Christians must show compassion in these times
On Sunday, November 6, the premises of Power of Worship International located on the Spintex Road in Accra was filled with many people in and outside the community.
On a regular Sunday, about 1,000 members throng the premises to worship, but the number quintupled when the church opened its doors for the second edition of the Free Compassion Boutique.
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Videos posted on social media platforms showed many people scrambling for some of the many clothes and accessories displayed on mannequins at the church’s forecourt.
Although most churches embark on charity drives, Sunday’s event took a different form as participants could scan through the collection and choose their sizes.
There were different fabrics (laces and African prints included), clothes for men, women and children, hats, shoes, bags and other accessories, most brand new (with tags) or slightly used.
Like a modern boutique, they were arranged in sizes and colour tones on mannequins, shelves and stands.
In an interview with The Mirror last Tuesday, Prophet Daniel Amoateng, Founder of the church, explained that “this is the season for Christians to show empathy to their neighbours”.
He said Christianity was about giving and showing love and the current economic crisis made it more important for believers to share no matter how little.
He said the first edition of the Free Compassion Boutique, where church members brought new clothes and accessories to be given out for free, was held last year but it was only members of the church who participated.
“I realised that the majority of our members do not need these clothes so we decided to open it up to the public and we were overwhelmed by the numbers. It shows how much people needed such an intervention. In one of the comments on social media, someone asked if that was really Accra, because people were shocked by the scramble for the clothes.
“At some point we couldn’t control the crowd, so the Compassion Department, which is the charity arm of the church that put this event together, has decided that the next free boutique will be organised on weekdays where we can have the full car park as display area,” he said.
Prophet Amoateng said originally, the church planned that it would be an annual event, but feedback from last Sunday’s event showed the extent to which people needed the support, hence the church’s decision to organise another one in December.
“After the videos went viral, many of my friends and some celebrities said they would want to be part of the next event so we are hoping to serve a lot more people in December. To control the crowd, we will provide seats and call the aged first, then we follow with first come, first served,” he explained.
The church also paid utility bills for some of the people who came around.
According to Prophet Amoateng, that was also not new in the church as after each service, the Compassion Department presented rice, bottled water and paid utilities for members who could not afford them.
“Any member of the church knows that is the culture here and we do the selection in the open, so we do not get complaints of favouritism. During the service, we ask for people who need help and give the items or cash in the open,” he explained.
He added that the church believed that its role was more than just preaching about salvation, saying, “I always tell my congregation that if you can’t invite me to dinner or lunch, don’t invite me to church. Christianity is about our actions, not what we preach.”
He expressed gratitude to the team which put the event together, donors and members of the church for willingly giving out their belongings in such difficult times.
