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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 literary@vraeydamedia.ca 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