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This is a true story of a young man in one of the rural areas of Ghana.

Kojo’s childhood experience was a rough one. His father left home when he was 12 years old and so he was sent to live with his grandfather who was an idol worshipper; that was how he dropped out of school.

As a boy, Kojo never had friends to play with. Coming from the house of idols created some fear about him among the children of his neighbourhood, as a result, he had no friends and would often be found playing by himself. This made him feel different and lonely. It also created in him a sense of rejection.

“I would try to talk to people and make friends,” says Kojo, “but they would just avoid me. They see me as weird, and gross.” Kojo felt like an animal.

“I have nothing to look forward to, no one cares for me, no one loves me“; Kojo often thought.

“No matter how hard I tried, all I knew was pain, hurt, misery and loneliness.”

He would go out and look upwards to the skies and shout to God in heaven to give him one reason he shouldn’t take his own life. On one of such days, Kojo heard an inner voice, so loud and yet peaceful, that said, “Don’t do this, for I have plans for you,”

Kojo continued to have terrible treatment from his grandfather, since he was not interested in the fetish and idol business. He failed to learn the art of idol worship and so was beaten and deprived of food for days. On the contrary, Kojo loved to hide and sneak to Church to listen to the preaching there.

He was always encouraged after church and felt peace in his heart from the God of love who was very different from the gods his grandfather served, who were ruthless, and would be quick to inflict pain and even meted out death for offences committed.

The pastor of the local church in his village, not too long ago, invited the Jesus Film team from the Bible Society of Ghana to come and minister, and during the altar call, Kojo was among the multitude who rose to commit their lives to Christ. He later joined the church and participated in the Faith Comes by Hearing (FCBH) session.

His grandfather was highly disappointed and attempted to harm him spiritually but was unsuccessful. He claimed Kojo’s newfound God was powerful and all efforts to destroy him had failed.

Kojo’s desire to hear the Word of God led him to participate in the literacy class in the church. Within 6 months, he had mastered basic reading skills. This, therefore, qualified him to own his Bible, under a special program called the E2E.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank the team who came to our area to show the Jesus film, my life has changed completely”; Kojo shares. He now serves in the church, after his grandfather finally sacked him from the house. Thankfully, his mother’s business is doing well now and so with her help he has gone back to school.

Dearly Beloved in the Lord,

Today is United Bible Societies Day of Prayer. It is a day set aside by all Bible Societies to pray for Bible work in the world.For us in the Bible Society of Ghana is organizing a National Prayer Marathon today. Join us today wherever you are and in whatever language to pray on any of the following topics:

PART 1 :  SUICIDE among the youth. May the Lord have mercy on our youth, parents, and school authorities in the light of recent development in this area. Let us pray that parents, the Church and schools will be awake to this distributing phenomenon and come up with solutions to curb the trend

1. EXAM malpractices. Our wards will soon be taking exams. Let us pray that the relevant authorities will effectively deal with cheating and related malpractices. Let us pray that parents, students, school authorities W.A.E.C officials and invigilators will all cooperate to eradicate this menace.

PART 2

1. YOUTH – Let us pray for our youth and the national agricultural sector using the words of PSALM 144: 12-15.
2. Prayer for a transformational character and good peers among other youth
3. Pray for the youth to make God’s Word the standard of their life
4. Let us pray for revival among the youth to desire God more or the desire to do right things in their generation
5. Let us pray for the youth to become gifted leaders with a pledge to live by integrity.
6. Pray against the influence of occultism and prostitution among the Youth

Social Agenda (2)

PART 1

1. Pray that our leaders will find solutions to the filth and degradation around us and that Ghanaians will have a change of attitude on cleanliness in our homes, towns and cities.
2. Pray that the ministers will find solutions to the dangers posed by galamesy and pollution of our river bodies.
3. Media Sanity & orderliness

PART 2

1. INDISCIPLINE on our roads and role of Okadas. Let us ask for wisdom for the relevant authorities to handle this menace in an effective manner.
2. Robbery on our highways and in our towns appears to be taking an upward trend and a few security agents have been killed recently. Please pray for our security agencies that they will be equal to the task assigned to them as they protect life and property and that they in will know God’s protection.

 PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH (3)

PART 1

Ask God in His loving mercy, and by His saving grace, to revive the Church and more churches to be established Ask God to give each member the heart to loath sins as true disciples of the Lord

PART 2

1. Ask God to raise more men and women who are genuine Kingdom builders for the Mission.
2. Ask God for the salvation of SOULS and for their commitment to the course of His Kingdom.

PART 3

1. IMPACT of the church in Ghana. Let us pray for our church leaders at all levels instead of simply criticizing them and that they will fulfil the mandate God has entrusted to them. May we be focused on the Great Commission which is fast becoming the Great Omission.
2. Let us pray that we Christians shall be salt and light in Ghana and beyond and shall avoid compromises and copying the ways of the world. May we be delivered from false prophets and ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing. “Lord gives us a revival!”

 AGENDA GHANA (4)

PART 1

Pray against outbreak of killer diseases in our Nation and West African. Pray for steady recovery from the present economic recession. Pray against natural disasters that are gathering momentum.

PART 2

1. Pray for those who are in authority for wisdom and guidance.
2. BREAKAWAY group from the eastern corridor especially around the VOLTA region.

Kindly pray for wisdom for government to handle this development described as treason in some quarters Let us pray for our political leadership both the party in power and the opposition for wisdom as they lead this nation. May they put the nation above party and partisan interests and focus on national development.

1. Let us pray for our president Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo that he will have the needed wisdom, health, strength and energy to run the affairs of Ghana in line with God’s will and with integrity.
2. Let us pray for leadership at district, municipal and metropolitan levels that our leaders will rule with integrity and in the best interest of the nation. There are rumors of bribery in some quarters even in this new era.
3. Pray the Almighty God to show mercy on Ghana and save her from backward sliding.
4. Let us pray that in our quest to find funding we shall not fall to the bait and favours from quarters that will entice Ghana to join OIC and similar bodies.
5. Thank God for 60^th Anniversary of Ghana
6. Election of a new Chief Justice and other appointments to be made by the President

PART 3

BIBLE SOCIETY OF GHANA / UNITED BIBLE SOCIETIES

That God should supply donors; Churches and individuals with resources to help the work of Bible

1. Strength for BSG Council and Committee and Staff to continue the mandate of Making God’s Word Available and Affordable.
2. Global Bible work and leadership of fellowship– Philadelphia Promise
3. World Assembly 2022 in Ghana and preparations
4. Flow of resources and capacity of personnel to the fellowship to meet the expected needs of scripture work

By Patience Gbeze, GNA

Accra, Feb. 27, GNA – The Most Reverend Dr Robert Aboagye-Mensah, a former Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, has admonished people in leadership positions to know when they are done and exit honourably.

He said: “most leaders do not know when to exit because they do not know what they were called to do”.

The Most Rev. Aboagye-Mensah, who said this at the induction service of the newly appointed officials of the Bible Society of Ghana (BSG), said “there are leaders who are so confused about their call and do not know how to exit”.

The service, which was held at the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, Dansoman Congregation, was to climax this year’s Bible Week celebration on the theme, “Come Let us Reason Together, The Bible Way”.

The Former Presiding Bishop, therefore, urged all leaders to exit honourably when their time came.  

The appointed officials are Dr Joyce Rosalind Aryee, Chief Executive Officer of Salt and Light Ministries as the President of the Society; Dr Steve Asante, the immediate past President of the Ghana Baptist Convention, as First Vice President.

Others include Apostle Peter Okoe Mankralo, President of the Apostolic Church-Ghana, as the Second Vice President; Mrs Efua Ghartey, a Corporate Lawyer, maintained her position as the Chairman of the National Council of the BSG, and Mr J.N.B Tetteh, a Retired Banker, as a Vice Chairman.

In all, 16 Council members and 36 committee members from various church denominations were also inducted to have oversight responsibilities over the operations of the Society.

The Very Reverend Francis Amenu, the District Pastor of the E.P Church, Dansoman Congregation, who performed the induction rites, said the officials were called by the Lord to be at the helm of affairs to produce and distribute His word (the Bible) to every corner of the word and urged them to deliver exemplary service to achieve the Society’s mandate.

Dr Joyce Aryee, on behalf of other appointees, said their appointment was a big responsibility but also a great privilege to serve the society.

She pledged the commitment of members saying they would join hands with the Holy Spirit and work together to ensure their usefulness throughout their tenure.

Mrs Elizabeth Taylor-Sampson, the Administration and Human Resource Manager of BSG, said every year they celebrated the Bible Week to promote unity in diversity in the word of God, family and the Church.

The Week, she said, was also to raise funds for the activities of the Society and expressed her gratitude to the past executives for their committed service to the Society.

For the first time, Ghana has been chosen as the venue for the 2022 UBS World Assembly. The World Conference would host National Bible Societies from 200 countries.

South Africa is the only other African country to have hosted this global conference.

The BSG is a non-denominational Christian organization registered under the Trustees Act, 1962 of the Republic of Ghana.

Caption:

Pictures of The Most Reverend Dr Robert Aboagye-Mensah, a former Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana and Dr Joyce Rosalind Aryee, newly appointed President of BSG attached      

GNA

List of Officials

Glory be to God for His mercies and abundant blessings he has shown us.The year 2016 has been purely by God’s grace every step of the way.

The Bible Society of Ghana held a lot of activities in the past year, such as the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Ga Bible and Bible Week celebration in churches across the country.
Cherished donor, through your generous donations towards Bible translations, a good progress has been made with the translation of the Gurune Bible which began in the year 2014. By God’s grace, the first scripture portion in the book of Mark is ready for publication.
The review of the Akan Bibles, that is the Asante, Akuapem and Fante, have been completed and ready for publication in early 2017.
In the area of distribution, the BSG in partnership with the Crossway Publishers International, distributed over 5000 English Standard Version Study Bible to 23 Theological Institutions across the country.
And for the first time, we are meeting the target of distributing 600,000 Bibles exclusive of Bibles distributed for free.
The BSG continues to make a great impact at the United Bible Societies front. To attest to that, the BSG was, at the 2016 World Assembly held in Philadelphia, USA, voted to host the next Assembly in 2022. In November, 2016, Mrs. Efua Ghartey, the Chairman of the BSG Board and Vice Chairman of the UBS Council was also elected as the Chairman of the UBS Council.
Another feat was achieved when I was also re-appointed as Chair of the West African Bible Societies Affinity Group. We give glory to God.
The Bible Society of Ghana also hosted a number of UBS programmes in the country, notably among which are, Story Based Trauma Healing workshop and the Fundraising and communications workshop all held in Accra.
Our relationship with the church in Ghana has been tremendous with more Heads of churches participating in our events and availing themselves to be used at different times.
Over one thousand new members were raised as members of the Society in the year 2016 under an aggressive membership drive embarked on by the Communication and Resource Mobilization Department.
The BSG has been recognized as a Society which has upheld the African Biblical Leadership Initiative Forum and Ghana has now become a reference point for other Bible Societies. The ABLI Forum for the Youth was held in Accra and for the first time also in Kumasi. The participation of the schools was massive at both events.
Thank God for the many volunteers who have willingly supported Bible work. The work is not yet done; we are setting higher targets and objectives for 2017. In every way, God is blessing the Bible work and we will continue to humble ourselves to him.
To all true Bible lovers, let us seek peace, work for peace and pursue peace, as we go to the polls to elect leaders for our nation. Let us not join any conspiracy or activity that will disturb the peace of our nation
I am thankful to the Board, Committees and the hardworking staff and our faithful registered members and collaborators and above all to the Church in Ghana. We wish you the blessings of God
God has greater things for us; let us gird up our loins to embrace His greater blessings, for our vision is not yet realized till we have a Bible in every language and format of choice.
Happy New Year!

Rev. Dr. Erasmus Nii Bonne Odonkor
General Secretary

The Holy Bible in Twi (Ghana) – Very easy to use – Single mode or parallel mode display (side-by-side) Please click here to  [ddownload id=”1161″]

The Bible Society of Ghana for many years has been in active partnership with the churches in Ghana to promote the Word of God. This partnership started in the year 1964 when series of meetings were held by representatives of the churches in Ghana with the purpose of ascertaining the need for an autonomous Bible Society and how such a Society should be organized to ensure the support of the whole Church in Ghana and yet be the servant of every individual Church.

Every year, the Church joins in the celebration of Bible Week, a week set aside to thank God for the gift of the scriptures and admit the relevance of the Bible in our daily lives. The week is additionally celebrated to raise funds for Bible Work in Ghana. The doors of many churches are opened to us, as we join to celebrate together with them, thanking God for this gift and promoting unity in diversity among churches.

The Church in its relations with the Bible Society of Ghana also makes modest donations to the work of the Bible Society of Ghana every year. These donations have gone a long way to help make the Word of God available and affordable all over the country.

Furthermore, the Bible Society of Ghana has received immense support from the Church in the work of Bible Translation in that they support us with experts in Bible work and theologians who aid in the careful translation of the Bible and eventual publishing. The Church has gone ahead to allow its members, including some Heads of churches, to make up our Council and Committee members. These have, over the years, given good counsel to the Society.

The participation of Heads of Churches and their members in our Annual General Meetings held in August (previously May) every year has been an encouragement to us and goes a long way to convince us that the Church is interested in the work we do as a Society.

The Bible Society of Ghana marked her Golden Jubilee Anniversary in 2015 with a number of Church leaders warmly receiving us and coming together in the various regions to celebrate 50 years of Bible Work. At the service for the grand launch of the Golden Jubilee Anniversary in February 2015, were six Heads of churches to support the BSG and its operation.

During the African Biblical Leadership Initiative Forum (ABLI), hosted in Ghana in the year 2014, the Bible Society of Ghana saw immense participation from the Church and Local Council of Churches. This forum was organized to promote Biblical leadership principles & practice in Africa.

In February this year, the Ministry of Finance requested the assistance of the Bible Society of Ghana to arrange an interactive session with the leadership of Churches in Ghana with the objective of briefing them on the state of the Ghanaian Economy. This meeting recorded a massive participation of 103 Church leaders amongst whom were five Heads of Churches.

The presence of the Church was even bigger at the Final Thanksgiving Service in September, 2015, to climax the Anniversary celebrations.

The BSG and the Church are united by a common interest and that is the BIBLE. We believe the Word of God has the power to transform and shape lives.

Church leaders, over the years have encouraged us to play a prominent role in uniting the front of the Church, to bring churches together for the purpose of a common understanding and also speak with one voice.

The Church’s expectation is that the Bible Society of Ghana (BSG) will do a bit more. It is reassuring that the BSG is careful not to move away from her core mandate of making the Word of God available and affordable to all and encouraging its use to transform lives.

The Society has come a long way in achieving its mandate, and this has been, in no small way, possible through the immense support of the Church. The BSG cannot be grateful enough. However, in our mutual quest to make the Bible relevant in our time and for generations to come, we pray for an even greater involvement in Bible Engagement and Bible Advocacy Programmes.

“The Lord reward your labour in the vineyard. (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Rev. Erasmus Nii Bonne Odonkor
General Secretary
The Bible Society of Ghana

BSG held a literacy training program for the Dagaare community at the Blessed Mary of Passion Guest House in Jirapa in the Upper West Region. The participants came from Wa, Kaleo, Nandom, Nadowli, Lawra, Jirapa, Guri, Jankori and other Dagaare communities.

They were take through various topics such as Biblical Principles of Working with Adults, Basis for Literacy, Witnessing and Discipleship and How to start Literacy Classes among others.

It is worthy to note that the initial thirteen persons who were trained have on their own recruited sixty-five more persons from their various communities for the project.

The literacy project is one of the ways The Bible Society of Ghana helps our communities to read and understand the Bible in their local language.

A similar training will take place in two other locations in Wa soon.