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TB Danquah was a brother, a friend, and a father to me. I first met TB when he was teaching chemistry at Prempeh College, Kumasi, in 1970. He was a much sought-after preacher and teacher in christian circles in Kumasi and its environ taking leading roles in many SU and town Christian fellowship programs. Later in the year we both attended the erstwhile Ghana Inter University Christian Fellowship (GIUCF) Christmas Conference 1970 held at Sekondi College, Sekondi-Takoradi.  At the end of the conference, it was announced that the unassuming TB would be taking over the mantra of the Travelling Secretary (TS) for the GIUCF from the astute Gottfried Osei Mensah even as GIUCF was soon to transition into the current Ghana Fellowship of Evangelical Students (GHAFES) that extended fellowship to more tertiary institutions in the country. It first sounded like a mismatch, but time proved otherwise – not only did TB sized up into the shoes but expanded the shoe size for later TSs to step in to the glory of God and to the cause of His Kingdom in Ghana, Africa, and the world. A veteran of the revival that swept the country during late 1960s and early 1970s, TB Danquah remained levelheaded and focused.  He was true to his basic christian principles and ethics, not immersing himself in the excesses of the Holy Spirit moves of those times.  His counsel was always sound and thoughtful.  Students on the various campuses queued to book counselling time with him during his travels and visitations.  He remained calm in face of provocation of any kind.  During the MISSION ‘72, a campus wide evangelistic crusade organized by the Inter Hall Christian Fellowship (IHCF) for the KNUST community, TB assisted the main speaker Tony Wilmot and was detailed to the ministry at the Independence Hall to follow up on the students who responded to the altar calls in addition to general counseling among Christians and non-Christians alike.  At the end of one of the counseling sessions he debriefed the hall’s Christian Fellowship members of his exploits at a forum organized to share experiences and to pick up lessons for subsequent days’ encounters.  Apparently, TB had ministered to a student who had responded to the altar call and had left a message on the card to receive additional counseling.  The student’s major spiritual problem and human failure was his inability to control his mind from dirty thoughts.  TB entered his room, looked around and noticed that the walls were conspicuously pasted with provocatively inappropriate photos.  He gently shared the message of the gospel of Christ with this young man.  On exiting the room, he turned to the student and respectfully pointed to his decorative walls as a source of his problem.  His quiet diplomatic demeanor approach to issues more than often yielded the desired results.  The average Chrife of those times would have handled it in a different but unproductive manner.  That was a lesson for me.  During a subsequent crusade at Larteh – Akuapem in 1974, TB remained calm amidst the spiritual gymnastics that overshadowed the message of the campaign throughout.  As the overall leader of the crusade, he remained focused and effectively managed the young, exuberant, and inexperienced christians on a noble mission to save the world for Christ once and for all.  TB was caring and looked after his flock wherever they found themselves.  In the late 1980s no sooner had I arrived in Harare, Zimbabwe to take up a teaching appointment at the University of Zimbabwe than two staff members of the University knocked at my office door looking for me.  They introduced themselves as fellow christians who had been sent by TB to check on me.  Apparently, TB might have had a wind of my relocation to Zimbabwe from the USA and, through his extensive network in christian circles, had found the need to get me company even before I looked for one.  It has been more than a decade since TB and I last crossed paths in Ghana but TB never ceased to send me felicitations whenever he found someone coming my way. Rev. Dr. Theophilus Bampo Danquah was a man of wisdom, kindness, character, and compassion; he embodied the qualities of a Christian leader for our day.  No wonder many ministers of the gospel, pastors, evangelists, and christian field workers can trace the origins of their work to his wise counseling and advice. At his passing I believe he could say with confidence, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”.  He now joins several of our compatriots who have gone before us and enjoying the bliss of heaven in the company of the saints and angels.  Bro TB, rest in the bosom of the Father until we meet again.  In the interim, for your brethren stuck on this side of the spiritual divide you will be sorely missed. DA YIYE, Bro TB.

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