The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia last night left worshipers at the Kaneshie District Presby Church astonished by his knowledge of the Bible after delivering a five-minute New Year message to the congregation.

Dr. Bawumia was the special guest of the Church for their end-of-year watch night service, and if the worshipers were surprised to see the Vice President in their midst, his apt and insightful reference to the Bible was a talking point for the worshipers.

The Vice President delivered a rallying new year address centered on peace, unity and love, and on each theme, he made remarkable reference to the Bible to buttress his call to the congregation, and Ghanaians in general to embrace the virtues of peace, unity and love.

Before he called on the congregation to be peaceful and loving, he reminded them of God’s grace and favour for taking everyone through 2019 to 2020. He stressed on the need to be thankful to God, and to continue to seek God’s grace in the new year.

“Life is precious. One second is precious; one minute is precious; one hour is precious so a whole year is very precious. We thank God that he has seen us through a whole year, 2019. We thank Him for seeing us through 2019 and taken us to a new year, 2020,” Dr. Bawumia told the congregation.

“As we get into the year 2020, we know we will continue to seek the favour and grace of the Almighty God. Because the book of Psalm 127 says that unless the Lord builds the house, its labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, those that watch it, would do so in vain. So as we get into the year 2020, we need prayers and the grace of God.”

The Vice President then moved to the main theme of his address and urged the congregation to remain peaceful, united and show love to each other in the new year.

“As we start the year 2020, three things are so dear to our hearts as a people and we pray to the Almighty God to grant us these three things. We pray for peace, unity and love.”

“These three things are so important in the Bible. When you read Mathew 5:9 in the Bible, it says “blessed are the peacemakers for those are the sons of God.”

“In Psalm 133, it talks about unity and it says, “behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to duel together in unity.”

“Clearly, God has told us that if we want goodness in his presence, we have to be together in unity,” the Vice President stressed to the congregation.

“The third point is love and in Mathew 22:36-40 when Jesus Christ was asked which is the greatest commandment in the law, he said that the first is to love God and with all your heart, with all your soul and all your mind, and the second is to love thy neighbour as thy self.”

“This is how we should all be in 2020; to love God with all our hearts, with all our souls and with all our minds, as well as love our neighbours as ourselves,” Dr. Bawumia noted.

“If we exhibit love among ourselves, become united and continue to enjoy our peace, I believe by the grace of God everything will be fine for our country Ghana in 2020.”

Dr. Bawumia stressed on the significance of the year 2020 as an election year to Ghana, and reiterated his call for peace and unity to ensure another peaceful election process for Ghana.

“2020 is an election year in our country and we have held many peaceful elections in the past. We want peace in our country and may God grant our country Ghana peace in 2020.”

“We don’t any trouble in our country because Ghana is the only country we have. Voting is a matter expressing one’s choice. Voters decide whom they want as a leader, and that is the end of it. So let us pray to God to continue to grant our country peace, and also bless our country. May God bless us all.”

Dr. Bawumia, a devout Muslim, is gaining reputation and admiration for his promotion of religious tolerance, as well as his ability to easily intersperse his speeches with Biblical references, especially when addressing the Christian community.

During the celebration of the National Chief Imam's 100th birthday in April last year, the Vice President used both Biblical and Quranic references to call on Muslims and Christian's to continue to peacefully co-exist because that which Unites them is more than that which divides them.