JSS Pupils To Receive Bibles As Jubilee Gift

The Bible Society of Ghana will from May 6, this year, distribute one million brand new bibles to all Junior Secondary School pupils nationwide to commemorate Ghanaian's jubilee anniversary.



The objective is to instill in students, the fear of God, the spirit of forgiveness and the sense of patriotism. The exercise, dubbed 'the opportunity project', is the first of its kind to be undertaken by the society.

The chairperson of the Bible Society Council, Ms Joyce Aryee, said this at the launch of the National Bible Sabbath celebration at the Accra New Town Seventh-Day Adventist church on Saturday.

It was on the theme 'Jubilee, the Bible and National Development'.

Ms Aryee said that research had showed that most children take a lot of decisions in their teens and it was therefore important to introduce them to the bible early so as to guide them .

She noted that although the society translates the bible into different languages and distributes them, it has decided to focus on the youth as the future leaders.

Ms Aryee, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, said that this year being a year of forgiveness, reconciliation, debt forgiving and expressing love to one another is the reason why the society decided to inculcate in the youth particularly JSS pupils, knowledge about the bible.

'In the jubilee year, the Israelites were required to cancel all debts, set their slaves free, return lands that had been sold on account of indebtedness to their original and rightful owners'.

Ms Aryee said although politicians can come out with very good policies, it was required that the citizenry cooperate with politicians for the smooth operation of the policies.

She indicated that the bibles will have a prologue which will introduce the reader to the jubilee year, touch on social, economic and the ecological aspects of the country and 'All these will have bible verses supporting them'.

She urged all to assist the society achieve its dream.

The General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Dr. Fred Deegbe, described the bible as a light that people should fellow.

He expressed concern about the spate of crime, corruption, mistrust, prostitution, drug abuse and other vices that have engulfed the country: which regrettably involved people the majority of whom are Christians.

Rev. Deegbe said the time has come for all to abide by God's word so that they can impart it to the younger ones.

The chairman for the function, Rev. Anthony Kessie, said the country has come a long way and to help bring development and success to the nation, it behoves on all other stakeholders to achieve national goals.

He commended the Bible Society of Ghana for its initiative.