About Pastor Johnny
Pastor Johnny Awanyo is a Ghanaian minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He has a strong pastoral grace upon his life and teaches the Word of God with simplicity and great depth. He is also a gifted Worship Leader, Music Minister, and Choir Director.
He is currently the Head Pastor of the Shepherd’s Fold Restoration Family, a Bible-believing Church he founded, currently based at the beautiful Shai Hills, in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.
Early Life & Education
John Atsu Awanyo was born on the 6th of April 1969 in Accra, Ghana. He is a twin, the last of eight children born to Mr. Alex Kobla Awanyo and Mrs Mary Amoba Awanyo.
Johnny grew up in La, in the La Dade Kotopon Municipal District, in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.
He had the first part of his primary education at the South Labadi Estates Primary (popularly known as Home School). When the whole family relocated to Madina (in the La Nkwatanang Madina Municipal District- Greater Accra Region of Ghana), he was enrolled at Labone Preparatory School, where he sat for and passed the Common Entrance Exams.
In 1981, he gained admission to The Presbyterian Boys Secondary School & 6th Form Science College (PRESEC), Legon-Accra.
Pastor Johnny was admitted to The University of Science & Technology (UST), Kumasi during the 1989/1990 academic year and graduated in 1993, with a B.Sc. Degree in Electrical/Electronics Engineering.
Conversion Experience
Johnny grew up in the Catholic Church and at a very early age, had this strong hunger for God and the things of God. It was so intense that his mother predicted that he would be a priest.
It was in 1988 that he gave his life to Christ at the Baiden Powell Memorial Hall, at an International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) Service, to which he had been invited by a good friend Alex Tuffour-Manu.
He joined ICGC after this life-changing encounter and was actively part of the Ritz Hotel-Adenta Covenant Family, which was one of the Area Bible Study Fellowship groups of the church in the Madina-Adenta locality.
At one of the Covenant Family all-nite prayer meetings, He received the Holy Ghost baptism which greatly deepened His Christian experience. It culminated in he and his friend Alex, embarking on a lot of house-to-house evangelism, telling people about Jesus and winning souls to the Lord.
Christian Development & Service
At UST, Johnny joined the Inter-hall Christian Fellowship (IHCF), which gave him a solid grounding in the Word of God and in Christian Doctrines. Being an avid reader, he also read a lot of Christian literature, increasing in his knowledge of a wide spectrum of Christian subjects.
Pastor Johnny has always had a passion for music. It was therefore no surprise that he joined Gospel Explosion, the musical wing of IHCF. It was here that his music ministry was developed, learning to lead worship and direct choirs. He drew a lot of inspiration from music ministers such as Andrea Crouch, The Winans, Don Moen, Rev Tom Bright Davies, Rev Eric Kwapong of ICGC, Bishop Joel Obuobisa of Lighthouse Chapel International (LCI)- to mention a few…
In 1993, Johnny had the opportunity to become the Music Director of the LCI choir, leading to his transition from ICGC to LCI. This was due to a direct invitation by Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, the founder of Lighthouse Chapel International. He was appointed a pastor in the church in 1995, played different roles and was finally consecrated a Bishop in 2012, in charge of the Tema East-Ashaiman Region of the Church.
After nearly 30 years of service with LCI, Pastor Johnny exited and following a period of waiting on the Lord, had the conviction to found the Shepherd’s Fold Restoration Family, the church that he heads now as the Head Pastor, by the grace of God.
He’s married to Mrs Dorothy Awanyo and God has blessed them with a set of twins- Caleb & Chara.
