NPP grateful to God for successful conference
A special thanksgiving service was held on Sunday for members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the Jesus Temple of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) in Koforidua following the party's successful 26th National Delegates Conference held at the Koforidua Technical University last Friday and Saturday
In attendance were President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia, newly elected national executive, made up of the National Chairman, Mr Freddie Blay; the First Vice, Madam Rita Talata Asobayire; the Third Vice, Mr Michael Omari Wadie, and the National Women's Organiser, Madam Kate Gyamfua.
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The rest were the General Secretary, Mr John Boadi; the National Organiser, Mr Sammy Awuku; the National Youth Organiser, Nana Boakye, popularly known as Nana B, and the National Treasurer, Mr Kwabena Abankwah-Yeboah.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Eric Kwakye Daffour, and his deputy were also at the service.
Members of the Council of State, the Chief of Staff, Mrs Akosua Frema Osei Opare; Ministers of State, including the Senior Minister, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo; NPP Members of Parliament (MPs), as well as regional and constituency executives, were also in attendance.
Other party faithful trooped to the Jesus Temple at Galloway in Koforidua to attend the about two-hour service.
Service
The service started at exactly 11 a.m., with the first Scripture reading by Mr Blay and the second by Madam Asobayire from
Matthew 25:15-20 and Matthew 25:21-28, respectively.
The Jesus Temple Family Choir gave a beautiful rendition of 'You made a way' by Travis Green to the packed auditorium of NPP stalwarts and supporters.
Sermon
The General Overseer of the Jesus Temple, Reverend Dickson Tufuor Sarpong, delivered the sermon on: 'Stewardship'.
He defined a steward as “someone who manages another person's property”.
He said politicians, policemen, nurses, among others, were all stewards and would one day be required to give account of their stewardship.
Taking his Scripture from 1 Corinthians 4:1-2, Rev. Sarpong stated that "our success in life will be measured by our stewardship — how well we take care of what was entrusted into our hands".
Citing more scriptures, including Genesis 1:1, Psalm 24:1, Hagai 2:18, he said every single thing on earth belonged to God, as He is the Creator of heaven and earth.
"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord. We are only caretakers, even to our children. Our lives are not ours. One day, we will account to God," he stated.
The overseer enumerated the five principles of stewardship — gift, capacity, work, accountability and reward.
On the gift principle, he said: "God never committed anyone to this earth empty. He gave everybody something. He planted a seed in you. Some look at what they don't have. Whatever you feel so passionate about is your gift and you must pursue it. Push it until you get results. Some are ordained to be politicians."
On capacity, he explained that God gave to everyone according to his or her capacity, adding: “You must discover what you have and increase your capacity.”
Touching on the work principle, Rev. Sarpong said "if you don't work, you can't do anything. Hard work is so important and it's by hard work that you can develop your capacity".
He said every steward would be made to account for his or her service one day and entreated all to use their positions to promote a positive cause for the country.
Qualities of good stewards
He urged the members of the NPP to exhibit the key qualities of good stewards, including faithfulness, reliability, loyalty, dependability and trustworthiness.
"When you are faithful, whether it is seen or not, promotion will come from God because He rules in the affairs of men. We will become men and women of integrity if we stand for the truth.
“A faithful steward does not expose the weakness of his master. He keeps confidential issues to himself. He promotes goodwill for the company. He sacrifices his life for what it does. Our nation needs people who will sacrifice," he said.
President Akufo-Addo
In his brief remarks, President Akufo-Addo expressed his appreciation to the church and the General Overseer for welcoming the NPP and its members to the service.
He said he was happy with the sermon on stewardship.
The President called on all to pray for the new national executive of the NPP to foster unity in the party.
Presentations
The church presented a beautifully framed portrait of the President to him, after which Rev Sarpong said a word of prayer for members of the party.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Daffour, made a cash donation of GHc10,000 to the church on behalf of the NPP.
Juma prayers
Earlier on Friday, Mr Daffour and other party members had joined the Muslim community for the Juma prayers at the Koforidua Central Mosque.
