An Interview with the man who was baptized by Apostle James Mckeown

THIS INTERVIEW WAS CONDUCTED BY KWESI KEYS (REPRESENTED BY K.K IN THE TRANSCRIPT BELOW), HOST OF THE SUNDAY GROOVE SHOW AND DADDY YAW FIAKYE (DADDY Y.F) WHO WAS BAPTIZED AND TAUGHT BY THE LATE APOSTLE JAMES MCKEOWN, FOUNDER OF THE CHURCH OF PENTECOST. 

K.K: Welcome to this informal interview with a man who was baptized and taught by Apostle John Mckeown before he travelled to Nigeria. We have brought the man on the show to ask him a few questions about Apostle James Mckeown.

K.K: Welcome Daddy. I hope everything is fine?

Daddy Y.F: Yes! Everything is fine.

K.K: In which year did you meet Apostle James Mckeown?

Daddy Y.F: In 1973

K.K: Where?

Daddy Y.F: In Kumasi Anloga (Awonaga)

K.K: Was it during a program he hosted?

Daddy Y.F: Yes I went for a program he was organizing.

K.K: So what happened when he preached? Were you touched by his sermons?

Daddy Y.F: Yes I was touched by his sermons so I decided to join his ministry. The next day, we were baptized. 

K.K: Permit me to ask you this question. What can you say about the baptism?

Daddy Y.F: He took us to a river

K.K: So he didn’t sprinkle water on you?

Daddy Y.F: No he didn’t, though there was quite a number of us there. After we were baptized, he preached to us about how to serve God and live for Him. He said, “do not kill, do not lie, don’t be a stumbling block to your brother, don’t commit fornication, don’t date another man’s wife”.... he really taught us a lot of things.  After that, he spoke about the women. He said that women should not wear men’s clothes and men should also not wear clothes for women.He said the women should not wear earrings, no rings.

K.K: So you didn’t wear wedding ring when you got married?

Daddy Y.F: No, we didn’t. When there was a wedding at church, the couples did not wear wedding rings. He said it was a sin for women to wear anklets. Some even wore rings on their toes. He said all those things are wrong, including painting of nails or wearing artificial nails, artificial lashes, whether donkey or cow hair that they wear on their heads.........

K.K: You mean wigs or weave-on, he spoke against them too?

Daddy Y.F: Yes! He said it is a sin and that, as a woman, when you finish bathing, dress well and wear your scarf. Women should not wear trousers or shorts/knickers, women shouldn’t wear men’s hat... he said all those things.

As we were new converts, we asked him about the Holy Spirit. He said God intentionally washed His hands and gave gifts to some of the disciples. Not to all, but only those who are holy. Some have the gift of teaching, some can pray a lot, some singing, some clapping, some dancing, some playing instruments or drums....everyone has a gift from God. He also said God speaks to some in the spirit, they’ll feel the Lord warning and directing their paths. Like in my case, if I’m going to pay someone a visit, I’ll be convicted to know whether I’ll meet the person or not, based on how I feel within.

K.K: Daddy, let me ask you this question. How old are you?

Daddy Y.F: Today as I am being interviewed, I am 81years old. I was born on July 1, 1940 on a Thursday

K.K: What did Apostle Mckeown say about marriage?

Daddy Y.F: He said if you marry, you can’t divorce

K.K:  What if your spouse commits adultery?

Daddy Y.F:  He said if your spouse commits adultery, you can deal with him in your own way, if you want. If you meet a man on top of your wife, you can commit her into God’s hands and she’ll stop the adultery. You can tell the family and they’ll sort it out. He said it is a sin to spread the news of your wife’s adultery around. 

He also said women should not marry a man who already has a wife because it is a sin. Every man should have one wife and every woman, one husband. Not double. He said Adam and Eve were just two. When God created the world, He created just Adam and Eve, not two women for Adam. 

K.K: I would like to ask you this. Those days, did you take communion?

Daddy Y.F: Yes, about twice. They set the table and covered it with cloth with little cups filled with water which they drank with the bread after the pastors surrounding the table have prayed. 

K.K: What I want to know is whether everyone was allowed to take the 

communion?

Daddy Y.F: Everyone can eat except someone who has been given some form of punishments and has been confined to one corner of the church, where he’s worshipping and has not been allowed to join the main congregation yet. 

K.K: Was it allowed for a woman to be a pastor in the church? Did Apostle James Mckeown ordain any woman as a pastor? 

Daddy Y.F: No I didn’t see him doing that. I remember when my friend and next door neighbor was fornicating, drinking alcohol (akpeteshie) and smoking cigarettes.....this same person was staking lotto but our landlord was a church elder so when he’s preaching on Sunday, he would talk against all these bad habits my neighbor was in. He then said he would stop going to church because the elder was preaching about him. However, I asked him not to do that. His wife attended another church but he thought his wife must have reported him to the elder. The elder then said he preached the word as it came to him and so, he didn’t know the man was into all these habits. The church had to suspend him and confine him to one corner so he decided not to go church anymore. 

K.K: I would like to ask you how Apostle James Mckeown lived his life. Was he the strict/no-nonsense type or he was the type that said nothing matters and everyone can come to my church?

Daddy Y.F: Apostle Mckeown led an exemplary life. If you are stubborn in the church, he can suspend you or give you some form of punishment that will make you repent of your sins. But he was very calm and gentle, interacting and playing with children, the youth, the old....he was very cordial with everyone. 

K.K: When you traveled to Nigeria, did you attend a Pentecost branch or you came back to Ghana before you joined the church of Pentecost again?

Daddy Y.F: in Nigeria, I went to the church of Pentecost thrice. Over there, when we went for all night services, the elders used to sniff people’s breathe to see if they reek of alcohol or weed (laughs)

K.K: (laughs) They thought some people smoked weed?

Daddy Y.F: Yes.....and also, there was quite a number of them who were prostitutes. One lady was very drunk and she fell off her chair at church (laughs).

K.K: If you compare modern Christianity to Apostle James Mckeown’s era and how he taught and led the church, can you say it’s the same?

Daddy Y.F: No, it’s not the same. There are a lot of differences because those times, when we went to church on Sundays or for midweek services like on Wednesdays, you would not hear all the shouting or noise people do because he believed that there should be someone in our midst who can translate the tongues and tongues is not something we learn but I have heard that the church leaders have told members to learn how to speak in tongues.

K.K: They ask people to learn the tongues?

Daddy Y.F: Yes but it’s not right. We don’t learn how to speak in tongues.

K.K: Most people don’t believe us when we speak against make-ups, earrings, rings and others because they believe some people are introducing new doctrines into Christianity to cause division in the body of Christ. But I would like to ask you, since you saw how things were in that era as compared to our time.... for instance, if you tell people not to wear wedding rings, it sounds very odd and new to them. Were these things there in your time?

Daddy Y.F: This is something that has been there already. I had just one daughter who had pierced her ears before I took her to Church of Pentecost. They didn’t allow her mother to put earrings on her again and the piercings got sealed. 

Apostle James Mckeown asked us if the mother of Jesus Christ wore earrings and we replied “no”. He asked if she used jewelries like gold, necklaces, etc and again, we said “no”. 

K.K: We’ll continue the interview some other time because I know there is a lot to be discussed. I’m shocked and surprised because when we speak against outward adornments, it sounds like a new doctrine to people but it’s been there for a very long time.

Daddy Y.F: Yes, it’s been there for a very long time.

K.K: We’ll end the interview here till the next time (Interviewer asks Mr. Yaw Fiakye about his background and ended the interview)