By
Julius K. Satsi, GNA
Accra, Sept. 14, GNA – Mr Samuel Kofi Dzamesi,
the Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs on Friday urged the second
batch of Christians embarking on pilgrimage to holy sites of Israel to follow
the rules at the various points.
The Minister said abiding by the rules would
boost the confidence of both the Ghanaian and Israeli governments to
continuously create the opportunity for others to also visit the holy sites to
build up their faith.
“Don’t do anything that will jeopardise the
programme… Let us go as pilgrims and come as pilgrims,” Mr Dzamesi stated
during the pre-departure briefing at the Social Aviation Centre in Accra, where
pilgrims wait before proceeding to the Kotoka International Airport for departure.
Mr Dzamesi said government was committed to
ensuring that at least all Christians visit the holy sites of Israel to enhance
their spiritual lives and also pray for the nation’s progress.
He urged the 44 pilgrims to continuously pray
for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the nation as a whole, especially
as they walk in the path of the Lord Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.
The Minister said the future of the initiative
was very bright as the Ministry looked forward to increasing the number of
pilgrims to 1,000 pilgrims next year as against 215 pilgrims this year and 50
last year.
Mr Victor Satuh, the Marketing, Business and
Product Development Manager, One People Travel (the agency assisting the
Ministry for the pilgrimage) took the pilgrims through the rules and the travel
routes.
He urged the pilgrims to adhere to the various
security checks to be conducted at the checkpoints, saying that, if the number
of pilgrims rose to 1,000, it would be much easier to hire plane.
Some of the pilgrims, in sharing their
expectations with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), expressed their gratitude to the
government for making it possible for them to visit the places they had been
reading about in the Bible.
Madam Esther Konadu, a member of the Ola
Cathedral of the Catholic Church in Tamale said, “My expectation is to
encounter Christ and have the opportunity to pray for the government, my family
and for myself”.
She expressed her eagerness to see where Jesus
was born in Bethlehem, where he was baptised in the Jordan and where he was
crucified at Golgotha.
Mr Emmanuel Akuamoah, a member of the Church
of Pentecost in Accra said he considered the opportunity as a privilege to see
where the Messiah he had been serving was born and the empty tomb he was laid
in.
He urged all Christians to make good use of
this opportunity and visit the holy sites of Israel to enhance their spiritual
lives in the Lord.
Mrs Mary Lawson, a member of the Apostolic
Church, Ghana at Adenta, said she had read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation
since childhood, now she was determined to see the places that were mentioned,
adding that, the pilgrimage was a privilege to see those places.
GNA