Posts in category: Church News

The year 2020 will forever be etched in the memories of every person alive today as a year that took the world by storm. It was the year when the world grappled with what most people have referred to as the biggest public health pandemic of the 21st century – the COVID-19 pandemic.

From the thousands of lives lost to the imposition of human restrictions and bans, as well as other disturbing developments such as loss of jobs, public health crises and the closure of churches across the globe, COVID-19, also known as “the Coronavirus Disease,” will certainly be very hard to forget.

Indeed, the Church is, undoubtedly, one of the hardest-hit institutions in the wake of the pandemic. The ban on mass gathering, in particular, resulted in the indefinite suspension of most (if not all) activities and events scheduled by some churches in 2020. That notwithstanding, in this trying period, the church has had to go all out to support needy members during the lockdown period, while at the same time dealing with the expected decline in its revenue generation efforts and dwindling finances.

That said, all has not been doom and gloom this year. This is because the COVID19 pandemic has also taught the church very positive lessons particularly on the need to prioritise personal and family devotional life as much as congregational worship. However, one key legacy of this pandemic is, most probably, how the Church has been coerced to embrace technology.

Since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on March 12^th, 2020, church life as we have known has never been the same. The increased restrictions on human activities and the general panic that greeted this announcement was evidence of the uncomfortable times ahead.

As a result, church leaders looked for possible ways to reach out and maintain fellowship with their members. In all of the strategies pursued, technology proved to be the most effective means and the tool generally adopted for the work of the ministry in these disturbing times. This, therefore, sparked widespread use of digital tools by the churches to pursue their evangelism and discipleship mandate.

With The Church of Pentecost, a global pentecostal church with presence in 105 countries, the story was not different. The church, therefore, resorted to the use of various media outlets, particularly Pent TV and Social Media, as well as other measures like Family Fellowship and Home Cell Meetings to continue to minister to the spiritual needs of the over 3 million membership population worldwide.

The impact of the pandemic, was, however, well felt in April, when the church had to organise its first-ever virtual Easter Convention. This was, in fact, a foreshadow of what would soon be known as “the new normal.”

After conducting a successful virtual Easter Convention, the leadership of The Church of Pentecost set their sights on arguably the most significant and biggest meeting on the church’s calendar – the General Council Meetings.

During Council meetings, participants (ministers) come from all over the world to converge at a venue – the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC) – to fraternise, pray together, discuss emerging issues in the church and take key decisions. The meetings were also very crucial, because it would witness the election of new members to serve on the Executive Council of the church.

In navigating through this, the first step the leadership took was to reschedule the event from May to June, due to the anticipation of eased restrictions and a general decline in active COVID-19 cases.

However, after it became apparent that the pandemic would persist for a while longer, the Church once again resorted to technology and explored how the meetings and elections could be conducted virtually.

In view of this, several consultative meetings were held at various levels, and eventually AO Holdings Limited, a Digital Solutions company owned by a member of the Church, was contracted to come up with an online election software to make it possible for the all-important Executive Council elections to be conducted virtually across the continents.

After several weeks of hard work, an online election software dubbed “Synergy eVote” was presented to the Church leadership by AO Holdings Limited, which was subsequently accepted. A unique identification number was thus generated for each of the 1,237 registered voters, with which they would be able to access the voting platform to cast their vote.

To test the veracity of the platform and ensure that elections would not be compromised in any way, 5 mock elections were organised for Councilors before the scheduled date (Wednesday, June 3, 2020) for the actual election to take place.

In the early hours of the actual voting day (6:00 GMT), the Councilors in Ghana converged at the various Area Offices to cast their votes, whilst those in the external nations convened at their respective National Offices to partake in the exercise. Some external Councilors living in lockdown areas were also allowed to vote from home.

In all, out of the 1,237 registered voters, a total of 1,194 votes were cast – 967 votes cast by Councilors in Ghana and 227 by External Councilors. The entire election process lasted for just an hour. In fact, more than 1,000 votes were cast in less than 15 minutes!

Following this historic election, Apostles Yaw Adjei Kwarteng (Hohoe Area Head), Samuel Osei Asante (Koforidua Area Head) and Isaac Kotei Djani (Tamale Area Head) were re-elected to serve for a second term on the council.

In addition, Apostles Sylvester Arhin (Assin Foso Area Head), Dr Dela Quampah (Head of the Department of Theology, School of Theology Leadership and Missions) and Mike Etrue (Kaneshie Area Head) were elected to replace members of the council who had completed their terms. Apostle James Raj (India National Head) was also elected onto the Council as the Member Representative for Nations Outside Africa. The year 2020 may be widely touted as the year of COVID-19, but for The Church of Pentecost, it will go down in history as the year in which the church organised its first-ever virtual election. To God be the glory!

The Kasoa Area Head of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Ekow Badu Wood, has encouraged Christians to continue to seek the face of God in the wake of the novel COVID-19 pandemic, because God has the power to drive it away from the face of the earth.

In a televised sermon on Friday afternoon [April 24, 2020] as part of the 3-day All Christians Prayer and Fasting, the former General Secretary of the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) said that there is power in prayer and that whenever believers resort to it the seemingly impossible things become possible.

Reading from 2 Chronicles 7:13-15, Apostle Wood noted that fasting is one way of submitting to the divine authority of God. He called on all Christians to humble themselves through prayer and fasting for God to forgive the sins of the land and heal it from any pestilence.

He however said that fasting without prayer is like embarking on a hunger strike which is without any positive effect.

He added that as Christians humble themselves, repent of their sins pray and seek the face of God, God will answer them and heal the land of any plague.

Advising the people of the world to turn from their wicked ways, Apostle Wood charged Ghanaians to be compassionate towards the poor, aged, weak and the vulnerable so that God will have mercy on the nation and restore the land.

The Children’s Ministry Director of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Fred Tiakor, has called on parents and adults to allow children to explore and participate in the things of God in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic because God can use children to bring a solution to the world’s problems.

“In times like this, we need people to stand in for the people and lift their voices unto the heavens, and God will hear their prayer. God will intervene and cause all these storms to be calm,” he said, adding, “I want to assure you that it is not only adults who can do this work; God can also raise children to pray and He will listen to their cry.”

Apostle Tiakor said this in a televised sermon during a Children’s Service on PENT TV on Sunday, April 26, 2020, to climax the 3-day National Fasting and Prayers.

Speaking on the topic, “God Can Use You Too,” he entreated parents and adults to create the opportunity for children, give them some respect and recognition because God can use them too, saying, “God can use them [children] to solve certain problems, even in this COVID-19 pandemic; when children also pray God will hear.”

The Potsin District in the Winneba Area of The Church of Pentecost has donated assorted items to some needy members in the district following the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The donation which was made on 16^th and 17^th March 2020 was inspired by the act of the Early Church in Acts 4:34-35 who gave to support the needy amongst them.

In all, 52 members in all the 19 local assemblies of the district benefited from the gesture. The items included rice, cooking oil, tomato mix, and small-sized tinned fish, totalling GH¢ 1,121.00.

The beneficiaries expressed great joy and appreciation to the leadership of the church for the support.

Report by the District Media Team.

The Church of Pentecost has constructed borehole water facilities for Gbonkoyiri and Vondiel communities in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District of the Savannah Region.

The Sawla Area Head of the church, Apostle William Ohemeng-Kwakye, commissioned the two water facilities separately on April 2, 2020. He was assisted by the Gindabour District Minister of the church, Overseer William Asare, whose district the projects are located.

In an address, the Area Head said that the construction of the boreholes formed part of the church’s Vision 2023 agenda on ‘Community Transformation.’ He said funds for the project came from the Headquarters of the church through the Pentecost Social Services (PENTSOS), the social services wing of the church.

Touching on the current global health crisis, Apostle Ohemeng-Kwakye advised the people to adhere to the directives given by the President of the Republic to help in the fight against the Coronavirus outbreak. This, he said, includes observing social distancing, regular handwashing with soap under running water, using hand sanitizer, and avoiding handshaking.

Speaking on the topic, “Jesus Christ; The Spiritual Rock” (1 Corinthians 10:1-4), Apostle Ohemeng-Kwakye emphasized that one needs the spiritual rock who is Jesus Christ to satisfy their spiritual thirst. He, therefore, entreated all to drink from the spiritual rock to quench their thirst.

He admonished the people of both communities to recognize and accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord to receive eternal life for their souls.

“One cannot drink from the spiritual rock unless he or she is in the Body of Christ,” he stressed.

In appreciation, the Roman Catholic Catchiest of the area thanked The Church of Pentecost for the kind gesture and requested other churches in the district to do same for the communities in the district which are in dire need of water and other social interventions.

In attendance were the Area Deacon, security personnel, representatives of sister churches, and community leaders, among others.

Report by Overseers Francis Kofi Gyimah & Ezekiel Amoako-Yeboah.

The Suhum Area of The Church of Pentecost has donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) worth GH¢ 10,000.00 to the Nsawam and Kibi Government Hospitals to aid the country’s fight against COVID-19.

The items, which include nose masks, hand sanitizers, veronica buckets, and liquid soap, were presented to the facilities by the Area Head, Apostle Anthony Eghan Kwesi Ekuban, on Monday, April 27, 2020.

In an interview with PENTECOST NEWS, Apostle Ekuban expounded that the intervention by the church was aimed at augmenting the Government’s effort in combating the spread of the viral disease.

He urged Ghanaians to adhere to the preventive measures that have been announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) such as social distancing, handwashing with soap under running water, and the wearing of nose mask.

Receiving the items on behalf of the Nsawam Government Hospital, the Hospital Administrator, Mr. Konlan Kofi, was grateful to the church for the thoughtful gesture, saying, “The Church of Pentecost is the first organisation to donate PPEs to this hospital since the outbreak of COVID-19.”

The Medical Superintendent of the Kibi Government Hospital, Dr. Richard Nii Darko Dodoo, who received the PPEs on behalf of the facility, expressed his profound gratitude to the church for the benevolence. He was hopeful that the items will help the hospital in the fight against the deadly disease.

Present to witness the presentation of the items at the Kibi Government Hospital was the Abuakwa South Municipal Health Director, Mrs. Augustina Nartey