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Apostle Alexander Nana Yaw Kumi-Larbi, the General Secretary of The Church of Pentecost, last Sunday, dedicated a brand new 33-seater Hyundai bus purchased by the Shalom Worship Centre for evangelism, discipleship and general welfare commitments.

He was ably assisted by Apostle Dr. Samuel Ofori (Lecturer, School of Theology, Mission and Leadership, Pentecost University) and Pastor James Orhin Agyin (Shalom Worship Centre Resident Minister and Projects, Development and Estate Manager at The Church of Pentecost Headquarters).

Speaking to PENTECOST NEWS in an interview, Pastor Agyin said the vehicle was, among other reasons, acquired to mitigate the inconveniences suffered by members due to the difficulty in commuting to and from the church premises.

He was also hopeful that the advent of the bus would help resolve this challenge and boost members’ attendance to evening services and other church programmes.

“With this bus, we would be able to convey members to vantage locations after evening service where they would easily have access to the services of commercial transport operators. It will also help increase members’ involvement in area programmes such as conveying church members to the Mandela prayer grounds for the monthly Kaneshie Area prayer meeting,” he said.

In addition to other welfare commitments such as attending funerals, weddings programmes, etc, the bus would be used for evangelism outreaches and follow-up exercises, he further stated.

PENTECOST NEWS.

The Pentecost Men’s Ministry (PEMEM) of Pentecost International Worship Centre, Takoradi (PIWC-Takoradi), as part of the “Possessing the Nations” agenda of The Church of Pentecost, during the Easter holidays embarked on a visit to the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital in the Central Region.

As part of the visit, the ministry sponsored the painting of the Dr. Kwaw Armah Arloo Outpatient Department (OPD) complex at the hospital.

In addition to this, the ministry donated some food and sanitary items such as cooking oil, toilet rolls, washing powder, soaps, detergents, rice, soda drinks, biscuits, loaves of bread, chicken, and bottled water, to the facility.

Presenting the items on behalf of the ministry, Pastor Daniel Okyei Boakye, Resident Minister for PIWC-Takoradi, indicated that just as Jesus remembered humanity through His death, burial and resurrection by atoning for their sins, the church has remembered the patients too.

“As followers of Jesus Christ, we cease every opportunity to remember the good deeds of Jesus and practically imitate Him by caring for the needy and less privileged as He would also do if He was to be here,” he added.

Elder Stephen Kwabena Acheampong, the District PEMEM Leader, thanked the management of the hospital for their collaboration and support.

The Deputy Director of the hospital, Mr. Bismark Tuffour, and the Protocol Officer, Madam Kate Quarshie, on behalf of management, thanked PIWC-Takoradi PEMEM for their timely intervention through the presentation of the items and the repainting of the OPD of the facility, which they consider very timely, and an act of generosity shown to the hospital.

Report by Pastor Ernest Perbi-Asare, Takoradi Area Media Pastor.

The Ho Area of The Church of Pentecost, as part of this year’s Environmental Care Campaign, organised a clean-up exercise at the Ho Main Market on Thursday, April 21, 2022.

The event, which was under the theme: “Making Environmental Care Campaign Community Owned,” was organised by the districts of the Church within the Ho Municipality in collaboration with Zoomlion Company Ltd. and the Environmental Health Department of the Ho Municipal Assembly.

Speaking at the event, Apostle Dr. Dela Quampah, the Ho Area Head and an Executive Council Member of The Church of Pentecost, expressed his appreciation to the two institutions for providing the needed tools and personnel for the exercise. 

He advised all stakeholders to make conscious efforts to promote environmental cleanliness wherever they go, so that the exercise does not become a nine-day wonder.

Apostle Dr. Qiuampah, therefore, urged participants to continue the public education on environment cleanliness and to serve as change agents wherever they find themselves.

In a short address, the Area Campaign Coordinator, Pastor Nelson Agbove, who doubles as the Bankoe District Minister, stated that God created a beautiful environment for humans to inhabit and entrusted it into their hands to care for it. 

For this reason, he further noted, God expects humankind to maintain the environment and make it as habitable as possible.

“As custodians, the onus lies on us to keep the environment clean and instruct others to do so,” he said.

Mrs. Stella Awusavi, the Volta Regional Environmental Health Officer, commended the Church for initiating the project, which is contributing to the overall agenda of maintaining a clean environment. She beckoned all other institutions and individuals to come on board since environmental cleanliness is a collective effort.

Miss Comfort Sunu, the Deputy Ho Municipal Environmental Health Officer, was amazed by the impressive turnout of the members of the Church despite the rainfall. She urged the market women who joined the exercise to maintain the cleaned environment and serve as environmental ambassadors at the marketplace. 

“This would help to maintain our hard-earned accreditation as the cleanest city in Ghana,” she stated.

Mrs. Sefakor Kugblenu of Zoomlion Co. Ltd. assured the Church of her company’s readiness to partner with them or any other church denomination, individual or egroups to embark on similar campaigns.

Report by Overseer Felix Brakatu

Six commercial drivers and two market women gave their lives to Jesus Christ when the Women’s Ministry, Pentecost Men’s Ministry (PEMEM), and the Youth Ministry of the New Combined District of The Church of Pentecost organised a ‘Lunch Evangelism’ in the Akosombo township recently.

In all, about 120 people, mostly commercial drivers and traders in the dam city, were served fufu with pork, palm nut and groundnut soups, jollof rice with chicken, and banku with okro stew, after which the gospel of Jesus Christ was preached to them.

The innovative exercise was spearheaded by the District Minister, Pastor Martin Berko Kesse, and his wife, Esther with the support of the leaders of the various ministries.

PENTECOST NEWS.

A special graduation ceremony was held yesterday for 27 couples who had successfully passed out of a 12-week Post-Marital School organised by the Shalom Worship Centre of The Church of Pentecost.

The graduands, clad in academic gowns, were beaming with smiles as they each took their turn to receive their certificate at the event which had in attendance the General Secretary of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Alexander Nana Yaw Kumi-Larbi, and his wife, Mrs. Rose Dansoa Kumi-Larbi.

The Post-Marital School, a novelty of the Resident Minister, Pastor James Agyin, was organised to help promote healthy marriages in the Church.

The school was held on a weekly basis with Pastor Agyin, and his wife, Joyce, as the resource persons. The duration for each session was two hours with take-home assignments in a workbook titled “Becoming One”. 

Some of the topics treated at the school are: Our Desperate Need for Love and Oneness, God’s Purpose for Oneness, God’s Provision in Oneness, God’s Power in Oneness, God’s Instrument of Change: Love and Blessing, God’s Order for Marital Oneness, Communication and Conflict Resolution, Managing In-Laws: The Christian Way, Romance: Naked and Unashamed, among others.

According to Pastor Agyin, the first batch of students, made up of 14 couples, was enrolled in 2019, however, the graduation ceremony which was slated for April 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions. He further stated that the sessions for the second batch, comprising of 13 couples, took place from June to September 2021.

“Graduates from both batches have since been added to the pool of counselors at the local and district levels and have really been of immense help to the Church,” he added.

Speaking on the topic: “Jesus Christ and His Church; A Model for A Good Marriage,” Mrs. Kumi-Larbi challenged Christian couples to honour God with their marriages.

She said that marriage is hard work and therefore requires the utmost commitment of both parties in order to succeed.

“A healthy marriage requires diligent work to build. A good marriage is not something you find; it is something you make and continue making,” she said.

Apostle Kumi-Larbi, on his part, challenged Christians to lead by example in every aspect of their lives. He urged them to endeavour to practice what they preach so that others, especially the younger generation, can emulate them.

“Until we practice what we preach, our leadership would yield little or no results,” he cautioned.

The General Secretary, therefore, urged the graduands to do well to practice all they had learnt during the training period.

Apostle Dr. Samuel Ofori, a Lecturer at the School of Theology, Mission and Leadership of Pentecost University, who represented the Kaneshie Area Head at the event, commended the participants for availing themselves to undergo training.

He noted that there is a clear connection between study and humility, hence they should continue to avail themselves for training, saying that: “Arrogance and a teachable spirit are mutually exclusive.”

The event also saw 100 members of the Church receiving certificates for successfully completing a 40-week discipleship programme, dubbed the “Shalom Workers’ College.”

PENTECOST NEWS.

Mrs. Rose Dansoa Kumi-Larbi, wife of the General Secretary of The Church of Pentecost, has advised Christian couples to strive to build good and healthy marriages, emphasising that marriage is hard work! 

“A healthy marriage requires diligent work to build. A good marriage, is, therefore, not something you find; it is something you make and continue making,” she said when she exhorted members of the Shalom Worship Centre during a graduation ceremony for graduands of the church’s Post-Marital School yesterday.

Delivering a sermon titled: “Jesus Christ and His Church; A Model for A Good Marriage” with Ephesians 5:21-33 and Philippians 2:1-8 as scripture references, Mrs. Kumi-Larbi said that a healthy marriage is very beneficial to both parties in the marital union.

She said that a good marriage brings happiness, peace and good health to couples. It also promotes the wellbeing and development of children, serves as a springboard for one’s professional career, earns one respect in society and grants couples unhindered access to God, she added.

Mrs. Kumi-Larbi, however, noted that marriage requires the utmost commitment of both parties in order to succeed.

“For me, marriage is like salvation. We are saved only by grace, but we are expected to work on our salvation so that we do not lose it. In the same vein, it is the Lord who leads us to our partners, but we are required to work on our marriage to achieve the purpose for which God brought us together as a couple,” she explained.

Mrs. Kumi-Larbi said that marital unhappiness and divorces are on the rise in the contemporary generation due to the self-centred nature of the people who enter the holy estate.

She explained that Christ’s relationship with the Church serves as the ideal model that couples should emulate to have successful marriages.

Reading from the Ministers’ Manual of The Church of Pentecost, Mrs. Kumi-Larbi stressed that marriage is an image that mirrors Christ’s relationship with the Church, and, thus, must be honoured by all.

She defined honour as the act of ascribing the great respect to something or someone and urged Christians to honour God with their marriages.

“Honour your wife or husband because when you honour your spouse, you honour God,” she charged.

To enjoy marital bliss, she urged couples to emulate Christ’s selflessness, humility, mercy, servant-leadership and love towards the Church in their marriages.

She, therefore, advised husbands to endeavour to love their wives unconditionally and be merciful to them when they offend them in any way; whilst advising wives to be humble and honour their husbands in their speech and conduct.

“Don’t compete with each other in marriage. You are partners and not competitors!” she further stated.

Mrs. Kumi-Larbi also cautioned prospective couples and singles that marriage is a holy estate that should not be taken lightly, but undertaken and entered into in all solemnity, with wisdom and forethought, reverently in the fear of God.

This, according to her, should be done with the clear understanding that marriage was first ordained for the mutual help, fellowship and comfort that the one ought to have for the other, in prosperity and adversity, for the honourable procreation of children and their training in love and obedience to the Lord.

“Marriage is not just about funfair, wedding ceremonies and receptions; it is hard work,” she reiterated.

PENTECOST NEWS