June 27, 2019
The Editor,
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PRESS RELEASE
GKS Ministers call for urgent steps to check rising rate of suicides in Nigeria
Ministers of God’s Kingdom Society (GKS) The Church of the Living God rose at the end of their annual Conference with an appeal to the government to deepen her social welfare programmes and put in place effective measures, including counselling programmes to alleviate the living conditions of the poor so as as to reduce the increasing cases of suicides in Nigeria.
A communiqué issued at the end of a three-day conference of all ministers of the Church held in Salem City, the Church headquarters, stated that since the causes of most suicides were economic the government should “urgently, tackle the variables that instigate suicidal tendencies so as to give the people succour and a sense of belonging”. Some of the factors already identified by experts they said included unpaid salaries, inability to pay back loans and foot bills, relationship issues, failure in examinations, hopelessness or feeling of emptiness and failure, among others. The ministers regretted that the “crass materialism” of the Nigerian society – which also pervades many Churches in Nigeria – has made wealth the measure of life’s worth and created the tendency for those who are not materially rich to regard themselves as failures in life. The ministers stressed however that since human life is sacred, no one has the right to take his own life but to continue to work and to trust in the providence of the Almighty.
Lamenting that the menace of insecurity had spread from the North East to the North Central region and now to the North West “with fears that it may soon spill over to the Southern parts of the country” the GKS condemned without reserve the killings at Christchurch, New Zealand on Friday, March 15, 2019 and at Colombo, Sri Lanka on Sunday, April 21, 2019 and restated her warning to those involved in kidnapping, stealing and shedding of blood, among other crimes that God Almighty would certainly make them to pay for their misdeeds both now and hereafter even as they appealed to the governments to continue to do everything possible to deal with the problem of insecurity in their countries.
The GKS praised the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis for his courage in correcting the error in the translation into English of a part of the Lord’s Prayer from the traditional “lead us not into temptation”, to “do not let us fall into temptation”. Howbeit, the ministers stated that the GKS had changed the rendering of that part of the Lord’s Prayer at her inception more than 80 years ago, to “Leave us not in temptation”. They said this is in line with such Scriptures as James 1:13-15, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 2 Peter 2:9, Luke 22:31, among other parts of the Scriptures. The ministers hoped that the Pope will continue to strive for and to promote the truth as it is only the truth that leads to salvation.
The communiqué of the Conference whose theme was “Let Us Work and be Sober”, reiterated the Church’s policy that GKS members should neither hold chieftaincy titles nor celebrate birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, commemorations for the dead, anniversaries of weddings, etc, citing St Paul’s statement in Galatians 4:10,11 that Christians should not preoccupy themselves with worldliness and vainglory by observing “days, and months, and times, and years”.
Turning to the scourge of secret cults in Nigeria, the GKS Ministers said it was shocking to hear that even children who are in some Primary and Secondary Schools, aged between 8 and 16, now belonged to secret cults. They said this was highly unfortunate in view of the fact that tertiary institutions were expected to produce the next generation of leaders in the country. “We hereby solemnly but sternly enjoin all those who are in secret cults and societies, to disown or repudiate such groups NOW. That is the only way they would have peace and life”, they said.
Earlier at the opening ceremony the GKS President Brother Godwin Ifeacho had disclosed that during the year, the Church either completed or was continuing work on Service Halls at Zaria, Sokoto, Ikere-Ekiti, Umuahia, Ugboroke, Umuahia and Amucha. He thanked God for the dedication of GKS Service Halls at Calabar, Apapa, Obi-Ayagha and Ubogo and Iguosa.
The Ministers Conference was preceded by a symposium in which a lecturer at Delta State University, Professor Lawrence Bratte delivered a paper on “The Impact of Leadership on Church Unity And Spread”.
GKS Publicity Secretary elected Executive Board Member, GKS
The God’s Kingdom Society (GKS) has announced the appointment of Brother Benedict Tamunotonyesigha Hart, Publicity Secretary and Trustee of the Church as a member of the Executive Board.
The appointment followed an election conducted by the Senior Ministers of the Church during the just-concluded Conference of ministers of the Church. Brother Hart, a professional journalist of many years standing, became a minister of the Church in 1997.
The Assembly of Lord’s Ministry Elders (ALME) also hereby announced the appointment of Brother Patrick Oboghenemevwa Ekireghwo as a Trustee of the Church. The post of Choir Master General which has been vacant for many years has now been filled with the appointment of Brother Timothy O. Esimagbele, a Senior Minister of the Church into that position.