Ghana (MNN) — A parade is defined
as a procession of people, usually
organized along a street, often accompanied by music and other festivities.
On December 13, Christians from
all over Prampram, Ghana, will be taking to the streets for an annual Christmas
parade.
Ambrose Brennan with
Oasis Training Institute says this year, the parade has a different focus. "We've
used it as a fundraiser the last couple of years for the Prampram Health
Center. But this year, we're planning on stopping at four or five different
sites and really explaining what we're doing and what we're celebrating, and
then invite observers to follow us down to the Anglican Park where we're going to
have an evangelistic rally."
Evangelistic training at the Oasis
International Training Center extends to the practicality of the students helping
their community.
Reverand Narh is the pastor of a
local church that participated in the parade. In 2006, he said the parade opened the door
for evangelism. "It created a sense of awareness to the people, especially
coming together as Christians with one purpose for Christ. Then we also noticed
that it fostered a good spirit of unity, and they are now asking more about
Christ."
Since those early days of
planning, interest has continued to grow. This year, there are more churches involved than ever before. Brennan says with ten local churches committed,
and a group of Oasis students already praying for prepared hearts, God can
do some really exciting things.
Brennan adds, "We
really want to get the word out, especially to the lower Prampram area, where
there's a lot of traditional religion and there's a lot of spiritualism and
things like that. Some of the pastors
have told us it's a real hard area to try to work, and so we're going to take
the parade right down into the heart of that area this year."
