July 4, 2018
By Hassan Gbassay Koroma
Members of the NPM SL at the press conference
National Prayer Mobilisation for Sierra Leone (NPM S.L), comprising all Christian faiths in the country, has declared Sunday, 8th July ‘National Thanksgiving Day for Sierra Leone.’
The day has been set aside to give thanks and praises to God for the peaceful conduct of the country’s March 2018 elections.
According to members of NPM SL, the thanksgiving service would be held at the Flaming Bible Church on Ascension Town Road in Freetown, and that the session would be broadcast live on television.
Speaking during a presser at the Flaming Bible Church, Chairman Christian Prayer Organisation, who also doubles as Founder and Leader of the Flaming Bible Church Ministry, Bishop Dr. Frederick Abu Sidique Koroma, said before the March 7th elections, there were signs of violence all over the country.
He said it was against that background that he decided to call on other church leaders in the country to come together and pray against conflict in the country before, during and after the elections.
He said leaders from different churches in the country adhered to the call and started holding meetings, and that they divided themselves into groups and started praying for the country.
“The way things were going before the election was terrible and everybody was thinking that there was going to be war in the country. Some people even left the country and went abroad. It was on that reason we came together and prayed for the nation’s peace that we are all enjoying today,” Bishop Koroma said.
He said they hosted prayer sessions at many places, including under the Cotton Tree, east of Freetown and in the provinces.
He said they also went to the mountains for three days, praying day and night for peace to be on the face of Sierra Leone.
He said God answered their prayers and that since the country conducted peaceful elections, they have decided to organise a national day of thanksgiving for the country on the theme ‘God Answers Prayer’.
Also speaking, Rev. Martha Chigozie, Head of Protocol for NPM SL, said because they came together, prayed and God answered their prayers, they also thought it fit to come together and thank Him.
She disclosed that the thanksgiving would commence at 3 p.m. on Sunday, 8th July, thus inviting everybody, irrespective of the church the individual belongs to.