Christians Must Inspire Hope In Difficult Times – Rev. Joyce Aryee
Founder of Salt and Light Ministries, Rev. Joyce Aryee, has called on Christians to inspire hope in times of trouble instead of joining the band of complaints.
She explained that Christians must criticise when times were difficult but needed to do it in ways desired by God.
At a symposium by the Ga Presbytery of the Victory Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in Adenta last Friday, Rev. Aryee — once a Minister of State during the PNDC era — observed that the country had faced difficult periods before, but people who believed in God survived.
The symposium, dubbed: “Christian Mission in a Pluralistic World”, was part of the centenary celebration of the Ga Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.
Complaints
Rev. Aryee said: “We need to hold each other responsible for the way things are going, but I would like to encourage us, as children of God, that we are not supposed to join the litany of complaints ongoing in the country.
“We complain too much in this country. We are like the children of Israel in the desert who were leaving Egypt, but are still remembering the cucumbers and beautiful food left behind in Egypt,” she said.
She noted that a child of God who complained was actually undermining the power of God to make all things possible in difficult times.
She said Christians were the people of hope, and for that reason needed to make others know that there had been worse times before in this country.
“Do you remember the Rawlings chain in the 80s where Ghanaians queued for items such as fuel, milk, sugar and kenkey?
“We have lived through those times before and we have survived because as Christians, we believed in God and for that reason we are blessed,” she said.
She observed that February to May was a lean season and so if local foodstuffs were expensive, it was not only because of fuel cost, but rather the season.
“That is why as people of hope, we must live our lives in such a way that, in spite of all other faith, we Christians could walk with our chests out not because of arrogance but because we know who we believe in.
“And that we are persuaded that God will do for us everything God has promised,” she added.
Peaceful coexistence
A Research Fellow at the Akrofi Centre for Inter-faith Studies and Engagement in Africa (CISEA), Rev. Johnson Mbillah, said Christians needed to work and live together with other religious groups to be able to promote peaceful coexistence in society.
He said in an attempt to coexist with other religious faiths, Christians should not forget the difference in religious pluralism, but rather understand them.
He added that the philosophy of Christianity was to bring everyone closer to Christ, and that was what Christians should do in the 21st century.
Source: graphic.com.gh
