Mawu Fe Ame, Charles Kobla Nutornutsi Wovenu

Mawu Fe Ame, Charles Kobla Nutornutsi Wovenu, was born in the year 1918 at Anyako, in the Volta Region of Ghana. His parents were Emmanuel Nutornutsi Adra Kluvia and Madam Mikayanawo Dzakpata, all of blessed memory. He was the only child of his mother.

The young Kobla always cried bitterly on seeing a Minister of the Lord as he passionately expressed the desire to be baptized. When he was eight years old, the Rev. Robert Domingo Baeta of the Bremen Mission baptized him and named him Charles. The solemn event which took place at Azanu, Togo, on December 26, 1926, so thrilled his non-Christian mother that she refrained from shrine observances to continually attend church services with him. The late Mawu Fe Ame Wovenu started his elementary education at Adzanu, Togo, in 1926 and continued at Anyako.

His mother died unexpectedly on January 16, 1932. From that day, he was cared for by Mr Joseph P. Attipoe till age sixteen, when he left for Akuse. He was employed as a warden in the Prison Service in 1935 at Akuse. He resigned from the Prison service after one year. He left Akuse in 1936 for Akwatia where he worked initially as a labourer for the Consolidated African Selection Trust(CAST), a diamond prospecting company. By dint of hard work, he rose through the clerical ranks at CAST to become a supervisor, which he regarded as a blessing from God. He conducted prayer sessions, evangelised to people, and formed small choirs both at Akuse and Akwatia. When the 2nd World War broke out in October 1939, there was a conscription of men from his workplace at Akwatia into the army to fight for their colonial masters. Wovenu rejected the offer and returned home to Anyako.

God had fully prepared him for an ultimate divine assignment as he had already started spreading the Gospel at Akwatia. After a short stay at Anyako, on November 1, 1939, the late Wovenu, on his own volition, moved to settle at Tadzewu where his father and a few family members were staying. He immediately commenced his destined Missionary work. Mawu fe Ame Wovenu, certainly empowered by God Jehovah for his prophetic mission, regarded the whole world as his parish. He allowed the Lord to wrought through him, miracles like curing all manner of disabilities and abnormalities. His intercessory prayers for the barren and many others, at the peak of troubled times, gave them much sought-after comfort and happiness. He amicably settled dozens of anxious and volatile confrontations between warring factions. He made cripples walk to the glory of God. The late Wovenu’s benevolence towards the needy, the poor, the destitute, the afflicted, the despaired, and numerous others in hapless states was simply unparalleled. He practically demonstrated what he preached. He inculcated into the members of the A.R.S. a genuine sense of Christian values. he was patriotic and shared goodwill towards all. He certainly bestowed on all of us the greatest legacy, that is the A.R.S Church Doctrines. He also published several tracts and booklets including the Fundamental Teachings and Marriage Reformed. He ordained over one thousand priests. The late Wovenu inscribed his name in gold, and like all the great and famous Christian men, toiled very hard to leave indelible marks for posterity.

As an evangelist, the Lord ordained Wovenu as the “King of Light”. He was a magnanimous father and guardian. The founding of every institution has its trials and tribulations. Wovenu was equally saddled with numerous difficulties at the beginning. Trying to establish a church and schools in the remotest areas, amidst heathens who recognized only idol worship, required determination, perseverance, and strong will powers. Mawu Fe Ame Wovenu received no outside financial help to finance his numerous projects. His toil financed all the early projects. Persistent draught created.