He has received three honorary degrees and the leaders of Kenya, the Gambia and Malawi have given him awards for service. But to Seventh-day Adventist Pastor Matthew Ango Bediako, born in rural Ghana, the award he received from John Agyekum Kufuor, Ghana’s president, on June 30, was a memorable distinction.

“When it comes from your own country, it has a special meaning,” Pastor Bediako, secretary of the Adventist world church, its number-two position, told ANN. “I’m happy that the government recognized the role Seventh-day Adventists play in education, health and the work [Adventist Development and Relief Agency] is doing,” he added.

The nation of Ghana actually honored two members of the Bediako family with the Order of the Volta on June 30 during the country’s first-ever National Honors Day, one year ahead of Ghana’s 50th anniversary of independence. Pastor Bediako’s older brother, Thomas Ango Bediako,  a longtime educator and leader of teachers, also received the Order of the Volta.

These new National Honors Awards were in three categories: the Grand Medal for 40 recipients, the Order of the Volta for 85 recipients and the highest Order of the Star of Ghana for 31 recipients. Pastor Bediako received his Order of the Volta for service in the area of religion. Thomas Bediako, for many years secretary-general of the Ghana Teachers’ Association, later fulfilled the same role in the continent of Africa, and received the Volta Order for public service.

“It gave me a good feeling that my brother and I came from a rural area and this encourages the people who live in rural areas” to pursue service careers, Bediako added.

Pastor Bediako’s award—believed to be the first such recognition of an Adventist leader in Ghana—caps a string of accomplishments since his ordination in 1973. He was the first African to serve as a field secretary for the Adventist world church, and contributed distinguished service as a member of the Ghana Mobilization Board and the Ghana National Health Board. He was also the first African president for the West African church region.

In a short address at the ceremony, Kufuor said the “common feature of the recipients of awards today is achievement.  They have excelled and the nation is acknowledging them.”  He challenged the recipients to see that their awards do not signify the end of their noble service but to use the honors to do more for Ghana and for humanity.

“This is a great day to be a Ghanaian,” the president declared.

Witnessing the ceremony were three Adventist pastors: Joe Aaron Hagan; Ambrose K Waahu, secretary of the Adventist church in Ghana, and Valley View University President, Dr. Seth A Laryea.

— With additional reporting by Joe Aaron Hagan.