Sixteen people, comprising 11 students and five facilitators, have graduated from the Pentecost Literacy School in the Takoradi Area.
The Pentecost Literacy Project (PLP), which The Church of Pentecost initiated in pursuance of Vision 2023, now Vision 2028, was to teach adults how to read and write in their native languages and to aid them to read the Bible.
After a two-week intensive training by the Literacy and Evangelism Ghana (LE-GH) for facilitators across the nation at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa Fetteh in October and November 2021, the Takoradi Area participants (Pastor Ernest Perbi-Asare, Elders Stephen Coffie, Christopher Yaw Okyere, George Bondzie-Hanson and Deaconess Cecilia Aidoo), began a pilot phase in the Takoradi Area to test the feasibility of the project. Consequently, 20 volunteers (Mfantse – 10 and English – 10) were selected from the various districts in the Area and enrolled in November 2021.
Having undergone over two years training, 11 learners, who have successfully passed their final examinations, graduated during a special ceremony on August 9, 2024, at West Ridge Assembly in Tanokrom District.
The graduands were joined by five facilitators who also passed all the courses and met all the requirements for their training.
In his address, the Literacy and Evangelism Ghana (LE-GH) representative, Pastor R. M. Adrakpanya (retired) was thankful to God, the Chairman of the church, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, and the Executive Council for the timely vision to help people who cannot read or write in their local dialects.
He also commended the Area Head, Apostle Sylvester Arhin, and his team as well as the Takoradi Area Pentecost Literacy Project Coordinating team for the hard work and dedication in making the vision possible.
Pastor Eric Kweku Ansah who represented the Chairman of the National Discipleship and Leadership Development Committee (NDLDC), Apostle Dr Samuel Kojo Gakpetor, indicated that the Pentecost Literacy School will not only benefit the unschooled constituents but even the educated who are unable to read in their mother tongues.
Delivering a speech on behalf of the Takoradi Area Head, Apostle Sylvester Arhin, the New Takoradi District Minister, Pastor Solomon Nii A. Djani, who doubles as an Area Executive member, admonished ministers as well as officers to embrace the PLS initiative and ensure its effective implementation in their districts and local assemblies.
On behalf of the graduating students and facilitators, Elder Stephen Coffie expressed gratitude to Apostle Joseph Kwame Assabil (retired) whose tenure the PLP pilot programme started in the Area and his successors, Apostles Semenya Yao Dogbe and Sylvester Arhin, for their unflinching support and commitment for a successful implementation of the project in Takoradi Area.
Other dignitaries at the graduation ceremony were Pastor Alex Kieninger Anum and his wife, Dora (Area Secretary), Pastor Ernest Perbi-Asare (Area Pentecost Literacy Project Coordinator), Pastor Stephen Mawunyo Akorsu (Area Discipleship and Leadership Development Coordinator), and other ministers and wives in the Area.
Report by Pastor Ernest Perbi-Asare.
