Father John's Page What a Mighty God we serve! Father and Mother God! Father John Oppong Baah is a Counselor, Poet, Spiritual Director, and Lecturer at St. Paul Major Seminary (Catholic), Accra, Ghana. He received the B. A. in history with higher Diploma in Education from the University of Cork. He later continued his education at Fordham University, obtaining a M. A. in Counseling and Spiritual Direction. In 2006, he received an Oxford Continuous Education Doctorate in Ministry (Scripture and Psychology). He has spent several recent summers at the parish of St. Mary of the Assumption in Katonah, New York. Some of Father John's publications are listed below. Dedication of this website Behold oh Lord this site, we bring to your altar, this site belongs to you! Read the full dedication below Mission Statement My aim is to reach out to all people of different creeds and nationalities, and give them the message that they come from one God, who is Mother and Father to all people. Read the full mission statement below Mode of Operation Open this site often for encouragement, inspiration, counseling, information, education, personal opinion, consultation and prayers. You are free to use this email for communication, jobafp@yahoo.com . Read the full "Mode of Operation" text below Vision - The Anidaso Farmers Project. Faith and Religion - This website welcomes all religions. Technology and Present-day Christianity - The Third Millenium. Some of Father John's Publications Friendship and Spirituality This booklet gives a lively and, I hope, thought-provoking discussion of "Friendship as the Eighth Sacrament". To see some sample pages, please click on the image at left. A few seconds may be required.

Facing the Reality of Mid-Life Crisis "When I was attending secondary school at Koforidua in the late 1960s, the night before I traveled to school my mother would give me advice for a long time. She would try to explain the dangers in life. Once in a while my father too would cut in with some warnings. I can say they did a good job at that. Probably they have given me this urge in trying to explain some important things human beings need to know as they journey through life." -- from the Introduction. Please click the image to see a few pages from this booklet. A few seconds may be required. Dedication of this Website The birthday of this website is May 15th 2006, the month of Mary and the day of St. Isidore the Farmer. This website is dedicated to The Trinity on behalf of Farmers, Teachers, Nurses and Doctors in recognition of their services to humanity. My song of dedication is adapted from an offertory song:        With a joyful heart, oh Lord my God, I give all to you!        Behold oh Lord this site, we bring to your altar, this site belongs to you! Mission Statement Go to all nations and make them my disciples, teach them to observe all that I have taught you. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Assure them that I AM with them always to the end of the world. Tell my friends that I have risen and I AM going to their Father and My Father. Tell them to remain in me, pray in my name at all times, and that they should learn to be joyful always. Tell them to bring others who are not in this fold, they also belong to the family. Be just, love one another and live in peace because I have already overcome the world. Don't be afraid, love God and work for your living.        A statement from the Preamble of the United Nations Charter:        All humans have the right to life, education and love. My aim is to reach out to all people of different creeds (religions) and to all nations and give them the message that they come one home and from one God, who is Mother and Father to all people. The difference in faith and location does not mean division. The simple explanation is that it is one God who created every thing and is the Lord of all! Is God Man or woman? God is both Mother and Father because God is the Great Spirit who rules in every situation.        The achievable objective is what St. Justine said long ago that, "The Glory of God is Man fully alive!" In other words, the success and salvation of each of God's children is the reason why the Son was sent into the world, so that none will perish, but will find everlasting life. Mode of Operation You are encouraged to open this site often for encouragement, inspiration, counseling, information, education, personal opinion, consultation and prayers. You are therefore free to use this email for communication, jobafp@yahoo.com (please be brief and clear). One of my hobbies is positive social action with development and farming of human talents as my target. Do you have any gifts and would you like to develop them? This is what I am talking about. I believe that God created all people and filled them with many gifts so that with these gifts they can survive on this planet.        Together, you and I are going to reach out to the youth and couples, and encourage them to work hard always so that they may discover their hidden talents and develop them. We are going to encourage the poor, wealthy and marginalized in society to support each other. Sometimes someone's surplus could easily become another person's capital, while someone's waste, could become another's raw material. Another interesting discovery will be the herbs that are becoming a nuisance in your compound as you may be suffering and dying of a sickness you cannot find a cure. That plant may be your medicine! Vision - The Adinaso Farmers Project It is part of the mission to involve the whole world in our vision. For some time now we have been working with the Anidaso Farmers Project. This Project is in fact a non profit making venture advocating for those who want to develop their talents regardless of where they come from and the religion they profess. The Project is to farm (develop) talents of all people. The acronym of the Project (Anidaso) is; All Nations, International Development and Social Organization. In the Akan language of Ghana (W/A), the word means hope. So it is hoped that all nations will embrace the spirit of development as we all help to transform the face of the earth. The Church down the ages has always appealed, "Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created and you will renew the face of the earth" On this site we intend, using our rich religious background to develop people's natural gifts to help them discover their talents, feed themselves and survive. We don't have to wait to be rich before we can make people happy. We need to guide people and show them the way to make them happy. And the easiest way of making people happy is to help them to discover the gifts they have and the goodness in them. Help people to discover themselves. When people are well fed, and they have dignity, they live in peace with their neighbors. The gifts of the ignorant and the poor are usually exploited by the powerful and the unscrupulous. If we want peace, let us work for justice. If we want development, peace and progress let us educate the ignorant and find work for idle hands.        The term "Farmers" also refers to agricultural pursuit. We are encouraging farmers in the world to continue the good work they do as they work hard to feed the world. Crop farmers, Fish-farmers and Animal farmers deserve our recommendation and encouragement. Let Us Affirm People: There are some kinds of excitement in life but not all people have found it and so the first task we are giving ourselves is that wherever we find someone who is discouraged, confused, sick or depressed let us approach the person and find out what we can do to bring some consolation to the person. If for some reason it is not possible, just say, "Jesus please reach out to my friends and ease the pain!" Faith and Religion This website is open to all religions in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, which encourages dialogue among all religions. Pope John Paul II was very particular about this dialogue and we want to keep it going. It is not to be taken that anything goes, no, we encourage authentic faith expression in the Trinity and the One God known and preached by those religions who believe in this God. The faith expression or spirituality that we expect should include respect and regard to the God mentioned above who manifests himself in creation and has given humanity the authority to control and manage what has been created. We look upon human beings as created in the image and likeness of God and, therefore, deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.        With regard to those who reject religion and those who are in doubt, I think that they deserve to be prayed for instead of condemning them. I believe that faith is a gift and it is not to be taken for granted. Some people may never have received it while others might have lost it through carelessness, neglect or the devil's incessant warfare. We must therefore, be slow in passing judgment, but quick in praying for sinners or the weak in faith. We have some words for all Christians. Technology and Present-day Christianity The Third Millennium has arrived with new ways of looking at religion, society, communication and technology. The world is now referred to as the global village because communication has brought humanity closer than in the recent past. The satellites and other electronic means of communication deliver messages and pictures instantly to all parts of the world. Transportation has improved so well that distances which took years, months, days and hours are now done in the shortest possible and convenient time. This state of affairs has also affected religion and Christianity is no exception. Christians can use these factors to their advantage but they can equally use them to their disadvantage.        We however, encourage Christians and believers of other religions to use them to their advantage. To Christians we encourage them to be committed to God as a friend. And as friends, Christians should learn to give quality time to God. There is no reason to profess the Christian faith without practicing it. Christians need to be fervent in the practice of the faith. I believe that young people learn a lot from adults by way of observation and imitation. Let us explain that the teachers referred to above, include the professional teacher, and all people whose life and work require them to lead others to change their attitude for the good running of society. I agree with those who believe that the essence of education is the gradual transformation of an individual from ignorance or a depraved state to an improved one. In Christianity, we expect Christians to accept Jesus as their teacher.        We encourage Christians to totally surrender to Jesus, so that they are available to the Lord as agents of change. To be available to the Lord means, total dependence on the will of God. And to know the will of a friend or master, one has to develop some intimate relationship with the authority. It is expected that Christians will develop their communication with the Lord through prayer. What the Bible teaches about prayer, "That we should pray without ceasing" should be the Christian's concern. This is to say that whatever the Christian does should be offered as a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. We encourage Christians to continue to work for the Lord, knowing that whatever, they do in the Lord will never be useless. Some other pictures Back to St. Mary's home page