News
Christians advised to live humble lives
• Very Rev Fr Pani
The Chaplain of the Margret Marquart Catholic Hospital at Kpando, Very Rev Fr Emmanuel Pani has called on Christians to channel their lives in humility through Jesus Christ who humbled himself in order to assume man’s humanity.
Preaching the homily on Sunday, Very Rev Fr Pani asked Christians to manifest the glory of God to others through their lives to enable them to accept the message of salvation which Jesus Christ brought to the world.
“ In your life’s journey of faith, you must focus on Jesus Christ and seek Him in the darkest moments of your lives.
“ We must direct our concentration on God and ask for His direction since He is the way the truth, and the life”.
He asked the youth to ask questions about God when in doubt, and remember that the world needed good leaders and mentors who would motivate others and encourage them to lead them out of their predicaments.
He called on the faithful to allow Jesus Christ to lead them through life, adding that,” it is only Jesus Christ who will lead you to become successful in life. Dependence on God is a sign of humility and this demonstrates that without God mortal man is nothing.”
The Chaplain assured that God would restore hope to the hopeless and those distressed, and called on the faithful to pray ceaselessly that the darkness of sin would be removed in their lives.
He encouraged those who were born to poor parents or families not to feel intimidated, but rather be motivated to work hard to change their fortunes.
Fr Pani urged the faithful to re-dedictate their time and lives to the service of God, follow the example of the prophets and remain committed.
“Refrain from becoming obstacles for others to make progress in their Christian lives. As children, you should not follow the advice of bad friends, but do well in your studies to become great in life,” he said.
By Raymond Kyekye
News
Craze for x’mas shopping: Crowded markets, low patronage
Vendors of food and other wares associated with the Christmas celebration have expressed surprise at the low patronage despite the increased number of visitors to some of the major markets across the capital.
Four days to the celebration(Christmas), the markets are filled with various products ranging from food, clothing, livestock and many other stuff, but according to the vendors, patrons are doing more ‘window’ shopping.
The Spectator on visits to some of the markets in the capital, notably the Odawna, Makola, Accra Central Business District, New Town and others made similar observations as shoppers crowd them but did little in terms of purchases.
The paper also observed that majority of vendors, originally selling other wares have switched to product related to the festive season.
What it means is that there are a lot more clothes, food and vegetables, livestock and poultry, toys, firecrackers, drinks of different types and many others on display.
The markets have also stretched to the pedestrian pavement, leaving very narrow spaces for commuters to move about freely.
That, in addition to a few of the female vendors dressed in coloured attires to reflect the occasion, has heightened the euphoria, leaving the low sales as the only headache for the vendors.
Speaking with this paper, they sounded very optimistic, believing that sales would improve in the last few days to the yuletide.
According to them, there was the opportunity to sell beyond Christmas as the New Year celebration offers similar opportunity to trade the same wares.
They urged patrons to throng the markets to shop since prices were quite moderate and products affordable for all.
News
Retirement service for Elder John Ackom-Asante,3 others
Retired Deputy Editor of The Spectator, Elder John Ackom-Asante, was last Sunday honoured by the Church of Pentecost Windy Hills District in Kasoa in the Central Region, with a retirement thanksgiving service, after serving for 26 year as an Elder of the church.
He was honoured with a citation and certificate of service along with three other elders who served in the capacity for various years.
Elder Ackom-Asante was baptised at the Darkuman Central Assembly in 1979 and ordained as an Elder in 1997.
The citation read “Your selfless service, zeal, willingness to relate wholeheartedly and your desire to effect change has gone a long way to shape the lives of many people in the church and the nation over the 26 years of your dedication to the service of the Lord.”
Elder Ackom- Asante held many positions at the Darkuman Central Assembly, Obuasi in the Ashanti Region and Tema, serving in various capacities as youth and evangelism ministry leader and marriage counsellor.
He was the founding member of the Darkuman Christian Fellowship, a member of the Greater Accra Christian Fellowship; member of Bible Society of Ghana; founding member Obuasi Chapter Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International and founding member of New Times Corporation Christian Fellowship and Chaplain, Methodist University Tema Campus 2009- 2010.
As a professional journalist, Elder Ackom-Asante combined effectively and efficiently his duty as a member and elder of the church and the demands of his profession, with admiration from the church, kith and kin, till his retirement on December
From Alhaji Salifu Abdul-Rahaman, Kasoa
