Accra, Feb. 4, GNA - Apostle Dr Michael Kwabena Ntumy, President of the Bible Society of Ghana, on Sunday said that Ghana had every reason to celebrate the jubilee year, saying: "There is much to thank God for fifty years of our nation's independence."

He said: "Although we may not have achieved all that we desire as a nation on the fiftieth anniversary celebration, we are not lagging behind as a nation."

Apostle Ntumy noted that there might be some nations that might have nothing to celebrate during their fiftieth anniversary because of war or some calamity but Ghana had been blessed. Dr Ntumy, who is also the Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, was speaking at the launch of the Bible Society of Ghana's Bible Week 2007 on the theme: "Jubilee, The Bible and National Development." The Bible Week to be celebrated from the 5th to 11 February 2007 in all churches over the country is a specialized celebration to educate Christians on the blessings in a Jubilee year.

"We should therefore help make available vital resources for education, health and social needs of the present and future generations," he said and urged authorities, religious bodies and individuals to work hard at ensuring that Ghana's new era was characterized by economic prosperity, environmental cleanliness and conservation, social justices as well as prudent measures that would ensure that generations that come after us enjoyed jubilee blessings. Apostle Ntumy observed that every activity being done in the country this year was a form of preparation towards the jubilee celebrations and said Ghana had already started reaping the benefits of jubilee by the cancellation of the country's foreign debts. He, however, noted that as a nation we were still confronted with a number of challenges and expressed the hope that the biblical principles of jubilee would govern the nation's social, economic and political life.

Apostle Ntumy mentioned the lack of respect for human dignity, the dearth of pragmatic policies aimed at bridging the gap between the rich and the poor, the lack of integrity and discipline in our corporate and individual lives and abuse of the environment as some challenges facing that nation.

He said there was the need to pause and reflect on "our journey of life as a nation," urging leaders to sound trumpets of peace and abolish those of war and confusion.

The Reverend Kofi Owusu, General Secretary of the Bible Society of Ghana, reiterated the need to praise God for granting the nation her fiftieth anniversary, referring national leaders to the Bible as a source of guide in the next fifty years ahead. He said the Bible Week celebration by the Bible Society was used to emphasize Christians' commitment to the Bible and its life-changing message.

Rev. Owusu announced the Society's ambition to make available one million bibles to JSS pupils in commemoration of our 50th independence anniversary and explained that the decision was a result of numerous letters received by pupils asking for free bibles. He urged Christians to donate 50 thousand cedis or more to enable the Society to accomplish its mission of making the word of God available and affordable.