Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Global Evangelical Church Organise seminar

MEMBERS of the Youth Ministry of the Global Evangelical Church (GEC) within the Accra Presbytery of the church, have undergone a day’s seminar to empower them to be economically productive.
The seminar brought together over 500 youth from the over 55 congregations within the Accra Presbytery.
In his presentation, a pastor of GEC, Rev Y. K. Ahiabu, said poverty was a more devastating disease than some of the diseases that were described as deadly, “its effect is so severely felt throughout the world that the world talks and wages war on its alleviation very often,” he said.
Rev Ahiabu attributed the many conflicts, war, diseases on the African continent to the lack of financial freedom of over 50 per cent of the continent’s population.
He said many lives, particularly that of the future leaders of the country, were lost as a result of poverty, which he said prevented them from getting access to good education and good food.
He attributed the recent upsurge in teenage pregnancy, broken homes among others to the level of poverty in the country.
“Poverty has become a matter of great social concern to many nations particularly in our part of the world. I am therefore glad that the GEC is taking steps in this regard to empower the youth of the church to give them financial stability.”
Rev Ahiabu’s presentation centred on ways to generate income and make investment for future use. He cited the example of Isaac in Genesis 26:12, which states, “The man Isaac planted crops in that land and that same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord had blessed him.”
He said the man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy with many flocks and servants. “What are you planting today,” he asked the youth.
Rev Ahiabu told the youth that they had the opportunity to plant today the kind of future they would want to enjoy, stressing, “The opportune time for you to do anything, such as investing in your future prosperity, is now.”
To this end, he has proposed an invest account for the youth in the churches to serve as an example to be emulated by the youth while discouraging them from over-spending their income on alcohol among other things that would not benefit them.
For his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Born4xploits, Mr Wilson Senya, said there were many opportunities today than ever before. “Our difficulties are how to identify these opportunities and make very good use of them to our advantage,” he added.
Mr Senya mentioned that economic empowerment of the nation, church and the individual was meaningless unless the opportunities that came with this empowerment were identified and utilised.
He noted that underdevelopment and poverty were two concepts associated with Africa and Ghana. He, however, said these were enough reason for the youth to stay in the country, where many opportunities abound.
Mr Senya urged the youth to desist from looking for people to help them; rather, “look out for opportunities to help ourselves with as God is our only helper,” he added.
The Presbytery Clerk, Rev F M Agbo, added his voice to the call on the youth to shy away from the get-rich-quick attitude, which has resulted in the increasing number of Internet fraud referred to as “Sakawa” that had become so prevalent among the youth in recent times.
Rev Agbo acknowledged the place of money in human life and in the life of the church, but added that this must be done in a manner pleasing to God and man. He bemoaned the situation where some were using human sacrifice to get rich. “What will it profit a man (youth) to gain the world but lose his life,” he asked.
He encouraged the youth particularly those in school to take their studies seriously as that would propel them into the positions that the envied today.
The youth were taken through the various investment opportunities available on the financial market and how to access them.

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