Former President John Dramani Mahama at the thanksgiving service of the E.P. Church Ghana
The former president of Ghana John Dramani Mahama who graced the 175th anniversary of the E.P. Church Ghana has said the economic hardship being faced by citizens has been felt even by churches as it has affected offertory and other church activities.
The former President asked the moderator of EP church, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Lt. Col. B.D.K. Agbeko to pray for him and the NDC to win the next elections to rescue Ghanaians from economic hardship.
Speaking at the 175th-anniversary thanksgiving service of the E.P Church, Ghana which was held in Ho, the former president stressed that, Christians must spread love and show concern for each other during this time of economic hardship.
“We must always spread Christian love, especially in this time, when money doesn’t like noise. Especially at this time when we all agree that times are hard. This is the time we must show our Christian charity by loving our neighbours as ourselves. And so whatever little you have to share, you should share with your neighbour. I mean, we could tell the hardship in the system from the appeal for funds," he said.
The former president continued by saying that, the pocket was not too good when it came to the offering which shows how hard Ghanaians have been affected by the economy.
“When it was GH¢2000, madam chair and a few people came and donated, then it came down to ¢1000, then to ¢500, then to ¢200 and ¢100. And when it got to the silver collection, ¢1, ¢2, the place was full, it shows that the pocket was not too good,” he added.
He however commended the church for its role in spreading Christianity in other parts of the world, especially Pakistan, where Christians contribute less to religious affairs.
Former President John Dramani Mahama continued to commend the church for the role it has played in nation-building, he encouraged the members to continue to seek both the spiritual ad social well-being of its members.
He lauded the efforts of the E.P church, Ghana for their contribution to the development of the country, especially in the field of Education and Health sectors, where he made mention of the E.P College of Education, Amedzofe and E.P College of Education, Bimbila as one of the oldest colleges in Ghana.
He added that greed, arrogance, selfishness and other negative human characteristics not Christ-like and should be shunned by all who profess to be Christians.
“If you say you are a Christian it means you are a follower of Christ, and if you are a follower of Christ you must live by Christ's values. Christ was modest, he was humble, he was generous, he was kind, he was loving and so if you say you are a follower of Christ and you are arrogant, you are stubborn, greedy, you are selfish then you don’t deserve to be called a Christian. We must always spread love especially in these times where we all agree that times are hard. This is the time we must show our Christian charity by loving our neighbours as ourselves and so whatever little you have to share, you should share with your neighbours.
“After we pray for Pakistan, Moderator should also say a special prayer for me and for the NDC so that in some year that is just coming, luck will smile on us, God will smile on us and give us the power to come and rescue this country from the suffering we are going through,” he added.
