“For whoever, will save his life shall lose it and whoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:25)

My first encounter with “Daddy,” as I later came to call Very Rev Prof Joshua N. Kudadjie, was in my first meeting of the Legon Chaplaincy Board around April/May1983. He engaged me in conversation after the meeting, asking of my relationship with two Ministers in the Methodist Church Ghana with the same surname, when I had joined the University Faculty, and where my family worshipped. Later, he mentioned that there was an interdenominational Legon Residents' Congregation that met in the Legon Hall Chapel, even when students were on break. That conversation and the subsequent family discussion led to me and the family joining the church in June/July 1983.

I was to learn later that Uncle Joshua, as LIC members are wont to address elders, when not wanting to be formal, was the Presiding Elder at the time. He did not leave me on my own to sort myself out within the new environment, and so he would prod me into getting involved. The result was that I got on the Welfare Committee as the Chairman (arranging “essenco” for members), to start the first LIC Newsletter as the Editor (at a time when printing was done on xerox paper), and eventually on the Committee of Elders.

Uncle Joshua was not done with me, for he invited me to my first national Bible Sunday afternoon service in 1984, when he was the acting General Secretary, thereby introducing me to the Bible Society of Ghana and its workings. From that time, and for a number of years, the two families would go on a weekend retreat to the University of Ghana Agriculture Station at Kade during the Easter break. A good part of the retreat, particularly for the children, was the stroll in the farm, eating all the oranges, tangerines, grapefruits and other fruits one could manage. We would end the retreat with a Sunday worship service at the Methodist Preaching Post.

Those were the beginnings of a lifelong relationship between the Twum-Baah and Kudadjie families. Uncle Joshua and Mama Miriam would visit us in our Hall Flat and we would visit them at No.5 Legon Hill. There was no important family ceremony that would not involve the other: the outdooring of our last girl, Kuukua in 1983; our 25th anniversary in 1999, and the dedication of our residence in 2003 and of my Head Start Consult office in 2007, were all officiated by Papa Osofo. Similarly, Uncle Joshua would invite me to be part of issues concerning his family, including being part of the delegation to go to ask for the hand of Phyllis in marriage to John, to advise on social and customary issues relating to the children-in-law, and to be Master of Ceremony at the 75-70-50 years triple anniversary in 2013.

I had become so involved in the life of the Kudadjie family that I installed myself as the “First Child” in the family. The joy of it all was that the children accepted me as such, to the point that if I decided not to be intrusive in certain situations that I considered to be purely family, I would be reminded of my self-installed position as the first child, to my discomfort.

I observed some virtues in my close walk with Uncle Joshua and the family that portray one who lived God’s way. One was his selflessness and willingness to give of himself to others. While some accepted such assistance and were grateful, some took advantage of him, because they knew Daddy would not hold them accountable, while yet others, at the other extreme, saw it as their right to demand, and that Daddy was not doing them any favours. In all these, Daddy remained calm, unchangeable and dignified, when family and friends would have wished for him to “shake” himself a little bit.

Another observed virtue was an attitude of meekness that translated into him promoting and deferring to others, when he could easily have called attention to himself. On one of our retreats, he had given me notice to prepare to preach on the Sunday, when he was the one expected to do so. On another occasion, at a time he was the LIC Presiding Elder, he was slated to preach on Easter Sunday. The Friday preceding, he visited us in our Hall Flat and, when leaving, asked that I should stand in for him to preach on the Sunday. I protested and called attention to the fact that such occasions are normally reserved for the “crème de la crème” of the church, and so he should ask some of such, if he was not going to be available. He then, in his usual calm and unassuming manner, reminded me that I was still a member of the then Committee of Elders; we laughed, I said “yes sir,” and that ended the argument.

Over the years, through my involvement in Bible Society work, I had become acutely aware of the inadequate funds generated locally for Bible Society work and the continued dependence on paltry foreign funds. When, in April 1989, I discussed the idea of trying to mobilise more financial support from LIC members for Bible Society work with Uncle Joshua, he embraced it and humbly confessed that the burden of how to generate more funds locally to support the Bible Society had also been with him during the period he acted as General Secretary.

In the spirit of promoting others, he pointed to Mr. Immanuel Kofi Agamah, who had joined the Bible Society of Ghana as the Youth Organiser, and had been working with the LIC Youth Fellowship to try to mobilse funds for the work of the Bible Society. Uncle Joshua then suggested that we work towards improving upon what the Youth were trying to do, but in a more organised system of regular collection and contribution to the Bible Society. Then, at the birth of LIC Bible-a-Month Club, on 2nd July 1989, Uncle Joshua ceded the rightful position of President on the first Executive Committee to someone else, and opted for the more ceremonial position of Patron (COE Representative). What humility!

Daddy, many lives have been brightened and many sorrows have been healed by the gifts of your love. Those in your circle of influence are richer because they were in it, and the influence of your large-hearted and unselfish life will be owned and honoured.

Wo ojogbaa!