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National Youth Fellowship Diaries

The early years

·         The fellowship was started by Rev. Dr. Comfort Lawson under the divine direction of the Holy Spirit.

·         The new youth program was started on May 16, 1968 with teenage boys and girls drawn from the Korle Gonno assembly children service, which began in the early months of 1957.

·         The first youth group included Bros. Isaac Nii Boye Anum (National Youth Chairman, 1998), Henry Gripman, Emmanuel Gripman, Baah Buxton, Kwame Edu, Daniel Ampah Quaye and John Cudjoe. Others include: Sisters Dora Akushia Amoo (now Mrs. Osekere (Rev.), National Women Fellowship Leader, 2005 -), Lydia Lartey, Doris Jackson, Rose Jackson, Naomi Tagoe (now National Young Ladies League Leader), etc.

·         Youth meetings were previously held on Tuesdays.

·         In 1971, the first leader, Eld. Mrs. Marian Aboagye was appointed to lead the fast growing movement. For about 8months, she was ably assisted by Mrs. Vivian Commey (the Black American wife of Rev. Frank Commey, one of the first Pastors of the Church) who came on vacation with her husband.

·         Rev. Amaziah A. Armah and Rev. Ezekiel Odarkwei Mills took over the leadership and teaching of the youth from Eld. Mrs. Aboagye in 1973 to ease her difficulty at the time since her assistant had returned to the U.S. with her husband.

·         The first youth branch after the Korle Gonno central youth fellowship was the Nima Assembly. Others then followed suite.

·         In 1975, Sis. Dora Akushia Amoo was then appointed leader of the Korle Gonno Central Youth Fellowship. Since then, then fellowship was led by its peers.

·         Upon her return from the United States in 1976, Sis. Lawson requested for a national coordination of the various branches of the Movement. The first National Executives were then appointed. They were: Eld. John Kwame Aboagye, (first qualified Ghanaian Aeronautical Engineer and a Bible Teacher of the Church), Chairman; Pastor Moses Pappoe, Vice Chairman; Bro. David Martin Lawson,Secretary. They were charged with the responsibility of overseeing and coordinating all activities of the fellowship, e.g. organizing quizzes, outreach programs, etc.

·         In the same period between 1975 & 1976, the late Apostle Azu Crabbe, then a young pastor, organized youth all-night services every two weeks on assembly and district levels dubbed “MetuNwom”. Paving way for a somewhat smooth take off of the fellowship at the national level (but still within Greater Accra).

·         The first District Level elections were held in 1980 (In the Greater Accra Region).

·         The fellowship’s fortnight all-night service was disbanded by the church authorities in 1981, leading to a halt in almost all youth activities.

·         In February 1983, an all-male prayer group led by Rev. Maxwell Ashirifi Nunoo (then an Elder) emerged, reviving the fellowship again. The group included: Bros. Edward Amarboi Amartey, Isaac Larkotey, Isaac Ahene Nunoo, Benet Adade, Emmanuel Ashong, AmalaiAmarquaye, Bismark Nunoo, Nii Okai Nunoo, Emmanuel Aryee Quaye, Nii Nunoo.

·         Upon his retirement from active service, the Youth Fellowship actually took off from where the founder left off being the first to organize National Conventions before any other organ in the church.

·         The first National Youth Convention was held at Nsawam in May 1984. It constituted the following Districts: West 1, West 2, West 3, ‘A’ East, Tema (all in the Greater Accra Region) and Nsawam.

·         The convention program was instituted to revamp and strengthen weaker branches of the church, build membership faith, win more souls and to plant more branches of the church, which was greatly accomplished.

·         The Nsawam convention was as a result of a member’s call to help bring to Nsawam the vibrancy of the fellowship in Accra. The request was put forward by Bro. Michael Laryea, a member employed with Barclays Bank as a Clerk, and transferred to Nsawam.

·         The convention was organized in a curfew period.

·         A total of a little over seven hundred (700) members were present for the first national convention at Nsawam.

·         Upon allegations of impropriety after the eighth national convention at Takoradi in September 1988, the fellowship suffered a six-year suspension – suspended from holding any youth activity nationwide.

·         By this suspension, the first drafted church constitution had to withdraw the fellowship from the authority of the Church Administration (N.E.B) and placed directly under the authority and supervision of the founder’s office; thus, Rev. Dr. Comfort Lawson.

·         The first church constitution was drafted by Rev. Dr. Bannor.

The new era

·         The ban on all youth activities was lifted in 1994 and a new National Executives appointed, with Rev. Francis Kpakpo Addo as Chairman.

·         The first convention after the lifting of the 1988 suspension was held in Kumasi from September 1^st – 4^th 1994.

·         After the 1988 suspension, measures were taken by the National Executive Board (NEB) to rectify the anomalies before constituting the second National Youth Executives. The following were agreed on:

1.       Age limit was placed on membership of the fellowship, which was pegged between 15 – 22yrs. After membership objection, the age limit was raised to 30yrs. The 1999 Church Constitution however re-pegged the age limit between 13 – 20yrs.

2.       Youth Pastors were attached to all Local, District and Regional Youth centres.

3.       Bible Teachers were appointed to handle all aspects of youth programmes and teachings at National Conventions.

·         Rev. Maxwell Nunoo remains the longest serving National Youth Executive, having served in various capacities in all five administrations since 1984.

 Credit: National Youth Coordinating Executives ( NYCE )