Accra, Nov. 7, GNA - Vice President John Dramani Mahama, on Sunday, assured that government would forge a closer relationship with the church to inculcate moral and civic responsibilities into the youth. "As a government, our concerns emanate from the fact that the youth hold the key to our future and therefore need to be morally upright and disciplined to appropriately handle their positions." He mentioned the re-introduction of religious and moral discipline and civic education in schools, as some of the measures that needed partnership.

Vice President Mahama gave this promise during the induction of Rev. Dr. Paul Frimpong-Manso, as the General Superintendent, and three other executive officers of the Assemblies of God Church, Ghana. The other executive members of the church include; Rev. Dr. Paul H. Dsane, Assistant Superintendent, Rev. Dr. John B.Ghartey, General Secretary and Rev. Sam Ato Bentil, General Treasurer. The Vice President called on all Ghanaians to appreciate the blessings of God for 'uniting us as one people, inspite of our different religious backgrounds.

"As a people, we do not need to spend all our time thinking of our challenges, but should rather be rejoicing with our successes for God to continue showering his blessings on us to fight for solutions to our challenges."

On oil and gas, Vice President Mahama gave the assurance that oil would start flowing by the first week of December, but cautioned Ghanaians that 'oil and gas alone cannot turn our fortunes round, which means we still need to continue working hard in other areas.' Rev. Doug Clay, General Treasurer of United States of America Assemblies of God Church, who inducted the executives into office, at the Abeka Lapaz, Liberty Assemblies of God Church, called on them to remain focussed and to shrug off all detractive activities from 'opponents of the word.'

"Religious and political rulers, who stay focussed with the word of God as their guide, leave very little room for acrimony and total disagreements in society." he added.

Rev. Clay said Biblical illiteracy was gaining grounds in many areas of the world, due mainly to the proliferation of anti- religious videos and called on the church to see it as a canker that could be injurious to their faith. "The Kingdom of God is a powerful force when we work together in unity."

Rev. Frimpong Manso commended the past leaders of the church for their sterling and visionary performance in lifting the image of the church throughout the country and promised to continue with the foundation they had laid.

"The Church is at the crossroads, we either lift up our performance to grow in prosperity together, or we stagnate, dwindle and become irrelevant in society."

He promised to invest in infrastructural development in the rural areas to check the perennial rural-urban drift, which was creating social problems in the major cities of the country. Rev. Frimpong-Manso until his new appointment was the Ashanti Regional superintendent of the Church, after having headed so many branches in the region for the past 23 years. 07 Nov. 10