Nana arrived in London, Ontario from Ghana by herself in October, 2022. Coming to study for a master’s degree in Epidemiology at Western, she had to leave her husband Kwaku and two young sons behind. Eager to find a church near where she was living, Nana made a list using Google. A chance encounter in Walmart with a helpful stranger who attended Gateway made her decide to visit our church first. “I really felt I belonged the very first day I went,” recalls Nana, remembering the warm welcome and many kindnesses with which she was greeted. A ride home and assistance in finding affordable warmer clothing were among some of the practical ways that her new friends at Gateway helped.

After going through the Gateway Steps program, Nana was keen to volunteer. You will see her friendly smile frequently, helping to serve coffee. She also joined a Connect group: “You have people you call family who share with you, encourage you, and pray with you through every situation.” It was a tough time, and Nana sometimes felt she had abandoned her family: “I wanted to quit, go back home” but friends said “Don’t worry. They will come soon.”

Kwaku and their two sons, Obrempong (OB) and Okatakyie (OK) were finally able to join Nana in February of 2024, and their family was reunited. Kwaku says that Nana’s having laid the foundation for him made fitting in at Gateway easy. “I fell in love with the church even before I got here,” he says. “I wanted to be in a church that embraces inclusivity with sound Bible doctrine and finds ways to give back to society.” After completing the Gateway Steps program, Kwaku volunteered to help with church set-up.

Both Nana and Kwaku were brought up in Christian homes; their fathers were pastors. Each followed all the Christian routines and behaviours expected, but in secondary school they both came to the realization that their faith wasn’t an “automatic qualification” from their families.

Both committed to a personal relationship with Christ and continued to grow. They met at a church where Nana’s father was pastoring in 2012 and were married in 2017.

Nana and Kwaku have experienced God’s faithfulness in many challenging times in their lives. When he was a secondary school teacher in Ghana, Kwaku was told he would be relocated to a remote area where it would be impossible to continue the evening MBA program he had just begun. Administration refused to change this decision, but Kwaku was surrounded by praying family and friends. One day, very unexpectedly, he was told he could return to his original post. When astonished colleagues asked how this had happened, he answered “It was God!”

Nana, too, has seen miraculous answers to prayer. After marriage, although she desperately wanted children, she did not get pregnant. This was a source of anxiety and embarrassment for her as people kept questioning her. Leaders in her church insisted on calling her “newlywed” because she wasn’t yet with child. Again, Nana and Kwaku and their families devoted endless hours of prayer. Eventually, God answered, and today they are the proud parents of 5-year-old OB and 4-year-old OK who “love to go to church!”

Finding a job in Canada took some time for Kwaku, but he now works for Western in their residence system. Nana has completed her Master’s program and has a part-time job in a related field. Their prayer for the future is to follow God wherever he leads. “We have our own plans, but we want to make sure they are aligned with God’s will.”