A good number of Ghanaians living in the Greater Toronto Area, despite the rains, gathered at the Apostles Continuation Church at 10 Belfield Road, Etobicoke-Toronto on last Friday night to pray for the victims of June 3 flood cum fire in Accra and our nation Ghana. This was in response to the vigil called for the victims in recent disaster in Ghana by the Ghanaian Canadian Association of Ontario in conjunction with the Ghanaian Clergy Association of Toronto last week within a short time.
The congregation included Pastors, professionals, the Executives & Board of Advisors of the Ghanaian Canadian Association of Ontario (GCAO), the youth, as well as men and women of all walks of life. They sang, prayed, praised God and comforted themselves with the word of God!
Leading the congregation to the throne of God that night, Rev. Amoah who is the chair of the Ghanaian Ministerial Fellowship of Toronto (GMFT) stressed the need to mourn when there is a calamity especially for the survivors (families) of the dead because of the disaster! He mentioned that, “Disaster is as old as the earth but when it happens the affected nations must rally to God and God would raise the ‘Davids’ for them!” Rev. Amish therefore encouraged all Ghanaians in the midst of our grief to trust God for deliverance!
He emphasized the importance of not appointing accusing fingers as we pray and said, “we need to think about we didn’t do than to think about what we did wrong.” His sermon was preceded by reading of Psalm 142 eloquently by a female youth among the congregation.
Other speakers for the night included Rev Dr Mantey who used the experience of Nehemiah of Bible time who was in captivity in a foreign land but thought about his homeland which was ruins (walls of Jerusalem were broken and gates burned by fire) and prayed to God and did something to help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Neh. 1:2-4) He therefore appealed to Ghanaians in Diaspora to do something for our nation Ghana!
Hon John Bosco, the Consul General of Ghana in Toronto used the occasion to thank all those who made it to the vigil in spite of the inclement weather and also extended condolences to all the affected families in Ghana. He then apprised the people gathered on the efforts by the government of Ghana in helping the victims back home! He then raised the question of how do we prevent such calamities and pleaded with Ghanaians in Diaspora to poll their resources together to implement the wonderful plans Ghana already has on paper to rescue the drainage system back home! Hon Bosco lamented the inability of Ghana to effectively implement her plans for development!
Emmanuel Duodu of the GCAO used the occasion to launch a $25,000 targeted funds to be raised within one month by the community which would be matched by the government of Canada to be sent to help directly the victims in Ghana. An impromptu appeal funds by Rev. deGrraft that night yielded over S2,000! Churches are to hold appeal for funds among their congregations during the coming weeks.
A special youth praise group from the Ghana Pentecost Church in Toronto rendered songs of praise during the program.
The President of GCAO, Wofa Yaw Nyarko thanked all those who supported that vigil at such a short notice.