I have just finished ‘A Jewel in A Rubble’ by Anita Asantewah Appiah. Anita is an African entrepreneur and CEO of El-Ann Organic, a devout Christian, speaker and counsellor. She has been referred to as ‘Prayer Rock’ and called ‘Joseph the Dreamer’ by her peers because she is a prophetic dreamer. The book was published in 2023 and launched in 2024.

‘A Jewel In A Rubble’ is an attempt to deconstruct certain preconceptions and perceptions about one’s life and to show that a person’s destiny and future is not determined by a person, but by God and God alone. The book talks about how some of our best intentions in decision making lead us to end up hitting the rocks without involving God, instead seeking our own dubious paths, which we greatly regret.

Anita takes her readers on the journey of her life: the joy, the pitfalls, the low self-esteem, the struggles and the sweet reward of having the patience to wait on the Lord.

We Christians usually profess to believe and trust in Jesus Christ, but when we get into trouble and temptation, we tend to blame God instead of blessing Him and thanking Him for making our misfortune a blessing to put the devil to shame.

Reading the story of Anita is an inspiration. To hear the story of an outsider climbing her way to the top and making it. But as inspiring as Anita’s story is, in some ways it can also make you doubt your own abilities. You might think: ‘I am not Anita; I cannot do what she did! Maybe I don’t have the energy or the nerve that she has’. If you are thinking like this, realize that at this moment, it doesn’t matter where you come from. It only matters where you are and where you want to go.

The book exhorts each individual to develop positive habits, trust their gut instincts and take risks. You cannot just let others get you down. I mean, what the hell do they know when God is the captain of the ship.

‘It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish’. Anita is living proof of this adage. She started with nothing and has risen to become one of the biggest entrepreneur in Ghana.

Anita struggled with academic challenges and was ridiculed by family members and friends as a ‘shambles’, but there was a silver lining to the family’s misguided motivations and concerns. In fact, there were many silver linings that came from this situation, but one in particular will benefit you, the reader.

Some Christians fell along the way because they were in a hurry for the prophecies to be fulfilled immediately in their lives. But Anita tells a different story, that it is worth waiting on the Lord and trusting that his words are yes and amen and that all he has said will surely come to pass.

Anita also taught and exhorted Christians to always earn the gift of hearing the Lord’s voice, the discernment of the Spirit, and to live with it. Something that has helped her greatly to become what she is today.

In her book, Anita exposes numerous ways in which the devil robs God’s children and makes it clear how devious the devil, Satan, is. For example, the devil will present you with a person who looks so innocent on the outside, but he or she is a devil incarnate with a mission to steal, destroy and kill you. She said only Christians who are bright in spirit and surrounded by good Christian counsellors know these tactics the devil uses on his victims.

Anita Asantewah Appiah teaches to think about having good people around you and not just go with the flow and follow what is in vogue.

I think one of the problems we have as Christians is that we cannot recognize the voice of God.

The lesson is: be careful who and what you listen to in terms of a particular programme on the radio or television. A late-night radio show she was listening to almost ruined her life if the Lord had not intervened on her behalf.

This underlines the fact that not all information on radio and on television is good for our souls. Even if they tell you that they want to educate, entertain and inform you.

To be honest, I have stopped watching TV and listening to the radio and am now an addict reader of books.

‘A Jewel In A Rubble’ is a phenomenal book and the first chapter alone justifies the purchase as it provides a wealth of facts and proves the irresponsibility of some fathers who never accept and refuse to name a child, leaving all the burden to the woman.

I have not hidden my sympathy for Anita at this point, and one of the things that drew me to this book is the way she tells the story in a straightforward manner. There is no indication that this is the first book she has written.

Seeking fatherly love from people can be very dangerous as you can tend to fall into the wrong hands as they come into your life as a fatherly figure, but they are wolves in sheep’s clothing only to destroy you. But Anita in her journey for a fatherly affection almost cost her life, but through the timely intervention of the Holy Spirit, she escapes rape.

Anita also warns against judging and condemning yourself because family and friends see nothing good in you, but says that we are all responsible for ourselves and we determine what you want to be and not otherwise.

You should read the book ‘A Jewel in A Rubble’