At the Ivato International Airport in Madagascar, the evangelist accountable for Lighthouse Chapel International's branch in that country, Bishop Larry Odonkor, confronted his associate minister, Rev. Edmund Amartey, and embraced him.
It was his last farewell to Madagascar, to his main goal, and to the one who had assisted him with developing the congregation there.
Behind the two men, a lifeless partner, a 2003 Toyota Land Cruiser was stopped. It was Bishop Larry Odonkor's true vehicle, a steadfast worker that had directed him through the towns of the island country, crashing through potholes, to convey the message of the gospel.
Presently, the congregation's true vehicle was conveying him once and for all. Dissimilar to his associate minister, vehicles can't be embraced thus Larry gave it a short, hard look, gave over the keys to Rev. Amartey and vanished into the air terminal, raptured off by Ethiopian Airline flight.
Following 24 hours, Bishop Larry Odonkor and his family arrived in Accra on January, 15, 2020.
Almost two years after the fact, on December 20,2021, Larry Odonkor got a record by means of DHL. It was from Madagascar.
The archive was court summons. Beacon Chapel International in Madagascar had sued Larry Odonkor, blaming him for selling the congregation's Toyota Land Cruiser and taking the cash.
Beacon was requesting that the court request Larry to hack up 80million Ariary (GH¢157,200) in punitive fees. The court in Madagascar allowed Larry 40 days to track down a legal counselor and record an appearance in court when the case was to be approached January 19, 2022.
"Stunning!" Larry portrayed the suit. "Is this where this has gotten to?" he said. He had not expected something like this.
Everything started four months after Larry Odonkor showed up in Ghana from Madagascar in January 2020 and he offered in his renunciation in April.
"I think the congregation is excessively controlling. Then additionally there's no need to focus on the government assistance of individuals yet numbers. I don't feel the opportunity to follow God. Diocesan Dag needs to be God in my life and I can't permit it," Larry Odonkor let a companion know who needed to know why he surrendered.
Alongside five other previous ministers and ministers, Larry Odonkor went on to sue Lighthouse Chapel International for financial double-dealing, mental injury and psychological mistreatment.
The congregation has struck back, documenting criminal objections against Larry Odonkor in Ghana and afterward in Madagascar.
In the writ of request, the congregation said it purchased the Toyota vehicle for Ariary 70million ($21,000).
However, "when bought, the said vehicle was sold by the respondent (Larry Odonkor) and the returns of the deal was not paid into the offended party's (congregation) account."
"… accordingly, Mr. Larry Odonkor "illegally improved himself to the detriment of [Lighthouse] as opposed to the arrangements of Article 255 and the law on the Theories of Obligations."
In the writ, Lighthouse mentioned the court to "sentence [him] to pay the amount of Ariary 80million as harms for all wounds." The congregation likewise believed Larry should pay 70million Ariary (about GH¢137,600), being the all out worth of the recuperation for taking at 150million Ariary (GH¢294,800).
Larry Odonkor didn't show up in court face to face when the case was approached January 19, 2022, at the Lower Court of Antananarivo. Subsequent to looking frantically for a legal counselor in Madagascar, Larry said he got one, Johary Stephen Rasendrarivo, and let him know his side of the story.
The previous Lighthouse minister let his legal advisor know that he could never have been the person who sold the vehicle in light of the fact that on the date expressed for the deal, he was not even in Madagascar.
He was in Ghana. It was his associate minister, Rev. Edmund Amartey, the man he gave the last embrace at the air terminal, who auctions off the vehicle.
In a WhatsApp discussion, a concerned church pioneer in Madagascar affirmed to Larry that on that day, she went with Rev. Amartey to auction the vehicle and furthermore went with him to store the cash in the congregation's record.
Larry Odonkor and his then partner minister, Edmund Amartey
Larry Odonkor said he had opened that record through his own drive and he had raised $10,000 to print and import Bishop Dag Heward-Mills' books to sell in Madagascar.
Continues from the offer of the book were his and not for the congregation. Yet, he said he wouldn't fret keeping it into the congregation's record.
"When I got done, they moved me from Antananrivo," he said. The exchange was by an instant message. Larry said his migraine was the means by which to come to Ghana in light of the fact that the congregation in Accra, he said, had made no arrangement for his return.
"I needed to purchase six tickets for me, my better half, my children, Gladys and Adele. Is there cash in the congregation represent this? No!"
"In this way, I took cash from the books account which is mine, however to permit straightforwardness I permitted similar signatories to sign on the record," he made sense of.
Prior to coming to Accra, he gave over the record to the congregation and was as of now not a signatory. It was his associate minister, Edmund Amartey, who sold the vehicle after April 2020. It isn't clear where he kept the cash.
These realities were brought to the consideration of the Antananarivo court and on February 23, 2022.
The court distributed its judgment in French, duplicates of which have been acquired by The Fourth Estate and converted into English.
It said the court "thus decides for Larry Odonkor; announces all cases by Lighthouse Chapel International to be badly established and excuses them all without bias… "
The court likewise requested LCI to "pay all expense and costs" brought about by Larry Odonkor in leading his case.
"The judgment was to be expected. It was the suit that was stunning," Larry Odonkor said.
blogpay
