As you traverse the street markets of Accra, you will quickly notice a segment of hard-working women carrying iconic, silver bowls used to transport goods on behalf of vendors and customers.
These industrious women are from the northern Ghanaian Mamprusi tribe, who migrate to the city of Accra during the dry farming season, in search of employment to support themselves and earn money for their families.
Since they are migratory workers, they lack access to basic needs such as housing. Banding together in an impromptu community for safety, they sleep among the market stalls, empty parking lots, and sidewalks. Among the workers are women who’s young children accompany them, carried on their mother’s backs in their efficiently crafted fabric baby wraps, adding to the already cumbersome loads carried about with their large, signature bowls, balanced deftly on their heads as they move about the crowded streets.
The Mamprusi are a people who inhabit areas in northern Ghana. They speak Mampruli, a language belonging to the Gur language family. The Mamprusi also have settled in areas of northern Togo.
Mamprusi settlements usually consist of a grouping of circular compounds that are surrounded by farmland. The ideal farming season is during rainy season from April to October, followed by dry season from October to March. Farming is central to the Mamprusi economy.
Principal crops include millet, corn, yams, okra, hibiscus, rice, and tobacco. Men clear the land and plant while women sow and harvest crops from the fields. Sheep, goats, pigeons and chickens are their main farm animals. Those with wealth have cattle and horses.
Traditionally, the Mamprusi people did not own land; they considere the land to belong to their ancestors. Mamprusi honor their ancestors with shrines and rituals devoted to them. Many Mamprusi have adopted Islam, but traditional religious practices persist. There are an estimated 430,000 Mamprusi living in northern Ghana.
Sources: Britannica, Joshua Project
EVENING CHURCH SERVICES
Each Wednesday and Friday evening, Pastor David holds services at a local Accra Art Building.
SUNDAY CHURCH SERVICES
Each Sunday, Pastor David leads out in an open-door church service at the Accra Art Building. Since the market is mostly dormant on Sunday, the street workers are able to attend freely. Through these services, street workers come to know Jesus Christ, resulting in baptisms in the salt water of the Atlantic Ocean, located near the Art Building.
Each Sunday afternoon, Pastor David reaches out to the community of street workers that are unfamiliar with the gospel of Jesus or may simply not have been able to attend the morning service.
As Pastor David, traverses throughout the street market, he is come to be recognized among the street workers as someone who looks out for them. Similar to the role of a father, David lives out Matthew 25:40 to the community of street workers, some as young as pre-teen. His contact information is passed out freely among the Mamprusi street workers, since they know that Pastor David looks out for their interests.
Pastor David’s ministry and service to the street workers over the past 6-7 years had an unexpected influence in communities located more than 300 miles to the north. Because of David’s faithfulness in serving these forgotten workers in Accra, Crusades for Christ have been invited to start churches in villages of northern Ghana, the home villages of the street workers.
Meet a few of the ladies working on the streets of Accra, Ghana
Hello, my name is Nasira. I am from Yizesi, Ghana.
Hello, my name is Zenabu. I am from Wungu, Ghana.
Hello, my name is Elizabeth (right). I am from Yizesi, Ghana.
Hello, my name is Rhoda. I am from WaleWale, Ghana.
Meet the Accra Street Ministry Director
David was born in the Upper East Region of Ghana, in a small village called Bongo. He was one of five children—two brothers and two sisters. Among his siblings, David was the only one who attended school, where he developed a love for math and social studies.
Tragically, David’s father passed away when David was just six years old. Life became extremely difficult for his mother. His father’s farmland was divided among his three wives, but David and his siblings were too young to help their newly widowed mother work the land. Unable to sustain themselves through farming, David and his mother moved to Nesie, in the Northern Region of Ghana. There, she worked for others to provide for her young family.
In their new home, David and his family lived among the Mamprusi tribe. David learned to speak the Mamprusi language fluently, a skill that would later prove vital in his ministry with Mamprusi street workers in Accra.
As a young man, David enjoyed singing in the church choir and dreamed of becoming a great singer. When he was sixteen, his mother moved the family back to his father’s farmland in Bongo. Although the children were now old enough to help, life remained challenging for the family.
After graduating from high school in 2007, David moved to Accra, where he worked as a street food vendor and lived on the streets. Life there was harsh—making a living was difficult, and the lack of safety meant it was common to be robbed of any savings, forcing one to start over again and again.
While living on the streets, David encountered a pastor holding church services in Accra and was introduced to Crusades for Christ. He began attending Bible school through the ministry and also helped clear the land and build the current Crusades for Christ facilities.
Since 2011, David has been involved in planting several new churches in southern Ghana. God has used the circumstances of his life to prepare him for an impactful ministry among street workers in Accra. His fluency in the Mamprusi language and personal experience with the struggles of street life give him a unique ability to relate to and minister to others in similar situations.
Today, David lives in Dobro, Ghana, with his wife, Ophelia, and their family. He serves as the Director of the Accra Street Ministry, continuing to share the Gospel of Jesus with those in need.
