Rev. Dr. Godwin Nii Noi Odonkor has urged ministerial trainees at the Ramseyer Training Centre (RTC), Abetifi–Kwahu, to see ministry as a journey that often resembles life in the wilderness, saying that it can be unfamiliar, stretching, humbling, yet deeply formative.
Speaking during the Centre’s Moment of Reflection on Wednesday, he offered a candid and pastoral meditation on the realities of ministerial life. He explained that ministry can feel like a wilderness because it frequently takes ministers away from familiar environments.
Leaving home for RTC, he said, is itself a symbolic entry into that wilderness, a place where anonymity, solitude and unfamiliarity test one’s character and calling. “Anonymity can be a wilderness,” he noted, adding that if ministers do not intentionally welcome people, they may experience isolation even within congregations.
Rev. Dr. Odonkor cautioned that local congregations can unintentionally become ivory towers or islands, disconnected from the wider community. “The Church of Christ must not be an island; Jesus Himself was not an island,” he said.
He reminded trainees that Ghana is not officially declared a Christian nation, and ministers must therefore learn to live peaceably with people of other faiths. Respect, humility, caution and careful negotiation, he stressed, are essential tools for evangelism and community engagement.
He encouraged trainees to move beyond the comfort of church walls and interact meaningfully with the communities they serve. “We cannot win souls when we show disrespect,” he warned, urging them to embody Christlike character wherever they find themselves.
Rev. Dr. Odonkor also reminded trainees that their classroom training represents only 10 percent of ministry; the remaining 90 percent is character. Ministers, he said, journey with congregants through the entire life cycle, from birth to death, and must therefore cultivate patience, empathy and integrity.
By Jerome Otchere
