Theophilus Herman Kofi Opoku (1842 – 7 July 1913) was a native Akan linguist, translator, philologist, educator and missionary who became the first indigenous African to be ordained a pastor on Gold Coast soil by the Basel Mission in 1872. Opoku worked closely with the German missionary and philologist Johann Gottlieb Christaller as well as fellow native Akan linguists, David Asante, Jonathan Palmer Bekoe, and Paul Staudt Keteku in the translation of the Bible into the Twi language.
Early life and education Theophilus Opoku was born in 1842 at Akropong in Akuapem, about 48 km (30 miles) north of Accra. He was the son of Nana Yaw Darko, the linguist of the paramount chief and Nana Akua Korantema. Yaw Darko was a practitioner of the Akan traditional religion and died when Theophilus was young. Opoku's grandfather was the paramount chief of Akropong, Omanhene, Nana Addo Dankwa. His fellow linguist, David Asante was his cousin. During his childhood, he was often weak and frail. While playing outside his home one day, Opoku broke his leg and suffered multiple fractures and had to be taken to a bone-setter at Larteh for treatment. His health improved over time. Opoku decided to attend school and become a missionary. In 1851, he entered primary school at Akropong where his teachers his intellect became evident. He also became the houseboy of the Basel missionary, the Rev. J. Mader in 1852 and moved in with him. Opoku considered household chores to be demeaning and detested all forms of corporal punishment which was commonplace at the time. Pietist discipline and organisation was a hallmark of the Basel mission educational experience. In his view, only indentured labourers and domestic slaves deserved that kind of punishment. He was eventually baptised on 6 January 1856. He enrolled in the Basel Mission Seminary at Akropong in 1858 where he learnt Greek, Hebrew, Latin, dogmatics, homiletics, theology and pedagogy in the rigorous programme. He was diagnosed with a heart-related ailment and his health rapidly deteriorated thereafter. He was sent to a native herbalist or shaman at Adenya, a village near Akropong for a year-and-a-half and went back intermittently for further treatment. As part of his treatment, the herbalist apparently forbade him from drinking water for five months. Despite improvement in his condition, Opoku was forced him to abandon his studies as a result of the affliction.
Missionary activities and Christian ministry
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