Brief Description.
Collection 346 [April 13, 2000]
Adjabeng, Joshua; 1950-
Interview; 1986
2 Audio Tapes
Restrictions
There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.
Biographical Sketch
Joshua Adjabeng was born in Atonsu, Ghana on October 5, 1950. He was the oldest of of nine
children. His father was a storekeeper and cocoa farmer and his mother was a homemaker. It
was a Christian home (his father was an elder in the local congregation of the Church of
Pentecost) and Adjabeng himself gave his life to Christ in 1967. After this he became an active
leader in various Christian clubs and activities, including the Scripture Union at his high school,
where he met his future wife, Rose. After graduating in 1970, he enrolled at the College of Art
of the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. After a two year predegree
course, he graduated in 1976 with a B.A. in Graphic Design. While on campus he was very
much involved with the campus chapter of both Campus Crusade for Christ and the Ghana
Fellowship of Evangelical Students, a sister organization to the Inter-Varsity organizations
existing in many other countries. After graduation he worked for a year for the literature
committee of the Christian Council of Ghana and then from 1977 to 1979 he was on the staff of
an ad agency in Accra. From 1979 on he became the manager of the press of the Church of
Pentecost, which published tracts, books, Sunday school materials, the magazine Pentecost Fire
and other material for the church throughout West Africa. He also became one of the youth
leaders of the church and served on the board of the African Christian Press. He came to the
United States in 1985 to take the Communication program at the Wheaton College Graduate
School. He completed the program in 1988 and returned to Ghana and the Church of Pentecost
Press. He and Rose had three children.
Scope and Content
The interview with Joshua Adjabeng was conducted by Robert Shuster at the offices of the Archives of the Billy Graham Center on December 19, 1986. The approximate time period of the events covered in the interview is: T1: 1950-1986; T2: 1986. Time elapsed in minutes and seconds is noted in the margin to the left of the topics discussed. The index is keyed to a cassette copy of the interview, not the reel-to-reel original.
Tape T1 - side 1
00:00 Start of tape
00:45 Introduction
01:15 Birth; description of parents; conversion as a young man after reading a
tract; difference between growing up in a Christian home and being a Christian;
family's cocoa farm; father's responsibilities as a church elder
08:30 Description of mother; learning from her about a devotional life and prayer;
the family's devotions; description of the local church he grew up in; typical weekly
events in the church
13:00 Description of a worship service; description of the weekly Bible studies;
conventions held for the denomination (Church of Pentecost); description of the
denomination; geographical distribution of Christians in Ghana
19:00 Relations between Christians and non-Christian in the country; development of Adjabeng's interest in art; his post high school art education
25:00 Meeting his future wife Rose in 1969 in high school; Adjabeng's involvement in Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship; IVCF meetings and activities;
31:30 Effect being a leader in Inter-Varsity had on Adjabeng; counseling students
about life problems; the discipline of planning the Fellowship's yearly schedule;
witnessing to the entire university; questions asked by nonChristian students;
difficulty of breaking with fetishes and charms and the occult; Contacts with
Muslims at the university; difficulty for a Muslim in becoming a Christian
39:15 Scripture Union in secondary schools in Ghana; typical activities of a SU club; the
importance of SU in Adjabeng's life; working for the Christian Council of Ghana;
Christian literature in Ghana; Keith Bayham and Donald Banks; work at an secular
ad agency; decision to work for the Church of Pentecost press
48:15 Changing the format and content of the magazine Pentecost Fire to make it
more relevant to students
49:30 End of side 1
Tape 1 - side 2
00:00 Start of tape
00:15 Overlap from side 1
01:30 Using the magazine for evangelism; the importance of personal testimonies
in the magazine; studying the example of Christianity Today; distribution of the
magazine outside of Ghana; other publications of the church press; the qualities of a
good tract
10:15 The Christian Council of Ghana and Pentecostal churches; activities of the
Christian Council; relations between the government and the Christian churches;
nationalization of missionaries schools and hospitals; continuing interest of
missions in the schools they started
16:30 Rural schools and hospitals run by the Church of Pentecost; effect of the
independence movement on the church; attacks on ministers who are too critical of
the government
21:15 Rapid growth in the number of churches in Ghana, particularly Pentecostal
ones; reason for church growth; growing apathy in the older churches; invigorating
effect of nondemoninational Christian fellowships such as Inter-Varsity
26:15 Relations between missionaries and Ghana church leaders; comparison between
church life in the United States and church life in Ghana
28:45 End of side 2
T2 - side 1
00:00 Start of tape
00:30 Surprise at the high rate of unmarried pregnancy in the United States; the
value of a Wheaton education for his work in Ghana; learning from America's
experience with democracy and equality; attitude toward women's liberation
05:30 End of tape
Provenance
The materials in this collection were received by the Center in December 1986 from Joshua Adjabeng.
Acc.: 86-139
May 9, 1992
Robert Shuster
LOCATION RECORD
Accession : 86-139
Type of material: Audio Tapes
The following items are located in the AUDIO TAPE FILE:
T1 - Reel-to-reel, 3-3/4 ips, approximately 77 minutes, one side only. Interview of Joshua Adjabeng by Robert Shuster. Topics covered include parents, family life; conversion; education; evangelistic work among university students; condition of the church in Ghana; the Pentecostal churches in Ghana; and Adjabeng's work in Christian literature. Recorded on December 19, 1986.
T2 - Reel-to-reel, 3-3/4 ips, approximately 5 minutes, one side only. Interview of Joshua
Adjabeng by Robert Shuster. Topics covered include a comparision between the
church in Ghana and the United States. Recorded on December 19, 1986.