Youth advised to eschew vices
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, Right Reverend Dr Seth Senyo Agidi, has advised the youth to eschew the sense of fear, laziness, procrastination, excuses among others, saying: “Excuses are garbage,” capable of making them keep away from success.
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Opening the first National Youth Leaders Conference of the E.P Church on the theme, “Breaking New Grounds; Now is our turn as youths” at Peki Blengo in the South Dayi District of the Volta Region at the weekend, Rt Rev. Dr Agidi said, “Our youth must now be looking at a new paradigm shift as society is becoming more complex”.
He said the world was witnessing challenging times where hard work, perseverance, creativity, critical thinking, patience, dedication, honesty, integrity and other virtues were no longer cherished values but instead had given way to instant results, tricks, laziness, cheap ways of doing things, corruption, nepotism, short cuts to riches and cutting corners which were more valued.
Rt Rev. Dr Agidi said it was a wake-up call to the youth to become “creative actualisers” and be prepared to overcome enemies and hindrances of breaking new grounds.
Strategic plan
He announced that the church had completed a strategic plan with a new vision to be dynamic agents of God to lead in the Great Commission and thereby be self-sustaining and advance a mission to propagate the gospel holistically.
“Our worship services have become entertainment sport with emphasis on miracles, sowing seeds, shouts of Amen, Praise the Lord and the mantra of ‘I receive it’ as if God is a rewarder of laziness”, he said.
He said, “Everybody wants to reap where he/she did not sow. Something is basically wrong with the way religion is delivered in our time”, and, therefore, charged the youth to reinvent themselves to create a better situation to bring about a positive change.
In an address, the acting Deiga of Peki, Mr David Bansah pledged the support of the chiefs and people to help restore the church as a religious institution that promotes discipline, education and development, stressing that schools must reinforce discipline that the church was noted for and that the youth should be motivated to remain at home than to migrate to urban cities only to find themselves sleeping in uncompleted buildings.
Youthful exuberance
The Youth Programme Officer of the church, Rev. Eric Gle asked the youth to channel their youthful exuberance in pushing development in the church and the community at large.
He said the lives of the youth of today were ridden with anxieties, identity crisis, relationship breakdowns, conflicts, stress, social vices and sensuality, adding that the exploding population and the fast-paced growth rate had left many of the youth desperate.
The President’s nominee as South Dayi District Chief Executive, Ms Ella Boateng urged the youth to be spiritually inspired after the delegates’ conference to enable them to discharge their energies into productive sectors.
