Photos by Miss Nemela Mangula

'Colourful' Ghana Day Attracts Police Attention - Sabbath 10 October 2009 - Report by Dr Theophilus Gokah

On Sabbath 10 October 2009 nearly two hundred members and guests of the South Wales African Adventist Fellowship converged on the newly rented St Andrews Methodist Church in Birchgrove for a special Day of Fellowship. SWAAF now has 28 members on the books, and weekly attendance can be double this, but for special days friends come from all over the United Kingdom, including on this occasion Telford, Reading, and London.

It is on these special days that the full colour of our culturally diverse church is seen, and it was the vibrant colour that attracted public attention on Sabbath. The area of Birchgrove, where the St Andrews Methodist Church is located in Cardiff, is a fairly quiet and conservative district, with a few shops, a pub and a large number of houses. As the African members began to arrive in their beautiful kente cloth robes and headdresses, the neighbours started looking out from behind their curtains. Pretty soon a good-natured policeman arrived on the scene to see what was going on. After assisting with some parking issues and chatting with a few of the members he went on his way again. Later in the day two more police officers came, this time in a squad car, and again they spoke with the members and visitors. They asked about the event, the numbers of people, and above all, those beautiful colours!

That's how the day looked to some of those on the outside. Those inside the church heard the key message being delivered by Elder K T Abbequaye, a member of the BUC Executive Committee who works in the City of London. He drew the congregation's attention to the experiences of Daniel in a foreign land and urged all Seventh-day Adventist Christians to position themselves in such a manner that they will not be found wanting in their new situation. Instead, he said, they should be worthy ambassadors for Christ and the church.

The focal point of the day was the dedication of baby Yaw Nyarko Boakye, son of Pastor George and Mrs Joyce Asiamah. Pastor Kwadwo Kwarteng Ampofo dedicated Yaw to the Lord and charged all present not to neglect their communal traditional responsibility of training and nurturing Yaw Nyarko. Yaw was officially admitted onto the roll of Sabbath School department by the Superintendent, Mrs Margaret Mwangalika, and was presented with a number of generous gifts.

There were other eulogies from friends of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cardiff, who referred to Pastor Asiamah not just as a Minister for the Adventist Church but for all Africans in Cardiff. This is truly the aim of SWAAF - to draw together Africans from all over Cardiff and South Wales and help them to find fellowship, hope and truth through the community of the Seventh-day Adventist church.

Throughout the day music was provided by the Reading Youth Choir, Charles Boahene and the New Herald Singing Group.