I’d like to introduce you to my friend, Bernice Frimpong Ankrah. She is the dressmaker all local sister missionaries know: a designer of bags and placemats, dresses and banana skirts. She employs others who sit in the shade and sew for her small business. She’s married to a wonderful man named Prince, and is the mother of four children. They work together to take care of what matters most: their family and others in need.
Bernice is not only a wife, mother, and businesswoman, but she also travels to as many as thirty-three villages, where since 2014, she has taught and trained young girls through an international program called “Days for Girls.” She opens their minds to the possibility of a better life.
She shows them a way to stay in school more days. She shows them how to avoid becoming a victim of assault or rape. She shows them how to take care of their bodies and teaches them principles of healthy reproduction and protection. Before meeting her many of them ran from an early marriage or the practice of female cutting, which still exists in many rural places. Bernice gives them the knowledge that will help them retain their dignity as a daughter of God given a body that is a sacred gift from God.
By giving love and knowledge to these girls she is sharing God’s love for them. She is a marvel of energy and compassion. She knows a better way because she is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Bernice regularly attends the temple and sews beautiful temple dresses for sisters to wear there. Because she humbly strives to keep her covenants, she has the strength to teach and lecture even when she is tired or ill, giving hope to each group of girls she teaches. As always, Prince is right there with her, giving her his full support.
In fact, she is so busy it is hard to find a time she is available to talk to about her story. From the chart on the wall in her office it is easy to see her dressmaking schedule is backed up for weeks. Customers bring fabric enough for two or three dresses or jackets at a time. One afternoon at 3:00 I ask her how she is doing as we visit in her shop. She tilts her head to one side and says, “I’m tired Mum, but I have much to do.” She had not yet had lunch, but she looks radiant and flashes me her bright smile. She and Prince make a brilliant team, a husband and wife who live the gospel daily - together.
One day I called on Bernice for another purpose: she had volunteered to be our guide through the giant Makola Market in Accra. I went with another sister missionary who had a list of things to purchase, and it was my first experience in the sprawling center of local commerce. Bernice picked us up in her car, drove us there, then guided us through the maze of sellers to the exact stalls we needed, whether it was for a zipper, gym shorts for the MTC missionaries, or a bucket of tomatoes. I recently learned that Bernice’s ‘Days for Girls’ program has become a part of the Makola Market scene. She had seen many young women – runaways, unbathed and hungry - trying to survive the city. These precious young women are scrabbling out a life in the open, bedding down for the night unprotected, hoping no one will disturb their sleep with a violent awakening. Many have a baby wrapped on to their backs, and are trying to feed themselves and their child by any means possible. They will not return to their villages - they feel they have a better chance in the city than they had where they came from.
When Bernice first approached, they were very hesitant. She tried to teach them and show them the kits this program provides for hygiene and monthly supplies women need. She began to offer a bag of rice and oil and tomatoes to give incentive for them to trust her. At first, the crowd almost ran her over in their desire to have some food! Twice she has come, twice she has promised to return and to teach them how to live and survive. Bernice desires to rescue the least of these, her sisters. She does not fail to show up and they are beginning to trust her as she continues to see them through the Savior’s eyes. One by one these young women are beginning to experience hope, some for the first time in their young lives. They are seeing that Bernice has, through her faith, been given a Christ-like heart: “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
“Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
As Bernice sees them as daughters of God, they will see, through her, the love of God and many will come to know that they are daughters of God.
As Bernice sees them as daughters of God, they will see, through her, the love of God and many will come to know that they are daughters of God.