MAIN THEME IS: WHY AM I HERE?

TITLE: LESSONS FROM KWAME NKURMAH'S TEENAGE YEARS

The bible verse for today’s devotional is: Psalm 33: 11 (NIV):

‘But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Devotional:

Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972) was not just the first African born Prime Minister of Ghana from 1952 to 1957, he was also a non-violent activist whose radical vision and bold leadership helped lead Ghana to independence in 1957, he was a founding member of the Organization of African Unity and the winner of the Lenin Peace Prize in 1962. He was an inspiration to Martin Luther King Jr.

Kwame Nkrumah was born to a poor and illiterate family at Nkroful, a small village in the Nzema area, in the far southwest of the Gold Coast. He was raised by his mother and his extended family. He lived a carefree childhood in the village, the bush, and on the sea.

Kwame was the only child of his mother who sent him to the elementary school run by a Catholic mission at Half Assini, where HE PROVED AN ADEPT STUDENT.

He progressed through the ten-year elementary programme in eight years. In 1925, at age 16, he was a student-teacher in the school. While at the school, HE WAS NOTICED by the Reverend Alec Garden Fraser, principal of the Government Training College (soon to become Achimota School) in the Gold Coast's capital, Accra. He was trained as a teacher and was exposed to the ideas of Marcus Garvey and W. E. B. Du Bois that there should be close co-operation between the races in governing the Gold Coast, but Nkrumah soon came to believe that only when the black race governed itself could there be peace between the races.

He rose to become the head of schools, joined politics and founded the Nzima Literary Society.

Nkrumah had heard journalist and future Nigerian president Nnamdi Azikiwe speak while a student at Achimota; the two men met and Azikiwe's INFLUENCE increased Nkrumah's interest in black nationalism.

President Azikiwe had attended Lincoln University, a historically black college in Chester County, Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia, and he advised Nkrumah to enrol there. He did, and the rest is history.

 Here are a few reflective questions:

-     What would people notice about my character and attitude to life

-     Who do I listen to? Who influences me? Who is my mentor?

-     Do I notice the problems in my environment? Can I do something about them?

Let us pray:

Dear God, help me not just to notice the problems in my immediate environment, grant me the wisdom and enablement to be willing to solve them. Help me connect with the right people who will guide and mentor me on the path of fulfilling my purpose here on earth. Amen.

Please say these words of affirmation. Say them, mean them, own them and live them

I am here because I am enough.

I can and I will fulfil my purpose.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Do have a fulfilling day. Take good care of yourself and see you tomorrow

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