Accra, Sept. 12 GNA - Pastor Peter Osei Mensah, Outgoing President of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Ghana, on Monday said the Christian Church in Ghana had not failed the people.

Rather, he said, it was the individuals within the Church who had not lived up to their tasks.

Speaking at a 'Bible reading marathon' organised by the Bible Society of Ghana (BSG) in Accra, Pastor Mensah said many people had entered the ministry of the gospel for their own personal agenda and reasons that had nothing to do with the work of God.

The Bible marathon forms part of programmes and activities lined up to celebrate the 40 years of organised Bible work in Ghana by the BSG. He called on Christians to hold on to the principles of God, saying it was only the word of God that could help the nation reduce the corruption and crimes confronting the society.

Pastor Mensah urged the youth to hold on to the teachings of Christ in order to continue with the work started by their forefathers and become useful and successful citizens.

He also commended the BSG for translating the Bible into various Ghanaian languages and making it available and at affordable prices. The Reverend Professor Kwame Bediako, Akrofi-Christaller Memorial Centre for Mission Research and Applied Theology, Akropong-Akuapem, debunked the assumption that the Christian faith was the religion of Europeans and the West generally.

He said Christianity had a much longer history in Africa than in Europe and North America, citing Egypt and Ethiopia where African history stretched back almost to the time of the first apostles. Rev. Prof. Bediako also commended the Bible Society and donors who had supported them over the years in the Bible translation work to the indigenous languages.

He said availability of the scripture in many indigenous African languages provided the opportunity for African Christians to understand what they had seen and heard about the gospel.

The Reverend Kofi Owusu, General Secretary of the GBS, said the marathon bible reading was to advance God's word.

Rev. Owusu expressed the hope that the marathon bible contest would lead to transformation in people's lives as well as raise money from churches to support the work of God. 12 Sept. 05