Deacon urges churches to sponsor education of orphans

Accra, May 02, GNA - Mr Frank Asante, a Deacon of Harvest Chapel International (HCI) has called on religious institutions to adopt children's homes and orphanages in the country to facilitate and assist brilliant inmates to pursue their education to the tertiary level. "It is indeed a worthy investment for any church or religious body to undertake such a venture to meet the needs of the vulnerable and contribute to the attainment of growth, efficiency, poverty alleviation and improvement in quality of life," he said in a statement issued in Accra on Monday.

The statement was in appreciation to thousands of gospel music lovers who participated in the Eighth Harvest Praise 2006 at the Accra International Conference Centre on Easter Sunday. The show was under the theme, "The Music Ministry - A Tool for Soul Winning".

It said about 10.9 million cedis realised had been donated to the Suhum Baptist Orphanage through the management of Citi FM an Accra based local radio station, that had adopted the orphanage, as the Church's contribution towards the disadvantage brothers and sisters.

The statement called on girls to devote their time to study hard towards achieving excellence in their academic pursuits. In another development, Reverend Fitzgerald Odonkor, Head Pastor of the church, attributed the break down in social and moral norms in society to interests that had given way to developmental paradigm. He said families were under stress both from within and outside and the desire for a better standard of living had made most of them to move away from their faith in God, and described the current social economic conditions "as a crooked and perverse generation." Rev Odonkor said it was paradoxical that against the background of hopelessness, Christians could congregate on Easter Sunday to praise God for sustenance and guidance through another year.

"Granting us the strength of spirit to look beyond these crumbling structures around us to a city whose maker and builder is God," He added.