President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on political and civil institutions to actively enlist the assistance of religious bodies in the quest to achieve speedy, all-inclusive and popular progress and prosperity.
According to him, the dreams, visions and aspirations of Ghanaians could only be accomplished by divine help and the activation of religious values and creeds. That, he said, was because of the hospitable nature of religious groupings and their tendency to touch base with the majority of the people which placed them in a unique position to help civil society and other stakeholders in garnering the popular support needed for change and progress.
Addressing the Global Convention of the Church of Pentecost at the Church’s Convention Centre at Gomoa Fetteh in the Central Region yesterday, President Akufo-Addo said all Ghanaians who believed in God had the duty as citizens to make that belief count in their behaviour as citizens.
“Ghanaians are a religious people. Religion is not just prayer and worship. It is also how you behave and act in your everyday life as a citizen,” he said The President said what religious Ghanaians had to do was to make sure that the beliefs that they held impacted on them positively.
“If we do that, then I know that our country and our society and our nation will be at a better place,” he said with optimism. He said the country had many challenges ahead in terms of the management of the economy, development of the systems of education and healthcare, as well as the creation of employment avenues for the youth.
“But they are challenges that can and would be overcome, I have no doubts about it, provided that at all times the beliefs that we have as Christians, believers in the one God and in the mission of Jesus Christ on earth, infuses everything that we do,” the President said.
Beliefs and acts go hand in hand It was for that reason, President Akufo-Addo said, he had taken a favourite scripture quoted by Jesus Christ that “it is not everyone that says to me Lord, Lord who shall enter the kingdom except he that does the will of my father which is in heaven.”
What Christ meant, according to him, was that it was not just the invocation of his name but also the acts that pointed the way of one’s salvation and the way to meet with God.
That, he said, should be the creed, purpose and goal of Christians. He expressed gratitude to the leadership of the Church of Pentecost for their support for the development of the country and the continuous collaboration that he looked forward to.
Tenacity of purpose The Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Dr Opoku Onyinah, said the spirit of determination and tenacity of purpose that President Akufo-Addo exhibited in his quest to ascend the high office that he currently occupied was legendary and worthy of emulation.
He said the tendency on the part of believers to give up easily after trying their efforts at some activity must make way for a total faith in God’s ability to make all things beautiful in His time.
Apostle Dr Onyinah also urged Ghanaians to remain constant in prayers for the new President and the state for the will of God to be done.
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