Charles Tetteh, a Ghanaian, came to the United States to further his education.
While there he attended a Free Methodist Church in Olathe, Kansas. During this time, his call to serve God through preaching was renewed, and he desired to bring the Free Methodist witness to his homeland. Charles and his wife, Fredericka, returned to their home country in June 1998, and began the Free Methodist Church, Ghana Mission.
The Ghana church, under Rev. Tetteh’s leadership, has four congregations, with three more under development. Since the 2010 pastors’ conference at Aburi, Accra, Ghana, nine more pastors have expressed interest in joining the Free Methodist Church Ghana Mission with their congregations. They are currently working on their ministerial tracking and required course of study so they can be fully ordained to serve with the FMC Ghana Mission.
Initially, the Ghana Mission was supervised by the Free Methodist Church, U.S. but is now under the oversight of the Free Methodist Church in Canada. The relationship has evolved into the Ghana-Canada Partnership under the leadership of the Barrie FMC.
In early 2011, Pastor Howard was invited by Rev. Dan Sheffield, Director of Global and Intercultural Ministries for the FMCiC to travel to Ghana with a team from the Barrie FMC to represent the denomination at the Ghana General Conference and teach the required course in Wesleyan Theology to pastors and ministerial candidates tracking for ordination.
This is not a typical mission team with a focus on ministry activities or work projects; the focus is on teaching, equipping, and developing the leadership needed to empower the development of the Free Methodist Church in Ghana. We will be building relationships with additional pastors and churches who are interested in affiliating with the Free Methodist Church Ghana Mission by helping them understand the doctrines, mission, vision and values of the Free Methodist Church in Canada.
The trip also provides Pastor Howard with the opportunity to assess the potential for Kingsview Church to work with the Barrie FMC and the Ghana – Canada Partnership.