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June 25, 2010
Ghana: The Team That Prays Together
America's Saturday World Cup opponent is reportedly one in the Spirit.
The team America faces Saturday in its second round World Cup matchup is spiritually united, ESPN's Jeff Bradley reports.
"We love to sing together, dance together, pray together," Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan told Bradley. "It brings joy to our hearts. This is our team."
Bradley says that spirit continues to the field. "What I've noticed, more than anything, about the Black Stars, is they are a team in every sense of the word," he wrote. "From their pregame (and postgame, and halftime, and pre-training and post-training) songs and prayers, to their disciplined adherence to Rajevac's rigid system that features a single striker, they are true believers that the whole can be greater than the sum of its individual pieces. ... It's 11 together with one goal."
Captain John Mensah (right) told the German news service DPA that prayer is no afterthought.
"We are Christians and we all know how important God is," he said. "We all respect God and we pray every time before the game and after the game. ... We praise God, what he has done for us. Then the next day is match-day, so we use that opportunity to give us strength and help us go on into the game."
The team isn't praying alone. The government and nation's churches have called for united prayers at home for the team.
And now that Ghana is the only African team left in the World Cup, Cameroon players Alex Song and Samuel Eto’o both said, in separate interviews, "Everybody must pray for Ghana."
The country of Ghana is 83 percent Christian--mostly Protestant (71%) and Pentecostal (26%). 83 percent of Christians say they attend services at least weekly.
Comments
ALL GHANAIANS IN THE USA ARE ALL PRAYING FOR OUR TEAM!
Posted By: Abena | June 26, 2010 6:19 AM
I hope this article isn't meant to be anti-American, but pro-prayer.
Posted By: Raphah | June 27, 2010 3:03 PM
Raphah: Is there anything written in this article that makes any indication towards being anti-American? Because I read it twice after seeing your comment, and I don't see anything.
Posted By: David | June 28, 2010 12:59 PM
I would just like to say that Ghana is starting of good with having God on their side , off all the African countries i am proud of them, who take the bold step of faith in believing in God. ALL the best to Ghana.
Posted By: Brenda | June 28, 2010 3:37 PM
How uplifting to read how a team makes God and prayer such an integral part of their team. I almost am thankful they beat our USA team, but not quite. I sure hope they win it all.
Posted By: John Lovelace | June 28, 2010 3:49 PM
God Bless Ghana, I will pray for Ghana for the World Cup Champion 2010
Posted By: Francis Noya | June 28, 2010 4:36 PM
In Daejeon, South Korea, Sunday afternoon at an English language service, I heard from a Ghanaian studying in Korea about the score of USA v Ghana. He delivered the news with gentleness and allowed me a moment of recovery. Now I'm one American who hopes Ghana takes it all.
It would be great if someone could do a statistical study of the USA team to find out how many of them were MKs.
Just one question: Is it the pope of the Pew Forum who relegates the Pentecostals of Ghana to the statistical nether space of nowhere? Maybe it's just that there's a bit of ambiguity. Do the Pentecostals comprise 26% of all Protestants? I don't quite get the Protestant/Pentecostal dichotomy and certainly don't see its relevance in the context of your wonderful article.
Posted By: Daniel | June 28, 2010 6:46 PM
Amazing article, with God all things are possible :)
Posted By: Mercy | June 28, 2010 8:25 PM
I was born in Colombia (South America), and I am a naturalized US citizen. The next game to come is URU v. GHA. Before knowing about Ghana's faithfulness, I wanted Uruguay to advanced to semi-finals since they are South Americans. Now, that I know about Ghana, my prayer is that Ghana repeat what Brazil did after winning in USA 1994, kneeling as one team before the Lord giving to Him all the glory.
Posted By: Maggot | June 30, 2010 1:04 PM
I knew about Ghana being mostly a christian nation mainly from one great man who normally comes to our nation at least once a year.Dr Mensah Otabil.I am also praying for Ghana that God will continue to equip them and use them.
the Pentecostals and the protestant just help to enlighten on what kind of churches are there,just so light is shed to those who have an interest.that's all.
Go Ghana and make Africa and those who want to see Africa succeed proud.
Posted By: Nyengeterai | July 1, 2010 2:34 AM
I hope this article isn't meant to be anti-American, but pro-prayer.
Posted By: Jackson | November 11, 2011 3:02 AM