Unmasking The Watchwomen of Ghana

THIS book is about a very powerful prayer group mostly of women who are noted for interceding for our country Ghana.

 For a very good friend of mine, anytime he heard their advertisement for their monthly prayer session, which was close to the end of the month, it was time for him to lace his shoes to visit the bank to collect his salary. 

The mantra Be Aglow for Jesus! became according to the author Rev. Hedwig Naa Tolloo Quist, in the introduction, such a familiar greeting to many that both members of the fellowship and the general public alike looked forward to the monthly public nationwide prayer meetings by women across the country at various locations.

“I was particularly enthused when I encountered these women travailing and prevailing in prayer for a nation that many scorn and speak about without much hope. Women who converge consistently each month with the main aim of praying for the nation Ghana; this is by far an unmatched phenomenon in the annals of my motherland”.

She explained further that what struck her most was their unwavering faith in the Lord God Almighty, and their belief that there was a place of prayer in the pursuit of judicial, political and socio-economic freedom of the nation, and was convinced that their conviction was hinged on the fact that prayer can move the hand of God to alter the course of a people.

As a writer and Christian, as I read this book, I cannot help but note that prayer is one of the keys that open every door in our lives. Love is the other key and so when these two keys are combined you are surely on the way to walking in the footprints of Jesus Christ.

Jesus taught us the value of these keys, Prayer and love. He, therefore, taught us how to pray in Matthew Chapter 6, verses 9 to 13. “After this manner therefore, pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven,….”. 

He also gave two commandments, love to God our Father Almighty, and love to our neighbours in Mark Chapter 12, verses 30 and 31. “And thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is, thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these”.  

Who other than our mothers have these two keys of love and prayer, which they use so effectively use to open doors for their children, husbands, families, friends, communities and the country?

Therefore, in our country’s adversities, what better tools can they use than pray and invoke love to intercede for all.

In this book, Unmasking The Watchwomen of Ghana Naa Tolloo takes an in-depth look at our mothers who are the best watchmen when it comes to their loved ones. Check out the mother in Sweet Mother by Prince Nico Mbarga and the one in the poem My Mother by Ann Taylor.

Their attributes attest to the strength and resilience of the women who form that powerful prayer group, Aglow International — Ghana (Women Aglow).

Foreword

In the foreword by Very Rev. Prof. J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, President of the Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon, Accra, Ghana, he endorsed the observation that women constituted the heartbeat of Christianity in Ghana, as in other places in Africa.

According to him, the organisation was born out of a passionate prayer and fasting regime in which certain women sought the face of God for their country Ghana, and believes that in this book, one will encounter not just the history, but also the work and prayer life and influence of a women’s movement, that has worked to keep the hand of God upon Ghana, and saved the country from the violent and disastrous civil wars and violent takeovers of governments, that had bedevilled some of Ghana’s neighbours.

Opening

In the opening chapter titled The Mission, Rev. Naa Tolloo traces the beginnings of the famous women’s prayer group, Women Aglow, Ghana, highlighting especially those hard times in 1983 when famine blanketed the nation, with many businesses getting crippled and the deportation of Ghanaians from Nigeria, popularly known as Ghana must go, which exacerbated the situation.

She also touched on its affiliations to international groups with like ideals.

Things were so bad in those days that Ghana needed salvation, and Naa Tolloo puts it this way, “The good news was that the Almighty God, the Deliverer and great provider was busy in His kitchen! What was he cooking you may ask? Certainly not domedo or gobɛ, nor was it Pizza from the ‘Inn’ people.

According to her, a group of women stood in the gap for Ghana and in simple but loaded language, laced with humour and biblical references, told her story as in the following; “Like the biblical Esther, they knew the Lord was going to deliver them and positioned themselves to be conduits and vessels of that deliverance.

With their malnourished babies strapped to their backs, these women set out to intervene on behalf of Ghana”.

Under the title The Matriarchs, Naa Tolloo referred to these women who she called Esthers, who stood in the gap and were used by God to deliver Ghana in the time of its great tribulation, as the women who spearheaded the formation and growth of the prayer group, during those hard times in 1983.

Pioneers

You will find these pioneers and their names and positions they held then, and the current structures and offices of the Aglow International – Ghana, as well as some of their activities in this book.

She also favours us with the interesting story of her first meeting with Gifty Affenyi Dadzie, aka Adjoa Ghana, a stalwart of Aglow International – Ghana, and currently their National Prayer Director.

“I have been transformed through my interactions with this great general of faith and prayer. A principled and firm woman, who abhors laziness, loves decent but stylish fashion, and who believes all things are possible as long as it sits within the purpose and plan of the Lord”. 

She also touched on personalities of national interest who have participated in the monthly prayer meetings.

The number of heavyweights in the list will surprise you. Misconceptions? I leave you dear reader to check them out yourself and please honour Naa Tolloo’s invitation for intercessors to stand in the gap to among others, intercede for families, communities and nations. 

Nuggets

Finally, she leaves you with a few nuggets and memorable pictures. Lest I forget, Rev. Hedwig Naa Tolloo Quist is an Ordained Minister of the Methodist Church Ghana and she studied at the University of Ghana Business School and the Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon.

Pick a copy or copies for your friends and the youth associations of your church or the library of your alma mater. It will certainly open doors for them. Cheers!

Reviewer’s E-mail: niiaddokwei@yahoo.com