Ghanaian Children’s Choir Tour North America

The premises of the Lighthouse Chapel International in Toronto was on August 9, 2013 electrified with voices of praises from children from Ghana known as the Olives. The Olives is a group of dedicated children from the Lighthouse Chapel International head office in Accra, Ghana whose mission is to sing Christ to the world! Every year, God permitting, this mass choir of children aging between 7 and 12 years take their songs to a selected part of the globe. The Olives Tour-2013 brought these 65 dedicated young voices under the guidance of 10 adults (Pastors as well as parent-volunteers) to Toronto, Orlando, New York and Washington DC all in North America.

Accompanied by their own trumpeters, guitarists and drummers the children sang powerfully oldies such as ‘O how I love Jesus’, ‘Just a Closer Walk with Thee’, ‘Say I Do’ among others. The Olives Tour is organized every year from Ghana under the tutorship of Rev. Oko Bortei-Doku.

In a brief sermon during the night, Rev Oko Bortei-Doku used the admonishment given by God to Moses to teach a song to the children of Israel for their further guidance to encourage parents and elders of the society to teach the young ones songs of God and skills of life. He chose his text form Deuteronomy 31:19-22 in the Scriptures and called on the old people to take charge in teaching the young the right way to go to bring new leverage in the lives of the young. Rev. lamented the lack of “wisdom from above” for today’s youth and, said, “Young people circulate their opinions among themselves and after awhile they take what circulate amongst them as the truth. No coin (wisdom) drops from above (the old people) to change their wrong opinions and foolishness.” “Then it shall be, when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this SONG will testify against them as witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants…..” Deut. 31:21

Rev. Oko showed great concern about parents who woefully give in to their children on everything in life, including even the food they (the children) would like to eat! He questioned, “how much experience do these children have in this world to be dictating to their parents on, say, what to eat?” He stressed the fact that young people ought to be taught by the old people the wisdom of God and that the Olives project which was started by the Lighthouse Chapel International in Accra since 2003 is way of teaching children about God (His love for the world) through songs. Rev. Oko recounted many of such children who through the project have grown up to become missionaries to many parts of the world.

Proverbs 22:6 admonishes us to train up our children the way they should go and when they grow won’t depart from it. To God be the Glory!!