Introduction

Words cannot express the weight of my appreciation to the Lord and the people I ever met.

Today, my US friends celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day is a memorable celebration day in Nashville, Tennessee, a special day that I chose to launch my ordination thanksgiving celebration communication campaign.

In the US, Thanksgiving is a national holiday. It is is celebrated to mark the sealed treaty between the English Colonist of Plymouth and the Wampanoags dated as far back as 1621. It is usually held every fourth Thursday in the year’s penultimate month. Today, I still remember how I sat with my Nashville friends, smiling and relishing the served baked turkey, bread stuffing, potatoes, cranberries, and pumpkin pie.

Thanksgiving has a biblical and cultural undertone. The Scriptures make us know it is a good thing to thank God (Eph. 5:20, 1 Thess. 5:18). Thanksgiving Day in the US involves feasting majorly on turkey and Pie. It brings to memory the meat and unleavened bread used to mark Passover in the bible by the Jews, a passage to a new shore. Even though I miss the physical presence, I am grateful I did celebrate Thanksgiving Day with my Nashville, Tennessee friends (Americans, Ivorians, Spanish…), who have been a pillar of support to my family and me.

Thanksgiving Day is not unique to the USA alone. In Ghana, a Thanksgiving festival called Hamowo, meaning hooting at hunger, is celebrated by the Ga tribe (southeast coast of Ghana). One of the largest festivals in Africa, Hamowo spans three months, covering the day of planting until harvest.

In Africa, Thanksgiving is also celebrated to mark exceptional achievements, the end of the year, New Year Day, and important festivals. Families and friends would travel down with gifts to celebrate with relatives. Prayers are made by the eldest in the family, and different food assortments are prepared.

Today in the spirit of my ordination thanksgiving celebration, I stand in the tradition of my US upbringing to celebrate Thanksgiving in my way. My Thanksgiving comes from my understanding of the outworking of God’s grace. If not for God’s grace and a strong network of support, I would have never thought of traveling out of Africa to study in America and become an ordained elder and a journalist in the United Methodist Church. God’s plans are always more significant than what we think or imagine. Indeed, God lifts the helpless and promotes the poorest. I am writing a memoir to immortalize my journey from being an orphan to studying in a prestigious university in the USA with this consciousness.

I thank God for the people he positioned in my life to train, help, and lift me academically and spiritually. How I miss the US thanksgiving, the invitations, the visits, the table… I wish I were surrounded by all the people I cared about again. Yet, the World Wide Web is the big table we are all sitting around. Memories of my experience with them will continue to be cherished.

What am I being grateful for?

What essence is there in living without being saved? Therefore, I’m grateful to God for the salvation of my soul, which I believe is a product of his mercy and purpose for my life. I escaped stillbirth. Thus, I was given the name “Donkohin,” meaning one who serves.

I thank God for choosing me and enabling me to yield to his call. Though I was the least qualified in terms of age, God’s grace made me stand out. I’m grateful to the Lord for making me perceive his call upon my life into the pastoral ministry early. Though I had always been fascinated with men who wear black cassocks ever since I was a child, it is only by his grace that I become a Fisher of Men, fishing in other waters and telling stories and building the church of Christ on this earth.

On this day leading to my ordination thanksgiving celebration, I thank God for my parents, especially John Robert Broune, a fisherman, and Essi Kouma, who showed me the way to the Lord. Our father showed and encouraged his children to love and serve God. From being a catholic member, I was transitioned to the Protestant Methodist church (then United Methodist Church) through the leadership of my late father.

I also thank God for the life of my good mother. She continued my Christian education after the demise of my father. I am immensely grateful for her role in teaching me to cultivate the habit of trusting God to meet our needs when in lack. Her presence and mentorship have made me develop a stronger faith in God. My mother’s language, Fanti, proved advantageous by leading me to master English. I can’t thank her enough for who she’s to me. My ability to interpret well earned me a good impression later me among several other important people.

Behind every successful man, especially in ministry, is the support of a good wife and children. I appreciate God for the wife he has given me, Diane, and my son, Jason, who has never been a source of worry to the family. I thank them for their presence and gift of love, especially those sacrifices when I was away from home.

I am grateful to God also for my siblings. After the death of our father, they have not allowed our bond of unity to be broken. I thank God for the healthy relationship we still have. Despite the distance, we still have ongoing conversations to date.

My success in the USA would never have been possible without the new people I met who made me feel at home. I chose to call them my US families. They include everyone I interacted with when I was in the US. I thank God for them.

I thank God for The United Methodist Church (from the local church to the General Conference via Annual conferences) for adopting me, showing me the way of salvation, and helping me undertake major communication initiatives throughout the world. I want to thank God for all the people, the churches, and the ministries I served.

I thank God for my mentors and coaches for serving as a reference at a different time. I say a big thank you to them for offering me advice and necessary support.

I also want to express gratitude to my friends who encouraged me to document my experience and friends who prayed. I say a heartfelt thank you to my friends, who gave me a head up when I was in a dilemma. I want to thank all those whose encouragement kept me on track.

The Bible makes us understand that though a righteous man falls seven times, he will rise again. Thus, I thank God for all my enemies. Contrary to the plans of the devil, God used their hate to make me a better person.

I thank God for being a member of a community of fishermen, storytellers, and church builders who have instilled an appreciation for the things of God in my life.

Conclusion

I am also thankful for all events that happened in my life. Be it bad or good, they all worked for my good. Recently, I lost dear friends. In addition, a short circuit in the garage where my car was being repaired caused a fire. Three vehicles, including mine, were impacted. All my visits in the framework of the preparation of this celebration depended on this car. Who else can best argue that according to the Scriptures, all things work for the good of those who love God and are called according to God’s purpose? I know this has been and will continue to be a fulfillment in my life. Therefore, I cannot complain. Since I knew the definition of “Isaac,” I asked God to make me smile in all circumstances, and I’m grateful God has.

I started life as an ordinary orphan in a slum who used to study under streetlights, but today, by God’s grace, I’m a pastor and a journalist, both in the service of the worldwide United Methodist Church. I have already traveled across different countries and pastored many churches. And the best is yet to come.

Six years ago, my first Thanksgiving in the United States coincided with my first 100 days in Nashville. I wrote a blog on my school forum. I said: “Thanksgiving Day has come and gone. Yet, I want to live every day as a thankful person for the past, the present, and the future.” — all THANKSGIVING to God.