SDA resorts to baptising members in church due to effects of galamsey on water bodies

Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) churches in Ghana have joined the fight against illegal mining popularly known as galamsey.

On Saturday, October 26, 2024, all SDA churches across southern Ghana dedicated the day to reflect on the destructive practice of galamsey, sounding a clarion call for an immediate halt to the illicit activities.

“The stewardship of the earth, which God entrusted to Adam and Eve, still belongs to their descendants. We who inhabit the planet are responsible for its care. God provides but holds us responsible for maintaining what He has provided.”

“In the final judgement, ‘the destroyers of the earth’ will be destroyed,” the church highlighted in a statement.

According to the church, preserving the environment for future generations must be of a great concern for all citizens – “not few individuals who seek to enrich themselves through land degradation and forest destruction.”

“When we talk about galamsey, we are actually talking about an illegality. We are talking about people who treat the country with contempt,” an elder of the Legon SDA church said.

Themed ‘Creation Sabbath,’ the Southern Ghana Union Conference of SDA directed all churches to deliver campaigns on the message – Protecting God’s Creation: United Against Galamsey.

This comes after the Executive Secretary of the Northern Ghana Union of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Pastor Edward Nyarkoh, said the church can no longer baptise new converts in streams in areas affected by illegal mining because of increasing turbidity levels in water bodies across the country.

He noted that churches are now forced to construct baptisteries for new converts because the church can no longer conduct baptismal services in rivers.

“Galamsey has come to destroy all the water bodies. So, it’s also affecting our baptism. Previously, we were baptising in rivers. But nowadays, all the water bodies are contaminated.”

“Therefore, that has resulted in this church building [baptisteries] so that all those who would be baptized; pastors who are officiating would not be contaminated,” he said.

Since 1991, the SDA worldwide has designated the fourth Saturday in October as Creation Sabbath in celebration of God’s creative power and His continued involvement in and care for human life.

This year, the church in Ghana recognised the urgent need to speak against galamsey, asking all to honour God and His creation.

“We are stewards of this world and should do everything to maintain life on all levels by keeping the ecological balance intact.”