The Meridian Presbytery Men's Fellowship of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana (EPCG) has held its fifth annual conference at the Evangelical Presbyterian Church Good Shepherd Congregation. The theme for this year's conference was 'Care for God's Creation, the Mission of the Church- the Role of Men.' Mr. Samuel Akoetey, the President of the Meridian Presbytery said the presbytery was carved out of the West Volta Presbytery 11 years ago. Mr. Akoetey said the two-day conference was used to elect a new executive board and inaugurate the presbytery's advisory board, to see to the development of the men's fellowship in the presbytery and the church. He explained that God gave humans all the needed resources to sustain them, therefore it was their responsibility to care for and protect them. He added that the environment had been polluted and destroyed due to activities such as illegal mining, deforestation, and other illegal activities, and called on Christians to stand up to protect these resources. M r. Akoetey said, 'Most issues in Ghana concerning the environment are at stake, there is galamsey, land degradation, air pollution, and water pollution; and as men in the various churches and localities, what is our commitment toward addressing such issues.' He added that the presbytery had been involved in environmental protection activities such as tree planting exercises to restore lost trees and charged the men to continue with that commitment in their societies. 'It is our responsibility to live in a good and conducive environment and make sure that those yet unborn would be able to live and have full benefit in it, therefore I urged all men to do things that would bring the world into prosperity,' he said. Mr Akoetey added that it is the expectation of the fellowship that, through them, more people would know Christ and want to be part of the fellowship, noting that they also hope to partner with the youth group to empower them by making available their experiences. He added that mentorship and guid ance were given to the youth on what to do so that as they grow, they would be well-prepared for the world. Reverend Ferguson Sena Quarcoo, the facilitator for the Meridian Presbytery Men's Fellowship, noted that the church fellowship had realised that the church was losing a lot of its youth and had therefore come together to organise them, strengthen them, and recapture them. He added that as God created the world, he gave humanity the mandate to take care of his creation but due to certain lifestyles of people, they are unable to do so and reiterated the call on the public to protect the environment as without it, the world will be in shambles. He also appealed to Ghanaians to preach and promote a peaceful election for Christ as he was a prince of peace and therefore, we as Christ followers must emulate him in our lives, have each other at heart, and learn to co-exist with one another. Dr Prince Kofi Kludjeson, the Chairman of Celltel Networks and the President of the Advisory Board of the Men's Fellow ship, said the fellowship should help to get more youth into entrepreneurship and job creation areas, as the church was not only for God and the country but also to empower people especially the youth to become prominent in the society. He pleaded with Ghanaians to ensure peaceful general elections, saying that he hoped Ghana would get a new force to lead the country forward. He also urged Ghanaians to analyse the manifesto messages by the political parties to be able to make informed decisions for the country's improvement, especially for the transformation and empowerment of the Ghanaian youth. Source: Ghana News Agency