Carol festival for peaceful co-existence ends in Yendi

A two–day choral and carol festival to promote peaceful co-existence in the Yendi Municipality in the Northern Region has successfully ended in Yendi.

The event, which was on the theme: “All Nation and Kindred people and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lamb,” was organised by the Global Missions Resource Centre.

It attracted choirs from the Eastern Corridor of the region and neighbouring Burkina Faso.

The participating groups were drawn from Yendi, Nalerigu, Bimbilla, Tatale, Chereponi and Kpandai.

The celebrants also used the occasion to pray for sustainable harmony in Dagbon, the Northern Region and the nation.

Significance

In a sermon, the Founder and Executive Director of the Global Missions Resource Centre, Rev. Emmanuel Kwabena Mustapha, said the essence of the event was to promote unity and cohabitation for sustainable peace in an area that had witnessed some instability over the years.

He called on all the ethnic groups in the area to love and trust one another to ensure harmony for accelerated development.

According to the director, people can still live together peacefully irrespective of their cultural and religious differences.

“We need to peacefully co-exist with one another to promote the gospel of peace for the salvation of mankind and the transformation of their lives and that of the community through the power of Christ,” Rev. Mustapha added.

Theme

Rev. Mustapha stated that the theme for the celebration was very appropriate for the occasion, stressing that: “As we enter into 2018, there should be peace and unity in this area.”

He observed that while in some parts of the country there was development as a result of sustainable peace, the same could not be said of their area where the government was using scarce national resources to cater for peacekeeping operations because of the prolonged conflicts in the region.

The director quoted Romans 14:19 which says, “Follow after the things which make for peace and things that encourage in building one another instead of learning and destroying one another.”

He further reminded the people that, “Men’s heart ought not to be set against one another but set with one another and all against the evil one.”

Poverty eradication

Rev. Mustapha indicated that the greatest enemy of the people was ignorance and poverty and, therefore, urged them to mobilise all resources to educate their wards and also engage themselves in productive ventures.

He entreated the people to “go back to your respective communities and live peacefully with one another and promote the gospel of Jesus Christ in your communities”.

For his part, Rev. James Atia of the Nalerigu Baptist Association admonished the people against discrimination, provocative utterances and acts that could lead to conflicts. He also advised them to always resort to dialogue in resolving their differences.