Accra, April 17, GNA - Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Deputy Minister of Information, on Monday said the spate of conflicts in neighbouring countries should warn Ghanaians to be vigilant in preserving the current relative peace that the nation was enjoying.

Speaking at a church service to crown a three-day Easter Convention by the Hope Baptist Church in Chantan, Accra, Ms Botchwey said: "Other countries around us are in turmoil, let us brighten the corner where we are. We have no where else to go, this country is ours."

She called on Christians in the country to be grateful and thankful to God for the peace prevailing in the country.

Ms Botchwey said the efforts of all and sundry was required to move the nation forward adding; "it is evidently clear that the nation is blessed.

"On this resurrection Sunday, let us count our blessings and move forward, it will not take a day but we are on course," she said. Ms Botchwey, who is also the Member of Parliament for Weija, said an education fund had been established in the Constituency for poor but brilliant students, whose parents could not afford to sponsor their education, and asked her constituent and the church members to look out for an impending advert in the newspapers concerning the fund. She said Ghana needed to develop its children and its youth who were the future leaders of the country.

Ms Botchwey said discussions were underway to get some of the roads tarred in the Chantan area since only five per cent of roads in the Weija constituency which she described as deprived was tarred. The Head Pastor of the Church the Rev Kofi Annan appealed to the Minister to tackle the issue of water which had not flowed for about six months in the Chantan-Airport Area.

Rev Kofi Annan prayed for the government and the nation for peace and progress.

Earlier, the Christian Education Director of the Ghana Baptist Convention the Rev Edward Osei-Bonsu said Christians ought to advance not only spiritually but also in their socio-economic lives as well. He advised Christians to further their education, acquire more knowledge and improve upon their skills.

Speaking on: "The Impact of the power of His resurrection and our mandate," the Rev. Phillip Lutterodt of the Maranatha Bible College, Sowutuom, Accra; said Christians must not only preach the gospel but also live according to the word.

He deplored the attitude of some Christians who gossiped, told lies, fornicated, and indulged in adultery, corruption, alcoholism and other social vices and which had brought Christianity and the church into disrepute.