By Gloria Anderson
Ghana Evangelical Missions Association (GEMA) has hosted GEMAFEST 2024, a four-day festival uniting evangelical leaders, businesses, and individuals to explore the intersection of work, business, and the Great Commission.
The event aimed to inspire missionary work, foster business-evangelism partnerships, and promote holistic ministry, integrating work, business, and faith for community transformation.
The President of the GEMAFEST, Rev Dr Godwin Kofi Ahilijah, emphasised the significance of demonstrating the power of collaboration in advancing the Great Commission.
He stressed that leveraging entrepreneurship for gospel impact is a catalyst for missions and community transformation in Ghana.
GEMAFEST is an annual mission conference which aims at transforming lives and empowering missions in Ghana.
Since its inception in 2010, the Ghana Evangelical Missions Association Festival (GEMAFEST) has become a premier platform for evangelical networking and strategic partnerships, impacting its members for global missions.
This year’s conference themed “Faith, Work, Business and The Great Commission,” emphasising the critical role of work and business in advancing the Great Commission.
The President, Rev Dr Godwin Kofi Ahilijah, stressed sharing Christ in the marketplace as a practical missionary work.
Workers must ensure synergy between business and the great commission.
“For many years, our focus has been how to reach out to the least-rich people groups. So we go to rural communities and villages to intervene with community development and also preach the gospel. But there is a gap which needs to be bridged. We have not focused on the 90 percent of Christian communities that are in the workplace. This conference is aimed at empowering believers working in the banks, judicial service, and Makola to live life Christ in the workplace,” he noted.
Delivering a plenary message, an Executive GEMA’s member, Dr Yaw Parbi, focused on fostering innovative cultural approaches to mobilising and equipping members for global missions. This, he said, will significantly impact Ghanaian society.
“Mobilising professionals for world evangelisation is what I call missional professional. As Christ followers, God expects us to be salt and light wherever we are, not to be negligent nor corrupt. God’s mission is to bless creation. GEMA, we engage in various projects for live transformation,” he stressed.
An Executive Program Organiser of GEMAFEST, Madam Theresa Parbi, and other members shared their experiences. “As children of God, we are mandated to spread the gospel. So this year we are targeting workplace evangelism.”
The event brought together other members from different countries and religious leaders. It also featured exhibitions, showcasing Christian businesses, organisations, and literature.
