Methodist Church awards scholarship to needy students

The Somanya Diocese of the Methodist Church Ghana has presented scholarship packages to brilliant, needy students in senior high schools in the diocese, with a call on parents to effectively supervise their children at home to enable them to perform academically well in school and also exhibit a moral balance in society.

The first Diocesan Bishop of the Somanya Diocese of the Methodist Church Ghana, Rt Rev. William Robert Abeiku Blankson, made the call at the presentation of scholarship to some students in the diocese at Akuse in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region last Sunday.

The ceremony took place at Akuse Mount Olivet Methodist Church where the newly awarded students were presented with their packages for the 2017/2018 academic year.

Scholarship scheme

Bishop Blankson, in collaboration with two Lay Chairmen he worked with, Mrs Mercy Dede Lawson and Mrs Grace Nkrumah Mills, and some educationists at the church, initiated the scholarship scheme christened: “Bishop Blankson’s Methodist Education Fund” to support brilliant, needy students in senior high schools at the Methodist Church in the diocese.

According to the church, the beneficiaries should belong to the Methodist Church by faith and at least one of the parents must also be a Methodist in the diocese.

Seven students, including one non-Methodist who walks a distance of 15 kilometres from Nsutapong to Klo-Agogo Senior High School in the Yilo Krobo Municipality daily, caught the attention of the bishop on his rounds in the diocese and was a beneficiary in the first group for the 2016/2017 academic year. For the 2017/2018 academic year, four students made up of three girls and one boy benefited. Those at boarding house received GH¢750.00 each, while day students received GH¢350.00 each as support.

Bishop Blankson, who witnessed the presentation ceremony, though on retirement, noted with concern that education had become costly as such, and there was the need for all to help in educating the less privileged, needy and brilliant students, who could be assets to their communities and the larger society as well.

He, however, expressed worry about the present generation of students who had not cultivated the habit of reading but were rather addicted to watching television and playing video games for long hours.

Appeal to parents

“I, therefore, appeal to parents to monitor their children at home to read more relevant materials that have something to do with their course of studies and above all be self-disciplined in order to benefit from their education in future,” Rt Rev. Blankson added.

One of the beneficiaries, Ms Nancy Assampong of the Akwamuman Senior High School, whose ambition is to become a Lay Chairman of the Methodist Church in future, thanked the church for the assistance which she said would go a long way to help them in school. She pledged on behalf of the other beneficiaries that they would not disappoint the church.

Sermon

Preaching a short sermon on the theme: “Preparing yourself for the coming of Christ”, the current Bishop of the Somanya Diocese, Rt Rev. Alfred Nii Okai Aryeetey, urged Christians to wake up and be ready for action because the enemy was ready to destroy.

The Superintendent Minister in charge of the Akuse Mount Olivet Methodist Church, Very Rev. Moses K. Jackson, appealed for support for the Education Fund to enable the diocese to assist more needy students.