1. Home >
2. Where We Serve >
3. Ghana >
4. Serving as a Brotherhood

Serving as a Brotherhood

Br. Joseph Tsiquaye, C.S.C.

Our district headquarters in Brafoyaw, where I live, often bustles with activity – not simply because of all the work overseeing and directing our ever-growing mission in Ghana, but also because of the Holy Cross Continuing Formation Centre located on the same grounds.

This formation centre is one of the main reasons that Holy Cross has been at the vanguard of the Church in West Africa in witnessing to the role of the laity. Since its founding, the Center has been expanding our outreach to the lay faithful through programs and trainings on leadership and spirituality for youth, young adult, and adults. Many of those who have come through the center serve on parochial councils or in other leadership roles within various societies within the Church.

The Formation Center, though, is only one part of the wider work and ministry of Holy Cross in responding to the need to educate the emerging generations at the behest of the local Church.

Both in formal educational settings, such as schools and skills training centers, and in non-formal settings, such as counseling and retreat programs and outreach to families through Holy Cross Family Ministries, we seek to educate the people of Ghana in the Holy Cross tradition. We form their minds and shape their hearts while inviting them into an experience of family.

In fact, the mainstay of our ministries has been the witness and commitment of religious men faithfully living our charism to serve not as individuals, but as a brotherhood. The witness of our community life has been commented upon by many: “See how they love one another.” In this way, we hope to continue “to be a sign in an alienated world: men who have, for love of their Lord, become closest neighbors, trustworthy friends, brothers” (Constitutions 4:42) Only the Spirit knows the activity that will sprout and grow from such a union.