My name is Jeff Owusu-Banahene and this is my story.

"I was born in Ghana and my parents were Catholic. I grew up not believing in the gospel. My dad did not go to church and I only went sometimes because I didn’t want to upset my mom. Eventually, I switched from the Catholic Church to a charismatic church after graduating college. That worsened my belief because all I heard was a prosperity gospel. A gospel that considered God’s blessings to be mostly materialistic. But I believed that if I worked hard I could prosper in life so at that point I saw no need for church.

After four years of college in Ghana, I got the opportunity to pursue my master’s degree, thanks to Nii who recommended and guided me through the application process for UCO. When I got here, the first thing Nii encouraged me to do was join a Bible study. I didn’t like the idea but I was convinced by the food and other students I would get to meet there. At the Bible studies, I met Bill and Katheryn Spurgeon, together with other international students, where we had dinner and shared the gospel. At that point I had a sudden change of mindset because I heard how Christ loved us and died for our sins. The weekly Bible studies gave me the opportunity to read the Bible and ask questions about things I didn’t understand.

Nii showed me options on where to fellowship so I went to a different church one Sunday and I felt like it was the same experience I had in Ghana. The next Sunday we came to Henderson Hills and I completely fell in love with the ministry and gospel here. After church, I told Nii, this is the place I felt that I belonged to. Meeting people like the Dickinsons, the Burnetts, the Lewises, and many others who have helped me in so many ways made me realize what Christ’s love is like.

After coming to a true understanding of the gospel, my life has begun to look differently in so many ways. As an act of His grace, three months ago I made known my intentions to Dr. Lewis of getting baptized. I didn’t know where to start, so he walked me through a study. Now I stand before you as a broken, repentant sinner, saved only by the amazing grace of my perfect Father, who will never leave me or forsake me, and to go through this baptism to publicly announce and identify with Christ's death and resurrection."