The London Ghana Seventh-day
Adventist church's ability to raise money for the Lord hit a record
high
in 2007 as members raised over one hundred thousand
pounds (£100,000.00)
during
their church's annual fund raising programme.
Dubbed
'The Annual Harvest', members are encouraged
by church leadership to count their blessing over the past year and accordingly
offer a 'Harvest' to the Almighty God for His protection, forgiveness of sin, and
blessings.
"The
giving
spirit
of the nearly five hundred members has been fantastic
and inspirational," stated senior pastor, Dr Emmanuel Osei. This year sees continued
development since the establishment of the London Ghana Adventist church
in
the
UK back in 1993.
Members of the church have contributed immensely
financially to,
among other things, acquire their own place of worship.
The new
church dedicated in
June last year saw many prominent figures
of the world-wide church and the Ghanaian political set-up gracing the occasion.
The 'Harvest'
was preceded by a three-week "Stewardship Capital Campaign" led
by Pastor
Emmanuel Poakwah
an experienced
and successful Church Stewardship Campaign
consultant from
the South Ghana Conference
of the
church in
Accra. His
lectures focused on reasons
for which Adventists should put God
first in all their dealings particularly
in what God has entrusted to them.
The church's
financial records
indicate that over the past
five years, there has
been a substantial and steady increase of nearly thirty percent every year
in the
monies raised
by members of this church. This has allowed
the church
to be
able to
expand both its facilities
and its ministries.
Dr
Osei observed
that the
giving spirit of church members,
to a large extent, is determined by
their level of spiritual growth. "With
the unity and love
that has prevailed in this church over the years, we can do more than we
are doing now to the glorification of God," he acknowledged.
The day
itself was
a joyous one for the members who had been given fund raising
envelopes to solicit funds from
not only Adventists but
also from friends
and colleagues.
With members clad in a cloth designed purposely for
the official
opening of the church the atmosphere was inspirational. The
beaming faces
of members,
including children and the
youth were a testimony of
the Lord's
presence among His people. Members
praised the Lord in songs and dancing
to bring forth onto the Lord, their thanksgiving
and 'Harvest'.
At the end, some members observed that "as we are progressing every year in our giving
to the
Lord with almost the same numerical strength, then by God's grace we
will hit about £130 thousand or more
next year".