Why the Church of Pentecost is Building State of the Art Prisons in Ghana

The Church of Pentecost has come under intense criticisms for building and donating a prison facility to the Ghana Prisons Service.

Many social media commentators and as well as some identified members of the Church has described the move as a misplaced priority.

The fully furnished facility located at Ejura in the Ashanti Region has three dormitory blocks with the capacity to accommodate 300 inmates.

It has an administration block, a chapel which will also serve as a classroom, a football pitch, baptistery, modern washrooms, mechanized boreholes, offices, infirmary, workshops and other auxiliary facilities.

Comments on social media suggest that the Church by building the correctional facility expects or is “praying” for more people to be sent to prison.

This view seems to be popular among many who woke up to the news and the question many are asking is why the Church will decide to use its money to build prisons instead of, for instance, taking care of the poor and marginalized in society.

The Church in 2018, outdoored a policy framework known as the Vision 2023.

The document among others said the church had as a target to construct modern prison facilities in the Eastern, Volta, Western and Ashanti Regions as part of its project to help address overcrowding in the country’s prisons.

As of 2019, the prison population was 15,000 being accommodated in facilities initially meant to house 9,000 inmates.

At a function held in Accra, the Chief Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ghana Prisons Service (GPS), Superintendent Vitalis Aiyeh, told the Ghanaian Times the initiative, the church’s vision for 2020 to 2023, was to support the service.

The policy covers areas such as Marriage and Family Life,  Evangelism and Church Planting, Enhancing Church and State Relations,  Possessing the Nations through Chaplaincy,  Ministry to the Chieftaincy Institution,  The Church and Socio-economic Development,  Community Transformation, Ministry to Persons with Disabilities (PWDs),  Strengthening and Re-aligning Church, Institutions and Structures and Media Institutions and Outlets among others.

Background of Vision 2023 

The theme for Vision 2023 is “Possessing the Nations: Equipping the Church to Transform Every Sphere of Society
with Values and Principles of the Kingdom of God”. ‘Possessing or taking nations’ is an ancient military phrase, which meant replacing the rule or reign of a nation with that of another through conquest.

Relating this term to the Great Commission, the Church of Pentecost says it is inspired to raise an army of Christians who, being filled with the Holy Spirit and fully equipped with the knowledge of God’s word, will engage and transform their societies with Godly values and principles, wherever they are and in whatever they do, in order to win many for Christ and transform them into salt and light of the world.

“The values and principles of the Kingdom of God in this context entail teachings about Christ that define the Christian as the light and salt of the world, imbued with Godly attributes such as love, integrity, patience, hard work, honesty and faithfulness (Mt. 5:13-16; Php. 2:15; Ga. 5:22-24),” part of the document said.

It added that “In the next five years, we shall be guided by an overarching theme, “Possessing the Nations”, where we intend to equip the church to transform every sphere of society with values and principles of the Kingdom of God. Guided by our overall goal and strategic objectives, it is expected that the implementation of the vision strategy will have positive impacts on both the church itself and society as a whole within the next five years and beyond.”

It is important to note that the Church is not only concerned about building prisons but employing a holistic approach to finding solutions to problems of the Church as an institution as well as society.

“In Ghana, we plan to increase overall membership by 821,382 over the five-year period, with an average percentage growth of 6.4%. We also project to plant a total number of 2,500 new assemblies over the vision period, with an average number of 500 new assemblies to be opened each year. The number of districts to be created in line with Vision 2023 will be monitored carefully to determine the intake of new Ministers. The table below provides an overview of projections made for the creation of districts and the intake of new Ministers in Ghana,” portions of the document said.

Ministry to Persons with Disabilities (PWDs)

According to the Church of Pentecost, Vision 2023 regards disability inclusion as a high priority. Globally, persons with disabilities remain a largely neglected mission field that urgently requires the church to consciously reach out to. In Ghana, for instance, there are 737,743 persons living with some form of disability, representing 3.0% of the nation’s total population, according to the 2010 national population and housing census.

In response to the challenges within the PWD community, the church has ordained a physically-challenged person into pastoral ministry and has put in place some sponsorship packages for PWDs. However, we acknowledge that our overall consciousness on how to treat and interact with PWDs will need much more attention – a priority that Vision 2023 will earnestly pursue.

The vision captured the Pentecost Convention Centre as “The Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC) will continue to provide Christian-centred hospitality services with excellence while making efforts to expand the facilities at the Centre. Specific objective: To expand the facilities at the Centre to provide Christian-centred hospitality services with excellence.”

It will be recalled that the Church of Pentecost, led by Apostle Eric Kwabena Nyamekye, on April 24, 2020 donated logistics worth GHc 45,000 to support the government’s fight against the pandemic Coronavirus in partnership with Tobinco Pharmaceuticals.

In addition, the Church  offered its ultra-modern multi-purpose conference facility (Pentecost Convention Centre- PCC) to the government of Ghana to be used as an isolation centre.

All these form part of the Vision 2023 agenda of the Church. Perhaps what critics of the Church should take time to do is to pause, reflect and ask questions where necessary to understand the essence and significance of this gesture by the Church of Pentecost.

Matthew 25:43 reads, “I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” Peace!.

Source: Newswatchgh.com