The Gyidi Church History: Opanin Isaac Kwadwo Asirifi aka Dadeako

Opanin Isaac Kwadwo Asirifi known popularly in the Gyidi Church as Dadeako was born to Opanin Kwame Appiah and Madam Mary Yaa Henewaa. In 1958, Emeritus Professor C. G. Baeta went to Osiem to interview Opanin Asirifi. In the interview, Opanin Asirifi told Baeta that he was 40 years old [1]. Prof Kofi Asare Opoku also notes that Dadeako was born in 1918 which is in tandem with Baeta’s assertions [2]. However, according to Kwasi Boateng and Nicholas Adom, both members of the Gyidi Church, the man of God was born in 1912 [3].

When Opanin Asirifi was in his teen years he was sent to Gyakiti near Akwamufie for apprenticeship and specialised as a blacksmith. After three years in Gyakiti, he went to Kumasi to continue to professionalise his skills. In 1933, he joined the Gyidi Church (Faith Church) which was flourishing under the leadership of Opanin Samuel Brako. Dadeako became Brako’s Bible reader or “kenkani” in the Akan parlance. He became very close to Samuel Brako. Brako sent him on many errands including conducting service on his behalf. Samuel Brako prayed for Dadeako and God anointed him with the power of the Holy Spirit, as a result Dadeako became a very powerful prophet in the church. He had the gift of exorcism meaning he could cast demons. 

Dadeako lived with Samuel Brako for years until he married his first wife Maame Botwe. Few years later, he married his second wife by name Maame Ashia. Around the mid-1940s, Samuel Brako died and some of his aides including Opanin Asirifi wanted to succeed him. There was therefore a power struggle between Dadeako and some of the leaders in Kwahu, Asante and Akuapim. Efforts were made at the Kukuom Convention to resolve the leadership crisis but there was no agreement. At the Obogu Convention, the succession batte re-surfaced. The other leaders said they would not allow Dadeako to lead the church because he had two wives. The misunderstanding was not resolved and the church split into two with Dadeako leading one of the factions.

Dadeako returned to Osiem and named his faction as Saviour Church which continued to use Osiem as the headquarters. The other faction led by Opanin Yaw Dankwa, Abraham Nsiah and Emmanuel Obeng became known as True Faith Church with Kwahu Praso as its headquarters. Both factions call themselves Gyidi.

Dadeako was backed by several leaders and members in Akyem, Fante and Asante. They included John Kwaku Badu brother of Samuel Brako, Prophet Peter Mensah  aka Obotan of Kumawu, Pastor Stephen Doughan of Gomoa Fetteh and Opanin Stephen Yaw Atta of Agogo. Dadeako was also supported by several of the prophets in Osiem including Prophet Kwaku Emmanuel son of Samuel Brako and Nana Kwasi Gyan.

Dadeako set about building the church. Through his energetic leadership, several branches of Saviour Church were opened across the country including at Subriso, Nnadieso, Nkawnkaw, Accra, Kumasi etc. He also set about developing the church’s infrastructure at Osiem. For example, he initiated the building of a new house of God project at Osiem and got it completed. He constructed a large platform that was cemented with durable materials. The platform became the avenue for the church’s convention. Road was constructed from the main Osiem-Bunso Road to the mission. He got the whole mission from Maame Akosua Kobua’s house to the new house of God cemented. He worked tirelessly with the leadership of the Osiem community and brought electricity to Osiem and ensured that most of the houses were connected to the grid. In the 1990s, he constructed boreholes in the mission and made water available to everyone. 

He oversaw the expansion of the church to every part of Southern Ghana. His prophetic work continued and this made him a revered figure in the church. Many people with several spiritual, social and economic problems came to him and their problems were addressed. Because of this prolific prophetic power many people began to call him Dadeako, particularly since the early 1980s. Today, many of the youth even think that Dadeako was his real name but it was a title or an accolade given to him by members of the church. 

He encouraged the branches of the church to go into farming, as a consequence theft and other crimes were absent in the church. Under his leadership, some changes were made to the liturgy of the church. For example, in the 1970s, new musical instruments were introduced that changed the nature of the church’s songs. 

Elder Asirifi died on 12 November 1997 at Nkoranza and was brought to Osiem for burial. He left behind about 50 children and about 150 grandchildren.  His death in 1997, led to a power struggle between his son Prophet Elijah Kofi Asante and Opanin Abraham Kwaku Adusei leading to a split of the church into two. 

Notes

1] Baeta, С. G. 1962. Prophetism in Ghana. A Study of some ‘Spiritual’ churches. London, S.C.M. Press, p. 66

2] Opoku, K. A. 1970. A Directory of Spiritual Churches in Ghana. Research Review (Legon) 7, pp. 98-115.

[3] Boateng, K. and Addo, N. n. d. Saviour Church of Ghana: Organisation and Spread, p. 4.

Written by Lord Adusei

The Gyidi Church History: Who was Prophet Kwaku Emmanuel?

Last week, when I wrote a short piece about my great grandfather Samuel Brako the founder of the Gyidi Church, I was asked about Prophet Kwaku Emmanuel and what relations he had with Samuel Brako. I was also asked about the relationship between Emmanuel and Abraham Kwaku Adusei, the General Superintendent of (the) Saviour Church of Ghana. In this short article I answer both questions.

Emmanuel Kwaku Adutwum (popularly called Agyaaku by members of the church and Paaku by his siblings) was the fourth child of Mary Akosua Gyamfuah and Samuel Kwame Brako the founder of the Gyidi Church. Samuel Brako and Gyamfuah had 11 children. The first one was Boatemaa who died when she was still a baby. The couples had another daughter whom they named Sarah Akua Konadu (popularly called Awoyaa). Then they had another daughter whom they called Akua Mansa. Then they gave birth to a fourth child who was a boy and they named him Emmanuel Kwaku Adutwum. Emmanuel was named after Samuel Brako’s maternal uncle Kwasi Addae Adutwum, hence he was called Emmanuel Kwaku Adutwum.

The birth of Kwaku Emmanuel was foretold through a prophecy. The prophecy came to Samuel Brako that he would give birth to a son who would be a renowned prophet and a man of God. Not long after the prophecy, Mary Gyamfuah conceived and gave birth to Emmanuel. Before Emmanuel was born, there were very few prophets in the Gyidi Church, but 40 days after his birth he was sent to church for christening. During his christening, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who had gathered and from there the number of prophets increased considerably in the church. 

Prophet Emmanuel started his prophetic ministry at very young age. When he was just eight years old, he performed his first miracle by resurrecting a dead person at Osiem. He continued in the prophetic ministry until his father died. After the death of Samuel Brako in mid-1940s, there was a power struggle between some of his aides especially Opanin Isaac Kwadwo Asirifi on one hand and Opanin Barnabas Yaw Dankwa, Abraham Nsiah and Emmanuel Obeng on the other hand. There was attempt to resolve the matter at Kukuom which during colonial time was part of Ashanti but they could not reach any amicable conclusion. During a convention at Obogu in Asante Akyem, the leadership succession matter came up again but they could not reach a final agreement and the church split into two. Opanin Asirifi’s faction became known as Saviour Church while Elders Dankwa, Nsiah and Obeng’s faction became known as True Faith Church. 

Prophet Kwaku Emmanuel joined Opanin Isaac Asirifi and both men teamed up to work together. In 1958, Emmanuel and Prophet Peter Mensah (Obotan) of Kumawu resurrected a woman by name Madam Yaa Manu at Kumawu Abotanso. However, Emmanuel and Isaac fell out and Emmanuel left Saviour Church in 1959 but he did not join True Faith Church straight away. Because Samuel Brako originally came from Juaben in Ashanti, Emmanuel moved and lived in Juaben and did not seek to join the church until in 1980 when God sent Prophet Elijah Amaning of Besoro near Kumawu to inform Emmanuel to join True Faith Church. He joined True Faith Church and continued his prophetic ministry. 

In 1986 he joined Opanin Abraham Kwabena Nsiah of Asamang when he set up Faith Salvation Church. In 1988, he left Faith Salvation Church and formed United Faith Church but rejoined True Faith Church later on. Many people inside and outside Ghana heard of Emmanuel’s powerful prophetic work and they visited him at Bethel near Nkyiripuaso where Samuel Brako had established a cocoa farm. He continued to work until he died on 22 November 2013. He is considered one of the greatest prophets ever to emerge in the Gyidi Church.

Who is Opanin Abraham Adusei to Emmanuel Kwaku Adutwum?

Opanin Samuel Brako had several brothers. One of them was Opanin John Kwaku Badu (popularly called Akokora Badu or Nana Badu). In fact, Opanin John Kwaku Badu was the youngest brother of Samuel Brako. Opanin John Kwaku Badu and his lovely wife Madam Sarah Adwoa Oforiwaa gave birth to Opanin Abraham Adusei the current leader of The Saviour Church of Ghana. Therefore, Samuel Brako is Opanin Abraham Adusei’s uncle. As stated above Samuel Brako gave birth to Kwaku Emmanuel and Brako’s brother Nana Badu gave birth to Adusei. Therefore, Pastor Abraham Kwaku Adusei and Prophet Kwaku Emmanuel are cousins.

Written by Lord Adusei

Samuel Brako and the Gyidi Church: My little kept secret family history.

In 1914, my paternal great grandfather Samuel Kwame Brako (of blessed memory) founded a church at Osiem in the Eastern Region that today is known in Ghana and the world-over as Gyidi. Gyidi is the first Sabbath-based (Saturday-based) Church to be established in the Gold Coast independently by an African. 

Before founding the Church, my great grandfather was a member of the Methodist Church at Osiem and served as its campanologist. In the second decade of the 20th Century, he received series of revelations from the Lord Jesus Christ that culminated in the founding of the Gyidi Church. For more than three decades, Prophet Samuel Kwame Brako and his associates developed the church and spread it all over Colonial Ghana. Samuel Brako fashioned out a particular liturgy based on the belief of Jehovah God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Bible (Old and New Testament).

Many who know the Gyidi Church know it as a respected, Bible-based, Holy Spirit-filled church. It preaches salvation to mankind through Christ and teaches all its members to be God-fearing, honest, objective, and live sin-free life.

Because members of the church wear long red robes in most occasions except on Saturdays where we wear white robes, the church is known to many as Gyidi Kɔkɔɔ. In the scholarly literature, the church is usually called Memeneda Gyidifo (Saturday Believers), Gyidi Kɔkɔɔ (believers who wear red), Saviour Church, and True Faith Church but it is same Gyidi church. 

When my great grandfather died in the 1940s, there was a power struggle among some of his senior aides to succeed him. As a result of the succession struggle, the Church split into two: Saviour Church with its headquarters at Osiem, Akim, and True Faith Church with its headquarters at Kwahu Praso in Kwahu, Eastern Region.

Today, both the True Faith Church and Saviour Church are alive and well and are continuing the work of its founder and leader. Currently both Saviour Church and True Faith Church have a total membership of between 200,000 and 300,000. Saviour Church has more than 375 branches across Ghana. True Faith Church has a similar number in Africa, Europe and North America. 

I was born into the church, have grown in it, have studied its principles and I have come to acknowledge that it is indeed a church that helps its adherents to obtain heaven. Asomdwoe (Peace be unto you all).

Written by Lord Adusei