Opinions of Friday, 22 February 2013
Columnist: Jackson, Margaret
By Margaret Jackson
February 20, 2013
If steps are not taken to reverse a lot of things, the year 2013 will go down in history as the year of cataclysmic lamentations, says Rev. Isaac Owusu Bempah, the Founder and Leader of the Glorious Word Ministry International.
Rev. Owusu Bempah, who claims to have had the revelation from God, dropped so many names that cut across different oceans and continents during the Watch Night Service at his church on December 31, 2012. If you happen to listen to portions of the whole tape that was played on Adom TV, you will not believe the names that Owusu Bempah dropped from a sheet of paper he was holding.
The former South African President, Nelson Mandela was right in the midst of eminent personalities who according to Owusu Bempah will die this year if people around him do not pray to reverse it.
The Speaker of the 5th Session of Ghana’s Parliament, Mrs Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo was not spared the rod or agony. This lady who turns 76 on March 26 was on the list of people slated to die this year. Your heart may jump if you hear Rev. Owusu Bempah mention the name of Mrs Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo from the list he was holding.
Ex-President George Herbert Walker Bush, who served as the 41st President of the United States did not escape from the list. According to Owusu Bempah, President Bush will also lose his life in 2013 if his people or his loved ones fail to pray for him.
We all know what Owusu Bempah said concerning President John Dramani Mahama which has generated a lot of heat and controversy in the country. Owusu Bempah has boldly stated over and over again that should nothing be done in terms of prayer, President Mahama will not see the light of day by the end of this year.
Let’s move on to another prominent person that Rev. Owusu Bempah claimed will also die in 2013. He stated that he is a very popular Bishop in Ghana that people normally refer to as Papa. And in Ghana if you ask many people especially those in the Christendom who people normally refer to as Papa; Archbishop Duncan-Williams’ name will easily pop up. According to Owusu Bempah death will certainly lay its icy hands on him if he does not pray.
Nigeria, whose total population was last recorded at 162.5 million people in 2011, which represents 2.35 percent of the world’s total population was also in the news. A well-known Bishop of the country has death lurking around his corner, and that he will indeed die this year if nothing is done to reverse the situation.
There will be wailing and lamentation in the Central Region of Ghana as a prominent politician will also join our ancestors if people sit down and do nothing, says Owusu Bempah.
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor was also not spared. He was right there, counted among the people who have been slated to die this year. But according to Owusu Bempah, when Kufuor was informed he immediately took steps to reverse the doom on his head.
There were two other unnamed popular NPP politicians who according to Rev. Owusu Bempah will also die and throw the country into mournful situations. I honestly do not know why Owusu Bempah did not mention their names so that their families and friends will pray for them.
The Ashanti Region will also experience some lamentation this year as a prominent chief will also go ‘home’. The name of that prominent chief was however not disclosed by Owusu Bempah. In order not to bore readers I will stop right here and not name other people on Owusu Bempah’s death list.
This is the scariest information ever to be unleashed on a joyous congregation that has gone to church on December 31, to usher in the New Year. I bet if you happen to be among the congregation on that day and you even hate those who were all mentioned to die this year, you will be more depressed and alarmed.
What will easily come to mind is that this year will indeed be a “Year of Devastating Lamentation”, and you will be wondering why God will want to throw the world into such mournful situations.
I will not lambast Rev. Owusu Bempah nor challenge his claims. My only worry is the way he went about it. Imagine if all those mentioned to die this year were members of Owusu Bempah’s church and they were part of the congregation with their families, will Owusu Bempah have dropped their names the way he did? Will he have mentioned their names one by one whilst they were surrounded by their families and friends at the church service?
Rev. Owusu Bempah has gone on air several times to justify why he mentioned those names without contacting them. I still do not sound convinced with his justification because something could have happened to those on the death list if they had heard it on air. There are several ways of breaking such news or prophesies to people involved and the way Owusu Bempah did it was certainly not the best.
Owusu Bempah may have good intentions of doing what he did but to me he could have done it differently without the whole congregation being privy to such information. He certainly stepped on boundaries that caused that huge public outcry. I hope he reverses his notes and do it differently next time round.
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