From the Mission Field – August 2018

The Rev. John Donkoh is pictured with his wife, Monica, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church—Kanda in Accra, Ghana, during the church’s 500th anniversary of the Reformation celebration in 2017. On July 1, Donkoh was installed as president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana, replacing the Rev. Dr. Paul Fynn, who has retired after 40 years of service. (Sidney Donkoh)

Ghana

Sunday, July 1, was a historic day for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ghana (ELCG) as it installed the Rev. John Shadrack Donkoh as its new president.

Donkoh attended Jonathan Ekong Memorial Lutheran Seminary in Nigeria. As a young pastor, he started congregations in western Ghana, then served as a missionary to Uganda and as the director of Lutheran Hour Ministries in Ghana.

He recently completed three years of advanced studies at Westfield House in Cambridge, England. At the time of his election to president, he was serving as pastor of the Anyaa congregation in Accra, Ghana.

Donkoh’s wife, Monica Bayiga Donkoh, holds a degree in Early Childhood Education and teaches at the Lutheran school in Accra. The Donkohs have five children: four boys and one girl.

Retiring ELCG President Rev. Dr. Paul Fynn was the church’s first Ghanaian pastor and served as president for over 40 years.

Georgia

The newly remodeled church building for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Augsburg Confession in Georgia was dedicated on Pentecost Sunday, May 20, in Kutaisi, Georgia.

Congregation members were joined by members of several house churches in western Georgia and singers from Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, to celebrate.

LCMS Eurasia Regional Director Rev. James Krikava was the guest preacher.

Posted Aug. 24, 2018