New Year Message from the President of the GNC-Chicago

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!! Many happy returns to all Ghanaians in the Chicago Metropolitan Area and the Diaspora and their families.

As we enter a new year let us be grateful that we made it to another year even though for some 2015 might not have been what we expected. Let us be grateful for the new births in our families, for the new jobs, for the new businesses we secured, for the new marriages, for the new homes and apartments we moved into and lots more. We should not dwell on what ifs but give thanks for God's grace and look forward to the future.

For those who lost dear ones let us dwell on the memories of the good times we had with them while they were with us and remember that though they have left us we know they still want us to be happy. Remember it is part of God's plan.

In 2016 we should all come together as a community in unity and help one another in every endeavor we hope to undertake. We should consider ourselves ambassadors wherever we are and remember our lives should emulate the hospitality, humility and the hard work that mark who Ghanaians are. Remember it takes a village to raise a child and it would take the whole Ghanaian community to raise our children. To the older generation, remember we are passing on our legacy to the youth and we should leave behind a legacy that we would be proud of. While our young ones are the most precious in the community, our seniors are also equally precious to us for all that they have built in the community. We should be grateful for them and help them as they transition the community to us. We should take care of them while they are with us.

A word of advice to the parents of the youth; please let us allow our children to lead their own lives and offer help. Their lives are not about us or the lives we lead, it is about them and their new lives, allow them to make mistakes and offer advice. Sometimes we have to stop playing the role of parents and play the role of friends. Let us remember times have changed and keep changing. In this 24/7 social media era there is always pressure on our lives and theirs too. To the youth, honor your parents and respect them for being parents. They have been around the block and most times they know what they are talking about. They might not be as intelligence as you are but they might have the experience and have been through the roughness of life.

As we enter 2016 let God's grace walk us through the year and let us be thankful and cherish those around us. Let us not forget to let our love ones know we love them and let us be kind to those we meet in our everyday lives. Remember the people we meet on our way up are the very ones we would meet on our way down. Life is what you make it and not what it is. Cherish what you have.

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND GOD BLESS YOU!

Ebenezer Antwi-Nsiah

President-Ghana National Council