Let me tell you about a man who doesn’t just talk about faith—he lives it, breathes it, and builds with it. A man whose life echoes the apostles of old, proving that when God calls, true faith answers with thunderous obedience!
Back in 1991, Emmanuel Asare-Kusi stepped into Tamale as a young circuit minister. He didn’t stay in the city. He rode out to villages like Savelugu, Gushegu and beyond, visiting tiny churches, preaching in open fields, and holding crusades under the stars. For three intense years (1991–1994), he worked right in the middle of the Konkomba-Dagomba conflict. Bullets flew. Villages burned. People fled. One day, he was nearly caught in the crossfire—but by God’s mercy, he was pulled out just in time. That wasn’t luck. That was grace.
But Emmanuel’s heart burns hotter than the northern sun for missions and evangelism. The pull of safer pastures beckoned. After his eventful stint in Tamale, he ministered in the bustling Kumasi District—now the Kumasi Diocese of the Methodist Church—at the Adum Wesley Cathedral. There, his commitment and devotion shone, drawing the youth like moths to a flame. He could have settled into comfort, but the call to deeper waters led him across oceans. He pursued and completed a Master’s degree at the esteemed Fuller Theological Seminary in California, USA, sharpening his theological sword for battles yet to come.
Upon returning, the world opened its arms wide. Churches in the USA extended invitations, gilded with promise and prestige. The Kumasi Diocese tugged insistently, yearning for his pastoral leadership in the familiar south. Many ministers would leap at such opportunities—pastoring in America or the urban south of Ghana is the pinnacle, the reward for years of toil. But Emmanuel hears a different voice, the still, small whisper of God. Defying convention, he turns his gaze northward once more. This is no mere decision; it is a defining pivot in his ministry, an unpopular choice that speaks volumes of his convictions. He chooses the Upper West Region, the rugged frontier of Wa, where the soil is stubborn and the harvest sparse.
In Wa, there were many challenges as expected. Finances were a perpetual thorn, human resources scarce as rain in the dry season. Salaries trickled in erratically, if at all. Yet Emmanuel was relentless, his major strength in God lying in his unflinching faith and perseverance amid difficulties. Financial woes, staffing shortages, and myriad ministerial trials assail him, but he tackles them on his knees in prayer, anchored in unshakeable trust in God. He straddles motorbikes, kicking up red dust on untarred roads, planting seeds of faith in forgotten corners.
Over time, the Methodist Church in the Upper West blossoms under his hands. He plants and revives more than 18 churches, breathing life into dormant congregations and birthing new ones from the dust. Headquarters eventually provides a second-hand car, a modest chariot for his tireless journeys. But long before that, he poured his own resources into a weekly radio program on Upper West Radio, titled God’s Way of Salvation. Week after week, his voice cuts through the static, preaching Christ, dispensing hope to the weary and the lost. The airwaves become his pulpit, reaching souls beyond the reach of roads.
His personal generosity runs deep as the roots of ancient baobabs. He contributes financially from his own pocket to church projects in the north, and leverages his positions to spearhead developmental initiatives—among them, the establishment of the Konongo Methodist Senior High School, a beacon of education rising from the Ashanti region to foster educational development in the Konongo city.
His labours bear fruit in 2003, when the Methodist Church Conference crowns him Minister/Evangelist of the Year—a crowning affirmation amid the thorns. Through it all, God proves faithful. In a moment of pure providence, Emmanuel receives a $40,000 scholarship to pursue his Doctorate in Ministry at the prestigious Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, KY, USA —without even applying. It is a miracle that thunders the truth: God honours those who obey, and all things work together for good for those called according to His purpose.
The arc of his journey bends toward greater heights. From 2005 to 2010, he served as Evangelism Director of the Methodist Church Connexion, fanning the flames of mission across the connexion. In 2010, he crossed another ocean to become the first Superintendent Minister of the Toronto, Canada Circuit, serving until 2015 with the same unquenchable zeal. Then, in 2018, elevation comes: he is consecrated Bishop of the Koforidua Diocese, a role he holds with grace through 2024 and beyond.
Yet, beyond titles and territories, Emmanuel’s legacy pulses with a profound heart for the underprivileged. He has lifted over 30 children from the shadows of poverty, sponsoring their education and equipping some with vocational skills to forge their own paths. More than 50 souls owe their entry into mainstream ministry to his guidance—commissioned and ordained ministers, fiery evangelists—all nurtured under his wing. Among them stands Rt. Rev. Lawrence Beka, a protégé who has risen through the ranks to bishopric, is a living branch from Emmanuel’s steadfast tree. He has mentored countless ministers, his wisdom a compass in the fog of doubt.
At the heart of this extraordinary journey stands a pillar of support: his lovely wife, Felicia Asare-Kusi, a retired nurse who has journeyed with him to every ministerial station. Through dust-choked roads and urban sanctuaries, from Ghana’s north to Canada’s shores, she has been his confidante, his encourager, his partner in every step. Together, they have raised three children, who have blessed them with six grandchildren—a family tapestry woven with love and faith.
Rt. Rev. Dr Emmanuel Asare-Kusi’s story is no mere chronicle of a clergyman; it is a living saga of a man who dances with danger, defies ease, and dares to follow the divine whisper. From the bullet-riddled villages of Tamale to the airwaves of Wa, from the seminaries of America to the episcopal seat in Koforidua, his life narrates the triumph of faith over fear, obedience over opportunity, perseverance over peril. In a world quick to chase comfort, he chooses the cross. And in doing so, he etches an eternal mark: that one life, surrendered wholly, can ripple into multitudes transformed. While he walks among us still, vibrant and vital, let us celebrate this giant of the faith—not in farewell, but in fervent admiration. May his narrative stir us to emulate what endures, for in the grand tapestry of God’s kingdom, Emmanuel’s thread shines brilliantly, a beacon for generations yet unborn.
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