BY PRINCEWILL IREOBA
The 2020 Carnival for Christ Celebration of the Abuja Anglican Diocese ended last Sunday with a thanksgiving service at the Cathedral Church of the Advent, Abuja. The actual Carnival event was held in a massive rally of all the Archdeaconries of the Diocese on Saturday at the Anglican Girls Grammar School field Gudu District Abuja and preceded with some evangelistic activities earlier in the week. The Carnival for Christ celebration which marks the annual anniversary of the inauguration of the Diocese of Abuja has “Be Still and Know that I am God” as the theme for the year, 2020.
The Bishop of Abuja and the Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the Most Rev. Henry Ndukuba, said that the theme for the year was a challenge for Christians to look unto God and trust him for deliverance from the difficulties they are passing through and urged the members to keep hoping on God, no matter their situations. Noting that, people, at a time like this, face different challenges, overwhelming fear and uncertainties, including insecurity, COVID-19, hunger and recession and hunger, the Primate admonished the people to trust God, be diligent and encourage one another. He said: “It is good for us to know that God is with us and he will neither leave us nor forsake us. Nigerians must trust in God… because the Lord, who has been with us throughout these challenging times, will see us through and we will overcome. We are urging the people to keep doing what they legitimately do to get their daily bread. They must also take care of themselves and care for one another. We must stand together.”
Speaking about the current recession, the Bishop noted that it is a global phenomenon but urged government to do its best to pull the country out of it by taking concrete measures that will help the country get out of the recession. “We urge the government to take measures that will help us get out of recession as soon as possible,” he said.
The Guest Speaker at the Carnival rally on Saturday, the Most Rev. Edmund Akanya, the Bishop of Kebbi Diocese and former Archbishop of Kaduna Province, said that God was the centre of everything and would always free humanity from every challenge. He urged Nigerians not to despair by the happenings in the country but to trust in God and put their confidence in God who cannot fail. He said: “Whatever is happening around us, whether insecurity, COVID-19 or recession, hunger, it will not overwhelm us. Trust in this God, He will not fail, He is our present help in times of trouble.”
