Come Saturday August 12th, Maloney Park in Columbus Ohio will be the venue for the 5th Annual Family Picnic organized by several Ghanaian inspired churches in the Columbus (OH) Metro area.

Continuing in the tradition of celebrating the unity and blessings enjoyed by the community in the past years, the churches use this event as an opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to building a society based on sound family and Christian values.

The all-day picnic will start off gradually at 9am with a musical celebration featuring groups from the various churches and guest Stars Ivy & Trumpet of Christ, Getty and Friends and the Levites. The day will be filled with various competitive and non-competitive activities such as sack racing, tug of war, ludo, dame, oware, volleyball, basketball, lawn tennis, musical chairs, face-painting, health and community awareness information as well as the popular inter-churches soccer tournament. Prizes are awarded for all the competitive categories; with the church having the most cumulative points awarded the honor of Overall Winners. Maloney Park, 1701 Joyce Ave, Columbus, Ohio 43219 In its fifth year, participation at this event has grown from year to year and continues to be a major community event in the city. The Planning Committee’s Chairman Baffour Awuah added that the success and consistency in the growth of this event is owed to the commitment of participating churches and the sense of community uniquely characteristic of Columbus. This event is funded by contributions from the participating churches, sponsorship from local businesses and individuals.

The 13 churches involved in this year’s picnic are The Church of Pentecost, Jesus Power Assembly of God, Ebenezer United Methodist Church, All Nations Baptist Church Ramseyer Presbyterian Church, the Ghanaian Roman Catholic Community, Royal Chapel, Power of Faith, the Apostle’s Continuation Church, the Apostolic Church, Church of the Living God, Charisma Word Ministries, and the Victory Temple Evangelistic Ministry. Baffour Awuah added irrespective of our various denominations, the picnic has “OneGoal” of establishing unreserved love amongst all people as Christ always portrayed - “the committee is hard at work towards a100% participation from all Ghanaian churches and other organizations that share in building a strong family-based community.”

Stressing on this year’s theme, Take a Position with Christ, Rev. Andrew Aboagye of Ramseyer Presbyterian Church and a member of the Ghanaian Council of Churches also added that the continued success and growth of this annual picnic is critical in sustaining a unified direction for the community and its focus on building healthy families.

The next picnic is tentatively scheduled for the second weekend in August 2007.

More information on the OneGoal Columbus Annual Family Picnic will be available from Baffour Awuah at 614-218-9831, or Mr. Boamah at boamahka@yahoo.com.