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Pentecostal Migration Religiosity Between Ghana and Australia

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Pentecostal Migration Religiosity Between Ghana and Australia TRAVELLING WITH THE SPIRIT: PENTECOSTAL MIGRATION RELIGIOSITY BETWEEN GHANA AND AUSTRALIA BY DORCAS DENNIS A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Studies Victoria University of Wellington 2017 ABSTRACT The desire to migrate to foreign lands is widespread within contemporary Ghana. Among the Ghanaians, there is a growing sense that migrating overseas requires spiritual empowerment. Evidence of this development can be seen in the emergence of “passport and visa industries” that depend on the activities of a multitude of religious agents and ritual experts. Correspondingly, Ghanaian religious agents are now constantly generating new strategies designed to meet prospective migrants’ demands. The practice of enlisting the help of religious agents and practices for the purpose of international migration is having a marked effect on the Ghanaian religious landscape in two key ways: first, it has created a demand for religious agents who possess the power to solve migration-related spiritual problems; second, in response to this demand, Ghana's purveyors of spiritual powers have shaped their practices to inspire and enable migration. Using data from extensive fieldwork among members of the Church of Pentecost (CoP) and Power Chapel (PC) in Ghana and Australia, this thesis offers an account of the role of religious narratives and rituals in the experience of Ghanaians migrating abroad, and among Ghanaian migrants in Australia. The thesis argues that the present preoccupation with overseas migration, and its interconnection with religion, is creating a migration religiosity (MR) that inspires and enhances migrations, and which forms the basis for migrants’ extension of Ghanaian religions from the so-called global-South to the global-North. This MR operates in each phase of the migration experience. In the homeland, prospective migrants use MR to facilitate their international travel. On the journey, MR is the source of spiritual protection and safety. MR continues and takes on new roles as migrants use it in meeting new conditions and experiences in their new land. Migrants’ reliance on MR for place-making as they settle into their new lives in the diaspora motivates them to create worshipping Cells. These Cells become the setting in which Ghanaian migrants reformulate their religious traditions, and from which they launch proselytising practices or reverse missions to the host community. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The thesis became possible because of the support and cooperation of many wonderful people in Ghana, Australia, and New Zealand. I want to express my gratitude to all of you. My sincere gratitude goes to my participants and acquaintances during data collection in Ghana and Australia. I am very grateful to Apostle Dr. Opoku Onyinah and Prophet Victor Kusi- Boateng. You opened the doors to your Churches for this thesis to be a reality-me’damoase! I am duly grateful to my supervisors; Dr. Rick Weiss and Dr. Geoff Troughton, for the thorough manner in which they supervised this thesis. I am very certain that without their style of supervision, expertise, comments, and candour the thesis would not have been a reality. Dr Weiss’s eye for detail and precision of data description and analysis, and Dr. Troughton’s knack for crisp and coherent style of writing, shaped the trajectory of the thesis. Thanks for the many hours of constructive discussions, valuable suggestions, and for reading my drafts critically. Your keen interest in and enthusiasm about the topic inspired me to continue, especially in moments of doubt. My special thanks also go to my examination committee. How can I forget the awesome staff in the Religious Studies Department at Victoria University of Wellington? I deeply appreciate your sustained efforts to make the department an exciting and conducive space for all, especially, graduate students. Thank you, Professor Paul Morris, Dr. Michael Radich, Dr. Joseph Bulbulia, Dr. Eva Nisa, and Dr. Phillip Fountain. Your constant reminders and encouragement kept me focused. I wish to express my profound gratitude to Aliki Kalliabetsos and Annie Mercer who just have unrelenting patience and are always willing to help students, anytime. I felt so much at home in the department. I am deeply grateful especially for their kind support, food (yes, food), and encouragement. Finally, I want to thank my family and friends for their timely support, prayers, and patience. Most importantly, I dedicate this thesis to my daughter, Christabel. I could not have come this far without her patience and understanding. Her everyday question, “mom when are you coming home,” kept me focused. I also thank Dr. Wuaku for his constant advice and encouragement. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................................ II ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .....................................................................................................................................III TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................................................................... IV LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .................................................................................................................................. VII CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................................................... 1 PENTECOSTALISM AND INTERNATIONAL MIGRATIONS ........................................................................................ 1 1.0 GENERAL INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 THESIS STATEMENT .............................................................................................................................. 2 1.2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONTRIBUTION OF THE STUDY ....................................................................... 5 1.2.1 PENTECOSTALISM AND INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION ................................................................................................. 5 1.2.2 GHANA’S PENTECOSTAL PRACTICES AND OVERSEAS MIGRATION .................................................................................. 7 1.2.3 GHANA'S PENTECOSTAL PRACTICES IN THE DIASPORA ............................................................................................ 11 1.3 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS .......................................................................................................... 15 1.3.1 RITUAL LANGUAGE AS “PERFORMATIVE UTTERANCES” ........................................................................................... 15 1.3.2 “NARRATIVES DO THINGS”: CORINNE SQUIRE ...................................................................................................... 17 1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................. 18 1.4.1 GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING OF THE STUDY .............................................................................................................. 18 1.4.2 DESCRIPTION OF SAMPLING METHOD ................................................................................................................ 20 1.4.2a Purposive Sampling ........................................................................................................................... 20 1.4.2b Snowball Sampling ............................................................................................................................ 21 1.4.3 SOURCES AND METHODS FOR DATA COLLECTION ............................................................................................. 22 1.4.3a Participant Observation ..................................................................................................................... 24 1.4.3b Interviews .......................................................................................................................................... 25 1.5 ETHICAL ISSUES .................................................................................................................................. 26 1.6 STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS ................................................................................................................. 27 CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................................................ 28 GHANA’S RELIGIONS AND AN EMERGING MIGRATION RELIGIOSITY.................................................................... 28 2.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 28 2.1 CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL MIGRATIONS IN GHANA ................................................................. 31 2. 2 GHANA’S EMERGING MIGRATION RELIGIOSITY (MR)............................................................................. 34 2.2.1 PROSPECTIVE MIGRANTS AND MR IN GHANA ................................................................................................. 34 2.2.2 GHANA'S RELIGIOUS AGENTS AND MR .......................................................................................................... 38 2.3 HISTORICAL LINKS BETWEEN GHANA’S RELIGIONS
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