Isaac Ababio

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Isaac Ababio (April 26, 1940 – July 6, 2018) was a Ghanaian evangelist who helped pioneer radio evangelism in Ghana. He founded and led the Hour of Visitation Choir and Evangelism Association Ministries (HVCEA), the first evangelistic group in the country, from 1967 to 2018. He was also a founding member of Scripture Union in Ghana.

Ababio was born in Kwahu Nkwatia in the Eastern Region. He was the youngest child of Abena Nipaa and Kwaku Abaah. His mother died when he was two, and his father left when he was seven. He grew up with his sisters and uncles, speaking both Akan and Ewe. He began his education in Presbyterian schools and later attended Accra Academy, starting in 1956. A turning point came during the Academy’s Silver Jubilee service when a Bible verse from Ecclesiastes 11 inspired him to follow Christ.

In 1960 he went to Kumasi College of Technology (now KNUST) to study physics. While at university, he joined the Christian Fellowship, read the Bible, and listened to Christian radio programs. He started Bible study in government work camps and began evangelistic outreach to nearby towns. He helped lead campaigns in places like Nkwatia, Akwapim Mampong, Akropong, and Nsawam.

In 1966 Ababio left full-time work in his ordinary job to become an evangelist. He preached at Kwame Nkrumah Circle and took part in the first World Congress on Evangelism. He then traveled around Ghana giving crusades. In 1967 he organized events at Bukom Square and Baden-Powell Memorial Hall and began weekly open-air crusades at Kwame Nkrumah Circle.

That same year he started HVCEA in Kumasi. In 1968 HVCEA launched the Hour of Visitation radio broadcast on GBC-2, making him Ghana’s first radio evangelist. The Hour of Visitation Choir supported these programs. The broadcasts ran until 1982, when they were stopped by the government, later resuming on stations in Liberia and Ghana.

In 1969 Ababio and his family moved to Australia and Papua New Guinea for mission work. They returned to Ghana in December 1973, and in 1974 he moved to Kumasi to work with the Christian Service College to train people for mission and evangelism. He helped establish and grow several parachurch organizations and served as the first chairperson of the National Evangelical Alliance of Ghana (NEA) from 1992 to 2000.

He remained connected with the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and served as resident minister of the Unity Congregation in Sunyani. He also led evangelistic crusades for well-known evangelists such as T. L. Osborn and Benson Idahosa, and organized training for leaders and counselors across the country.

Ababio married Grace Appiah-Kusi in 1967, and they had six children. He died on July 6, 2018, in Accra from complications after orthopaedic surgery and was buried on August 4, 2018, at the Dzorwulu Presbyterian Church.