Author: Beyonce Diamond Kpogli
The former President and the aspiring Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Party (NDC), Mr. John Dramani Mahama has urged the church to always speak the truth to the government irrespective of which political party is in power.
He said the existence of the church is not to only pray for leaders but rather contribute to the national dialogue by speaking the truth and providing guidance to the government as well.
“The church does not only exist to pray for the leaders, but it exists also to provide suggestions and guidance to leaders because after all the church does not hang in the sky, the church exists in society and whatever happens in society affect the church. ”
….Today the economic crisis affects our congregation across the country, so the church must continue to speak out any time it thinks things are not going out properly.”
He commended Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council upon the recent letter addressed to the government about the current economic crisis.
“I want to congratulate the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council for the recent letter addressed to the government giving some suggestions about what the government should do in the mix of this economic crisis. I expect that this should be done irrespectively to the government in office.
When men of God and moral society who should speak up become quiet when one government is in power and become very loud when another government is in power, it must be seen to be balanced to be non-partisan, we must always speak the truth because to the government because it affects the lives of the congregation.”
The former president made this observation at the induction of Rev. Dr. Stephen Y. Wengam as the General Superintendent Assemblies of God, Ghana, and the new presbytery executive officers at the Grand Arena, Accra.
He noted that Christians should not be afraid to participate in politics.
He seized the opportunity to congratulate the former General Superintendent Rev Frimpong Manso for the tremendous work done for the church.
“I want to commend Rev Frimpong Manso for doing very well for the development of Assembly of God Church. “One thing I can be proud of Rev Frimpong Manso is our beautiful headquarters building, we don’t feel shy to invite and received any internationals to our headquarters”.
Rev Dr Stephen Y Wengam, the General Superintendent of Assemblies of God, Ghana in his remark thank Almighty God for how far he has brought him.
He said, that his leadership is committed to carrying out massive human capital and infrastructural development.
“Our core values are Shift, Grow, and Transform. We will shift the old ways of thinking and doing things that have
impeded our growth and greatness. We will be creative, and innovative. We will think outside the box in finding new strategies to disciple Ghana and beyond and make our church relevant in all matters of national development”.
He highlights that there will be the construction of an iconic, state-of-the-art Assemblies of God Centenary Village (an International Convention Center) to mark the 100th anniversary of the existence of Assemblies of God in Ghana.
Commenting on the current conflict in Bawku, he said Assemblies of God, Ghana is overly concerned about the country’s economic turbulence and deeply worried about the current security pestilence relative to the conflict in Bawku.
According to him, a flurry of damaging attacks or a litany of disparaging remarks, fuelled by obsessive partisanship, will not,
and cannot, solve our economic problems but rather worsen them.
Adding that the solutions lie in fervent prayers backed by pragmatic measures.
“While we pray for the rain of mercy to pour on our nation, we readily endorse calls for a bi-partisan, multi-stakeholder approach to tackle our economic challenges”, he stated.
