The Ringway Gospel Centre of Assemblies of God in Osu on Sunday hosted a Thanksgiving Service to thank God for peaceful elections and the outcome that saw John Dramani Mahama declared as President-Elect following the 2024 general elections.

Dubbed “Family Thanksgiving Service", it offered the President-Elect, a member of the church and his wife, Lordina the opportunity to give thanks to God on the first Sunday after he was declared President-Elect by the Electoral Commission on Monday, December 9, 2024. He was accompanied by his children, his siblings and their spouses and close friends.

In attendance were a former Senior Policy Advisor to the President-Elect, Dr Valerie Sawyerr, Special Aide to him, Joyce Bawah Mogtari and a former Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah.

Other dignitaries that graced the occasion were the General Superintendent of Assemblies of God, Ghana, Reverend Stephen Yenusom Wengam and his wife Monica, the Executive Presbytery and other Assemblies of God pastors and members across the country.

Atmosphere

The congregation were clad in white and it was a joyous moment for them as they praised and thank God for peaceful election and elevating one of their own to the Presidency for the second time with overwhelming victory. Anointed Jewels, the church's choir provided danceable gospel tunes which got almost everyone on their feet.

Mr Mahama polled 56.55 per cent of the votes cast while his closest contender, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia got 41.61 per cent of the votes in the recent elections.

Sovereignty

Mr Mahama stated that God “has done good for Ghana because he has restored the sovereignty and the power of the people since the country started practising democracy in 1992.”

He recalled that he cried out to God and brought his supplications before Him, and he responded with bountiful blessings and success.

“This victory can only be divine. God assured me in my heart and said that he would bless me with success in this election. But I did not know that the blessing was going to be so bountiful and that the victory was going to be so massive and so dramatic that I give him all the thanks and blessing for what he has done, not only for me, but for the whole of Ghana” the President-Elect indicated.

Difficult journey

Mr Mahama however reiterated that “the difficult part now begins. It's not going to be easy, as I've said many times on the campaign trail. With the few briefings I've had since the declaration was made, I can confirm that our country is still in a very severe economic crisis.”

The President-Elect observed that it is "going to take a lot of work to bring it back. It's going to be a  tough task to restore our economic prosperity. But i pray that the God who gave me this responsibility will give me the strength and the wisdom to carry on".

He called on Ghanaians including the clergy to offer all the prayers and supplications to God to enable him build the nation back into a land of prosperity and dignity to bring relief to the ordinary Ghanaian.

“I pray that God gives me the sense of discernment and wisdom to choose the right people to work in the best interest of the people of the land. God's favour is still on our dear country, Ghana. And I know he will not forsake us” he added.

Appreciation

The President-Elect expressed gratitude to all those who in diverse ways contributed to his spiritual nurturing, showed him love and support culminating in his elevation to the high office of presidency.

“I want to thank all the members of the Executive Presbytery. My special thanks go to Reverend Wengam and Lady Monica. We have known each other and been friends for a very long time. I've seen the trajectory that God has taken him through and elevated him to who he is today. And I believe that he is God's instrument for our church” Mr Mahama stated.

He further described Reverend Wengam as one whose charisma has lifted the church and rebranded it making it to become a beautiful brand and an attractive church today.

Ghana has won

The General Superintendent of Assemblies of God, Ghana, Reverend Stephen Yenusom Wengam, for his part said the event was aimed at "offering unto God limitless grants".

“For this unprecedented and historic and unequalled favour and victory he has given his servant and this nation. Of course Ghana has won. In some jurisdiction after election you can't meet like this” Reverend Wengam pointed out.

He explained that in some countries after elections there are disturbances leading to a State of Emergency so if Ghanaians can meet together in church to praise God after an election, it behoves on them to express gratitude to God.

“On behalf of the Executive Presbytery of the Assemblies of God Ghana, the Global Chairman of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship and the entire membership close to 800,000 members, I extend our congratulations to President-Elect John Mahama for making us proud, for making Jesus famous. He has made the Assemblies of God brand very attractive, very powerful. God has been good to us” he stressed.

Reverend Wengam reminded the congregation that Assemblies of God, Ghana is the only church God remember for a second time.

He recalled that years ago when Mr Mahama lost a painful election in 2016, he and his family still came to church to praise God and he was even seen dancing and praising God.

“In 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 18, the Bible says, in everything, give thanks. Not only in good times, even in bad times. President Mahama has been very loyal to Assemblies of God Ghana” the General Superintendent observed.

Reverend Wengam praised Mr Mahama for pledging to kick against the LGBTQ platform since it is against the Assemblies of God faith.

“Which endorsement is more than this? For a former president to say that my faith, my church. To have the very senior official endorse your brand.

You have no idea. I mean, millions of dollars cannot get us that single endorsement he did for our church. And I must say that we are grateful to you, Your Excellency, that you did not abandon this church” the General Superintendent observed.

Reverend Wengam announced that the Global Chairman of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship has promised to visit Ghana to witness the induction of Mr Mahama as the next President on January 7, 2025.

He also revealed that the Assemblies of God,Ghana will also organise a National Thanksgiving Service to honour God for elevating the former President once again to the high office of Presidency.

“There are some people, they will attend your church but when they are defeated, they will leave your church. And we know on many counts, there was pressure on you to move to other churches. But you said, I belong to Assemblies of God” Reverend Wengam added.

Sermon

In a sermon earlier, the Head Pastor of the Ringway Gospel Centre of Assemblies of God, Reverend Benjamin Tettey, who spoke on the topic “The profit of thanksgiving” made references to Jeremiah 30:19-22 and Luke 17:17-19 in the Holy Bible among others.

He said thanksgiving has a number of benefits. They are: it provokes the unction for multiplication; it is a way of glorification; it activates God's punishment against oppressors; it places on an individual a seal of greatness; it gives a Christian the privilege of intimacy with God and places on Christians the seal of divine ownership.

Prayer, presentation

Reverend Wengam supported by other Executive Presbytery members offered prayers for the President-Elect and his family.

The Ringway Gospel Centre also presented a plaque to the President-Elect with the inscription “Unprecedented Achievement Award". The Award is to honour the President-Elect for winning the 2024 general election with unprecedented margins and for fighting the good fight of faith. It was also to honour him for making Jesus and the Church famous in the season of severe challenges as well as remaining an agent of the light in the public space.

Later the President-Elect and his wife Lordina interacted with Church members, invited guests and served food as a way of making the occasion a memorable one.