About Us
How It All Started In North America
Prior to this historic first meeting, there had been behind the scenes talks and profound communications among members of the Kristo Asafo Mission in Ghana who have migrated to the US, live and work here in the United States, of their strong desire to find a way to fellowship.
Around this same time, the daughter of the Founder and Leader of the the Kristo Asafo Mission in Ghana, Ms. Sarah Adwoa Safo, had been in the United States for a couple of months and living in Virginia to pursue her masters degree in Law at the George Washington University in D.C. Ms. Sarah Safo gave her full support to this beautiful idea and so we scheduled our first meeting a few days later, to fall on a sabbath day, September 11, 2004.
On this day, several of our members arrived from, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Connecticut, Massachusetts, just to mention a few, to join the members in Maryland to meet at Brother Michael Ofori-Bah Safo's residence. Based on the very cordial friendship between brother Michael and Ms. Sarah, several of our members from Ghana living here in the united states who had been in communication with brother Michael also became connected to Ms Sarah Safo.
Muted out of our deepest love and respect for our original Founder in Ghana, Apostle Dr. Ing. Kwadwo Safo, there was a strong natural sense of desire for all of us to meet, especially, for everyone who only knew Sarah when she was a child in Ghana, to have an opportunity to meet and greet her in person now that she had become an adult and visited the United States to pursue her Masters Degree in Law. We were all eager to me her. The meeting became exceptionally successful as there were lots of food and drinks and excitement. At the meeting, there was a unanimous agreement that we maintain the union and organize, so that we could fellowship whiles in the US and also promote our charity mission here in the US and to support our Leader, Apostle Safo's, mission back home in Ghana.
To avoid any confusion, the group unanimously appointed Brother Michael Safo to lead the group, Brother Michael Amponsah to be the secretary and Brother Kofi Hayford to be the treasurer. For this we received Ms. Sarah Safo's approval and we agreed on a model where our group shall welcome and fellowship with any member from any branch in Ghana that wanted to join us, and we shall be open to all new converts from all walks of life who believe and share in the Vision of Apostle Safo.
From that day forward, we would gather at the same basement weekly and Apostle Safo, would meet with us every Saturday at 9 am US time to preach the gospel.
His words in every Sabbath day sermon were so powerful and so inspiring that, it made the group stronger and brought us closer and closer together. We began working on small projects in support of Apostle's ministry in Ghana through him personally and this surprised him a lot as he realized how serious we were as a group in support of his ministry. A year later after our first meeting, exactly in September, 2005, Apostle Kwadwo Safo, the founder and leader of the Church in Ghana, officially appointed and ordained Michael Ofori-Bah Safo as the resident Pastor of the group/church and elevated our status to the official United States branch of the Kristo Asafo Mission.This exciting news spread like wild fire and encouraged several members hiding in the shadows all over the United States to hear about us and joined our team. Some of the original members present at this meeting were:
Sarah Safo (Gh), Michael Safo (MD), Kofi Hayford (MD), Michael Amponsah (MD), Ekow Hinson (MD), Adelaide Asomaning (VA), Aunty Betty (VA), Frederick Agyei(NJ), Nana Osei (NC), Appiah Sakyi (VA), Peter Boakye (VA), Ernest Owusu Ansah (NY), Ben Baidoo and Jackie Baidoo (CT).
Some of these later members include, Kofi DC Kwakye (OH), Brother Ofori ( OH),Yaw Kissi, Bro Paul Eduah and Felicia Antwi, Sister Boatemaah, just to mention a few, as the church started growing into strength and in number with each member expanding their family sizes and new members joining in from new arrivals from Ghana.
Who Is Apostle Kwadwo Safo
Apostle Kwadwo Safo
Founder
Apostle Dr. Kwadwo Safo was born on 26th August 1948 at Bekwai in Ashanti Region of Ghana. After basic school, he attended the Ghana Technical Works Institute in Kumasi. He thereafter had a three year stint as a welder at the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO), West Africa Metals and the French Africa Company.
Apostle Safo Kantanka went to Ghana House in Accra to preach the word of God regularly. Sensing more vigor, power and divine wisdom in his words, a lot of people trooped in to listen to his divine preaching. This kind of activity went on consistently until the first branch was established at the Ghana County Preparatory School in Acca Newtown.
On the 3rd February, 1971 he founded his church, Kristo Asafo Mission (Christ Reformed Church).
Madam Akua Darkowaa
Head of Women fellowship
Kristo Asafo is famous for its philanthropy and service to the needy in society since incerption. On that faithful day, the young Kwadwo Safo had a divine call to serve the Almighty God. As a result, he started preaching the gospel single-handedly.
Life was so cruel to him in all endeavors. Wanting to tell the world that God has called him, poor Kwadwo Safo started the church in his suffocating and extremely small single room in Accra Newtown, Ghana.
He won his first convert, Madam Faustina Akua Darkoah who has been very instrumental and resourceful at the infant stages of the missionary work of Apostle Dr. Kwadwo Safo Kantanka. Having won few converts he started teaching in his room every day as if the people had been hypnotized to serve the Lord in his hot uncomfortable room at all cost.
With his Gospel Singers, he had to travel outside Accra in search of money and work to fulfill God's promise.
He traveled to kumasi and started preaching from Bompata through Bantama, Kwadaso, Old Tafo, New Tafo and Agogo. He won many converts but most of them could not stay because of hardship. To solve this initial economic problem, Apostle Dr. Kwadwo Safo embarked on the preparation of "don't touch me" ( a kind of low quality soap that courses skin problems and clothing materials to fade and usually patronized by the poor in society but affordable in Ghana as of that time) at Kensere near Bekwai in Ashanti Region.
After the preparation of the soap, he with his followers will slice them proportionally and carry them on their heads for sale by roaming through the length and breadth of the villages and towns around Kumasi to dismay of the people who would question the legitimacy of the true Man of God. With his leadership acomen, he applied division labour among his followers. He assigned each group roles to performed. Some went to trading, fishing and others went into propagation of the Gospel.
Auntie Faustie testified that this Man of God who now lives in the pool of wealth and luxury was once a very poor man. Like most of his predecessors, he climbed the ladder from poverty to not only wealth but fame. He is a great gift from God not only for Ghanaians but entire continent of Africa. He now the icon in the eyes of many Ghanaians and around the globe.
Today, Kristo Asafo has 137 branches in Ghana and two in United Kingdom, one in Italy, one in France and three in North America. Since its incerption, Apostle Safo has donated to a lot of institutions, including Universities, Prisons, Ophanages, Leprosarium, Social Welfare and Hospitals. He has been the father of the poor and the needy. His concern for humanity and his mission of restoring Africa from its glory is glary.
Service To Mankind Is Service To God
Apostle Dr. Kwadwo Safo Kantanka is a special Man of God. He preaches the gospel and performs miracles within and outside the congregation of his church. But he reminds each an everyone of the fact that "miracle is not my mission". He became more involve in philanthropy and contribution to charity from the very onset of Kristo Asafo.
From single-handedly feeding some of the stranded Ghanaian returnees from Nigeria in 1983 amidst bush fire and famine that ravaged the country including the University of Ghana-Legon.
donation
In spite of his enormous contribution to society, he keeps emphasizing the fact that, "philanthropy is not my mission on earth either". His good works and kind gesture have earned him awards from the government and countless throughout the country.
These include:
The order of the Volta (member of Division) in 2007
The Millennium Excellence Award, Best Philanthropist in Humanitarian Category in 2006.
He was appointed Member of the National Council of Tertiary Education in 2006
AWARDS
Associate Member Of Ghana Institute of Engineers in 2004
The Industrial Pinnacle Award, Winner of Gold in Industrial Development Engineering in 2004
The Industrial Pinnacle Award, Winner of Platinum in Agriculture and Food Production Category in 2004
State Honor, Grand Medal (GM) Civil Division of Exemplary Leadership, Technology Ingenuity and Concern for the Deprived in Society in 2000
Charted Institute of Marketing, Special Awards in Marketing, Agricultural and Technological Skills through the Youth in 1999
investments
.Apostle Dr. Kwadwo Safo is a man of few words and an optimist. As an industrious and business minded, he has invested in many businesses: Great Kosa Company Limited with various divisions, Kantanka Automobile Company Limited, Great Kosa Clinic, Modern Kosa Company Limited, Great Imperial Company Limited, Kristo Asafo School of Act, Science and Technology (ASSAS), Great Kosa, Great Kosa Vision and Kristo Asafo Farm.
Ideology
He is a patriotic African and strong believe in the creation of wealth within the borders of each country rather than relying on foreign assistance. For Him, no empowerment is as effective as self empowerment and that black man is capable of doing anything white man can do. Hardwork and perseverance are his most cherished words. He always encourages Africans that all hope is not lost, that wisdom is not obsolete, that the optimists have it and always is, not because they are always right because they are positive.
He teaches that, the way to success is identifying talents, improving on them and applying same to the benefit of society. He believes that God created everyone in his own image; therefore, everyone is created for a same purpose and has equal capabilities to redirect their destinies. The burden then is for us to identify that purpose and apply our abilities to freedom of ourselves and to his glory. His activities which transcend charity are beyond the comprehension of ordinary minds.
Unlike charismatic churches, (Kristo Asafo Christ Reformed Church), apart from the believe we have in the trinity, also believe that the infinite intelligence that God has given to mankind is not limited to the one race that by hardwork and perseverance through science as demonstrated by our visionary leader Apostle Dr. Kwadwo Safo, the image of our abode will be redeemed and uplifted.
Apostle Dr. Kwadwo Safo knew within himself and before hand he was a great man engulfed with wealth and technological know how to redeem Africa but had just wanted to tell the world how God does things. He has illustrated the fact that, which great historians have always recognized, that mankind does not invariably progress by imperceptible steps but sometimes takes a giant leap, often under dynamic force of solitary outsized personality. When the time was due for him to launch his technological prowess, he leapfrogged traditional technological concepts and is now the verge of re-writing history. He is one man who cut across all branches of technical and innovative professionalism.
As a musical enthusiasts, he started with the fabrication of Electric Drums with brain units, Loud Speakers, Professional Mixing Console, Amplifiers, Pre-amps and Seven-Stringed Bass Guitars. He then moved to Sewing and Embroidery Machines and within some few years leapfrogged to the manufacture of a multi-purpose mobile Block Molding capable of producing 16 blocks at a time, a 26" Flat Screen Sensor Television (powered by human breath and turned off by the wave of hand). He manufactured his first automobile "Kantanka Saloon" in 1998 and a Cross Country, 4 Wheel drive "Kantanka Onantefo 1" in 2006.
In June 2007, he released a newer model of the "Kantanka Odeneho 2" which was driven throughout most part of the country for testing on 30th December, 2007. Apostle Kwadwo Safo outdoored a 26 feet Limousine style Cross Country "Kantanka Obrempong" at the church's 27th Annual Charity and Technology Fair at Awoshie in Accra, Ghana. He on the same day launched an Excavator which he locally manufactured.
Website: www.kristoasafomission.com