General News of Monday, 28 September 2015

Source: Ghanaian Times

Selfishness, cause of Ghana’s problems – Joyce Aryee

Reverend Joyce Aryee Reverend Joyce Aryee

The Executive Director of the Salt and Light Ministries, Reverend Joyce Aryee says the country is going through crisis because selfishness has become the order of the day.

She said unlike several years ago when people cared about the feelings of others, the same could not be said of the current generation because people only cared about themselves.

Rev. Aryee was speaking in an interview with the media on the sidelines of the “Family and Friends Day” at the Bethel Family Assemblies of God Church.

She said people have become concerned only about themselves and are concentrating on acquiring wealth without thinking about the feelings of the other person.

She said it was unfortunate that while some people had enough to eat and even waste, others had to struggle to get even a meal a day, and questioned where the act of sharing had gone to.

“It is worth noting that God did not isolate human beings from each other but put them together because He knows that everyone would need the other’s help at some point in life.”

The Executive Director also observed that the worry about how to live tomorrow, was one of the reasons for people’s inability to be selfless “while forgetting that God knows the needs of His children and is always ready to provide for them”.

She acknowledged that ‘humans have a weakness which often makes it difficult to have fellow feeling,” and, therefore, advised that in such situations, people should fall on God for His grace since that was the only sure way to successfully do what was right.

Rev. Aryee also condemned the attitude of waiting to get into political positions before helping to alleviate the suffering of others, or helping in the progress of the nation.

“You do not have to wait to get to the Flagstaff House, be a president or an ‘honourable’ before you make a difference,” she stated; adding, “it is about time people started making a change and not wait to get into high positions”.

She called on “people who work at the markets, medical facilities, in the media, the church and everywhere to offer their services with commitment, and not only look at the financial benefits, but see it as a responsibility they have been given by God to change the lives of humanity”.

She exhorted journalists to stop demanding money from people during official assignment as that had the possibility to cloud their judgements during their reportage.

She was optimistic that if people adhered to doing what was right, whether they were being watched or not, the nation would see a positive change and move forward as desired by all.

The Senior Pastor at the Bethel Family Chapel of the Assemblies of God, Rev Andrews Nelson Awintia, in an interview with the media, also called on churches and corporate institutions to support the vulnerable in society.

According to him, “offering help to such people and, especially children, means getting hooligans off the streets of the country, because if they have people providing them the basic needs of life they would be able to resist every form of temptation to go astray”.

He also cautioned the youth to stay away from people who would try to entice them with material things to join terrorist groups which destroyed lives and the society.

Rev Awintia advised the youth to give their lives to Christ and make Him their first point of call whenever they were in any difficulty, because

“He is always ready to help”.