Street Pastors: Are they real?
Mr Natori can be seen sweating in the hot sun each day in the market place trying to win more souls to God and to get a means of getting money to support his new Ministry. Let’s see if this is real with other preachers on the streets.
In Ghana, it is common to find pastors preaching/ evangelising on the streets and in the market or public areas.
Who is a street pastor?
A street pastor in Ghana can be identified as an individual who willingly or unwillingly goes on to public places to preach the gospel to the masses.
Why would a pastor preach?
Certain circumstances can influence a Christian to go out to the street to preach the word.
The reasons include;
- Unemployment: Ghana records a 13.9% unemployment rate in the country and as a result, individuals resort to different means
of getting a job to rely on. Preaching is a way out for Christians who believe they can earn or survive on the offerings made during preaching on the streets. They preach and it serves as a source of living hood for them.
A close look from afar indicates that these kinds of preachers usually request money almost all their time preaching. And the excuse they give is ‘give money unto the lord and be blessed.
- Pure Evangelism
Individuals especially the youth in Ghana are particularly concerned with religion and hence would want to win more souls for God. These kinds of pastors are genuine in their intentions of letting people know the word of God.
Compared to other pastors on the streets who preach out of wedlock or hunger, some do preach because they have been called to do so.
- Laziness
About 50% per cent of individuals who chooses to be street pastor do that out of Laziness as it does not involve hard work. These kinds of street pastors are sometimes hilarious as they cannot quote from the bible to complement their preaching. All they are concerned about is the fact that at the end of the day, they won’t go home empty-handed.
- Business
Some individuals in the country especially in Kumasi see preaching as a business and hence fully engage in it as they rent instrumentals and other types of equipment to evangelists to earn money by making sales at the end of the day to them.
ARE GHANAIANS RECEPTIVE TO THEM
Before any preaching is successful, an audience is needed.
Street pastors can normally be found in marketplaces and traffic areas in Ghana.
The question is, are Ghanaians happy with how they preach and conduct their activities?
About 80% of Ghanaians are not happy with their activities as they don’t see the value of frequently listening to sermons. while only 20 % are appreciative of their gospel.
The first type of audience is the ones who see the street pastors as a distraction to their business and noise makers.
An account made by traders shows that preachers usually tend to push away customers from purchasing from them as a result of the extortion they make.
Traders normally need peace of mind to negotiate terms with customers. Imagine having a bad day and a preacher comes with his or her speakers on loud volumes preaching. How would you feel? The traders term it as ‘noise making.
The second type of audience is the one that prefers to listen to the word of the street preachers because they couldn’t have a quiet time before going to work. In most cases, they prefer to listen for some time and then offer what they can to support the ministry as they term it.
Compared to the first audience that sees giving offerings as extortion the latter see it as a way to help grow their spirits.
HOW IS THE AUDIENCE AFFECTED HEALTHWISE?
According to the E and T department of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, continuously being in an of noise can damage the ears. The noise from the speakers of preachers deals a severe blow to the ears of the audience. It is because of the noise that comes from the speakers they use. If it causes such damage to the recipient of the word, do they have a regulatory body that controls their activities?
In Kumasi, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly(KMA) and Environmental protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for issuing their licences, the time period they are supposed to operate within and also the frequency of the volume.
These rules and regulations set up are usually abused by the preachers as they do not adhere to the time period given to them.
A grave example.
A preacher had preached from 7 am to 12 pm in one place all in the name of sanctifying the people. Imagine the health consequence for the audiences.
The issue of preachers on the street has been in existence since the 18th century and would be difficult to modify it. In Ghanaian society, if something is continuously heard or talked about, it usually tends to fade away with time. The frequency at which the Preachers conduct their activities makes them lose their value. With this, the question is, Are they real?
Source: KessbenNewsroom/Zaaria
