–as they offer leadership and moral guidance
– Prime Minister at opening of Joy Fest
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds on Sunday said that churches in Guyana have been leading in the growth and development of the country as they fight tirelessly to establish moral prospects and guidelines for citizens, independent of political leadership. The Prime Minister, joined by Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman, Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Bishop Juan Edghill, and Mayor Hamilton Green, was at the time addressing Christians gathered at the Princess Hotel, at the opening of Joy Fest Caribbean 2012.
“The vision that Joy Fest seeks to realise is one that can help us in realising the goals of the Government of Guyana, as it is a country still at the early stage of development, embarking on a course of acquiring all possible help for growth and development from other countries…Joy Fest also seeks to inspire Guyana as a nation, and as a people, to rise above its circumstances and move on from glory to glory,” the prime minister said.
Hinds believe that a lesson should be taken from the churches as they continuously seek to offer leadership and moral guidance to citizens.
“It was the earlier perception that Christianity encouraged people to live in a state of poverty; but this is not the case, as what it encourages is that its members lead diligent lives in their quest for personal, academic and entrepreneurial development,” Hinds said.
Mayor Green urged participants of the leadership workshop, which would, in the upcoming days, ponder on the role of the church’s quest from glory to glory.
Pastor John Smith of the Central Assembly of God Church said that Christianity is not a religion, but rather a relationship between the Creator (God) and his creation (man), as the problem is not with the manual or the manufacturer, but rather the product.
Joy Fest Caribbean 2012 is a Christian leadership conference which sees Christian leaders coming together to discuss critical issues that are deemed important not only to the body of Christ, but more importantly, issues of the land from the perspectives of the Holy Bible.