This is to inform my relatives, friends, acquaintances, associates and the world at large that I am in the process of quitting medical practice, indeed bidding goodbye to active medical practice.
I have given myself a maximum transitional period of 12 months after which I will hang up my stethoscope for good.
Instead of medical practice, I will dedicate the rest of my life on earth to the spreading of the Gospel and the charitable activities that will mainly focus on the alleviation of poverty. Towards the fulfillment of this objective, I am setting up the Heaven and Earth International Ministry which will be launched on July 1, 2020.
My decision may come as a surprise to some. For me personally it is not for it is in line with the deal I made with the Lord of Hosts several years ago.
Please allow me to provide a short background to this matter.
As a result of the poor health provision in the community I grew up in, I decided early in my life to become a doctor with the goal of contributing towards improving the situation.
Despite growing up in a deprived village and also the fact that my parents were impoverished, I made it all the way to sixth form, thanks to the free education policy of the Ghana government of the day.
As I sat for the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level examination in June 1978, I was hoping to do well and gain admission to one of the two medical schools in the country in October that year.
On September 14, a few days prior to the release of the A-level results, the Lord sent one of His servants to bear witness to the amazing changes He had brought into her life. The powerful testimony of the Lord’s servant led me to make a conscious decision to follow Him.
Burning with the fire of the Holy Spirit in the immediate aftermath of my conversion, I faced a dilemma—whether to go straight into ministry or pursue my dream of becoming a doctor before embarking on my ministry.
I brought the matter to the Lord. I felt in my spirit the Lord urging me to go ahead with my desire to become a doctor. I could then combine my doctor’s profession with my ministry.
The Lord blessed my path. Initially, I thought He would help me to medical school in Ghana. Well, He had a different plan for me. In the end He led me to the prestigious Hanover Medical School in Germany.
Since qualifying as a doctor (family doctor), I have been working part-time whilst carrying out my missionary activities—writing in defence of the faith, online preaching activities, engaging in charitable activities, etc.
Of late, practising medicine has not been rewarding for me. With Christianity dying away in several places, Europe in particular, I have sensed an increasing urge to devote much more time in spreading the word of God, especially in Europe.
Whilst not deriving much satisfaction from practising as a doctor, financial constraints, yes, the need to pay my bills and service some debts I incurred in a venture I set up in my native Ghana with the goal to providing jobs for the unemployed, have so far kept me in the profession.
Then came December 2019. Towards the end of the month, I got wind of the outbreak of a mysterious respiratory disease in China. Soon it was established that a new type of corona virus was behind it. Whilst I prayed for the Chinese people, especially my compatriots in the healthcare profession, I thought the problem was too far away, removed from the comfort of my home ever to affect me directly.
Well, that turned out to be wishful thinking; come February 2020, the pandemic reached the shores of Europe.
For a while I thought I would be spared a direct hit; but no, that was not be the case. Indeed, starting from Saturday March 28 and over a period lasting a little over two weeks, I had to wrestle with the formidable adversary. At one stage, the human physician that I am felt almost overcome by the invisible foe. Just as the wayward and insubordinate microscopic assailant thought it had gained the upper hand in the fierce tussle, yes, that it could suffocate me to death, Doctor Jesus, the great Physician of all times, came to my rescue in answer to my desperate cry for help.
After that gruesome confrontation with the corona virus, the urge to hang up my stethoscope for good became almost irresistible.
Yet the issues of finance, yes, of money, the need to work as a doctor to earn money to support myself and my family and also service my debts, weighed strongly against my conviction.
It was in the midst of the uncertainty concerning the way forward, that I decided to embark on three days of fasting to seek the face of the Lord.
Then it happened! On the third day, as I worked on my computer, when I had just opened a Microsoft Word document and was about to write a meditation, all of a sudden, the words “Wishes can never fill a sack” appeared on the screen! I was flabbergasted. Of one thing I was certain: I had not typed those words! Up until then I had never even come across the proverb!
The Lord was in effect telling me that I cannot expect anything to happen unless I take the first step! Yes, if I wanted to leave active practice in favour of the ministry, it was imperative for me to take the first step and trust Him to do the rest.
How can the Christian soldier that I am —albeit not of a high rank—resist such a clear “marching order” from my Commander-in-Chief?
So, I have decided to obey the Heavenly command and change course.
With the change of assignment comes the change in designation. Consequently, I want to do away with the “Doctor” designation, with which I have been associated since qualifying as a doctor. Instead I will prefer to be called “Brother”, “Evangelist” or “Pastor”.
Of course, I won’t be offended if others, out of habit or familiarity perhaps, still prefer to call me “Doctor or Doc.”
Finally, I am calling on everyone to remember me in their prayers, indeed that I will be imbued with the Heavenly grace and favour required to fight the good fight of faith till the end.
Thank you very much for your time.
May the good Lord bless us and keep us in his grace.
