Asempa is the Twi word meaning “Good News”. Here is an English language hymn book with a difference. It not only includes 200 of the most popular British, German and American hymns, but it also brings together a similar number of compositions from Africa, Asia, and the rest of the world.

Produced in Ghana, Asempa Hymns contains some 90 items from that country including 28 “Ghana spirituals” traditionally sung by the Pentecostals but now gaining popularity in all churches. In many of these, there is a distinctive Ghanaian flavour, which this book and the companion music collection Ghana Praise make available for the first time to Christians in other lands.

The Western tradition of hymnody has served Africa well for many years, but the rich traditions of other countries have failed to spread, held up by barriers of language, denomination and communication. The appearance of Asempa Hymns, with its wide choice of hymns, from nearly all the continents, will help brothers and sisters in Christ in many lands to realise a new fellowship in song and will shorten the distances that divide us.