The Methodist Church Ghana, on Sunday, January 12, 2020 cut the sod for the construction of the first Methodist chapel in Dambai, the Oti regional capital at an estimated cost of over GH₵350.000.00 to enhance the propagation of the Gospel in the region. The project, expected to be completed in four months, was financed by the Lay Movement Council of the Methodist Church Ghana.
The Church edifice will include more than 350 seating capacity auditorium, a sanctuary, four offices, Vestry, Changing rooms, Washrooms and Sunday school unit.
The Most Reverend Dr. Paul Kwabena Boafo, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana was assisted by Lay President, Bro. Bernard Clement K. Botwe, cut the sod in Dambai for the construction of the new building and described the event as ‘a significant day in the history of the Methodist in Ghana’.
Most Rev. Dr. Boafo said the Church was not only bringing the spiritual life of the people up-to-date and in the Gospel but was aimed at providing social amenities as well as the development of women and children in the region.
“For the people called Methodist, wherever we go, we go with development. We are coming with development like schools, health, social activities where we will also see to the provision of potable water. We are going to see to the development of the individual especially women, the vulnerable and children.”
The Presiding Bishop pledged the Church’s readiness to support and work hand in hand with government agencies and officials in order to achieve the needed development for the people in the Oti region.
“We also pray that the people that will come out of the Methodist Church will bring about the social development of the people with whom they work. The ministers as well as all church workers who will be agents of change and that will be to the betterment of the people here and that is what we need” he added.
The Presiding Bishop noted that in the 185 years existence of the Methodist Church in Ghana, its presence was not felt in Dambai and the Oti region as a whole urging all Methodists who found themselves in any part of the region ‘to hold onto the Methodist faith and champion the propagation of the gospel’.
He attributed the inadequate number of personnel, the language barrier and the distance of some communities such as Dambai from the Church’s Headquarters as some reasons why the presence of the Church was not felt in some communities and added that the Church was working to go beyond these challenges.
Most Rev. Dr. Boafo on behalf of the Church expressed gratitude to the chiefs and people of Dambai for ‘receiving and accepting’ the Church in the region.
Nana Kwaku Beyennor II, Nifahene of Chonke Traditional Area and Chief of Dambai congratulated the Methodist Church for extending the faith to Dambai to propagate the gospel adding that the step taken by the Church would also in a long way bring development to the area.
Nana Beyennor appealed to the Church to as a matter of urgency put up other facilities such as hospitals and schools in the area and pledged the traditional area’s support in helping the Church take up these projects.
He used the occasion to appeal to the government through the Church in order to transfer a medical doctor to Dambai since the town lacked one and their services. Very Reverend Emmanuel Kwame Awuley, Superintendent Minister of Hohoe Circuit of the Methodist Church Ghana said the membership of the Methodist Church in Dambai which began in March 2019 were about 30 members including students who currently fellowship at an improvised place.
He further stated that the Methodist Church would be established in every part of the country in the next 20 years to come through the hard work of its ministers and members as a whole.
The Most Reverend Dr. Paul Kwabena Boafo was accompanied by Brother Bernard Clement Kwasi Botwe, Lay President of the Methodist Church, Rt. Rev. Michael A. Bossman, Administrative Bishop, Methodist Church Ghana, Rt. Rev. Samuel Ofori-Akyea, Bishop of the Tema Diocese, other Officers of the Methodist Church Ghana, and members from the Tema Diocese and the Hohoe Circuit of the Church.
Source: mybrytfmonline
