Albertina Nakale
WINDHOEK – The Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN) is greatly concerned that Christmas or the festive season, which is an ideal atmosphere of family fun, laughter and joy, is often mixed with lawlessness and irresponsible behaviour which translates into chaos, disunity among families and in many instances sorrow and pain.
Pastor Ferdinand Otto says ultimately the repetition of the same behaviour leads to moral decay, and the situation becomes an unacceptable norm in society. He adds it is so easy to apportion blame for the moral decay in the communities, but everyone needs to take introspection themselves. Otto quotes John 8:7 in the Bible where it says ‘’he who does not have sin, cast the first stone…’’. Mother Teresa stated ‘’if everyone cleans their own doorstep, the whole world will be clean.’’
“We need to ask ourselves the question, which area I am entrusted with requires cleaning and cleansing as individual, household, family, community, society and as government,” he maintains. As stakeholders, he says people cannot only react to the problems of society, adding everyone needs to look for solutions proactively.
According to him, the root cause of Gender-Based Violence and other forms of violence need to be established. He says the church, including the government, should be concerned about abuse of alcohol and other substances in society.
Further, he says the church was established as God’s governing body on earth to strengthen its members so that all might advance his Kingdom agenda.
He opines that the Bible as an instrument is based on principles, precepts and statutes of which the government is an extension of those principles, which is to be upheld by its citizens in order to have peace and a stable society.
Therefore, he argues that church activities are running throughout the year with the intention to inculcate positive behaviour among individuals aimed at building strong character among people to interact and live together in harmony.
Otto says the church reminds people of their moral duty to filter good behaviour during this time of the year among family and society. In particular, he says crime rate in terms of violence against women and children regrettably remains high in Namibia.
According to the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, road accidents annually claims lives with over 700 persons killed, and over 7000 injured, leaving many families more so women and children in destitute and poverty. In his opinion, this situation is tantamount to Gender-Based Violence of some form and broken social institutions.
He says broken families in many cases leads to alcohol and other substance abuse as a means to deal with trauma.
The pastor urges everyone during this festive season to do the right thing while asking God to bless Namibia, saying Christmas is also a time everyone want to refresh and rest, a time one owes oneself to recuperate new energy for the year ahead, at the same time reflect in order to harness the lessons of the past year to be part of future plans.
At the same time, he says during Christmas, families reconnect and build stronger ties. “On behalf of the Council of Churches in Namibia, I wish every citizen of our beloved Land of the Brave Namibia a festive season filled with gifts from God. Ephesians 6: 23-24; “Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), Grace (God’s undeserving favour) be with all who love the Lord Jesus Christ,” he wishes.