After giving me many excellent reasons to seriously doubt and question his credibility. I finally asked my Ghanaian male friend who claimed that he had a Bachelor’s degree in Physics to brush me up on Boyle’s Law of Pressure, Temperature, and Volume. Or merely remind me of Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion. First, he pretended not to hear me and then he glared at me with his mouth wide open as if I was a supernatural apparition attempting to scare him out of his wits. I got the message. He was a complete fake trying to use me to facilitate his entry into a foreign university to pursue a Master’s degree in Physics. What a complete moron? But his relationship with me was a fitting commentary upon a large part of Ghanaian culture of deception, misrepresentation, pretense, and con artistry. He was about thirty years of age and worked in the market selling fish and other flesh proteins. I had heard no complaints about him so I assumed that he was honest and straightforward in his trade, like most other independent traders plying their wares in the market. This brings me to another salient point. A great deal of Ghanaian chicanery is aimed directly at foreigners. Primarily because over the years Ghanaians learn never to trust each other.
My male friend claimed to be a Christian and advanced many theological ideas to me that had absolutely no foundation in scripture. One of them is the belief that based on Peter’s vision in Acts 10: 9-15, Christians can eat just about anything as long as thy first bless it.
“The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven open and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.” Acts 10:9-15 (NKJV).
My male friend is certainly not unique in this regard. I’ve met many proponents of this view. Unfortunately, however, they base this belief upon a single vision that Peter had. Let me hasten to assert that all New Testament teachings are first found within the confines of The Old Testament. Nowhere in The Old Testament are we taught that four-footed beasts are capable of sin. Which transgression would render them needful of moral cleansing? That is a quality possessed only by humans. This sobering reality places Peter’s explanation of his vision to Cornelius, right on the money.
“As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I myself am also a man.” And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.“ Acts 10:25-28 (NKJV).
A careful review of the appropriate literature reveals that since ancient times China has had a long history of severe epidemics such as plagues. Which have killed hundreds of thousands of people. In modern times such plagues have rapidly spread to other parts of the globe and their effects have been no less devastating to humanity.
The brutal fact is that the Chinese in general have no dietary guidelines, but virtually eat everything. With the exception of course of some Chinese sub-groups who belong to religious organizations that observe dietary or kosher rules. This fundamental fact is exactly why the world has been cursed with many plagues emanating directly from China during the course of the last 100 years. COVID-19 and its multiple mutations are no exception.
China is the second most populous country in Asia as well as the second most populous country in the world with a population of 1,425,671,352. The demographics of China show an enormous population with a relatively small youth component, partially a result of China’s one-child policy. China is the world’s most populous country since at least 1950, briefly surpassed by India in April 2023. However, India is expected to once again surpass China in population before 2024. (WIKIPEDIA: The Free Encyclopedia, Demographics of China).
‘You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out. And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and therefore I abhor them. But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the people. You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, and you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine. Leviticus 20:22-26 (NKJV).
This counsel should seem appropriate, cogent, and timely to any reasonable person, living in these times; and acquainted with the ravages of disease that threaten all human life on planet Earth today.
I decided to get my friend a book. Good books are silent teachers, they never argue with you and only communicate with you when you decide to open them just to hear what they have to say. I explained to him that the book would greatly enhance his English-speaking skills, and if he wanted to go abroad to study then such an acquisition would be a step in the right direction. He quickly agreed. The book Patriarchs and Prophets by Ellen G. White is one of the best Theological treatises that I have ever read. It contains a treasury of vital spiritual information essential to salvation. I proceeded online to locate the nearest Adventist Book and Bible Center in Sunyani, the Capital City of The Brong Ahafo Region. The name of the facility and its address were all online but there was only a partial telephone number. How does one accomplish such a fete I wondered? How exactly does someone get away with posting a partial telephone number on the web? Since I couldn’t call anyone to listen to a live voice on the other end of the telephone line, I decided to personally visit the listed office in Sunyani. When I finally arrived, I came to the realization that chaos reigned everywhere. There were no secretaries, no air conditioning, and the offices were disheveled and empty. This is serious I concluded. Finally, I arrived at one of the offices on the ground floor and there was a gentleman there. Who assured me that the book desired was available.
I requested a paperback copy. But was disappointed to be informed that they only had cloth-bound copies in stock. Which were considerably more expensive. At that point, he opened a small cardboard box exposing five cloth-bound copies of what is known as The Conflict of The Ages Series. Then, it finally dawned upon me why only an incomplete telephone number was listed online. This was merely part and parcel of an extensive, countrywide, disinformation campaign. Being practiced throughout the Republic of Ghana. Call a business or government agency most times you won’t be lucky enough to get anyone to answer that phone. Because no one wants to talk to you over the telephone and thereby give you information that will result in their losing money or profits. Thereby forcing you to make a trip by coming into the office. An act of social retrogression and backwardness. The more they move forward into the 21st Century then the more they cling to the darkness and stupidity of 18th Century times. The paperback copy would have only cost me 10.00 GHS (US$0.80) at the most. The cloth-bound copy cost me 100.00 GHS (US$8.00). Although I paid for it because I considered it a valuable investment in the salvation of another soul. I clearly realized that I was the unwitting victim of just another scam. Most Ghanaians are just too poor to spend that kind of money to purchase a book.
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