By Chimezie Godfrey
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has charged Christians in the state to maintain close fellowship with each other to strengthen their faith in serving God with clear focus on achieving righteousness.
He gave the charge Monday, January 2nd, 2023 at the “The Brethren” annual Prayer and Praise Convocation with the theme; “Engaging the Next Generation” held at the Chapel of Grace, Benue People’s House, Makurdi.
Governor Ortom who delivered a keynote address titled, “Occupying the Public Space,” pointed out that working together in support of each other would provide Christians the opportunity to be “productive and bear fruits” while serving God.
The Governor described the theme of the two day retreat which is an annual programme of the Christian body as “apt and fitting,” stressing that “engaging the next generation” from taking over from the older one should be taken seriously.
According to Governor Ortom, “The next generation is not an easy task to face. Their interests, pursuits and desires are completely different but we must bring them back to the Lord and to righteousness”.
He said to achieve the target, “it requires prayers, evangelical action and exemplary conduct” which “The Brethren” has commendably undertaken to ensure that they leave a lasting legacy.
The Governor challenged the Christians who occupy public offices, including politicians, the clergy and business men to always conduct themselves with the fear of God by upholding the virtues of obedience, love, honestly, justice, equity and fairness.
President of ‘The Brethren,’ Dr. Joseph Antyo in his earlier remarks stated that the group’s “Prayer and Praise Convocation” has been a great source of encouragement and inspiration to members, noting that this year’s programme stands out because it was the last with Ortom as Governor of Benue State.
Dr. Antyo said as teenagers, members of the Brethren received Christ without having senior people to give them direction in life, pointing out that this year’s programme was to ensure that members bequeath to the youths the godly spiritual principles they have learnt.
In his message, Evangelist Sunday Ugwuche who spoke on the topic, “Minister, Stand Up, Stand Out: Follow Successful Men of God”, warned that those who have adopted cheating as a way of life would not find favour in the eyes of God to live Successful lives.
