Count Us Out...Prayers Can Be Heard By God Irrespective Of Venue

The President of the Catholic Bishop Conference of Ghana, Joseph Osei Bonsu has called on government to rather expend the monies that might be alloted for the Christian Community to embark on a pilgrimage to Israel, to deprived areas in the country to help develop those communities.

Speaking in an interview with Okay FM, Bishop Joseph Osei Bonsu explained that it is unnecessary for such sums of monies to be doled out to Christians to travel to Israel at the expense of improving the lives of the marginalised and underdeveloped sectors of the economy.

Reports trickled in last Thursday from news sources that the government was alloting an amount of $2 million to fund the travel of some Pastors to Israel to allegedly pray for the country and President John Dramani Mahama.

According to a Daily Guide publication on March 14, 2013, “each Pastor would be given $10,000 amounting to $2 million, to cover their cost of air fare, hotel bills, feeding and perdiem.”

The report further revealed that “on February, 15, 2013, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, who is currently the Minister of Youth and Sports, wrote on the letterhead of the State Protocol Office inviting Christian bodies to select nominees for this rare trip.

In the letter (Reference number SPO. C/09) signed by him and addressed to one of such Christian bodies, a copy of which is available to Daily Guide, he said “The Government of the Republic of Ghana has secured sponsorship to take two hundred (200) Ghanaians from the Christian Community on a pilgrimage to Israel. Your Council has been allocated ten (10) slots from the list.”

But the Catholic Church has distanced itself from government’s offer.

According to Bishop Osei Bonsu, it is virtually unadvisable for any Christian to accept such an offer since prayer when rendered to the Most High in any part of the nation will be heard by Him.

He further explained the exact position of the Catholic Bishop Conference of Ghana on the subject.

“Our position is that if Christians will go some place to pray or not, it's not government’s duty. It is not part of the work that government is mandated to do. Secondly, the money that we are going to waste on the 200 people to travel abroad or to Israel; that money can be used for other appropriate venture.”

“It is unimportant to spend too much on those 200 people to travel to Israel to go and pray. It is not just Pastors but all Christians. Our position is that we won’t participate,” he stressed.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana