The Wenchi West District of the Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA) of the Mid-West Ghana Conference in the Bono Region at the weekend honoured 20 girls for keeping and preserving their virginity.

Each of the girls, between the ages of 13 and 16 years received undisclosed sums of money for their upkeep during a thanksgiving service on the side-lines of the observation of the first Sabbath Day of the Church, held at Wenchi.

Mrs Nana Amponsah Poku, the Wenchi West District Coordinator of the Young Adventist Women Ministries, commended the girls for keeping their virginity and urged them to preserve it before marriage.

“God created you uniquely beautiful and you must not allow anybody to lure and break your virginity until you marry”, she urged the girls and asked them to be cautious about the friends they picked in 2025.

She said the ministry was dedicated and committed to moulding girls and young women responsibly to grow and become useful adults in society.

Mrs Poku underlined the need for society to re-visit ancient traditional norms that protect girls from promiscuity, saying customs such as puberty rites ought to be re-introduced to help preserve virginity.

“The ancient Bragoro or Dipo rite was very essential in preserving girls’ virginity and controlling teenage pregnancies inimical to the growth and development of young girls and women”, she stated.

Pastor Andrews Dua Bour Kyere, the Associate Pastor of Wenchi West District of the SDA Church, also commended the girls for their shining example of keeping their virginity and urged girls in the Church to remain ‘pure’ and concentrate on their education.

Some of the girls expressed their happiness about the honour and also thanked the church for their support towards their spiritual upbringing and development.