There is a particular kind of exhaustion that comes not from doing too little, but from giving too much to ground that will not hold it. Archbishop Charles Agyin-Asare knows that feeling. And in a rare moment of candour, he has named it — and the man who inspired it.
Speaking on Starr FM’s Starr Chat programme in April 2026, the founder of Perez Chapel International disclosed that Bishop Daniel Obinim had once sought him out for mentorship — and that he had, for a time, obliged. What followed, by his account, was an exercise in futility.
The guidance he offered, he said, simply would not take. “Pouring water into a sieve” was the phrase he reached for — an image that required no further elaboration. So he walked away.
The Archbishop was careful to draw a distinction that matters: he did not train Obinim in any formal or sustained sense. What existed between them was brief — a mentoring interaction, not a discipleship. And when it became clear that the process was not producing the kind of reflection and growth that genuine mentorship demands, Agyin-Asare made a quiet but deliberate decision to withdraw.
It is a distinction he has touched on before, but never quite this plainly. The picture that emerges is of a senior churchman who extended a hand, found it unreceived in the way that counted, and chose not to persist.
That calculus — knowing when to step back — is one that experienced mentors understand intimately. Investment, however generous, cannot substitute for receptivity. Teaching lands only where there is willingness to be taught.
The contrast between the two men has never been subtle. Agyin-Asare occupies a place of considerable moral authority within Ghana’s charismatic Christian landscape — measured, institutionally grounded, respected across denominational lines.
Obinim, founder of International Godsway Church, exists in an altogether different register: flamboyant, frequently controversial, a lightning rod for both devoted followers and fierce critics.
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That Obinim once sought the Archbishop’s guidance says something about the gravitational pull that Agyin-Asare commands within the faith community. That the effort ultimately came to nothing says something else — something the Archbishop has now chosen to say aloud.
The disclosure has stirred conversation well beyond the two men at its centre. Within Ghana’s Christian community, Agyin-Asare’s remarks have reopened a broader debate about what spiritual mentorship actually requires — and what happens when the structures meant to produce accountability among religious leaders quietly dissolve.
The questions being asked are uncomfortable ones. Who bears responsibility when a preacher’s ministry drifts toward spectacle and away from substance? What obligation do senior figures in the faith carry toward those operating in their orbit? And at what point does withdrawal become the most honest response available?
Archbishop Agyin-Asare has offered his answer. Whether the wider church is prepared to sit with the implications is another matter entirely.