CREATING THE WORLD WE WANT; THE ROLE OF THE CHRISTIAN YOUTH

22 years ago, the United Nation commenced the International Youth Day celebration that sought to cerate the platform for discussions around the development of young people, the challenges, the opportunities that exist and many more. Throughout the years of celebration, the IYD has seen many themes like creating safe spaces for young people, transforming education, eradicating poverty through to this year’s Intergenerational Solidarity; creating a world for all ages. More profound in this year’s celebration is the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo declaring August as Youth Development month at the Launch of the new National Youth Policy on August 12, at Anagkazo, Mampong.

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana Young People’s Guild in the Ga Presbytery were not left out of this significant commemoration that tackles issues of young people.

In a virtual meeting by the Media and Publicity Committee of the Ga Presbytery YPG on the International Youth Day, diverse opinions were shared about the role of the young people in the church and how all can take actions towards the attainment of the Agenda 2030 which is the Sustainable Development Goals.

“Intergenerational Solidarity; creating a world for all ages” was the theme for the 2022 International Youth Day celebration across the globe. Meanwhile, the Ga Presbytery YPG special virtual session focused on “Creating the world we want; the role of the Christian Youth.” The role of the Christian youth because, there is the need to identify the specific steps that the youth in the church can take in order to contribute their quota effectively in the society and the globe, and not despising their youth but setting the believers example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity (1 Timothy 4: 12).

In attendance

This special youth day session saw members and leaders of the YPG from the Presbytery as well as the National level taking their turns to share insights on what to be done in ensuring that the Christian youth is not left out of the development process in creating the world we want, and making sure that Christ is projected at the center of it all. Such included the former National President of the Young People’s Guild, Bro Richard Offei, the National General Secretary, Brother Francis Frimpong and his assistant, Brother Lennox Mintah, among others.

On the panel for the discussion was the immediate past Superintendent of the Ga Presbytery, Brother Stanley Toddison, the Superinetndent of the Presbyrey, Brother Sylvanus Meeyeoya Afotey and Brother Richard Okyere, the Secretary of the Ga Presbytery.

Key issues

Talking about the status of the Christian youth in contributing to creating the world we want; it was shared that;

Most of the Christian youth currently are able to contribute their quota because they find themselves in different career spaces that grants the platform to be the light (efficient).
Some young people are unable to use the platforms given them and end up widening the youth engagement gap.
Commemoration of special days have not been identified by some as significant because much awareness has not been created on how all young people in their diversities fit into the spaces for meaningful engagements.
When Christian youth are able to identify their purposes as partners in creation and stewards of their environments, they will appreciate the essence of contributing effectively to creating the world we want.

Key recommendations.

The need for a common ground for the older and young generations to foster development and create the world we want as Christian youth, not forgetting that Christ is our head and everything must be in conformity with the word.
The need to create a world for all ages because young people will not remain young forever so, must take the right steps to developing the world for a conducive environment for all.
Strengthening partnership to share ideas to promote learning that enhances development.
Young people must work hard to serve the community with their resources as a way of helping to achieve the sustainable development goals.
Young people must create the platforms for partnership and conversation that promotes their development and allows for constructive decisions and initiatives with intensive mentorship and guidance.

CONCLUSION

At the end of the discussions that took place on Zoom and Facebook, participants and the panelists pledged to be committed to different activities and objectives that seek to assist in attaining the Agenda 2030 even though they had expressed uncertain views about the possibility of reaching all the 17 goals of the SDGs by 2030. Some of the commitments included providing education and sensitization for good health and well- being, assisting the needy to eradicate poverty, speaking up against injustices and building partnerships for the goals.

It was also stated that, if young people in the church will set examples in their places or work, schools and communities, Christ is preached and characters will be shaped so to create a healthier community which serves all people and discriminates against none. It was all rounded up with Ecclesiastes 11:9- 10 that entreats young people to follow their hearts but not being ignorant of the fact that whatever actions of theirs will be judged and so, the need to go the right ways and be positive influencers and changemakers.

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BUILDING THE CHRISTIAN YOUTH TO BUILD THE GHANA WE WANT.

Ghana Youth Congress in focus…

The more we increase the active participation and partnership with young people, the better we serve them… And the more comprehensively we work with them as service partners, the more we increase our public value to the entire community- Carmen Martinez.

As it has been revealed in many instances that participation is and has been one of the best methods of educating and enables individuals to be equipped with requisite knowledge and skills, and in turn build their capacities for the benefit of themselves and the communities they find themselves in.

In times of technological advancement to promote human development in the spheres of the globe, it has called for the involvement of all persons regardless of status, geographical location amongst others. All of these inventions are tied with humans’ potentials being harnessed and the focus to develop human capacities to make the world a better dwelling place.

With the world recording the highest ever youth bulge with over 1.2 billion that is 16 per cent of the global population, young people between the ages of 15 and 24 or around one in every six persons worldwide falls in this category and the numbers are projected to grow by 7% to 1.3 billion by 2030 which happens to be the target year for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. There have been loads of interventions to address the numerous challenges of these young people and ensure that their potentials are harnessed in all circles, as it serves as the greatest resource for building states.

In this vein, various stakeholders and institutions including young people themselves are putting measures in place to utilise the capabilities of the youth who are termed the future of their communities and partners of today’s development. With the necessary investment being made there is the sure hope of harnessing the demographic dividends.

It is with this necessity that religious entities who play critical roles in the building of individuals in the communities are taking the tasks of intentional capacity building to not only shape their congregations in terms of moral lives but be mindful of their social and economic lives as well. This is how come entities like the All African Conference of Churches in a bid to contribute to building resilient youth in their respective countries, and at large the continent embarks on the continental campaign on youth and African patriotism themed “Africa: My Home, My Future” to inspire young people to be patriotic and harness their talents in the transformation of their countries.

Meanwhile, the Christian Council of Ghana takes a cue from this African initiative to build and shape the minds of Ghanaian youth in the Christian arena as it organized the Ghana Youth Congress as pre-congress towards the All African Youth Congress to take place in October 2022. It was a gathering that saw about five hundred young people from different churches converging at the Pentecost Convention Centre in February 2022 for intensive sessions to inspire and impart for exploits in all circles of deeds. Out of these numbers were eleven (11) young people of the Ga Presbytery YPG who participated in the congress and could not keep the very good messages of transformation to themsleves but to share for the benefit of other young people.

Yes, it was a phase to re-groom the Ghanaian youth to get them thinking differently about Ghana, about development and about influence in all systems. I know the frustrations shared by young people are countless, from education to employment to access to basic amenities, but it was a time to rethink how the little opportunities and very limited resources could be leveraged for greater works because giving up has and can never be the option. Like in the words of the Chairman of the Christian Council, “No one will build Ghana for us but ourselves”.

In that same challenging vein, the second gentleman of the land, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia who graced the occasion during the opening ceremony of the congress states that “now is the time to eschew impossibilities and rather build a mindset of possibilities to help build the nation” and obviously to make it our home and our future. This was stressed several times as it was shown in some presentations that focused on the number of young people risking their lives on the Mediterranean sea just to make it overseas because living conditions in their homeland do not seem hopeful (as some think). That is to say, thousands of young people are resorting to irregular migration, all in the name of making it outside of Ghana (their home country) due to the financial challenges that certainly takes a toll on their standard of living. Aside from moving within Africa, it was shown that a lot of these young people are of the perceptions that better lives are outside Africa and that is where they can seek greener pastures which have led a lot into hastily moving out of their country and unfortunately into troubles.

Meanwhile, a keynote address by the Chairperson of the Christian Council who doubles as the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt. Rev Prof J.O.Y. Mante disclosed that as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have been created to be spiritual, moral, social and environmental witnesses and young people must be conscious to work towards this purpose through many different ways. In the light of witnessing, Christian youth were entreated to begin to look out for the pieces of evidence of the riches in Christ Jesus so that those can proclaim the Lord Jesus to the world. This is where Rev Opoku Baffour stresses that it is becoming difficult for Christian youth to witness to the world as mandated because the evidence of the good things which takes hard work and faith to attain in Christ is not seen and that is why unbelievers find it difficult to believe what is preached to them.

This is the time to combine the faith with hard work and consistency with the hope to attain greater feats so that Christian youth can be influential in their respective circles. Thus, in their homes, academic and working institutions among others. The mediocre mindset and faith without works is not the key to the doors we seek to open, so young people must rise to attach deeds to the faith so to make gains that will show forth the glory of God and in turn witness to the world even automatically.

Participants in this gathering were taken through other sessions like the AU Agenda 2063 that possesses plans of creating the Africa we want, Gender Inclusivity and its essence on our development, entrepreneurship and youth employment, issues of migration, religious and ethnic tolerance then finally, the young people themselves discussing crucial topics and making recommendations to create the Ghana they want and to make the country their home and their future.

Awesome it was; in this gathering of knowledge sharing, networking and building a strong ecosystem of patriotic citizens for mother Ghana and mind-sets of faith plus deeds, that is hard work, not forgetting the Christian values that must be shared with the world through the deeds.

With about 70% Christians in the country and yet encountering lots of crises that can be attributed to attitudes, all the interactions reiterated the need for Christian youth to build their capacities, get involved in the affairs of the nation’s governance so that the journey of working for a home and future is assured. Young Christians must not sit unconcerned when things are not done right with the perception that others are mandated to rule, because God is equally interested in leadership (Exodus 18:20-22, Acts 6:3) and His children cannot be disinterested. We believe that the honest men and capable men that the scripture specifies are within the church and they must be equally interested in ruling, so those dishonest men would not end up making unscrupulous decisions to affect everyone else. Above all, young people have got to make plans to operate in the appropriate times and seasons like in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. Christian youth can prosper to be influential when they operate within the times and seasons set for them…appropriate learning period, the decision-making period and the achievement period; this must not be missed!

Such imparting session with diverse dignitaries present to share stories of inspiration cannot sit with only the participants but the need to lead the change in their Christian fraternities and have a more patriotic youth population that is hungry for change in their country all in the quest for a better Ghana to be home and future. On this note, there were some calls to action.

CALL TO ACTION
• Get involved in the affairs of the country as a Christian youth.
• Maintain a commitment to God and make a difference.
• Build confidence and despise not thy youth (1 Timothy 4:12).
• Be politically informed and diplomatically wise
• Be advocates and build networks to develop skills and create opportunities.
• Use knowledge and guidelines shared for the growth of self and society.
• Build capacity to be influential.

Aside from young people being charged for the next steps, the other stakeholders which are the religious institutions (churches), government and relevant institutions were not left out as many suggestions were made on how to contribute to creating the Ghana we want and largely, the Africa we desire. It is a collective effort that will make way for the society that serves everyone generously, and it lies with the children of God who are partners in creation to do this.

We can build the society we want because Christ has endowed us with proficiencies!

Written by Mavis Naa Korley Aryee, Teshie District.

KNOWING MY YPG

Do two people walk hand in hand if they aren’t going to the same place? (Amos 3:3, MSG).

How well do you know the YPG? O a scale of 1 to 10? Are you in YPG because it is just constitutional? Have you identified your purpose in the YPG yet?

On Tuesday, 29th March 2022, the Superintendent of the Young People’s Guild (YPG) of the Ga Presbytery, Bro. Sylvanus Meeyeoya Afotey addressed the Vredes YPG, La District on the theme: Knowing My YPG. He talked about the genesis of the YPG and what the Guild entails.

He noted that the YPG is a very unique, interesting and educative group among the other generational groups in the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, which seeks to train the youth for the ministry of Jesus Christ.

He briefly spoke about the history of the Guild, noting that Andrews McCutheon Atkinson the founder of YPG was a young accountant from Scotland. The Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in 1938 approved Mr Atkinson who had sacrificed so much to form the YPG. He later introduced “The Christian way” – a monthly newsletter that served as a means of communication in the church for the fact of growth of the congregations in the presbyteries.
The first President of the Guild was Rev. E. A. Bannerman, D. A Puplampu and Andrews McCutheon Atkinson served as the first Secretary-Treasurer and Organizing Secretary respectively.

One important advantage or benefit of the YPG and the PCG as a whole identified by Bro Sylvanus in his presentation stated that, due to the ideology of the PCG and YPG constitution, Guilders are well-groomed to work in most reputable institutions like the Parliament House. He also highlighted the advice of the actor, Fred Amugi, who is also a staunch Presbyterian; that Guilders should not be moved by any denomination prophetically.

YPG is a very unique, interesting and educative group among the other generational groups in the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, which seeks to train the youth for the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Bro Sylvanus encouraged Guilders to work harder because the youth are the core members who can help the church to grow. In times such as this, Guilders are faced with a lot of challenges that are preventing them from attending meetings, such as school and work. He, therefore, advised members to carefully evaluate and look for the best ways they can bring everyone on board amidst their busy schedules.

He further advised members to be extra careful in their relationships as well because being in a leadership position comes with a lot of challenges and temptations.

Finally, he emphasized a few strategies that both Executives and Members can uphold for the sustainability and progress of the guild and beyond. Notably

The Timothy Project will focus on enhancing the grooming of the JY members to YPG. It would create a kind of atmosphere that will help maintain them.
Sustainability of guild members in school- this entails organizing visitations to their respective schools, praying for them, giving them some provisions and calling them often as well.
Furthermore, we must ensure that we liaise with the NUP-G executives both in the secondary schools and universities to follow up on them so that we are sure they don’t join other religious denominations in school.

The YPG is a beautiful family and it is up to us to know it, how to make it work for our various locals and how to make it attractive to draw and maintain our brothers and sisters.

Assuming you are Mr. Atkinson, what would you do differently to make the Guild work?

Special thanks to Vredes YPG, La District for this compilation.

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THE YOUTH IN THE LIGHT OF CHRIST: A SYNOPSIS FOR YOUTH AND STUDENTS’ WEEK CELEBRATION 2022

Dear Rainbow Guilder, March is here! And with joys, shouts and excitement, we are happy to say that the most loved month on the Guild’s calendar is here. It is Youth and Students’ Week.

Before we get carried away with excitement, let us consider the most important aspect of this celebration by defining some keywords in this article.

In the PCG, youth is a person between the ages of 18-30 and typically should be in the Young People’s Guild (YPG). Usually, in almost every local, this is the most vibrant generational group and everybody can’t wait to be part of YPG nor do we also want to leave when it is time to go to YAF.

Light can be defined as a natural or artificial medium that promotes sight and makes things visible. In physics, light is a whole topic on its own (where are my science sharks). We all know that without light, our world would be full of darkness and chaos. Light, depending on the source can be summarized to be the spark of life.

Christ, also known as Messiah is the divine Son of God, Anointed King and Saviour of the world. Jesus Christ being the light of the world, came to show us the way through the darkness of sin into the heavenly Kingdom of His Father. His life is the lamp that guides us in every aspect of our lives with the Holy Spirit opening our eyes to follow the light always and not slip back into darkness.

Therefore, a youth in the light of Christ can be summarised as a person between the ages of 18-30 in the PCG, who has allowed the light of Christ to guide him/her out of darkness, and in turn, reflect the light of Christ to guide others out of the same darkness they came from.

Youth in Christ doesn’t seek to glorify him/herself but the will of God in their lives. Just as our slogan says: “to know His will and to do it”. Doing God’s will means shining in every aspect of our lives and not only on Sundays or when we attend YPG meetings. There is a clear difference between light and darkness and our lives should be that evident to drive away any form of darkness when we encounter it, for darkness has not and will not be able to overcome it (John 1:5, paraphrased).

a youth in the light of Christ can be summarised as a person between the ages of 18-30 in the PCG, who has allowed the light of Christ to guide him/her out of darkness, and in turn, reflect the light of Christ to guide others out of the same darkness they came from.

With this in mind, let us take a look at our Youth and Students’ Week. Over the years, well, since I became a Guilder, there has been this pressure to impress during this Week. ‘Who has the fanciest, entertaining programme?’ ‘Who has the nicest and wowed programme?’ ‘Who has’, ‘who did’…. And the list continues. But Youth and Students’ Week is more than programmes. (And I am in no way saying we should just focus on prayer and Bible study leaving the other aspects, after all, we are youth). But instead of striving to achieve a nice programme outline, striving to meet the pressure demands from other locals, have you ever sat down to wonder, “what impact are we making through our programmes on the church, the youth and the society as a whole?” This is the time we can serve our Creator well (Ecclesiastes 12:1) with everything we have got and this is the time to influence our society as youth in the light of Christ. Impact making, however, shouldn’t be something big that has to be visible and needs a ruler to be measured. It is usually the little things we do as a church that matter.

If truly, we are youth in the light of Christ, let our light shine before Youth and Students’ Week, let our light shine in our programmes during Youth and Students’ Week and let our light shine after Youth and students’ Week. “No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.” (Matthew 5:15, NLT). Every Guilder is called to this mandate, and not only Guild executives. How readily do we attend Guild-related functions outside Youth and Students’ Week? How do we make an impact in our daily lives as Guilders? Is our light shining enough? Let us use this week to reflect and make adjustments in the areas of our lives that are lacking.

With Youth and Students’ Week duly launched and as we begin the Week’s celebrations, let us remember who we are in Christ and live our lives accordingly, making an impact everywhere we go and shining our lights so bright that the world would give glory to our Father in Heaven (Matthew 5:16).

Have a blissful Youth and Students’ Week Celebration.

Go shine forth, Youth in Christ.

iGESIA SUMMIT- A CALL TO EMPOWERMENT FOR SERVICE.

The Ga Presbytery Young People’s Guild of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana held its maiden empowerment and impartation service captioned “iGESIA Summit”.

Earlier in the first month of the year, the Presbytery Executive Committee of the Young People’s Guild organized a summit for its District Executives to be refreshed in critical areas of service as well as be spiritually empowered for the year and beyond, just as stated by the Superintendent, Bro. Sylvanus Afotey, in his welcome statement that the summit was to create an avenue to equip executives spiritually and seek the face of God in the new year and also to go over the roles of the various portfolios. The summit, therefore, saw participants being taken through three major sessions which included;

A talk on Leadership
Interaction in workshop groups and
An Impartation and anointing service.

The Rainbow Superintendent, Bro. Sylvanus Afotey, giving his welcome address.

It was an awesome time in the presence of God and under the guidance of gracious men of faith in the persons of Rev. Andrew Shardow (Ga Presbytery CLAN Director), Rev. Joseph Yaw Asan- Ntow (Ga Presbytery Youth Coordinator) and Mr Richard Kwesi Offei (Former YPG National President) who led various significant sessions at the summit and shared lots of nuggets with the youth leaders.

LEADERSHIP IN PERSPECTIVE.

As leadership skills play a large role in a person’s development and serve as a vital management function that helps to improve an institution’s efficiency, it was prudent and in the right direction that participants of this summit were imparted and revitalized to enhance their skills in their respective positions. Another most important reason was to ignite a level of passion for the work entrusted into the hands of these leaders in a bid to perform amidst the high level of challenges they encounter in their line of service. Like the response of our greeting has always reminded …” service all the way” and in agreement with the fact that everyone wants to see results and not hear reasons why one could not achieve the results.

Mr Richard Kwesi Offei in his presentation had indeed put the leadership in perspective and shared his experience as a leader with all, so to appreciate the challenges and opportunities that lie with going all out in the service participants found themselves in. This reiterates the words of Martin Luther King Jr. that reads “everyone can be great because everyone can serve”; which is to say there is certainly greatness in service.

The Former National YPG President, Mr. Richard Offei addressing the Guilders

The Former National President, therefore, shared what leadership must look like and why the positions the Guild leaders find themselves in must not be toyed with.

If one can lead anywhere as a Presbyterian, they can only start from YPG. This he said is because the Guild provides that platform for real experience and can only open a person up for the rest of the world of leadership.
Self-leadership can be learnt in the YPG and that is why it must be taken seriously.
Leadership is not about control but service.
A person who is not able to handle smaller things is not qualified for bigger ones.
Leadership is not about power but empowerment.
Leadership is not about manipulation but inspiration.
Leadership should be with purpose and not people. The purpose could help drive the people.

After sharing these insights on leadership, there was the need to enlighten the Guilders on what they should consider as individuals in their leadership service. Thus, what a leader must know and do.

Know what you have been called for as a leader.
Know who has called you.
Know yourself, your assignment and your mission, because personal leadership is important in management.
Know the people you’re leading; manage the difficult ones with love and identify beaming potentials to pull along.
Be an example to the Guilders you are leading.
Be accountable in your work.
Take responsibility and
Be a servant leader.

The speaker summed it all up and Guilders could only grasp these and run with, like a lamp to their leading feet and light to their leading skills.

THE WORKSHOP GROUPS.

As the summit sought to equip the participants wholly for the tasks ahead, the organizers created the platform for the various portfolios to interact with able facilitators that will provide guidance as well as answers to questions and clarify slip-ups to aid in producing good results.

In this vein, the Presbytery Youth Coordinator had some time with the District Presidents and the Branch Presidents’ Representatives, The Presbytery Secretary with the District Secretaries, Presbytery Financial Secretary with District Financial Secretaries and Treasurers as the Former Superintendent, Mr. Stanley Toddison, interacted with Protocol Officers and Evangelism secretaries.

TIME FOR IMPART.

Like Paul, the impartation of spiritual gifts for strength was not neglected so that like Timothy, there was a reminder to fan into flame the gift of God possessed through the laying of hands of the council of elders.

It was the best way to seal the impacts and insights the Guild leaders had been armed with as the laying of hands and prayer session was carried out by the courteous CLAN Director of the Presbytery, Rev. Andrew Shardow.

A good thing it was to gather in His presence as a light for direction like the theme rightly captured for the summit “Jesus Christ, the light of the world: His presence as light for direction”.

Rev. Andrew Shardow, CLAN Director, Ga Presbytery

Let us leave you here with the eleventh to thirteenth verses of Paul’s letter in Romans Twelve which cautions; “Never let the fire in you go out. Keep it alive. Serve the Lord. When you hope, be joyful. When you suffer, be patient. When you pray, be faithful. Share with God’s people who are in need and welcome others into your homes.

The Lord who has called you is faithful, and He will do it!

YPG…

Service All The Way!!!!!!!!!!

Written by:

Mavis Naa Korley Aryee, Teshie District.