Use thanksgiving to attract God’s blessing, cleric charges journalists in Akwa Ibom

By Okoro Chima

The Ikot Ekpene Field Superintendent of the Apostolic Church, Apostle Etopabasi Akpan, on Sunday, urged journalists working in Akwa Ibom State to always give thanks to God and show appreciation to Him for His love, grace, mercies and encouragement.

Apostle Akpan gave the charge in his sermon at the 2023 thanksgiving service of members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State Council, held at The Apostolic Church Area Headquarters, Uruk Uso, Ikot Ekpene.

Speaking on the theme, “A Grateful Heart” drawn from Psalm 9:1, Apostle Akpan, who describing thanksgiving as another way of securing more blessings from God, hinted that it is the sole reason for the existence of man on earth.

The man of God defined gratefulness as one’s acknowledgement of what God has done in one’s life, adding that thanksgiving is man’s response to God’s grace.

“Special grace is the grace that has to do with salvation. Christians cannot do without being grateful to God”, he stressed.

The cleric maintained that Christians should have a grateful heart because “Christ has made us to be the inheritance of God’s grace”, adding that “Christ delivered us from the power of darkness”.

He said: “God delivered us from the power of wickedness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son (Colossians 1: 13 ). Christ delivered us from the reign of Satan. That is why we should have a grateful heart”.

He however, urged the members of the pen profession to be grateful in whatever condition they find themselves, noting that they should not necessarily wait to be told before being thankful to God.

“When you have a grateful heart to thank God, you will live a victorious life because God will translate you into a victorious kingdom.

“When you live a grateful life, you will prosper. When you have a grateful heart, the presence of God will go with you. When you have a grateful heart, you will be surrounded with the glory of God “, he declared.

The occasion was the tenth edition of the NUJ thanksgiving service in Akwa Ibom State. For ten years, according to the leadership of the union, journalists have started the year with thanksgiving and God has stood with members of the council.

In his address, the Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Akwa Ibom State Council, Comrade Amos Etuk, stated that apart from the meeting being a spiritual exercise, journalists also use the occasion to get acquainted with villages and communitiesin the state as it is annually organized in different towns within the three senatorial districts of the state.

Etuk stated that the 2023 thanksgiving service was exceptional as it coincides with the election year in which Journalists would be all out to discharge their obligatory services to the public through election monitoring and reporting.

He, therefore, prayed for the safety of journalists and also called on the Church to also pray in that direction.

“The NUJ thanksgiving service is a special day that we set aside to honour God for keeping our members throughout the previous year and to equally commit the new year to God for guidance and protection as we go about our obligatory services of information gathering and dissemination.

“This has been an annual ritual of the Union that at the beginning of every year we must go to God in thanksgiving. This thanksgiving has always been a spiritual guide and has always afforded us the opportunity to know the different villages and Local Government Areas in the State since it is always rotating among the three Senatorial Districts.

“Today we have come to Ikot Ekpene, the oldest Local Government Area in Nigeria, to worship God with a grateful heart. 2023 will be a very busy year for every journalists, but God in his infinite mercy will give guide us as we commit our year professionally for His help and as we will discharging our duties without any unfortunate incidents.

“We know that the 2023 general election is around the corner and you know the role that the Media has to play in building the society and setting the agenda for the right persons to come into governance. And it is our prayer that the NUJ in Akwa Ibom State will lose any of its members.

Next week Sunday, the 29th of January, 2033, we will set the ball rolling when we will have the first ever Governorship Debate organised by this Union. That will be the beginning of charting the way forward in the course of a new Akwa Ibom that we all deserve.

“It is our prayer that in the course of our services in the 2023 general election, there shall be prosperity in this profession and in our homes and we shall thank God next year in another Senatorial District that God has been faithful”.

Dignitaries who graced the occasion include the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Comrade Ini Ememobong; Head of Civil Service, Elder Effiong Essien; Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Akwa Ibom State Chapter, Comrade Sunny James; Chairman of Ibom Power, Mr Etido Inyang; President of Mboho Mkparawa Ibibio, Akparawa James Edet; Chairman of Ukanafun Local Government Area, Hon. Godwin Inyieng, among many others.

The event climaxed with a special prayer session for the journalists, and a sumptuous reception ceremony held at the Cardinal Ekanem events centre, Ikot Ekpene.

More photos of the occasion: