Vice President John Dramani Mahama, has encouraged churches to establish income generating ventures to support the youth to acquire skills towards nation building. He mentioned ventures like training centres, where the youth could be educated on topical issues and social vices, rural banks, fruit processing companies, and the construction of guest houses. Vice President Mahama said the church’s partnership with the government was critical for building Ghana’s human resource base and the attainment of a middle income status by 2020. The suggestions were made in a speech read for him by Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, Western Regional Minister, at the opening of the 10th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, in Takoradi, at the weekend. The meeting, which was held on the theme: “Empowerment by the Holy Spirit,” was attended by Presbyterian ministers from home and abroad. Vice President Mahama stressed that the nation could be transformed with the concerted efforts and talents of the various sectors of the society, irrespective of political, religious, and ethnic differences. Mr Mahama, however, mentioned the growing level of indiscipline, tribalism, lack of respect for political leadership and sabotage as worrying and affecting the fledgling democracy. The numerous interventions and commitment of the government to address these problems, he said, required the support of all. Referring to the theme of the conference, the Vice President entreated Ghanaians to ensure that the Holy Spirit guided them to lead upright lives both outwardly and inwardly, to free from sins. The Right Reverend Dr Yaw Frimpong-Manso, thanked the entire membership of the church for their support to him to achieve a successful six-year tenure, as their leader. The Rt. Rev. Frimpong-Manso who retires in December, after six years in office enumerated a lot of achievements mentioning some in education, health, and social. The projects include a hospitality centre, a foundation that has yielded GHC1,312,163 with some invested in treasury bills, and a hotel. A Millennium Development Fund has also yielded GHC146,652,.37 with part invested in various projects. The Rt. Rev. Frimpong-Manso noted that church offerings alone could not help the church to grow and appealed to the members to continue honouring their financial contribution to the fund to enable the Presbytery embark on viable projects to support the church and the youth. Rt. Rev. Frimpong-Manso rewarded the hard working church members, from elders to drivers, who helped him to chalked successes. Rev. Dr Fred Deegbe, General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, admonished Christians to continue to play critical roles for the growth and wellbeing of the Ghanaian. He called on the General Assembly to undertake bold and effective evangelism that would transform people to shun social vices like laziness, malingering, bribery / corruption and other tendencies that hinder national, spiritual and personal growth. Fraternal messages were read by some church leaders. Source: GNA