Prez Mahama, Veep join worshippers to welcome 2016
President John Dramani Mahama joined many worshippers to welcome the year 2016, with a call on them to develop the can-do attitude to help propel the nation to greater heights.
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At a watch night service at the Living Streams Ministries in Accra last Thursday, he said “the nations that we so admire” were not built by pessimists but optimists who demonstrated the can-do spirit, reports Kwame Asare Boadu.
“Sometimes you hear people saying ‘as for Ghana nothing can happen here and should rather have remained under the colonialists’. With that kind of attitude how can you ever be like those other countries?” he asked.
Making reference to the glass half-full expressions, President Mahama said if Ghanaians did not have that dose of realism, the nation could not get things done as they would see the glass as half-empty instead of half-full.
National development
President Mahama related the development of the country to the anthill.
“No ant says that my contribution is meaningless. It is each one of them going and bringing things into the anthill that builds the anthill and makes all the food there for the colony.
“And it is the same with communities, and nations and society. Every single person’s contribution matters,” the President stressed.
Peaceful elections
With 2016 being an election year, the President prayed that God would continue to grant the country peace to go through the polls successfully.
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“Being President has made me travel far and wide. If you see some of the things that violence and war have done, then all we can say is we thank God for continuing to make Ghana an island of peace in a turbulent sub-region,” he said.
“I’m sure all of us have faith that this democratic journey that Ghana is on will continue successfully. We will have an election, there will be no violence and Ghana will continue to be favoured by God,” he added.
The congregation, for its part, prayed and sang to the glory of God for seeing the nation through a difficult but peaceful 2015, and expressed the hope that this year would come with abundant blessings.
Host Minister
The host minister, Rev Dr Ebenezer Marquaye, preaching the Sermon, urged Ghanaians to have the hope that the nation would rise from its challenges.
He said God had something special for Ghana for which reason the citizens must continue to pray to make the nation a better place.
At the Global Evangelical Church at South La in Accra and the Calvary Methodist Church at Adabraka, the Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, joined worshippers to usher in the New Year, reports Sebastian Syme.
Joined by his wife, Matilda, the couple thanked God for seeing the nation through the difficulties it encountered in the previous year, including the cholera outbreak and the debilitating load-shedding exercise.
The outgoing Moderator of the Global Evangelical Church, Rt. Rev. Dr Edem Tettey, in a sermon, asked Ghanaians to put the past behind them and work towards achieving more unity ahead of this year’s general election.
The mood was a solemn one at the Calvary Methodist Church when the Vice-President got there.
The Superintendent Minister, Very Rev. Theophilus Anderson, who led prayers into 2016, said the coming of the New Year symbolised a new beginning in the life of mankind.
He called on Ghanaians to extend a hand of love to each other just as Christ did for His children and expressed the hope that the New Year would bring with it the good things of life to the citizenry and the nation as a whole.
New-Year message
In his New Year address to the congregation, Mr Amissah-Arthur recalled the difficulties the country went through in 2015, particularly the power crisis.
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He expressed optimism that 2016 would mark a complete departure from the difficulties the nation went through in the previous year, noting the low prices of commodities on the international market which affected the local economy.
On the general election, Mr Amissah-Arthur said Ghana had been a trailblazer in the sub-region in terms of conducting peaceful elections and that the conduct of the coming elections would not be any different.
He was upbeat that the country would come out of the elections stronger and better and called on the citizenry to play their part by contributing their quota towards making the process a peaceful one.
St Patrick Catholic Church
Preaching the sermon at the St Patrick Catholic Church at Dome last Thursday, Rev Fr Christopher Beyoro of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Tamale asked Christians to thank the Lord for seeing them through another year, despite the difficulties of 2015, reports Ransford Tetteh.
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Speaking at the same church yesterday, Rev Fr Dr Commander Alex Abeeku Anaman asked the congregation to give value to their faith, saying the three kings went to pay homage to the baby Jesus in order to give value to their faith.
In Koforidua, the Parish Priest of the St Dominic Catholic Church at Adweso, Rev Fr Fredrick Opoku Obeng, called on the faithful to strengthen their faith and be one another’s keeper in 2016.
Rev Henry Wharton Memorial Methodist Church
Rosemary Ardayfio reports from the Rev Henry Wharton Memorial Methodist Church in Accra that the Minister in charge, Rev Daniel Sowah Quaye, called on the congregation to be truthful to their fellow humans this year.
He said it was only when Christians were truthful to God that they enjoyed His favour.
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He also asked Christians to expect challenges this year. “Do not think that you will not face challenges. Many challenging situations will arise, but if you are truthful to God as Christians, you will surmount them,” Rev Quaye stated.
He further exhorted the congregation to resolve to promote peace in whatever they would do throughout the year.
Ablaze Chapel International
At the Ablaze Chapel International Church at Achimota, Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho reports that the Senior Pastor, Bishop Mrs Elizabeth Dan Clad, said the time had come for people to love the Lord deeply and do His will to be able to enjoy His blessings.
“If you do not have a close relationship with God, there is no way you will enjoy what he has promised us,” she said.
The General Overseer of the church, Apostle Dan Clad, led the congregation to cross over into 2016 amid prayers, singing and dancing.
Holy Trinity Cathedral
At the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Accra, Very Rev. Seth J. Anan Sackey urged the public to be responsible in the use of power in order to consolidate the gains being made in the sector, reports Timothy Ngnenbe in Accra
He said there was the need to avoid negative attitudes such as power theft, illegal connections, and misuse to ensure that efforts being made to restore stable power supply would not go down the drain.
He also urged the congregation and the public to put the challenges of the previous year behind them and work diligently in the New Year to achieve their targets.
“We have gone through turbulent times as a country, but we still enjoy relative peace. Let us work hard to consolidate the peace we enjoy because it is the root of all the good things we need,” he said.
When the hour struck at midnight, closing the chapter on 2015, the entire congregation was thrown into rapturous shouts of victory to mark the triumphant entry into a new year.
Holy Spirit Cathedral
At the Holy Spirit Cathedral, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Most Rev Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle, asked Ghanaians to thank God for the many blessings He bestowed on them, reports Severious Kale-Dery.
He said those who had lived to see 2016 were not better than those who died in the course of the year 2015. “It is just that God had been good to us and we need to count our blessings one by one,” he added.
Most Rev Palmer-Buckle recalled a number of misfortunes that befell the country and the sub-region of Africa, citing the cholera outbreak, the June 3 fire disaster and the outbreak of Ebola, and said they were among the countless incidents that God protected them from.
Touching on this year’s general election, Most Rev Palmer-Buckle expressed optimism that, “No matter what happens in 2016, Ghana will be saved.”
The Cathedral Administrator of the Holy Spirit Cathedral, Very Rev Fr Furiton Mensah, who led prayers from 11 p.m. until January 1, 2016, urged the congregation to consider themselves already blessed in the year 2016.