‘Press On Kids’, a child development organisation, has launched a double album in a colourful ceremony to bring to the fore music designed to teach children godliness and good morals as a way of preparing them to be responsible adults.
The albums are ‘Sing the word’ volume two, which helps children to memorise scriptures easily and ‘Hymns We Love’, which is a collection of popular hymns revised in a child-friendly manner.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of the launch on Sunday at the World Changers Faith Church, Ashaley Botwe, the Executive Director of ‘Press On Kids’, Mr. Worlanyo Afenyo, said the concept of the album Sing the word is “to put scripture to music for easy memorisation. So we take the word of God and quote it as it is written and compose music with it.”
Mr. Afenyo hinted that music was one of the most effective ways of committing any information to memory, “And as children of God, we believe the word of God is the most important thing we need to keep in our hearts.”
He said his outfit targeted children because he felt they were the future of the nation and that their minds and hearts were so fertile that whatever was planted in them would grow. “And so we’re packaging the word of God to reach these children,” he stressed.
He said the songs were also designed to instil patriotism in the children, and ‘Hymns of Love’ picked songs which shared values such as integrity, truthfulness, among others, and an earlier album that had songs that educated the young ones on the national pledge and anthem.
“So the whole concept of ‘Press On Kids’ is to build confidence in these children, give them the platform to express themselves to become good citizens and leaders for both God and country, and most importantly to hide God’s word in their hearts so that these virtues would build them for the future,” he said.
Mr. Afenyo said, together with his wife, Mrs. Pearl Afenyo, they were motivated to launch “Press On Kids” because much of the Christian musical materials for children in Ghana were foreign and that some of these materials had contents that were not good for children.
He urged church leaders not to play down on the potentials of children because some of them had tremendous abilities that could be developed early so that the church would not lose them to the world.
He asked government to make policies that were for the future because children were the owners of the nation and these policies must be designed to protect their future.
Mr. Afenyo appreciated parents and partners who assisted in the launch and asked them to identify the potentials in their children and look for avenues to develop such talents, “For you would never know what is hidden in them because tomorrow they would be leading the future.”
Reverend Winfred Kwasi Afenyo of the Global Evangelical Church, in a sermon before the launch, indicated that to press on in life, the children must dream big and take actions in realising their dreams while they memorised and sang the word of God at all times.
Recounting the need to help children press on as a way of safeguarding “our own future,” the Reverend Minister encouraged government to do more to build a solid future for Ghanaian children so that they could take over some day as leaders of the nation.
Rev. Afenyo, who was also the father of the Executive Director of ‘Press On Kids', asked parents to celebrate their children as a way of encouraging them to do their best instead of always picking on their weaknesses which made them lose confidence and fail to develop their potentials.
'Press On Kids’ is a non-denominational Christian organisation put together to craft and promote a viable future for children by imbibing in them values of godliness while they sang and memorised scriptures.
The organisation also trains children to play musical instruments and unearth their potentials which are developed for the betterment of their lives, the church of God and the nation.