Stephen Yenusom Wengam
The Assemblies of God, Ghana (AG) has called for a state-sponsored award scheme for the dependants of the eight victims of the recent helicopter accident.
The Assemblies’ statement containing the suggestion and signed by their General Secretary, Dr. Ernest Birikorang, asked that the package “should be commensurate with the supreme sacrifice they have paid, and the distinctive service they have rendered to the state.”
This gesture, the Assemblies noted, “will go a long way to underline the point that Ghana, our beloved nation, is worth dying for.”
The Assemblies of God, like the rest of the country, is deeply mourning the Defence Minister, Dr. Omane Boamah; the Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, Dr. Murtala Mohammed and six other national heroes who died in the helicopter crash.
The circumstances of their deaths, the Assemblies noted, “are soul-wrenching and earth-shaking,” adding that “the tragedy reminds us, once again, of the fragility of man and the brevity of life.”
It is therefore imperative to pray more as individuals, church and nation, while we sharpen our focus on things of eternal value, and not things of temporary gratification, stated the Assemblies in the statement.
“Indeed, during the First Assemblies of God Pastors and Spouses Prayer Retreat, we dedicated much time to pray for the bereaved families and the country as a whole,” according to the statement.
Continuing, the Assemblies stated, “We thus join His Excellency the President, John Dramani Mahama, the government and the Ghana Armed Forces in consoling the bereaved families, in particular, who are grieving such loss of unspeakable magnitude. They should take solace in the fact that ‘the Lord heals the broken hearted, and binds up their wounds’ (Psalm 147:3).”
It is the hope of the Assemblies that “the semblance of national unity orchestrated by this tragedy will continually bind us together, irrespective of our political differences, social class, age bracket, ethnic origins, and religious beliefs.”