Mumford, April 20, GNA - The Apam District Head of the church of Pentecost, Pastor Williams Ofori-Attah, has appealed to Ghanaians to be moderate in their lifestyles so as to support government's effort towards reducing poverty.

In his sermon to climax a four-day convention of the Winneba zone of the church at Mumford, the pastor said, the lifestyles of some Ghanaians do not suggest that they were poor.

Pastor Ofori-Atta expressed concern about the sense of attachment people gave to the dead at the expense of the living and noted that if such level of attention were given them (the dead) when they were alive, most of them would not have died.

He appealed to clan and family heads to desist from demanding so much from bereaved children as to how the funeral should be organised. "Children of the dead must not be compelled to do things which their resources cannot meet," Pastor Ofori Attah said. He questioned the practice where some families demand various items such as toilet soaps, powders, pomades towels, and blankets from bereaved children and in-laws just for bathing the dead body. "How can the people of a nation, which is fighting to reduce poverty, continue to dissipate valuable resources on funerals," the pastor asked.

He called on Churches and child rights organisations to come to the aid of such children, who were forced by family heads to incur unnecessary debts after they lost their parents. Pastor Ofori-Attah admonished Christians to pray at all times to enable them to overcome temptations saying "our body and society are the greatest enemies which hinder our spiritual developments," he said. Mr Francis Kojo Arthur, Member of Parliament for Gomoa West appealed to Ghanaians to be united by burying their political differences to build a better nation. He assured the church of his support at all times.