Missionary profile – Olivia Acheampong

By Mercy Kambura

Olivia Acheampong, Ghana

Mission in my backyard and beyond

Before I went on my first short-term mission trip, I feared that the gospel would be met with rejection. When I finally gathered the courage to go, the eagerness with which the gospel was met made me realize that not going would have been a dangerous error.

On our mission trip in Côte d’Ivoire, we met a man who was staggering drunk. He was interested in us and what we’re talking about. As the group’s translator, I told him, “We are missionaries who have come here to tell you that Jesus loves you.”

He said he could see that his life was destroyed and needed us to help him. He was living in a ghetto, within walking distance from where we stayed, so we promised to be there before we left Côte d’Ivoire. At that time, we had about two days more to leave and could not make time to visit the ghetto again till it was time to leave the mission field.

I have often thought about that man, wondering what became of him.

I received the gospel at a Scripture Union camp while I was younger. I didn’t know much about missions until I was in college. I heard about a group of training college students who decided to go on a mission trip to a neighbouring village, and I joined them. I was moved by the villagers’ need for the gospel.

In 2018, I heard about Excellent Youth Outreach (EYO) and registered with them. In 2019, I went for my first cross-cultural mission trip to Uganda and later to Côte d’Ivoire, where I met the drunk man. From then on, I saw my need to be actively involved in preaching the gospel to the world, both around me and far from home.

As a result, I set up a foundation that is the brainchild of my gospel music ministry. My team and I use various means to reach out to the nearby villages. We use common activities such as cooking competitions, children’s Bible studies, and other programmes to reach out. We will soon introduce sports to do evangelism in nearby villages that are harder to reach.

I encourage the church in Africa to engage in missions, first by prayer, then by going. The youth, especially, should be encouraged to go. They are many, and they have strength and time.

We should be heartbroken and ask, “The souls that didn’t get the gospel in time, what happens to them?”