Kumasi, Feb. 1, GNA - The Right Reverend Professor Emmanuel Martey, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), has appealed to member= s to facilitate efforts to strengthen the presence and influence of the churc= h in neighbouring African countries.

The PCG, he said, had the mandate to help uplift the spiritual and physical lives of people troubled and traumatised by civil wars, stress and socio-economic challenges.

Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d' Ivoire and Togo, are among countries t= he church is planning to carry out its missionary work. Rt Rev Martey was addressing the opening session of the annual New Year School of the Asante Presbytery of the PCG in Kumasi on the theme: 93PCG a= nd Holy Spirit as partners 96 past, present and future."

He said the church was operating in Austria, Israel, Australia, Norway, the US, UK, Germany, Italy and Spain. This he said was done through the Overseas Mission Field- a programme o= f the church, charged with the responsibility of establishing local churches abroad.

The Moderator said the history of the church could not be told without reference to the role that the Holy Spirit had played in church planting an= d growth. He urged evangelists and presbyters to avail themselves to be empowered for the mission of promoting the cause of mankind. Rt Rev Martey said it was important to promote what he termed "cross-cultural evangelism since Ghana as a country was a multi-cultural and ethnic society".

Each ethnic group, he noted, had its unique cultural norms hence the need of the church to take advantage of it to achieve a holistic ministry t= o advance Presbyterianism. The Rev Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, Chairperson of the Asante Presbytery= , advised members to stick to Presbyterian principles and project a good imag= e of the church.