History

The ministry of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, Teshie-Nungua Estates, was begun by Pastor and Mrs. Lyle Baylis, missionaries of the Baptist Mid-Missions. With much prayer and visitation here in the Estates, the foundational work was laid which eventually led to the formation of the church. The name “Ebenezer” was chosen because of the significance of its meaning. “Ebenezer” is a Biblical name found in 1 Samuel 7:12, meaning “the stone of help ….and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, hitherto hath the Lord helped us”.

The ministry began in a house that the Lord provided on Walnut Lane, off Park Avenue. It was rented to the church on the condition that should an officer of the company owning the property need it, the church would have to vacate the house. Preparations were made for the first service to be held on December 16, 1976. Five hundred tracts and invitations had been distributed throughout the Estates, and it was uncertain the exact number of people that would turn up – five people turned up!
The church continued in this house for eight (8) months, until it was asked to leave. Again, prayers stormed the portals of heaven for a new place to hold services. Several places were available, but each time the landlord/landlady was approached to finalize the arrangements, the house had “just been given out to someone”.

Finally, and in the Lord’s own time, He provided a place at 10 Owl Lane. The only adults at the time were Brothers Charles Seyram, and Alfred Ofosu-Asante, who was then twenty-two (22) years of age. This move was just another page in the book of beginnings – the beginning of many new things: the conversion of our first couple, Major and Mrs. Nyanor; whose son Kwabena Safo Nyanor was the first baby to be born in the church. It was also the beginning of a complete church program: Sunday school for all ages, prayer meeting, Bible studies and Regular Baptist Youth (RBY).

The congregation continued to grow steadily, and after four months of meeting in the living room of the house, we realized that we had no more room! We prayed concerning this need, and decided to erect a tabernacle on the compound to hold church services. The initial tabernacle measured 30 feet by 15 feet, and after a while it soon became necessary to double the original size to 30 feet by 30 feet.

The first baptismal candidates, comprising twelve (12) persons, were baptized on November 12, 1978. A few months later, the church was constituted and organized as a full-fledged New Testament church, with twenty-two (22) charter members. Presently only three (3) of the original members, namely, Rev. Alfred Ofosu-Asante, Major Agyemang Mensah-Nyanor, and Brother David Nortey, are still members of the church.

There were other Mid-Mission missionaries who worked in the church. Rev. Bob Watterson and his wife Ruth, who pastored the church while the Baylis’ were on furlough in the USA, began the two youth groups – Ambassadors for Christ (AFC) and Youth for Christ (YFC). Others were Beverley Keuhl, Artus Larkin and Helen Finch, who frequently held training sessions for Sunday school teachers.

The search for land to construct a permanent church building began. Major Nyanor, through the State Housing Corporation, secured the first plot of land, on which stand the present Mission House. Major Nyanor’s continued search for a bigger plot of land yielded fruit when the Teshie Mankralo, Nii Klu Tsuru, offered us the land on which the present church building stands.

In 1981, God called one of the young men of the church, Brother Alfred Ofosu-Asante, to go to the Baptist Bible Institute, located at Wa. On November 23, 1985 a new page was written in the history of Ebenezer Baptist Church, as it graduated from missionary to Ghanaian administration with the installation of Brother Alfred Ofosu-Asante as the pastor of this unique church.

In 1980 a choir was started in the church. The history of the choir would be incomplete without mentioning the following persons for the great pioneering role they played in the organization and training of the choir: Mrs. Esther Ofori, Mr. Edward Dua Agyeman, Mr. John Yankey and Mr. Joseph Therson-Cofie.Mrs. Leaphia Darko must also be mentioned in the history of the church for her total commitment and devotion to Christian duty, as well as her bowels of compassion for fellow-believers in the body of Christ.

On April 11, 1987, Pastor Ofosu-Asante took to wife Ms. Anna Appiah-Twum, and they have been blessed with two children, Isaac and Dorcas. In April 1994, the church moved from 10 Owl Lane to its present permanent location. On October 29 the same year, Pastor Ofosu-Asante was ordained. In February 1996, Rev. Ofosu-Asante and his family moved into the current Mission House, where they stayed until the Lord enabled them to move into their own house in December 2006. On April 01, 2003, Pastor Samuel Tutu-Boateng was called to be an Associate Pastor of the church.

Ebenezer Baptist School Complex (EBSC) was established in January 2004 and was run by an Interim Management Board, headed by Pastor Samuel Tutu-Boateng. On May 02, 2004, a substantive Headmistress was appointed in the person of Mrs. Caroline Paresen. She held this position until the end of the 2010/2011 academic year. The school, which began with four pupils and less than 10 members of staff, now boasts over 700 pupils and 40 members of staff. So far the school has presented seven batches of candidates for the BECE.