A retirement service was held in honour of Rev. Stephen Okantey and his family on Sunday 7th July, 2019 at Begoro to draw the curtain down on their 33 years’ ministerial service.
This glorious event was officiated by the General Treasurer of the Assemblies of God, Ghana Rev. Dr. Sam Ato Bentil with assistance from the Eastern Region ‘C’ Superintendent, Rev. Emmanuel Odame Obuobi.
In his sermon titled “The Act of Appreciation” (Luke 17:11-19) for the occasion, the General Treasurer Rev. Dr. Sam Ato Bentil indicated that the gathering was to show appreciation to Rev. Okantey and his family for their meritorious service rendered to Assemblies of God, Ghana and humanity in general. He cited the story of the ten lepers who were considered outcast by the society but upon crying to Jesus their situation got changed. Ten lepers were cleansed but only one appreciated what Christ did and came back to show appreciation, he noted.
Rev.Dr. Bentil outlined important issues one must reflect upon when it comes to appreciation. First, there should be a basis of appreciation. According to the General Treasurer, the Samaritan realized his condition or stature has changed and he could now join his family; that was his basis for coming back to Jesus with appreciation. He intimated that “we must appreciate God for how far He has brought us”. Secondly, he posited that there should be an action for business. The Samaritan came all the way, bowed before Jesus and thanked Him. He practically demonstrated his appreciation, Rev. Bentil opined. The General Treasurer stressed that appreciation must be demonstrated; “not just talks but action”. Finally, he emphasized that there should be blessing for appreciation. According to Rev. Bentil, the Samaritan received special blessings from Jesus because he came back to show appreciation. He encouraged the congregation to show appreciation to Rev. Steve Okantey and his family.
The General Treasurer together with Rev. Peter Bandim made the declaration of retirement for Rev. Okantey. Rev. Peter Bandim, the administrator of the Assemblies of God Ministers’ Pension Scheme, used the occasion to encourage the ministers to continue to contribute into the fund for their retirement. He presented a package from the Pension Scheme to Rev. Okantey. The AG churches in the Begoro vicinity presented a Toyota Rav 4 SVU, four-bedroom house and other items to Rev. Okantey and his family. Goodwill messages were also extended to the Retiree.
In his appreciation speech, Rev. Okantey thanked God for He has been his strength and hope. He also expressed his special appreciation to the General Superintendent, Rev. Prof. Paul Frimpong-Manso and the E.P officers for their immense support, contribution, encouragement and counsel. He further extended special gratitude to the former Regional Superintendents of the defunct Eastern Region, Late Rev. Jonathan Donkor and Rev. Alex Ofori Amankwah. He was also grateful to the Regional Superintendent of Eastern region ‘C’, Rev. Dr. Obuobi Emmanuel Odame, Regional Secretary, Rev. Dr. Peter Abenney and the Regional Treasurer, Rev, Joseph Baidoo for their immense contribution, support and love they had for me all these years in my ministry. Again, he expressed gratitude to his predecessors who started the Begoro church, all pastors, churches in Begoro District and her dear wife Mrs. Lydia Okantey and their children.
Present at the event were some active and retired ministers within and outside the Region; former Eastern Regional Superintendent Rev. Rtd. Alex Ofori Amankwah, Eastern Region ‘A’ & ‘B’ officers, traditional rulers of Begoro and the Imam of the Moslem Community in Begoro.
Assemblies of God Ghana in 2014 implemented a new policy to retire Ministers who turn 65. This policy seeks to give retired Ministers a befitting retirement package after serving the organization and this has been an improvement on the old policy.
Report by: Rev Kwame Asiedu Obed A.
Profile of Rev. Rtd. Stephen Okantey
Rev. Stephen Okantey was born on 19th March, 1954 and the fourth child of Opanyin KwameBaidoo and Obaapanyin Akosua Gyanwaa all of blessed memory. Rev. Okantey in his childhood moved to stay with his uncle when his mother passed away. Rev. Okantey started primary school when he was about ten years old; he was always among the best students in his class throughout his time in school. Due to the hash situation, he found himself in financial constraints, so he only managed it to middle school form four.
After leaving school he went and stayed with his elder sister at Akwamu Pesse his home town. In the later part of 1974, he left Pesse to Akrade Akwamu in the Asuogyaman District to seek for job opportunities and God being so good, he got a job with the Akosombo Textiles Limited in the early part of 1975.
Rev. Okantey believed and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and personal Savior in the year 1974 during an open air crusade which was jointly organized by Senchi Assemblies of God and Tema Community 4 Assemblies of God at New Akrade under the able leadership of the then Pastors; Ebenezer Tetteh of Senchi Church and Gaylord Aidoo Dadzie of Community 4 Central AG Church.
Rev. Okantey served faithfully and diligently as a member of the Senchi Church and rose to become a Sunday school teacher, deacon, then later became a caretaker of the church when the resident pastor travelled out of the country. In 1984, he left his job and enrolled in Assemblies of God Bible College to be trained as a pastor in response to the call of God to do His work. In 1986, Rev. Okantey graduated with Diploma in Theology from the Assemblies of God Bible College, Saltpond, and now Assemblies of God Theological Seminary.
After graduation he was posted back to his own people at Senchi to pastor them, an appointment he wholeheartedly accepted in good faith. During his tenure as the resident pastor, Rev. Okantey worked hard to build the Church to an appreciable level, spiritually, physically and numerically. He never relented in his quest to build and expand the Kingdom of God, so he worked hard to win more souls for God; he also stepped out to open new branches. Three more branches were added to the existing one, namely Juapong AG, Akosombo AG, and then South Senchi AG; all these Churches are doing well with Akosombo and Juapong Churches having their own pastor with South Senchi AG put under Senchi Church. Rev. Okantey after serving the Church for four years was transferred to Aburi in 1989.
At Aburi, Rev. Okantey continued his hard work as a pastor and became the District Pastor of the Akuapem District. He again led the Church and succeeded in raising the spiritual and physical Standards of the Church. He also managed to secure a temporal plot and raised a temporal structure on the same plot to house the Church as a matter of urgency as the Church was evicted from their rented place of worship. Through the hard work of Rev. Okantey and the cooperation he received from his church board and members, the Church was able to spread its tentacle to other places like Kitase, Agyemanti and Ahwerease. After serving the Church for six years Rev. Okantey again was transferred from Aburi to Begoro in the year 1997.
On 3rdJanuary, 1997, Rev. Okantey and his family arrived in Begoro and were met by some happy members, deacons and deaconesses. It was a moment full of joy and excitement, an experience that cannot be forgotten. For the past twenty two (22) years, Rev. Okantey has worked and continued to work as the resident pastor of Assemblies of God Church in Begoro until his retirement. There were only two active A/G churches and one that needs to be revived at the time of Rev. Okantey’s arrival, the central church in Begoro Town and a branch church at Dua-Palice, with the third branch which was at Ahomahomasu, but today, by God’s grace the Ahomahomasu Branch Church has been revived and it is among the strongest and active local churches in the District, now having a full time resident pastor and again today the church is housed in a permanent place of worship.
Due to Rev. Okantey’s commitment to duty and the support he receive from his board, local leaders and the entire membership of the Church, the number of Churches in Begoro District, today has grown from two (2) to seventeen (17) local branches with Begoro Township alone having four (4) branches. Due to growth and expansion of the Church in this area, the leadership of Eastern Region ‘C’ under which this area falls, saw the need to create Begoro District out of the Tafo District, in addition to the number of Districts in the Region, so today, we have Begoro District, something which is no undersized achievement. All the Churches in the District are having building plots except five, and with regard to a place of worship, five out of the seventeen churches are having their own permanent places of worship with the rest either worshiping in a temporal structure erected on their building plots or in a classroom.
Rev. Okantey took over the leadership of the church in the year 1997 without a mission house. Through hard work, commitment and faith in our God, he mobilized the support of his members to put up a four-bedroom self-contained mission house. This project started in the year 1998 and by October 1999, this edifice of the church was completed and dedicated by the late Rev. Jonathan Donkor, the then Eastern Regional Superintendent, which paved way for the pastor and his family to move in to occupy the place in the month of January 2000.Again, in the same year that Rev. Okantey took over the administration of the church, the church was then worshipping in a temporary wooden structure raised on its own piece of plot they had acquired. Due to his visionary approach to issues of the church, the church auditorium which was started in the year 2000 was completed and dedicated in the year 2008 by Rev. Sumaila, the then General Secretary of Assemblies of God Ghana.
In terms of leadership positions, Rev. Okantey served as Men’s Ministry regional representative in the early 1987 for about one year and also served as the Youth Director for the then Coastal District of Assemblies of God Ghana for four years, i.e. 1988-1991. Later, Rev. Okantey was elected as the regional treasurer, a position he held for two terms. When the Executive Committee (E.C) of the Assemblies of God Eastern Region decided to form a welfare association, Rev. Okantey was the one appointed as the first Chairman of the association, a position he held for about ten years. Later, when the region was divided into three regions he was again appointed as chairman to head the welfare association in Eastern Region ‘C’.
Rev. Okantey held several other positions outside Assemblies of God, Ghana. He was once Ghana Pentecostal Churches (G.P.C) Chairman for Senchi area, G.P.C Chairman for Aburi, G.P.C. Chairman for Begoro, for many years, Chairman for Local Council of Churches in Begoro, Fanteakwa North District Aids Committee Member, and several other positions. Until his retirement, Rev. Okantey was the acting District Pastor for Begoro District.
Many lives have been transformed under the able leadership of Rev. Okantey and some of these people are now working with Assemblies of God as trained Pastors. They are Rev. Epaphras Anokye (Rtd); Rev. Okyere Darko; Rev. Agyakwah – Kitaase AG; Rev. Paul Mensah – Asafo AG; Ps. Solomon Padi Narh-Begoro; Ps.Tetteh Wayo-Dua Police; Ps. Tawiah; and Ps. Stephen Amoakohene – Ehiamankyene AG.
The aforementioned and many other more indelible achievements chalked by Rev. Okantey could not have been made possible without the unflinching support given to him by his lovely, dedicated and hardworking wife. On 8th February, 1976, Rev. Okantey got married to a beautiful young lady called Lydia Adobea now Mrs. Lydia Okantey. This marriage was attended by Rev. Ebenezer Tetteh, the then resident Pastor of Senchi A/G, and Rev. Gaylord Aidoo-Dadzie of then community 4 A/G, with the marriage itself blessed by Rev. Crake, one of the Assemblies of God former Missionaries. God by His grace has blessed the marriage with five children.
Mrs. Okantey stood solidly behind her husband in the ministry and served in many capacities, she was once secretary to the ministers’ wives association in the Akwapim District and later became the president in the same District. Later, she also became Treasurer to the Regional Minister’s wives association for about eight years. Mrs. Okantey on the local front has been the children’s teacher, pastor and mother throughout her entire life in the ministry, currently she was the president of the minister’s wives association for Begoro District until her husband’s retirement.
