I just saw this piece that I wrote just about 10 years ago. I have been following Citi FM;s great programming for the month of March, and I'm impressed with the breadth and depth of it all. This particular piece has been sitting idle all these years. I will share more as I uncover them.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Black America (March 01, 2002)
I just saw this piece that I wrote just about 10 years ago. I have been following Citi FM;s great programming for the month of March, and I'm impressed with the breadth and depth of it all. This particular piece has been sitting idle all these years. I will share more as I uncover them.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
My resolution to blog away ...
Even if it's 2 lines, I'll keep this space open and active!
Tsooboi!!!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Useful Tips for the returnee...
Tsooboi!
Here's the low-down ...
Generally, it is difficult to hire people without meeting them in person, because it is important to look beyond the CV and to know the person who will be joining the organization. ... so most companies will not hire someone without meeting that person in flesh and blood because the CV could be inaccurate, and references may also be 'faulty'. Very few companies are willing to bear the cost to invite someone across the ocean for an interview. In some cases, the company may have representatives or offices in different countries, and so in-person interviews can be arranged. Alternatively, if someone from the company is going to be travelling to a country - let's say the US or UK, then an interview can be scheduled. Few would 'okay' that you spend your own funds to attend an interview, because of the possibility that you may not be selected. Also, not all companies are willing to cover the cost of relocation.
What we advise is that if you are interested in moving back home, you start looking around (www.axishcl.com, jobsinghana.com, sabinesolutions.com, ghanaweb.com, businessghana.com, and many others ...), and then actually visit before moving fully. If you can, then you can do some homework and find as many jobs within your career area as possible, follow up on applications and schedule interviews and then when you visit, you can attend interviews, build networks etc, Your experience in doing that will help you to take some decisions, and if you are successful in finding a job, go back to wherever you currently live, resign from your job, and then prepare for relocation.
At Axis, we pay attention to CVs from outside of Ghana. If the CV shows the person as a strong candidate, we get in touch and let them know we are interested in them, and also let them know the client will not pay for relocation etc etc… we at least prefer to let them know we are interested, and then tell them that if they happen to visit, they should come in for an interview. We have a representative in the US and in South America, who may interview the person, and if the person is a really good fit, we inform the client, and if the client has ways of meeting that person (as I described in previous paragraph), then we set a meeting up. We’ve actually recruited through this process before. … fortunately, the client was on a business trip to the country where the applicant resided, so we were able to work that out. Not common, but not impossible either.
If you are outside and are looking to move back home, here are a few tips … …
1. Identify the career direction and area you would like to operate in, and start paying attention to what’s going on in that industry on the ground. The edge that a local applicant has over you the diasporan applicant is local industry knowledge, so you will need to read the news and learn of what’s going on. If you’re interested in private equity, real estate, banking, oil and gas, microfinance, teaching, FMCG manufacturing, NGOs and civil society orgs., whatever the focus (water sanitation, health etc), educate yourself on who the key players are, recent events in that industry, current opportunities in the industry etc… a lot of that can be done through reading the news online… It’s very important to KNOW and understand the terrain, especially if you are looking for strategic/managerial positions.
2. Don’t rely solely on ‘who you know’ – you need to boldly explore all options in your job hunt. If you are serious about moving back, yes, do talk to people you know, but you must proactively look up job listings on the internet, ask someone on the ground to look through the newspapers and relay relevant information to you, and if you are sure about your career path, and have identified companies you would fit very well in, don’t be scared to do some cold calling – find a way of getting in touch with them, or find someone who can be a gateway to them, and let them know of your interest and how you can fit in and add value etc etc…
3. Be ready to make some sacrifices in order to make your move successful. Your sacrifice may be to take your hard-earned money (or credit card), take your annual leave and journey back to see what’s going on. You need to do a lot of groundwork before you get here. You must also be realistic about salary scales – you cannot come down expecting to earn the 120k USD or 70k GBP that you may be earning out there.
4. In cases where you want to set up on your own, try to visit, and each time, have a target and tasks that move you closer to your relocation. You will have many things to plan – putting together a business plan (or whatever you choose to call your planning document), visiting to do some market research to inform you better, registering a company, looking for potential resources to start with (you may not need to hire an office. Can you start from a virtual office and home, till it’s necessary to find an office?)… there are many things to consider, and you can do these incrementally, and it may take a few visits to get settled.
5. Consider and carefully manage all stakeholders in your relocation plans. You never know when you would have to return to your current country of residence, so don't burn any bridges. Put your house in order - clear credit card debts as much as you can (sometimes, you call them to find out about special amortization plans, debt settlement plans, and you'll be amazed at some of the relief they can give you). Make sure spouses and children are involved in the decision-making - don't keep them in the dark, and don't think of your career only as you move - think of the other primary stakeholders in your life. People out there (resident outside Ghana) will question why on earth you want to move back, and those currently resident in Ghana will also question why on earth you want to move back. If that is what you want to do, listen with caution, but carve out your own journey, and don't listen to the naysayers. If you are a Christian, you know that all this can be sorted out in some serious 'kneeology' aka prayer. Do your part (due diligence), and let God do His. Sort all your affairs out both in your country of residence and in Ghana - accommodation, schools for children, bank accounts, office space, etc.
7. One critical thing to do is to do a very serious self-assessment. Your attitude and posture are critical to the success of your move. The right CV and right profile with the wrong attitude will get you in all the wrong places or nowhere.
Here are a few myths you’ll need to dispel, and some hard facts to acknowledge …
MYTHS
1. International exposure means you merit automatic job placement or that you are more employable than the ‘local breed’. Wrong – there are also ‘locals’ with comparable or better profiles.
2. International exposure necessarily/always mean better skills sets – in my line of work, I’ve met some incredibly sharp, open-minded and self-taught professionals who are major assets to whoever hires them.
3. Finding a JOB is good enough, so long as it pays/so long as it can match your current diasporan salary. The move is psychological before anything else, so a J.O.B that does not fit into your career plan and gives you no satisfaction, but pays well, in the context of the stresses of Ghana-life is self-inflicted punishment. (Think of a CAREER, not just a J.O.B. I call it a process of Career Maturity).
4. You know a lot of people, and that will make your re-entry easier (note that more organizations are structuring processes and becoming more accountable, so ‘backdoor recruitment’ is not as it used to be. You must often go through the process/formalities even if you know people etc..., and your success is not automatic.
5. A plethora of references to life outside impresses local people. Don’t be fooled into thinking people are ignorant and hungry for your stories. Many people now live in Ghana physically, but are vicarious global citizens through the internet, or may even go back and forth quite often, so your accent and incessant and sometimes irrelevant references to the US or UK etc. becomes annoying after a while. If it’s so wonderful there, then stay there and spare us the lectures. Oh, and … your heavy British or American accent after your 3 year stay there is not impressive either. The façade wears off quite quickly, so Be Real!
POSTURE
1. Don’t adopt a Tarzanic posture, beating your chest with grand ambitions to return and tame the ‘jungle’ at a go. Yes, we do have problems and challenges on the ground, but don’t come in with an upturned nose ready to lead ‘savages’. You ask for alienation and outright rejection (even sabotage) when you come in with that attitude.
2. Be humble and ready to start from somewhere. Be ready to rebuild your career through learning, and then accelerate beyond your colleagues as you show your worth and ‘grow’ in the industry. Yes, the colleagues you left behind may have climbed high up the ladder, and are now successful business owners and senior executives in big companies, and you may not start at their level, but you can accelerate your way to the top. They have the advantage of local knowledge and ground-level experience, and for positions that involve more strategy than operations, that is key.
3. First, demonstrate how things can be different with action, not with whining. Comparisons to different, more efficient contexts are not encouraging, so come with a mindset to ‘pilot’ positive change. If you feel business should be conducted a certain way, come in, take up a position, and pilot that change on a small, experimental level, and then sell the results. That way, it becomes more difficult for anyone to stand in your way to overhaul the system or turn things around in whichever company you work with.
4. Be impatient with the status quo, and seek positive change, but apply wisdom in how you deal with it. For example, customer service is not what it should be, so you constantly get into quarrels at the bank, in traffic, in restaurants etc… How about also demonstrating and acknowledging positive examples and drawing attention to them? So when that teller does a good job (yeah, yeah, that’s what they’re paid to do, you’d say, but your affirmation showcases what should be, and it’s easier for others to emulate), draw attention to it. Say thank you, affirm them, if possible, ask for a supervisor and acknowledge the person. It can lead to contagion of good behavior.
5. Build your professional network and (re)build old and new bridges. You have a lot to learn, so this is very important. Go through the newspaper or online, and attend some of the business events – AGMs for some companies you are interested in, seminars, etc, so long as they advance your plan to integrate and take advantage of opportunities to build your career. Be ready to consider partnerships, and don’t try to do it all by yourself.
So, in summary to re-enter the system:
- Prepare a Plan (articulate it on paper/screen)
- Conduct Research – know the terrain, and be realistic
- Connect with others and conduct a thorough job hunt
- Carefully plan a visit, and come with an open mind, ready to explore the opportunities. Look into the entire relocation ‘wahala’ – schools for children, accommodation, etc etc…
- Return and manage diasporan stakeholders – family, creditors and debtors, employers etc… Leave on a good note.
- Begin process of move – incremental or radical – your choice. Whichever is less stressful
- Periodically review your move, burn no diasporan bridges and keep building your career!
Cheers!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
The Holy God - LIC Word (May 9, 2010)
Last week’s lesson – communicable and non-communicable attributes of God.
1. The meaning of holy or holiness
2. God’s holy nature
3. Man’s unholy and potentially holy nature
4. Reconciliation of the holy and unholy
The most common understanding/usage of the word is that something is morally pure or without sin … this makes holiness incommunicable, since we are not sinless. However, God says BE HOLY, for I the Lord AM HOLY, so there is an aspect of holiness that is communicable, yet can we describe ourselves as holy?
God’s very high expectations of His people stem from His own nature, and the fact that we are created in His image (Gen 1:26-28). He shares that attribute with us. Exodus 19:6 and Leviticus 19.
To be holy/holiness exists in 2 fused dimensions
1. Moral purity (without sin or blemish)
2. Set apart/consecration unto a holy purpose
Hebrew word is Qadosh, and means that which is cut off, separated/set apart from other things, because of its uniqueness.
Qadosh is closely related to kabod, which refers to God’s glory and splendor. Uniting these 2 words, God’s holiness then refers to His being unique in all ways and so being set apart in glory and splendor. The combination of Holiness and splendor means we approach Him in awe of His purity, and this causes us to fear and tremble.
Greek word Hagios, also means set apart, or distinguished from other things. It means sacred, pure, blameless, consecrated, separated, properly revered, worthy of veneration, Godlikeness, set apart for God and His service.
GOD’S HOLY NATURE
God is holy, and unique in His holiness – I Sam 2:2
- Hannah in adoration says “there is none HOLY as the LORD…”
- Jesus in teaching us to pray starts by acknowledging God’s holiness – He says HALLOWED be Thy name…
God is holy, and God is holiness itself, His name is holy, His dwelling place is Holy, His Word is holy, His thoughts are holy, His actions are holy, His creation can be holy…
A.W. Tozer says “to be holy, He does not conform to a standard. He is that standard. He is absolutely holy with an infinite, incomprehensible fullness of purity that is incapable of being other than it is. Because He is holy, His attributes are holy; that is, whatever we think of as belonging to God must be thought of as holy.”
Because of His holiness, we cannot contain His presence, or stand in His holy presence. We will not live. God told His own friend Moses, that he could not see God and live (Exodus 33), so God had to protect Moses from seeing Him (God)
Imagine …
1. Your dog strays away from you
2. Chapel decked in white, you decked in white at a very important ceremony
3. Dog goes and wallows around in the cesspools of the Korle Lagoon – fur is all matted, dirty, has fleas and ticks, is foul-smelling etc etc.
4. You call out to dog – you want reconciliation
5. Dog comes towards LIC … and gets shooed away
6. Dog tries to come in and is eager to come and play with you etc, BUT…
7. He must first pass through a cleansing – a purification process (salvation)
8. And it has to commit to stay away from the cesspools and stay close to you
- From creation till now, God has been giving us tokens of His holy presence – the Ark etc… because we cannot handle His holy presence
Isaiah 55:8&9, Leviticus 23:19, 1 Samuel 16:7 etc. all remind us that God is NOT like man. He is different, set apart in ALL His ways, and He is pure, unlike us. Because of His moral purity, He is intolerant of evil, or sin. He cannot dwell in the same place as sin. God’s nature cannot, and will not allow Him to dwell with sinful men without an intervention.
Consider the experiences of …
- Isaiah @ the throne room
- Moses @ the burning bush
- Jacob @ Bethel
- Peter, James & John @ the mount of transfiguration
Isaiah 6:1-8
- Isaiah saw the Lord from outside the temple
- There were living creatures all around Him
- Smoke (symbolic of God’s presence) filled the temple (2 Chronicles)
- Isaiah (who must have been a Fante) saw his own vileness and cried out – woe is me! (the Fante version of “mewoe”)
- Holy, holy, holy – symbolic 3 times
- Father, Son and Holy Spirit
- In Hebrew, repetition (x3) elevates the attribute to the superlative degree – Holy, holy, holy
- Isaiah’s lips were touched with the coal to cleanse him.
- Significance of the hot coal. Taken from a fire, possibly from an altar – a sacrifice is necessary for us to be welcomed into His holy presence.
- Fire refines, purifies
- The coal did not, and cannot come from man. It had to come from God Himself – Christ.
MAN’S UNHOLY NATURE
The moment the fruit touched the lips of Eve and Adam, humanity lost its intrinsic holiness. That likeness to God was disrupted, and they could no longer even dwell in His presence, and had to cover themselves up and hide…
The nature of man is unholy – not morally pure as God is, and we are not naturally set apart from the world or from sin – we are part of it.
- Galatians 5:16-17 tells of the disparity between our nature and God’s nature
- Jeremiah 17:9 – natural wickedness
- Isaiah, describes it best in Isaiah 64:6 – that our righteousness are as filthy rags in God’s presence – dirty, smelly, worthless…
- The men of Beth-Shemesh -1 Samuel 6:20 – who shall stand before this Holy God?
- No matter how GOOD you are, your holiness can never match up to God’s
- And YET, God says we should be holy! That means it is possible to be holy
- Be morally pure
- Be set apart for God
- Be different.
RECONCILIATION OF THE HOLY AND UNHOLY
Our entire existence revolves around God’s holiness and His desire for fellowship with us.
We were CREATED for INTIMACY WITH GOD
1. God created man for fellowship
2. Man sinned and fell, and was necessarily cut off from God
3. God instituted ways of restoring us back to Himself
OLD MODEL – holiness/purity through rituals, sacrifices, etc… to purify the people and make them able to receive God’s presence
- The book of Leviticus is full of messages about holiness, and – how to set creation apart for God’s purposes
What God set apart for His purposes:
- People (Levites) (Ex 29:9), Elisha, Nazarites
- Items – oil, vessels, garments, altar… (Zech 14:20,21)
- Days/times - the Sabbath (Ex 20 20:8)
- Space – the holy of holies (Ex 26:33)
- Events – ceremonies, rituals, festivals etc…
2 Samuel 6:1-11
- The ark symbolized the holy presence of God – a mobile sanctuary – wherever it was, was consecrated/holy ground – a token of God's presence (Something serving as an indication, proof, or expression of something else; a sign …)
- As Christians, in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, wherever we go, we must be tokens or symbols of God’s holy presence
Note: the Philistines sent the Covenant Box unguided, trusting that the Israelites’ God would lead the oxen to His preferred location. However, God’s own people got human beings to guide it.
- A “new” cart; old or new, it was not what God had appointed! (Saul…)
- The oxen stumbled, and Uzzah did what any innocent person would have done – he tried to keep the ark from falling
God was angry – why?
1. The Ark was to be carried by priests – Levites - Kohathites (Num 4:5-15)
2. The ark was NOT supposed to be carried by a cart. David followed the example of the Philistines (he righted his wrongs in the final transfer (1Chron 15)
3. It was to be carried on the shoulders, and no one was to touch the Ark itself!
4. Perhaps Uzzah was presumptuous (Heb 10:31)
5. Familiarity >> breeds contempt and forgetfulness that we are dealing with Holy God, just like Ananias and Saphira forgot that they were dealing with a holy God!
How do we show REVERENCE to God and godly things? Through our thoughts, Decisions, Relationships, Words and Actions
- Godly days (Sundays etc…)
- God’s symbolic dwelling place and items of worship – the chapel, the Bible, the communion cups, the altar, etc…
- Godly people (pastors, everyone, etc)
- God’s creation – the environment, God’s people
NEW MODEL – holiness through Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Through a more precious channel
- His Son - His Death
- His Blood - which speaks better things than the blood of Abel!
- His Resurrection (Col 2:15)
- His Constant Intercession (Heb 7:25)
Another way of looking at salvation is that Jesus died primarily because of the holiness of God – to restore unholy people to a holy God! (Heb 12:14)
Remember Isaiah - an encounter with the holy God must lead to some change –
1. We see God in His holiness – His purity and ‘otherness’
2. We see ourselves in our sinfulness and our unworthiness
3. We are transformed!
Hagiosune – the principle that separates the believer from the world. Hagiosune implies consecration to God – in soul and in body.
For us, holiness can be achieved in 2 ways:
1. It means separation from anything that defiles (Lev 10:10)
2. It means dedication to what is pure and holy (same principle behind James 4:7 – (1) resist the devil .. and (2) draw near to God. you can’t do one and not the other…
SUMMARY
- God is holy, and His holiness cannot tolerate or welcome anything unholy … and so what? And so Lev 11:45, 19:2, 1 Peter 1:15 & 16 – be holy, for I am holy. Amen!
- God’s nature – His holiness and His desire to be with us made Jesus’ sacrifice absolutely necessary
- God is holy, and only those who are holy can see Him (Heb 12:14). Holy God-Holy family, Holy God-Holy Church. Holy God-Holy people. Holy God-Holy Nation. Amen!
- Isaiah had to undergo transformation before he could stand in God’s presence. He ACKNOWLEDGED his unholiness and nothingness before Holy God.
- We cannot be holy outside of Christ. He is the coal that cleanses us. He makes us righteous, so that we can have a relationship with God. After imputing righteousness, the Holy Spirit sets us apart and keeps us apart, if we will allow Him to. He keeps us holy – consecrated and set apart unto God
- Observing, acknowledging and honoring God’s holiness means not treating His presence lightly – sitting in church and chatting, chewing gum, coming with unconfessed sin etc etc., are all things that show disregard for God’s holiness. Forgive!!!
Closing prayer
o John 17:17 – that God should use His Word to sanctify us and set us apart unto Himself
o That He should show us how to treat His holiness, and forgive us for past disrespect
o That the Holy Spirit will open our eyes to see holy ground – Jacob@Bethel, Moses@burning bush
MHB 544 (Thomas Binney, 1826)
Eternal Light! Eternal Light!
How pure that soul must be,
When, placed within thy searching sight,
It shrinks not, but with calm delight
Can live, and look on thee.
The spirits that surround thy throne
May bear the burning bliss;
But surely that is theirs alone
Who, undefiled, have never known
A fallen world like this.
O how shall I, whose native sphere
Is dark, whose mind is dim,
Before the Ineffable appear,
And on my naked spirit bear
The uncreated beam?
There is a way for man to rise
To that sublime abode:
An offering and a sacrifice,
A Holy Spirit's energies,
An Advocate with God:
These, these prepare us for the sight
Of holiness above:
The sons of ignorance and night
May dwell in the eternal Light,
Through the eternal Love!