Victory Bible Church International re-launches scholarship scheme

Victory Bible Church International on Saturday re-launched its scholarship scheme to help finance the education of many brilliant but needy young people in the country.

The scholarship scheme which was instituted in 2005 by the Presiding Bishop of the church to help 100 students every academic year, has so far benefited 244 people who pursued various courses at different educational institutions in the country.

The Presiding Bishop of the church, Reverend Tackie Yarboi said as a church, their mandate was to raise the foundation of many generations, “there are many foundations in this world and education is one of the important foundations necessary for human development.”

He noted that one of the major challenges facing the world today was the burgeoning disparity and uneven opportunities amongst different peoples of the world, adding “the rich nations seem to be getting richer as their poor counterparts continue to lag behind”.

Rev. Yarboi said the church believed that apart from the ‘God factor’, education was the key in personal and societal advancement and transformation.

He explained that education does not only potentially increase a person’s earning power and for that matter their well being, it also opens up a person’s mind and their ability to appreciate issues better, and then become agents of positive change in society.

He said during the 2013-2014 academic year, the scheme was able to support 41 students of which 19 were girls and 22 boys, and that it would disburse an amount of Ghc170,000 to cover 104 students at the secondary and tertiary levels of education.

Rev. Yarboi said the church was excited to be contributing towards the spiritual needs of the people as well as their social needs, particularly in the area of education, which he said, forms an important part of human development

“We believe that by doing this, we are effectively contributing our quota to the developmental process thereby helping to make the society more balanced” he noted.

Dr Joyce Aryee, the Executive Director of Salt and Light Ministries said education was God’s idea and not man's, and it was also not an option but compulsory; but not everyone could afford it when it is even free.

She urged the beneficiaries to take their studies seriously so that they can achieve their goals and also help others as some people are helping them today

Professor Jane Naana Opoku, Minister for Education, congratulated the church and all the contributors of the scheme for using their hard earned money to help brilliant but needy people in the country, and therefore urged the students to be obedient and learn hard to become useful to the nation.