after the thieves had engaged us in the bedroom. Blood was
oozing above my right knee. Naakai was standing behind Cecilia. In
a shocked state, she continued to look in- tently at the thieves
and observe all that happened. She surprised us by staying calm.
Not a word came from her lips. In her natural state, she would have
cried out loudly, spoken to them and perhaps would also have asked
a few questions. By keeping quiet, the robbers attention was kept
away from her. They could have harmed her if they thought she was
disturbing their raid. We were so proud of Naakai. Later she
informed me that tears owed from her eyes as she watched all that
happened. She did not cry out aloud to at- 20
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php tract attention to herself - such a brave
and mature girl, playing an effective role to minimize harm to the
family. What troubled me about Naakai was that she stared at the
robbers throughout the attack. They would not hesitate to kill,
irrespective of age or sex. There had been instances in Ghana where
armed robbers had killed whole families for various reasons
including staring. Not long after we had been attacked, an armed
robber killed a victim when the victim recognized him and mentioned
his name. The victim was shocked to know that a person he knew very
well was part of the gang that had come to attack. Had he thought
doing that would attract sympathy? The robbers stood still and
quiet for about a minute. A minute in the presence of armed robbers
felt like an eternity. Time mattered to them. They must get out
quickly and escape before the Police arrived. Why they did this we
not could tell. We did not know what was in their mind and what
they were planning to do next. The man who shot me took the shell
out of the shotgun and dropped it on the oor. Whether he was
planning to reload and shoot again, I could not tell. We remained
silent and so did they. The silence was broken by a sharp request
from the leader to Cecilia for her wed- ding and engagement rings.
The rings were a little tight on Cecilias nger and so she struggled
to get them off. The robber was impatient with his fun pointed at
Cecilias head, shouting to let him have the rings. At that point
the rings were already off and he took them. I offered him my ring
and he took it. I wondered why he did not ask for mine and if he
would have done so if I had not offered. To robbers, gold ornaments
are precious commodities. Mine would have brought additional
dollars, or Ghanaian Currency Cedis, depending on where they sold
them. Maybe the leader did not ask because I offered it 21
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php readily. Maybe he would not have asked
out of sympathy after they had brutalized me. I also wondered what
his reaction was to the shooting, as we had earlier observed a
clear change in his countenance towards us and especially towards
me. Was he surprised? Had they planned something worse and had
changed their minds to shooting me in the limb? Had they planned
for this person to shoot me? Why would they even shoot me as we
offered no resistance? They had been to four other houses and ours
was the last and where they got far more booty. Why then the
shooting? Answers to these questions will never be found if the
robbers were those killed by the Police a month later. With the
rings in his custody and me lying helpless on the oor close by the
bed, we thought the robbery was over. The leader surprised us again
with a shout for our cell phones. I pointed to where mine was
sitting. Cecilia looked for hers and realized they had already
taken it. There was another cell phone on the charger that they
took, additional to one that was faulty and we had abandoned. By
taking the phones away, they made sure we would have no means of
reaching help and that I would lay there in agony and bleed to
death. They knew at that time of the night Cecilia and Naakai would
be afraid to walk the streets knocking on doors to ask for help.
They left the room, but the invasion was not over. They ransacked
the other rooms but did not nd precious items to steal. Before they
left, one of them returned to our bedroom to look at us. We were
all in the state in which they left us. As they had taken all of
our phones, we had not made any attempt to call. It was after the
event that we learned from a Police ofcer that it was a strategy of
robbers that one of them returned to the main rooms of action to be
sure no member of the family was reaching out for help. If we had
hidden a phone and tried to call for help, he would have killed us
all. To our 22
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php relief, as soon as this robber entered
the bedroom to look at us, the leader ordered them out shouting, it
is a ve minute operation. By the time he ordered them out of the
house, they had been with us from 1:20 to 1:35. If they had planned
a ve minutes operation, they had overstayed their mission. The
order of the leader for them to leave was timely. I had been
steadily bleeding for at least 5 minutes. The right thigh was
swelling, an indication that I was bleeding internally. I was
already beginning to feel thirsty, another sign that I had lost
much blood already. In that long 15 minutes period, we clung to
Christ, trusting Him only through the storm as our anchor, shield
and defender. God ooded my heart with peace in the midst of severe
pain beyond what words can describe. Fear was gone. There were no
tears in my eyes nor did I shout out of agony from the pain. God
gave me very special strength to bear and to endure the pain. To
date, I have still wondered why the thieves stood still for nearly
a minute after shooting me. May be they expected us to panic and
cry uncontrollably or to plead with them to spare our lives. It was
not natural to remain calm and peaceful in front of armed robbers
and especially when they had shot to maim with the intention of
killing you slowly. Our reaction was unnatural but based on a life
characterized by inner peace. This peace has characterized us ever
since. That peace, His peace, would have been with me into death
that night, if it had been Gods will to call me Home. I was waiting
to experience death. The thieves could take away all our physical
goods. They could even end my life. But they could not deny us of
the peace that God had given us in the midst of the storm. God did
not fail us. He kept His promise to be with His chosen ones.
Because He was with us, we did not fear the storm. 23
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php Chapter 2: Help Received to Save my Life
Though we pass through tribulation, All will be well; Ours is such
a full salvation; All, all is well. On our Fathers love relying
Jesus every need supplying, Or in living, or in dying All must be
well. Mary B. Peters, 1874 24
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php It was 1:35 in the morning and the three
of us were left vacant and afraid. What a relief when the leader
commanded them to leave the house. Nervous robbers on the edge of
reason and infamy were the worst kind and we could hear their
nervousness from the shouts of their leader. To venture out to look
for help at the wrong time would be suicidal. We had waited to be
sure they were gone. Had our neighbors heard our earlier shouts and
the loud noises from the breaking of the doors? Had the loud
gunshot woken someone up? It had been our nature to help people in
need. Would there be a good Samaritan to help us in our time? God
had planned a special rescue mission for us. Our cell phones had
been taken in an intent to paralyze our communications and leave me
to die while they escaped. We had an address book in the house in
which we had recorded some numbers but we had not used it for
years. Even if the landline was working, we would be relying on
numbers we had memorized. What relief when Ceci told me the
landline was intact. Our telephone line was in a conspicuous place,
close to where they passed to get into the house. The robbers
hadn't bothered cutting the line! The joy brought to our hearts was
an extraordinary blessing, for landlines in Ghana are notoriously
unreliable. On occasions, it had been down for weeks. We had not
been bothered about this because of our reliance on the more
efcient cellular technology. Had the robbers cut the line, Cecilia
and Naakai would have had only one option to call help: to get on
the street and shout, dangerous as that would have been to them at
that time of the night. If the gun shot's clang and loud noises
made during the robbery did not awaken the neighbours, what
difference would shouting make? To go on the street 25
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php for help would mean leaving me alone in
the house wounded and bleeding. We were spared the agony of
separation at such a crucial and critical time by the the
landline's operation. Cecilia's ngers frantically dialed our
Hannah's number and the call registered, but it ended abruptly
without a sound from our eldest daughter. Cecilia called again. To
our collective relief, Hannah answered. Cecilia told Han- nah of
the attack, and that she should quickly arrange my hospital
arrival. Hannah, a medical doctor herself, acted immediately. The
phone forgotten, Cecilia rushed to work on my wounds. My blood
spilled on the oor, stained my clothing and swelled internally,
causing my right thigh to tighten further. An incredible thirst
stole my parched mouth. Cecilia rushed to the kitchen for a chop
board and bandage. She carefully raised the limb, trying to cause
me as little pain as possible, placed the chop board under my knee
and splinted the limb with the bandage. From the intensity of the
pain and from the lateral rotation of the lifeless limb, I
suspected that the right thigh bone was fractured. The limb lay
motionless. Had the shotgun shell damaged my right knee and
paralyzed my leg? I drilled through my medical training, searching
for causality and calm. The glass of water Cecilia brought me I did
not drink, fearing it might delay im- mediate surgery. Anesthetic
risks would be limited, if I did not take anything before arriving
at the hospital. My last meal was about four hours before the
gunshot. Should I drink enough water for my thirst, surgery would
be delayed at least four to ve critical hours. According to Hannah
before she and her husband Allen retired to bed, she had thought of
leaving her cell phone in the sitting room to charge. As God would
have it, she 26
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php changed her mind and decided to have it
beside her in the bedroom; there was enough charge on the phone to
last the night. We relied on her habit of keeping her phone on,
unless it was necessary for equipment safety and security for the
benet of patients. You could almost guarantee that Hannah would
answer her phone promptly. This habit proved vital in getting help
at such an odd hour. The rest of this story is told in her own
words. I was woken by the phone and briey looked at the number. It
was the house. Thinking it must have been a mistake, I pressed end
to cancel the call. Moments after, the phone rang again and it was
still from the house. This time I answered it, wondering why Dad or
Mom would call at that time of the night. It was Mom on the line. I
knew Mom would not call at such a time, unless there was a major
problem. I was therefore anxious to hear what she had to say,
apprehensive that it would be bad news. Indeed, it was, but not
what I had dreaded most that she would say Dad was dead. Moms
message was that armed robbers had invaded the house and had shot
dad and that I should arrange for an ambulance to take Dad to the
hospital. Although the news shocked me, I did not panic. I woke
Allen up and immediately began to make series of calls. The rst was
to the CEO of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, knowing he could
inuence release of an ambulance. He and Dad worked closely at the
hospital. He would do everything in his power, if he got my call.
But he did not respond. I called two members of Faith Presbyterian
Church who live not far from Dad and Mom and asked if they had a
car in the house to drive Dad to the hospital. They assured me
there was a vehicle. I also called Allens mother, Mrs. Josephine
Anie, who promptly answered. Next door to her house is a private
emergency ambulance service. Allen and I asked her to get the
27
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php medical rescue team to drive to Shiashie
to evacuate Dad. She was frightened by the news but promised to act
immediately. Soon after, Mom called again to say that help was
already on the way. The friends she had called at Shiashie were
already at the house. I therefore called Allens mother to cancel
the arrangement for professional ambulance service. Allen and I
were driving to the hospital as we made and received these calls.
Be- fore Moms call came to inform us help was at hand, we had
arrived at the hospital to look for an ambulance. This effort had
failed; there was no ambulance available for the mission. Besides,
even if the hospital had an ambulance ready, it would take 20 to 30
minutes to get to the house and the same period to drive back. Time
was of the essence. Dad must be evacuated as soon as practicable
and brought to the hospital. We drove to the Korle Bu Police
station to report the armed robbery for them to alert the patrol
team at East Legon. This they promised to do. Another call I made
to get the Police involved was to a police friend of the family,
Inspector Narteyou. He lives at the Airport Police Barracks, about
two miles from the house. Inspector Narteyou promptly answered the
phone and promised to contact the police night patrol teams to
assist. From the Police station, Hannah and Allen drove to the
Accidents Center at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghanas
capital city of Accra to prepare the casualty unit to receive me.
According to Hannah, the casualty ofcer was a medical school mate
and student of mine. He moved rapidly in his preparations. Hannah
also made calls to friends in Canada and the US who immediately
started to coordinate plans for my evacuation from Ghana. How
thankful I am and have been for her timely actions. What would have
happened if the phone had been left charging in the sitting room?
28
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php Mr. Nii Narh Oklah and Mr. Nii Armah
Hammond who live at the same place at Shiashie and not far from us
had both responded to Hannahs call. Nii Narh woke his brother Mr.
Ben Oklah. All three of them are members of my Faith Presbyterian
Church. Mr. Hammond, an ofcer of the Ghana Fire Service, had
brought his superior ofcer's car to his house for repairs. The
mechanic had not completed repairs and rather than leaving the car
with the mechanic for fear the mechanic might misuse the car, Mr.
Hammond decided to bring it home. My evacuation vehicle was
secured. As I laid supine on the oor waiting for this help, I was
quietly reecting on how the lines have fallen in pleasant places
for me. I thanked God and waited patiently. At the same time as I
was waiting for help, hopeful that all would be well, I reected on
death and dying. I was sinking deeper. Time was running out. I was
not afraid of death, but ready for it. The Lord had helped me to
trust Him and to cling rmly to Him during the worst, when the armed
robbers were with us and when I had been shot. The best experience
was about to follow: death. Not expecting death that soon, I had
nevertheless prompted the congregation at Faith Presbyterian Church
about my readiness to depart and to be with my Lord Jesus. Had the
time come for me to leave this earth and to be with the Lord in
Heaven? If I was not taken to hospital in time, I would indeed
transition from this life to life in the presence of my Lord Jesus.
I was not only ready for it, I was excited about it. For the rst
time the One who loved me and gave Himself to save me and make me
His own would carry me home. I longed to hear Him say, Well done
good and faithful servant. What I had longed for was now near.
29
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php God had another plan. He was going to
save my life for me to complete the task He had assigned and reveal
His greater glory. It was a precious but emotional time to bid
Cecilia and Naakai farewell and to commit them and the rest of the
family into Gods gracious care. In the few minutes between
Cecilia's call for help and the time help arrived, these thoughts
raced through my mind. What a precious but solemn and emotional
period in my life. Mr. Hammond recounts the story of transporting
me to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. It was about 1:45AM when we
heard about the armed robbery at the house of our pastor. We were
shocked and wondered what our plans should be, knowing there were
armed robbers in the neighbourhood and they could attack and harm
us. We decided that no matter the risk to our lives, we would drive
to the house immediately. We must do all we could to get him to the
hospital to be cared for. Our rapid response could save his life.
This we did, using a vehicle I had brought from the tters the night
before. It was the only vehicle available. The mechanics had not
completed xing it, but it could move. All three of us got into the
car and I drove as fast as I could. Within ve minutes of the news
reaching us, we were at Rev. Ayetteys gate. We knew how dangerous
even this attempt to get to the house in a car was. Should the
police arrive on the scene at the same time as us, they might take
us for the robbers and perhaps attack without warning. Fortunately,
the area was quiet when we arrived. Prof s wife, Aunty Cecilia,
opened the gate for us when she was satised it was us. We saw him
on the oor beside an empty shotgun shell. We carried him out of the
bedroom into the car. Prof. was conscious and 30
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php calm and chatted with us thanking us for
coming to his rescue. But he was in great pain as we carried him
shoulder high and as we laid him on the back seat. My task was to
get him to hospital as quickly as possible. Just before we drove
out of the house, the police patrol vehicle arrived at the gate.
Thank God this did not happen at the time we arrived. I had to rely
on my years of experience as a driver at the Fire Service. Aside
from slowing down at a few ramps to avoid increasing the pain of
Prof, I drove at a fast speed. At that time of the night, I could
judge by the lights of cars if it was safe to drive through a red
light. I drove through a few of them. Two thirds of the way to the
hospital, we were stopped at a police check point by a lady ofcer.
When we told her we were transporting someone who had been shot and
wounded by armed robbers, she allowed us to drive on. When we
reached the Training School of the Fire Service two miles to the
hospital, the brakes of the car suddenly failed. I had tried to
slow down to make a turn to drive in the right lane of a dual
carriage way. To avoid hitting the curb of the road, I was forced
to drive in the opposite lane. Thankfully, there was no oncoming
vehicle. The road was quiet at that time of the night. The journey
would have ended in an accident, if I had not done what I did.
There would have been considerable delay and Prof might have died
before reaching the hospital. God was so good to all of us and
especially to Prof. We got him to the hospital within 20 minutes of
leaving the house. On the way to the hospital, I repeatedly prayed
for the robbers, saying, Lord, forgive them for they know not what
they do. At one point, Nii Armah cut in and asked why I should pray
for those who had sought to kill me. He was upset by the prayer for
the thieves, but that was the best gift I could give them. They had
acted cruelly but more importantly, they had done this against God
Himself, whose servant I am. They had done a 31
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php terrible thing. If God would be pleased
to hear and grant my prayer for them at this stage and save them,
the tragedy would have become a huge blessing for ve young men who
had been led deceived and astray by the evil one. Divine
reconciliation far outweighed our needs for earthly vengeance, even
in the face of true evil. Nii Armah also narrated the story of what
happened on their return. For reasons we could not explain, the
brakes of the vehicle functioned quite normally in the journey back
home. Later in the day, we also worked to wash out blood from the
back seat of the car. It was then we realized how much Prof. had
bled. The back seat of the car was soaked with his blood. We again
thanked God that we were able to get him to the hospital in good
time. He would have lost it all. A former student of mine, Dr.
Zellalem received and examined me once we reached the hospital,
acting boldly and professionally, handling me as a patient rather
than his professor. For me, being attended to by one of my former
students was comforting and reassuring. I have always been proud of
my students and the products of the University of Ghana Medical
School. I knew we had taught and mentored them well. This,
therefore, was time to experience rst-hand the quality of the
doctors we had produced. I am grateful to all of them and to all
others that looked after me whose professional development I did
not have a direct hand in. Dr. Zellalems immediate concern was
replacing lost uid and to keep the heart and the circulatory system
working. He knew I was in shock from the acute and severe loss of
blood; my blood pressure had dropped signicantly and my pulse was
dangerously high. Dr. Zellalem set up a peripheral line and pushed
uids to keep the circulatory sys- 32
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php tem open and functioning. He cleaned the
wound, bandaged the area and splinted the limb more securely. By
this time, Professor Nartey had seen and responded to Hannah's call
and called one of the Consultant Anesthetists, Dr. Frank Boni. I
was pleased to see both of them by my side at that time of the
night. While waiting for blood, Dr. Boni ordered plasma volume
expanders. There was none at the casualty. He quickly searched for
some from surgical theatres and ICUs at the hospital. While this
uid was running, two units of blood were received from the Blood
Bank thanks to Dr. Zellalem's quick and efcient action. Blood is a
rare medical commodity in West Africa, precious and in increasingly
short supply. From 2:25AM when we arrived at the hospital to 7:00AM
when the orthopaedic surgeons arrived, these doctors worked
expertly to keep me alive and out of shock. I was severely anemic,
as would be expected since I had literally lost all my blood by
that time and was surviving on the uids administered by the
emergency care team. When the orthopedic surgeons, Dr. Abednego
Addo (now also an ordained pas- tor), Dr. Henry Holdbrook-Smith and
Dr. Segbea got to the hospital, I had been reasonably stabilized
but by no means out of danger. The Consultant Anesthetist, Dr.
Eugenia Lamptey and her colleague Dr. Kwame, faced the problem of
how to keep me alive through the impending surgery but had kept the
severity of the situation to themselves. In a brief interview with
Dr. Lamptey months after the surgery, she had this to say. The
orthopaedic theatre that was used for the operation had been closed
a few days before he was brought to the hospital... It did not have
a functioning monitor to check the vital signs of the patient under
anesthesia during surgery. A day before he was brought in, 33
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php a new monitor had been bought and tted
and therefore that theatre had become available for surgery. The
monitor worked perfectly during his surgery but then broke down
soon after. Surgery would have been a challenge and he would have
been at great risk if he had arrived before the monitor was tted or
after it had broken down. We would have had to look for a monitor
from an ICU or another theatre. But what if the monitors were in
use for other patients, one may ask? What a chilling realization
that arriving at the hospital even in the nick of time and
receiving immediate care to resuscitate me was not the end of the
problems I would face. The equipment state of the hospital had been
inadequate for years. Funding for the hospital had also been
consistently low. Yet, the load the hospital carried continued to
increase, as more patients are seen with many critical states.
There I was, as Chair of the Board that was seeking to address
equipment and other challenges at the receiving end, as a patient.
This was not a pleasant experience. For the rst time, I had
rst-hand experience of what patients go through. Yet in my case, I
was a privileged patient as a doctor, a professor of Anatomy at the
Medical School and as Board Chair. This experience helped me to
appreciate better the challenges and problems of the hospital and
what patients in critical conditions undergo. I also realized
despite all the privileges I had I still could have died at the
hospital, but for the grace of God. Another colleague, the only
vascular surgeon at the hospital, had died at the medical and
surgical emergency two weeks earlier as a result of congestion at
the emergency that delayed his being attended. At the time I
suffered this injury, we had almost completed plans for a new emer-
gency centre and medical sub-specialty hospital for Korle Bu.
Funding for the emergency 34
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php centre building had almost been secured.
A team of Canadian friends including Mrs. Marjorie Ratel, Prof.
Felix Durity, Mr. Don Jenion, Mr. Kaien Shimizu, Dr. Jocelyne
Lapointe, Ms. Lynn Webster and Mrs. Brenda Macleod had been working
with us to establish a Neuroscience Center of Excellence at Korle
Bu for Ghana and West Africa. Through this collaboration, a Master
Plan and Master program had been developed for the hospital. This
team had always felt that Africa needed the best of health care
facilities. Much had been done to control infectious diseases, but
investment in infrastructure to manage growing non-communicable
diseases had been inadequate. Our goal together had been to provide
modern facilities for quality care of accident victims, patients
with cardio-vascular diseases such as strokes, cancer patients,
women with pregnancy related problems and for children. Critical
medical care had not been optimum in most African countries.
Emphasis had, therefore, been placed also on developing adequate
staff for critical care through international conferences and
seminars in my homeland. What an opportunity this seeming tragedy
provided to advocate even more strongly for accelerated efforts to
improve health care in Ghana and in West Africa, with Korle Bu as
reference centre. The kind of prompt, optimum care I received
should be standard for every patient. We have had cases where
patients and relatives had complained bitterly about poor care at
Korle Bu. We accept these criticisms and challenge ourselves to
work to improve on quality of care, trusting too that there will be
adequate funding for the major developments that had been planned
to improve health service delivery at this hospital. Another
anesthetist, Dr. Ernest Aniteye, who manages the Intensive Care
Unit (ICU) at the Cardiothoracic Center, made the following
comments at a meeting we had 35
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php nine months after the incident: Prof, we
are so thankful that you are alive and well. We were not only
shocked by news of what happened to you but deeply worried we could
lose you. The challenges we faced when you arrived at the ICU were
enormous. We worked hard and carefully to prevent heart failure and
other systemic problems as a result of the severe anemia. We also
had to ght to prevent infections, considering the extent and type
of injury you had. As you are aware, at one stage your kidneys shut
down and we had to quickly act to get them working. We thank God
for your rapid recovery. The orthopaedic surgeons had their own
story to tell. To them, managing me was a major challenge. In view
of equipment problems that faced the hospital, they would have
preferred to have me managed in a hospital overseas in the United
Kingdom or United States. Fortunately, the CEO had informed them
about alternate plans for my management in the US and assurances of
the President, His Excellency Professor John Evans Atta Mills, that
the government would pay for my treatment in a hospital outside
Ghana if that became necessary. The friends Hannah had contacted in
the United States and Canada had moved swiftly to plan for my
evacuation to a hospital in the US. The surgeons knew about these
plans and had a conference of their entire medical staff to discuss
the best surgical approach. Dr. Holdbrook-Smith (the most senior in
the team), was my mate at Medical School, while the others had been
my students at one stage or other in their professional development
at the Medical School. To have me as their patient was, therefore,
difcult. My reputation as a very critical professor who would think
through issues analyti- cally preceded me and who knew what I might
nd out, should there be a mistake in management. At some stages in
their management, they reminded me that I must be a 36
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php good patient and not be excessively
inquisitive. I realized I had crossed the boundary and must now
listen to their golden rules for special patients like me and those
that had taught them. This healthy collegial relationship and game
gave me much required enjoyment. It was evident to the surgeons and
anesthetists that I could not be evacuated to another hospital
without rst being adequately stabilized. I was too ill to travel
any long distance and Ghana did not have an air-ambulance service.
To travel to the US on an ordinary passenger ight would compound
the risks and complications, which would increase with any delay.
Should I be managed outside Ghana, they still had to carry out the
rst surgery at Korle Bu to clean the wound, correct the anemia and
ensure that infection was under control. Bone infection was
something we all dreaded. When the management team came to discuss
the plans for my care, Dr. Addo said, Prof. we have a difcult
decision whether to manage you here or take up offers for your
treatment in the United States. The President had also asked that
you should be own out and managed at a specialized hospital, if we
could not handle you. We prefer to leave you to make the decision
where you would like to be managed. We would not be offended at all
should you choose to be treated outside. I appreciated his
approach, saying to Dr. Addo that if they had the basic tools to
work with they could go ahead to manage me at Korle Bu. Knowing the
extent of my injury from the wound that I saw, from my clinical
state and from the radiologic pictures that revealed several
embedded pellets from the shot, I recognized the challenges they
faced as surgeons. Could my limb be saved? Would the chances be
better in America? 37
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php When I decided my care be provided in my
homeland, I was quick to add that they should not worry about
amputating my limb, should they nd they could not save it. I made
it clear that my signing of the informed consent form gave them
permission for amputation. Dr. Addo said simply, leave that to us.
What Dr. Addo did not tell me till recently was that he and the
other colleagues had been deeply worried by the location of the
wound above the right knee joint. Before they saw me at the
Casualty Unit, they had each hoped that the injury would not
include damage to the knee joint with involvement of the internal
and external ligaments. They had worried too about damage to the
nerves and vessels in that region of the body; around the knee
joint are huge arteries and veins and large nerves. Dr. Addo said,
When we entered the ward where you were, our rst action was to
observe your general state and your level of consciousness. We were
so pleased to nd you fully conscious and engaging. We were also
pleased that you looked calm. The second was to look at your toes
to see if they were blue or pink. My right toes were pink and that
assured them blood circulation to the toes and therefore the limb
below the knee was intact. If they had been blue, they would have
had no choice but to sacrice the limb above the knee. Besides the
toes being pink, they observed movement in them. That suggested to
them that some nerves had been spared. I was not aware of this
important sign at this time. They kept their ngers crossed, waiting
to see what they would nd at surgery. Like the anesthetists, the
surgeons also were worried about the amount of blood I had lost.
They were happy that four more units of blood were available, a
rare amount of 38
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php such a basic medical commodity. Dr. Addo
said, We worried a lot, knowing the consequences of osteomyelitis
and how that would complicate early recovery. Eighteen months
later, Rev. Dr. Addo still referred to this when he and the rest of
the team reviewed me. After the rst and second surgeries, Dr. Addo
was pleased with what had been achieved. He added, Our goal now is
to get you back on your feet. It had been difcult handling my
injuries and aligning the fractured bone pieces. They had been
shocked to nd the casing of the shot in the wound. This was the rst
time they had encountered such in a gunshot wound. They were
particularly thankful, that there were no exit wounds. He remarked
that this and the preservation of major vessels and nerves in the
extensive wound I had from a shotgun shell indicated an absolute
miracle. When I tried to appreciate Dr. Abednego Addo for the
marvelous job he and his colleagues had done, he said to me, we go
in as surgeons and do our best, often crudely. The rest is the
healing process that God grants. And what we do is nothing at all
compared with the process of healing and restoration that the body
has been wonderfully equipped for. He stressed again that a miracle
had occurred in my life. Five months after my injury and the expert
management at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the Ghana team presented
my case at an international conference of orthopaedic surgeons in
Austria. It was adjudged the best presentation. Other experienced
and internationally acclaimed orthopaedic surgeons from other parts
of the world marveled at what the Ghanaian doctors had been able to
accomplish with limited resources on such a complex injury. Many of
them said they would not have managed the patient any differently,
except that they would have kept me from weight bearing for a much
longer period. 39
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php I began to bear weight three months after
the injury and initial management. I am so pleased that the
decision was made that I should be cared for in Ghana and at the
Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. I am proud of this hospital and proud
of all the care givers. As I write, nearly eighteen months into the
injury, I am walking with the aid of a cane. I trust that God will
provide grace for me to progress to the stage where I shall walk
again on my own and without any form of support. How thankful I am
to God for wonderful provision through friends and how grateful I
am to the many that He used to save my life. There were many who
had stood by to provide help should it have been necessary to
evacuate me. His Excellency the President, Professor John Evans
Atta Mills demonstrated his recognition of my services to the
country when he offered a blank cheque for my treatment in the best
hospitals the surgeons here would decide. Then I acknowledge my
hard-working and close family friend Marjorie Ratel for the rapid
communication with other friends overseas that led to the offer of
an Atlanta Hospital to take me in as well as the offer of two rst
class air tickets by my dear friend Mr. Jim Thomas to y me over.
Dr. Paul King who was a key person in the arrangements for me to be
considered for treatment in Atlanta had, together with his wife
Monica, also offered to have me in their home to convalesce. Kevin
Jenkins, President of World Vision International (WVI) and the then
Chairman of the WVI Board Mr. Roberto Oliviera contacted other
friends in the World Vision family to pray and to assist.
World-wide prayers were offered as friends continued to express
concern and to offer valuable help. 40
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php There is one more instrument God used
whose role helped to save my life. In fact, his action saved the
lives of others from armed robbers. He is Police Inspector
Narteyou. Let me share how he and I became friends. Inspector
Narteyou joined Faith Presbyterian Church a few years back. Working
at the international airport at Accra, he has a busy schedule,
oftentimes leaving the airport late at night. When he was free he
would worship with us. He had on numerous occasions assisted me at
the airport when I needed help. He had treated me with utmost
respect not only as his pastor but as one he knew had served the
country well. As would be expected, Inspector Narteyou was security
conscious. About three years before the attack, he had expressed
concern about my security and had asked the patrol team to keep an
eye on the house on their rounds. He had cautioned me that, as a
pastor, I could be a target of armed robbery, as had happened to
certain pastors of some well established churches in the country.
The patrol team did their work faithfully, stopping at the house to
check on us on several occasions in a month. They patrolled
morning, afternoon, evening and in the early hours of the mornings.
Their last patrol was in the afternoon of Tuesday 5th October.
Anytime there was a major function such as engagement or wedding
ceremony, he would take special interest security-wise. He had
given us his cell number to call anytime, assuring us that he never
switched off his phone. True enough, when on a number of occasions
we had called to seek his advice, he answered the phone promptly.
When Hannah called him for help in the wee hours of October 6th, he
did not fail. I commend him as a disciplined, conscientious,
honest, intelligent and hard-working Police ofcer. There are
41
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php quite a number like him I have
encountered and I am proud of the professional quality of our
Police Service. Inspector had been on duty on the 5th October and
was asleep when the call from Hannah woke him up. He answered
promptly and acted swiftly to call the patrol team and to direct
them to the house. We learned later from the patrol team that when
they arrived in the vicinity of our house, someone in the
neighbourhood directed them to another location. When they came
close to the house, we heard the vehicle but were not sure it was
the Police. A warning shot was red and I said to Cecilia it was the
Patrol team. There being still a degree of fear in her, she said it
could be the robbers. It was safer, therefore, to remain quiet.
When Cecilia became condent that it was the patrol team, she
shouted Inspector, Inspector, but it was too late. They had driven
off. It was Inspector Narteyou who called that patrol team to
redirect them back to our house. The Police patrol team arrived too
late to confront and arrest the robbers, but they served other
useful purposes. When they arrived at the house, I was being
transported to the hospital. They provided security for Cecilia and
Naakai and helped to initiate investigations. Inspector Narteyou
too came to join them in the house. On account of the actions of
Inspector Narteyou, other patrol teams had arrived in the house.
There were three groups in all; one of them had been directed to
the house by our daughter Mary and her husband Nii Ankama. These
teams set to work immediately to try to locate the robbers. That
same night, they confronted an armed gang that resisted arrest. In
the exchanges with this group, two of the armed robbers were killed
and one was arrested. They were a different group of robbers. The
lives and property of their intended targets were therefore saved
by the action of Inspector Narteyou. 42
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php Two days later, the patrol teams that had
now intensied their rounds chased an- other gang of robbers that
had engaged them in a shoot-out in the neighbourhood. The Police
killed two of them. One, a female, escaped. A month after the
attack at our house, ve armed robbers were killed at a location
about 4 miles from us when they exchanged re with the Police. The
Police had a tip-off about this group that had been quite notorious
in armed robbery activities. They laid ambush and confronted the
gang when they arrived at about noon for their operation. The
Police are convinced that it was the same group that attacked us.
According to the Police chiefs at East Legon and at the University,
armed robbery activity in the area has been minimal ever since the
attack on us and since they intensied their operations as a result.
Intelligence reports from the police also indicated that prior to
their demise this group of armed robbers had planned to harass
residents at East Legon during Christmas. We learned also from a
friend who knew a relative of one of the ve deceased robbers that
that robber had boasted to his mother that he would get himself a
brand new car by Christmas. As the Lord would have it, he and his
colleagues did not live long after attacking us and others in the
intervening weeks. Cecilia met the mother of this robber at the
Greater Accra Regional Police Ofce when she went there to give the
police a clue to help in the investigation of the robbery at our
house. The mother was pleading with the police to release to her
the body of her son for burial. Did the Lord hear my prayer for
their forgiveness? I would say He did. How He answered that prayer,
I would not know. What I can tell is that had the Police not
intervened the way they did to stop these gangs in their tracks,
many residents in the East Le- 43
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php gon area would have been terrorized. Some
lives would have been lost. Others might have been shot. The
President of the country, HE Professor John Evans Atta Mills,
deserves spe- cial mention in this part of the story about help
received through the actions of God. He had been worried and
enraged by the senseless acts of armed robbers in the country. This
activity was becoming more rampant. The robbers were operating with
no care of the dire consequences of their actions to the citizenry,
to the security of the country and to the economy. As President, he
had assured Ghanaians he would do his best to ensure their safety
and the safety of all who lived here. This was a major duty of the
President. When he visited and prayed with me at the hospital, his
determination to ght armed robbery in the country was heightened.
He immediately ordered the security agencies to scale up operations
against armed robbers to make the country safer for citizens, for
visitors and for investors. Although armed robbery is still a
concern, several of those involved in these acts had since been
arrested, imprisoned or killed in shoot-outs with the police. Many
families in Ghana have been saved from armed attacks. Armed gangs
still in operation are certainly not acting with impunity as they
used to do before. A good degree of calm has been restored through
the actions of our dearly departed President, the police and many
individuals who are on crime alert. In all this, I have seen the
Hand of God working beautifully and powerfully in the lives of the
many people named above and several others that had been
instrumental in saving me. To God be praise, glory, power and
worship forever and ever, Amen. 44
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php Chapter 3: God Orders Our Lives in Ways
Beyond Our Understanding Through the love of God our Savior, All
will be well; Free and changeless is His favor; All, all is well.
Mary B. Peters, 1874 45
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php God alone knew the storm buffeting our
lives. He knew who He wanted to be in the house when it arrived. He
worked beautifully and perfectly to have people in the right places
so they could deal with the problems that would face us in our
helpless state and save my life. What I am about to share with you
are some events that occurred a few days be- fore the attack that
on reection appear to have been divinely timed and directed to
ensure that other members of the family were not in the house at
the time of the attack. None of us were anticipating a major attack
for which reason strategic decisions should be made to keep other
members of the family far from harms way. If we had foreknowledge
about an attack on us, we would have done all in our power to have
avoided going through a horric ordeal. The thieves would have found
the house empty. Worse still, they would have been either caught or
killed by the Police. Through ordinary circumstances, God worked
out His extraordinary plans and purposes. At one stage or other in
life, we all encounter events that we conclude are either
accidental or coincidental. These events surprise us and we
recognize them as strange. They set us thinking. We seek to know
why they occurred and why they happened at a specic time. Some of
these events are pleasant; Others are painful. Some bring untold
suffering and we are tempted to question God. On such occasions
like in tragic accidents with loss of life of a friend or a
relative, we would wish we had the powers to foresee and to prevent
them. A split second delay by some action we could have taken may
be all that would have been needed to prevent the striking toll of
tragedy. We become helpless and are confronted with the fact of the
tragedy we cannot alter. There is absolutely nothing we can do to
roll back time. No one but the Lord Jesus Christ has power to
reverse loss. 46
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php He demonstrated His power over the laws
governing nature by raising the dead and by restoring the blind,
deaf, paralytic, demon-possessed, lepers all aficted by
irreversible problems in His will. Strange phenomena set thoughts
in motion, but unless the incidents are striking, we do not ponder
over them for long. We label them as interesting coincidences or
unfortunate accidents. Over a period of time, we forget. Other
experiences are so striking, they draw our attention to the
supernatural and we recognize them as events outside our inuence
and control. These are rational events with an intended purpose.
They are designed to inu- ence our lives. To catch our attention
and inuence our decisions and choices so we alter our course in
ways transcendent of our human capacities. Their timing is
convincing that they are carefully and intentionally planned and
have not occurred by chance. One such lasting impression was the
Angel's Songs. Another was the Our Daily Bread Devotion of October
5th preparing us for the attack the following day. When I carefully
analyze these events, I come to the conclusion that God is active
in our lives and involved in daily events far more closely than we
can imagine and appreciate. I am convinced from personal
experience. The stories I have shared in this book have not been
invented. They have not come from my imagination. They are
corroborated by several witnesses as noted in the accounts. Before
I share the stories of how God ordered our lives in beautiful ways
to pro- vide for us and to execute His plans and purposes, let me
share with you something about myself. My background is that of a
scientist. My students especially appreciate the emphasis I place
on careful observation and critical thinking in the several golden
rules I 47
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php have given them to guide them in their
studies. I have often lamented the ways students are brought up
through rote learning. In my view this is complete waste of their
intellectual capacity, as the system does not encourage effective
use of the neurons in the brain. Our cultural system does not
encourage children to be inquisitive, to ask questions and to
explore their environment. As a scientist, I have been brought up
to critically observe the facts that are before me and to carefully
study them to determine their relevance. There is no conict at all
for me in this as a scientist with my faith as a Christian who
believes in God and in Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour and
Lord. As a pastor and student of the Scriptures, I behold a
rational God who has acted and is still acting in rational ways
with determined ends. His creation reveals Him and His rational
works and actions. He communicates His presence and His will
through nature as well as through special revelations of Himself to
us. He has also equipped us with a mind capable of observing
events, thinking through them rationally and exploring our
environment to discover what is already there. Besides, He reveals
Himself to us in unexpected ways to lead us to faith in Him. Faith
in God is not blind but rational. It has roots in the many actions
of God to call our attention to Him. The most striking of these
events is that of the resurrection of Christ. The Christ of history
was crucied, died and buried, but rose from the dead. The empty
tomb being the rst evidence. Careful observation of the manner in
which the burial clothes of Jesus Christ had been rolled and lay
helped the Apostle John to believe. Subsequent appearances of
Christ to His disciples conrmed to them that He has truly risen
from the dead and they believed. Their lives and works in mission
after that provided further evidence of 48
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php His living and powerful presence. Today,
the Lord Jesus continues to reveal Himself to us in many and
various ways to lead us to faith in Him and to deepen that faith
for us to trust Him and to witness Him. On this premise, I now
share the stories of the events before the attack on us that
conrmed to me that God was at work in my life and the life of the
family. Ten days before the Storm, our eldest daughter Hannah moved
out of the house to settle into a at offered by the Korle Bu
Hospital for her residency work at the Radiotherapy Department. It
was an emotional as well as happy event. Prior to this move, Hannah
had stayed with us for 35 years. As the Lord would have it, there
was a friend in her life, Allen, she would like to marry. She and
Allen, a Ghanaian born British citizen, had courted for almost
three years. In January 2010, customary marriage engagement rites
were performed so they could live as a couple. They had initiated
plans to marry by ordinance in May or June that year. For some
reason, this was postponed to December 2010. Hannah and Allen had
requested that I counsel them to get them ready for marriage as I
had done for her younger siblings, Mary and Sarah and their
husbands Nii Ankama and Ebenezer. Allen was due in Ghana at the end
of September for a short vacation. It would be time for us to have
the nal counseling sessions and also be an opportunity for the two
to plan the wedding. Hannah worked her heart out to decorate the at
in time for her and Allen to spend time together and plan the
wedding. When the at was almost ready, we visited Hannah to inspect
it and I asked for Gods blessing upon this provision for her and
for Allen. Hannah now had a place of her own and she would enjoy
it, having made it 49
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php quite homely. Allen and Hannah would have
privacy, not depending on us or on Allens mother for accommodation.
It is now clear to us Hannah's work to get the at ready was God's
way of ensur- ing she and Allen were safely out of the house. A few
weeks before the at was ready, Hannah had received a death threat
at the at. An anonymous letter had been left under her door
requesting for GHC 30,000 else she and her family would be wiped
out. At rst I did not take the threat seriously. Two weeks later,
she reminded me again about that note. This time I took action,
reporting it to the CEO of the Korle Bu hospital, Professor Nii Otu
Nartey who assured me there would be adequate security in the area.
Professor Nartey reported the matter to the Police and they
enforced security. Hannah therefore moved into the at assured that
she would be protected and safe. If we had focused on this threat
and insisted on Hannah staying away from the at, she would have
been with us and who knows what would have happened to her and
Allen. I had arranged the nal counseling session for Hannah and
Allen for 5:00PM of October 5th at my ofce in the Department of
Anatomy at the Basic Medical Science building of the University of
Ghana Medical School. The ofce is within the Korle Bu hospital, not
far from the at Hannah and Allen lived in. Prior to that session, I
had taught a class of graduate medical students. Hannah and Allen
were waiting when I got back to the ofce. The counseling session
ended at 7:00PM with prayer. I was so happy to have been able to
take them through counseling. What I did not know was that hours
from that session, I would be lying on the oor of the bedroom
dying. I left the ofce together with Hannah and Allen. It was
obvious to them that I was tired from the way I was 50
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php walking. They therefore offered to drive
me home. I assured them I would be able to drive home myself and
bade them goodnight, adding the words, the Lord be with you, as we
always do when we are parting. Their response was, and with thy
spirit. This is a family tradition by which we commit each other
into Gods care. Hannah and Allen got back to the at to nd they had
run out of water. They therefore decided to leave the hospital to
spend the night either with us at Shiashie or with Allens mother at
Labone. A man appeared and offered to help them fetch water. They
accepted the offer. This person worked hard going out of his way to
fetch water several times from another location to ll all the
containers they had in the house. Allen and Hannah were most
grateful for this generous help and were quite relieved that they
would not have to travel out of the hospital to spend the night
elsewhere. In appreciation of what this kind person had done, they
offered him a good tip but he did not accept it. When they
insisted, he asked them to offer it to the Lord. He left them and
they had not seen him since. It was after the news of the attack
that Hannah told this story. This person must have been an Angel of
the Lord in disguise sent to act in a way that would prevent Hannah
and Allen from driving to spend the night with us at Shiashie. I
would refer to him as an Angel because very few if any would offer
to do what he did at that time of the night. It is also rare to nd
someone who will offer that kind of help for over an hour and not
accept some form of pay or reward. If Hannah knew him and had
helped him before, we would understand why he refused the gift. But
he was a stranger who appeared at the right time. He did not only
persist in refusing the gift but asked them to offer it to the
Lord. I have never had such an experience in my life in Ghana where
economic con- 51
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php ditions demand and expect some form of
compensation for services rendered. I wish I could meet this person
to thank him personally. In Gods plan, Hannah and Allen needed to
be at Korle Bu from where they would be instrumental in saving my
life. Otherwise I probably would not have lived to write this book
but for this act that interrupted the plans of Hannah and Allen.
Another intervention that I consider divine happened in the life of
Ruth. We had made plans for our fourth daughter Ruth to travel to
the UK to visit her sister Sarah, Sarahs husband Ebenezer and their
daughter Sarah-Anne. Ruth had a six-week vacation and had desired
much to travel to the UK for the rst time by herself. She had been
there once before in 1987 with Cecilia but as an 8-month old baby.
The travel plan was for her to return home by a KLM ight on the 2nd
of October. Upon a request by Sarahs family, we had the date for
the return trip changed to a week later on October 9th. At the same
time, she would be back a day before my birthday. Unknown to us,
God had directed the actions of Sarah and Ebenezer to have the
ticket changed and delay Ruth's return till after the Storm. It
ensured that Ruth was available to help with my care at the
hospital the three weeks before her classes at the Medical School
resumed. These days were important to the family in my care. Ruth
was back not only to celebrate my birthday but more importantly to
take over the duties of Hannah and Mary in looking after me.
Hannahs vacation period was nearly over. Mary also needed to get
back to her clinical rotations as a resident in Dental Surgery. The
nurses were relieved to have Ruth observe me in the Presidential
private ward I was in so they could look after other critically ill
patients. At the end of the three weeks she spent 52
Preview Edition: To Purchase Book go to
vraeydamedia.ca/store.php looking after me, I was discharged home.
She was also ready for classes at the Medical School. This was not
the rst time Ruth had been divinely protected from being molested
and killed by armed robbers: It was Sunday, November 18th, 2001. We
were getting ready for Church at the Osu Ebenezer Presbyterian
Church. Ruth was taken ill suddenly with a high fever and throbbing
headaches in the af- ternoon of Saturday the 17th of November, a
day before the assignment at Osu. She had been well hours before
and had attended a party at the house of a neighbour. The following
morning, Cecilia and I were preparing to leave the house early for
the service. I was to preach at the rst and second services,
starting at 7AM. Our plan was to leave the fourteen year old Ruth
to rest in bed to recover. We felt she could look after herself and
she would be quite safe with the doors locked. We must leave the
house before 6.30AM. It would take about 20 minutes to get to the
Church. As a stickler to time, I was anxious for us to get out of
the house to arrive early for the service. Ruth asked to go with
us. She said she had suddenly felt better and would like to go.
Truly, the fever was gone and she looked well. Contrary to my
nature, I calmly agreed, resisting the inner prompting to convince
her to stay. If sh