Churches invited to fill up the Stadium
Spira Tlhankane | Wednesday June 1, 2016 14:21
Briefing church leaders yesterday at Bible Life Ministries in Broadhurst, Olopeng said cabinet has agreed to set aside on September 25 for churches to lead the celebrations. “Leaders of the gospel should do something different this year. Everyone must fill up the stadium and pray with one voice,” he said.
Olopeng added it would be great if churches could fill up the stadium that morning and also collect offerings as they please. He said the service should include a gospel music festival where youth are given the chance to rejoice. “BOT50 will be there to make sure it happens the right way. We must show the youth how we want it to be celebrated,” he said.
Olopeng also said churches should show young people that happiness can exist without any involvement of alcohol. “They must sing and dance in a sober spirit,” he highlighted. He said his ministry wants to partner with churches and push behavioural change among the youth. He said the church is relevant because there is a youth setup. “Our ministry can resource the churches so that they reach out to the youth. We want to break the barrier between the government and churches,” he said.
Olopeng said unlike the interfaith service that was held during 49th year anniversary last year, this time Christians would lead the proceedings. Olopeng told the church leaders that BOT50 is there to supervise all the way but the choice is theirs. “We will give you the stadium for free, we will pay for the sound and lighting. You decide what kind of gospel music you want and how the programme is going to run,” he said. Olopeng highlighted that MYSC does not impose any ideas on anyone hence the consultations meetings.
Pastors from different churches welcomed the idea with open arms. Pastor Thuso Tiego of UCCSA said they are happy that BOT50 finally engaged them in the celebrations. He said last year it was an interfaith but this year they request a Christian service only. He also said gospel musicians need a platform to go forward because they are often overlooked and not given a chance.
Veteran gospel musician Phempheretlhe Bafana Pheto said MYSC should have come up with a foundation first before the meeting so that they could know how to build on it. “To me this church service and music festival is a calling, but it should be clear on whether it is going to be church choirs or contemporary gospel musicians,” he highlighted.
For his part Pastor Tebogo Motlhagodi added that the service should be a Christian service and churches should come together to produce something they could remember after 50 years.
Bishop Enole Ditsheko however begged to differ indicating that Batswana should preserve peace when they embark on their route. “Our theme is United and Proud so we should not exclude any religion from these celebrations because they also want to take part,” he highlighted.