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Can You Hear the Angels Sing?
More than a memoir on grace, faith and healing in West Africa, it’s a glimpse into the breath of the miraculous, and the heart of a modern day humanitarian who has given everything for his country. Interspersed with his personal story, Seth sets the groundwork for functional humanitarian growth in the West African region fields of medicine, care of orphans and prison reform.
In October 2010, Professor and Pastor Seth Ayettey was assaulted in his home. Shot and left for dead, he and his family experienced a series of miracles that culminated in a choir of angels. Now you can read his memoir on experiencing the best and worst of mankind, and how he knows grace will save lives.
Through the emotional retelling of his bullet wound and miraculous recovery and stories of his career as an Anatomist and Humanitarian, Seth gives an in depth view of healing West Africa and bringing wholeness to the Developing World.
In October 2010, Professor and Pastor Seth Ayettey was assaulted in his home. Shot and left for dead, he and his family experienced a series of miracles that culminated in a choir of angels. Now you can read his memoir on experiencing the best and worst of mankind, and how he knows grace will save lives.
Through the emotional retelling of his bullet wound and miraculous recovery and stories of his career as an Anatomist and Humanitarian, Seth gives an in depth view of healing West Africa and bringing wholeness to the Developing World.
289 pages, Paperback
First published October 30, 2013
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223 people want to read
About the author
Seth Ayettey
4 books2 followersSeth Ayettey is a retired Professor of Anatomy on contract at the College of Health Sciences of the University of Ghana. His PhD was acquired at the University of Cambridge in England in 1978, after degrees in Anatomy and in Medicine. He has served as a teacher for 34 years in the training of over 2000 doctors and several medical specialists for Ghana. He has published widely on fine structure of the heart. He contributed to the founding of the Anatomical Society of West Africa, serving as its President for 7 years and contributing to the development of its journal, the West Africa Journal of Anatomy.
He was founding Provost of the College of Health Sciences of the University of Ghana in 2000, having served as Vice Dean and Dean of the University of Ghana Medical School. He was a foundation member of the Advisory Council of World Vision Ghana and served in that capacity for 27 years. From 2000, Seth was a member of the Board of Directors of World Vision International and was its Vice Chairman for two terms. He served also as member of World Vision Netherlands Board representing the President of World Vision International. He was member of the Prison Service Council for a term of four years in the second republic and then as Chairman of that Council for a second term in the third republic in Ghana.
He is a member of the Judicial Council of Ghana appointed by His Excellency the President. He is a member of Council of the Presbyterian University College under the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. From 1993 till 2010, Seth was leader of the Prison Ministry of Ghana, providing inspiration for establishment of ministries in all regions in Ghana. Seth is a minister of Faith Congregation, Shiashie, of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. He and his wife Cecilia have five daughters and five grandchildren.
Seth’s autobiography on the struggles of life, faith and the joys of angelic visitation is Vræyda Literary’s first publication.
He was founding Provost of the College of Health Sciences of the University of Ghana in 2000, having served as Vice Dean and Dean of the University of Ghana Medical School. He was a foundation member of the Advisory Council of World Vision Ghana and served in that capacity for 27 years. From 2000, Seth was a member of the Board of Directors of World Vision International and was its Vice Chairman for two terms. He served also as member of World Vision Netherlands Board representing the President of World Vision International. He was member of the Prison Service Council for a term of four years in the second republic and then as Chairman of that Council for a second term in the third republic in Ghana.
He is a member of the Judicial Council of Ghana appointed by His Excellency the President. He is a member of Council of the Presbyterian University College under the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. From 1993 till 2010, Seth was leader of the Prison Ministry of Ghana, providing inspiration for establishment of ministries in all regions in Ghana. Seth is a minister of Faith Congregation, Shiashie, of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. He and his wife Cecilia have five daughters and five grandchildren.
Seth’s autobiography on the struggles of life, faith and the joys of angelic visitation is Vræyda Literary’s first publication.
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May 1, 2015
Can You Hear the Angels Sing? is a memoir and a ministry at the same time. It's a story of life in West Africa, of humanitarian impact and social justice, but ultimately what makes this book special is the beauty of rectifying pain into a glorious and gentle forgiveness. I thoroughly recommend Seth's book. It is a book which impacts and grips you. It maintains his voice as a gifted and prolific professor of anatomy and a presbyterian minister. He drifts between the solid line of science and religion with the poise of a man who has lived with conviction. Seth Ayettey is one of West Africa's shining stars, a humanitarian in his homeland and a gifted storyteller.
Seth Ayettey to me has been Uncle Seth for fifteen years. In his capacity as Dean of the University of Ghana Medical School in the early 00's, he met a blonde haired, blue eyed Canadian nurse named Marjorie Ratel who had decided to come to West Africa to train nurses. After those first early meetings, Seth opened his home to my mother Marjorie and my family. He helped solidify the charity my mother started in 2000 from the nursing lounge of Vancouver General Hospital and Seth has been a mainstay in keeping the Korle-Bu Neuroscience Foundation in good council since.
That's not why Can You Hear the Angels Sing? was my publishing company's first book. I was listless and lost in university. I flip-flopped from one Major to another and woke often at night to consider what would become of me. It was in this place of indecision my mother sent me to Ghana in 2006 to volunteer at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and spend time with the Ayettey family. Growing up without a father (my grandfather did what he could, before Alzheimers took him), I lacked that ability to grasp the advice Dads seem to intrinsically muddle through and tell their daughters. Prof Ayettey became Uncle Seth, spending hours in his office in the Anatomy Department discussing my life and my choices. It was invaluable. It was mercy and grace. It was the type of conversation I needed to restructure my life.
Restructure I did. I focussed at university, working on my creative projects and taking further education in literature and film. My faith in Christ strengthened. I grieved the loss of some life paths for the dedication of others. By the time I finished school I was an award winning filmmaker and a published author. Moreso I was capable of taking the advice of my film professor Dr. Vankevich and produce. I started my company. In 2010 Uncle Seth was shot with a shotgun and left for dead by a band of robbers stealing the night. My heart in my throat, I watched my mother make phone calls and jockey support to save Uncle Seth's life. He chose to stay in his home country of Ghana, although he was given options of treatment and recuperation in the United States. "I have trained these doctors. I know they can save me" it was a moment of supreme faith in the men and women he'd dedicated his life to teach (as he explains in the book). We all fretted and frothed during those months, one moment nearly losing him, the next listening to him talk about divine grace and the glorious music of the angelic choir. In 2011 Uncle Seth came to me with a manuscript chapter.
"I want you to be the publisher and editor." He said in a static-ridden Skype call. I took the manuscript chapter by chapter and worked with him. I was many times moved to tears by the words of a man who had been through a living layer of Hell and come out the other end praising God and putting forgiveness to pen and paper. We shifted chapters around, staggered hymns at the beginning and worked on prose.
I sat back a year later and flipped through the layout shining white and unprinted on my laptop. The ISBNs were assigned, the cover art was done and the printer was chosen. I read Can You Hear the Angels Sing? from cover to cover and marvelled at how one man could strike so clean a bell of faith and dignity in the worst storms mankind can conjure.
Seth Ayettey to me has been Uncle Seth for fifteen years. In his capacity as Dean of the University of Ghana Medical School in the early 00's, he met a blonde haired, blue eyed Canadian nurse named Marjorie Ratel who had decided to come to West Africa to train nurses. After those first early meetings, Seth opened his home to my mother Marjorie and my family. He helped solidify the charity my mother started in 2000 from the nursing lounge of Vancouver General Hospital and Seth has been a mainstay in keeping the Korle-Bu Neuroscience Foundation in good council since.
That's not why Can You Hear the Angels Sing? was my publishing company's first book. I was listless and lost in university. I flip-flopped from one Major to another and woke often at night to consider what would become of me. It was in this place of indecision my mother sent me to Ghana in 2006 to volunteer at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and spend time with the Ayettey family. Growing up without a father (my grandfather did what he could, before Alzheimers took him), I lacked that ability to grasp the advice Dads seem to intrinsically muddle through and tell their daughters. Prof Ayettey became Uncle Seth, spending hours in his office in the Anatomy Department discussing my life and my choices. It was invaluable. It was mercy and grace. It was the type of conversation I needed to restructure my life.
Restructure I did. I focussed at university, working on my creative projects and taking further education in literature and film. My faith in Christ strengthened. I grieved the loss of some life paths for the dedication of others. By the time I finished school I was an award winning filmmaker and a published author. Moreso I was capable of taking the advice of my film professor Dr. Vankevich and produce. I started my company. In 2010 Uncle Seth was shot with a shotgun and left for dead by a band of robbers stealing the night. My heart in my throat, I watched my mother make phone calls and jockey support to save Uncle Seth's life. He chose to stay in his home country of Ghana, although he was given options of treatment and recuperation in the United States. "I have trained these doctors. I know they can save me" it was a moment of supreme faith in the men and women he'd dedicated his life to teach (as he explains in the book). We all fretted and frothed during those months, one moment nearly losing him, the next listening to him talk about divine grace and the glorious music of the angelic choir. In 2011 Uncle Seth came to me with a manuscript chapter.
"I want you to be the publisher and editor." He said in a static-ridden Skype call. I took the manuscript chapter by chapter and worked with him. I was many times moved to tears by the words of a man who had been through a living layer of Hell and come out the other end praising God and putting forgiveness to pen and paper. We shifted chapters around, staggered hymns at the beginning and worked on prose.
I sat back a year later and flipped through the layout shining white and unprinted on my laptop. The ISBNs were assigned, the cover art was done and the printer was chosen. I read Can You Hear the Angels Sing? from cover to cover and marvelled at how one man could strike so clean a bell of faith and dignity in the worst storms mankind can conjure.
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