Pastor Kofi has helped to plant 25 churches in Ghana and Burkina Faso, as well as a home for orphans and a school with 1,000 students. But he doesn’t have much money to manage all this.
So he welcomed an opportunity to provide a family member with shea butter for sale in the US in exchange for a share of the profit. This versatile product of the shea tree has medicinal and cosmetic properties, and is also used in cooking. Although common in Ghana, shea butter is hard to get in the US and is in demand by West Africans living there.
At about the same time, a pastor of a large church in the US promised Kofi’s ministry $1,000 (US). Understandably, Kofi anticipated a windfall for his churches and school. The days piled into weeks, which grew into months, but still no money came.
Then one day his family member in the US called with an excuse about “unexpectedly low returns” on the sale of the shea butter. No money would be forthcoming. Nevertheless, he wanted to know if Kofi would package more shea butter and ship it. (He politely declined.)
And the pastor of the large church? Kofi never heard from him again.
Surprisingly, this Ghanaian pastor’s attitude remains upbeat. “By His grace, I know that God’s work will go forward,” he says, refusing to dwell on the broken promises.
“Help, O LORD,” wrote the psalmist. “The faithful have vanished from the earth! Neighbors lie to each other” (Psalm 12:1-2). But the refrain to the song rings out: “The LORD’s promises are pure . . . We know you will protect the oppressed, preserving them forever from this lying generation” (Psalm 12:6-7).
People will fail us in this life, but there’s a Promise Keeper we can always rely on.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 1 John 3:1-24
More:
In the Sermon on the Mount, what does Jesus say about making promises? (Matthew 5:33-37).
Next:
What motivates you to make promises? Why is it important for you to fulfill what you promise?
tom felten on December 26, 2013 at 10:42 am
Pastor Kofi’s response is refreshing and instructive. He rested in God’s sovereignty and power as he faced loss at the hands of a dishonest person, but he also wisely chose to stop the flow of funds to the individual. Great example!
rollingwoodfarm on December 26, 2013 at 11:29 am
Tim, Do you have any contact information for Pastor Kofi?
alli on December 26, 2013 at 12:54 pm
Wow this is upsetting, especially this church asking for more goods for something they failed to deliver. That attitude is one i am hopefully working to change. Always requiring more and not fulfilling on the latter
alli on December 26, 2013 at 1:01 pm
In addition when we dont fulfill promises we can assume that God doesnt fulfil His, nothing more discouraging than an unfulfilled promise.
LCC on December 27, 2013 at 12:43 am
Nowadays everywhere we turn in this world we could see uproar, war, protests….. This article is both a comforting (that there are so many people facing disappointments in people and we are not alone ) and a reminder that ONLY JESUS we can anchor on. Unchanging and everlasting!
tgustafs on December 30, 2013 at 8:25 am
Rollingwoodfarm, I do indeed have the name of an organization that works with Pastor Kofi. (Apologies for the late reply. I have been away on holiday.) My friend’s full name is Samuel Kofi Appiah. He is helped by the Mount Abarim Baptist Mission International.
I give to this man’s ministry through that organization. On a personal note, my son Kofi is named for him. 🙂 The name means boy born of Friday — which he was.