Tribute by Brother and Sisters - Late Ernest Fred Ankama Mante

Tribute by Brother and Sisters

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me, the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge will award to me on that day and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2 Tim 2:7-8

It is with heavy heart and sorrow that we pay this special tribute to our dear brother,

Ernest Fred Ankama Mante. We simply called him FRED.

You were the central point in the siblings as we counted either from the first or the last.

We could recount how as children we always dressed regularly to Sunday School because

of the training, we had from our parents who were staunch Presbyterians.

We did everything together as we were brought up in an atmosphere of love and respect for each other and the act of God-fearing and unity permeated everything we did as brothers and sisters.

Your death came to us as shock and a big surprise from far away in a foreign land.

It was our desire that you would pass on in your own land so that we could bury you in our own land.

Our hearts are glad that you did not forget your maker who is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Your work for the Lord in that far off land will be remembered. We pray that you receive the ultimate reward that people of your kind deserve.

Your absence will be greatly felt by your brother and sisters left.

We love you but the Almighty God loves you most and hence called you to eternal rest. You brother Ben, Sister Esther, Ellen and Margaret say

Fare thee well

Da yie Wu Onyame mu.

Amen.

Tribute from Sister

Deaconess Ellen Ankama to Late Ernest Fred Ankama Mante

“The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” JOB 1:21

I am blessed to call you my brother, since we were children, I have always loved and admired my brother.

He was very mischievous, brave, funny and ingenious. Mischievous because he got into trouble with our parents all the time. Brave because he faced any challenge that came his way. He was not a quitter, even when he faced opponents bigger than him, He faced them squarely until he won.

My brother was ingenious because he can invent without being taught, I remember you connecting wires and touch light batteries and bulbs together, so you could have electricity in your room.

I also remember how you taught me how to climb a tree so that I could climb into the tree house that you have made in the middle of our house.

Uncle Fred as he was affectionately called by family members, was very funny and jovial. He would make jokes out of very serious matters. When he got 3^rd degree burns all over your body but joked about it saying, his body is too bit bitter for the devil and that’s why he still alive.

My brother was very lovely, he has the best interest of the family at heart. For me, he was the one who made me travel outside of Ghana and sit in a plane for the first time. He made it possible for me to travel to Liberia to take a nursing exam because that was the location of the exam center at that time.

The last time I spoke to you was the night before you passed. You seemed to be breathless when we spoke, so I ask you if you were tired but you said no, we prayed together and after our conversation, you said you were going to Ghana soon to get some needed rest. I did not know that will be the last time. The next day I had a fearful call that you have been taken to the emergency room only to receive another call later that you did not make it.

How? What? and Why? Unending questions for which none can answer, excerpt our maker God almighty.

Uncle Fred, I bid you farewell, but in all thing, I will continue to thank God for giving you to the family and I can say with the prayer in Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 and 11

(There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:  a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot.)

“Everything that happens in this world happens at the time of God chooses. He sets the time for birth and the time for death. He has set the right time for everything. He has given us a desire to know the future but never gives us the satisfaction of fully understanding what he does.

Rest in Peace my brother, till we meet again. Rest in Perfect Peace.