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."
