Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams of Action Chapel International ministry, is one of few clergymen to have publicly offered prayers for the State of Israel in the midst of recent hostilities with Palestinian group, Hamas.
According to GhanaWeb checks, at the latter part of his sermon of October 15, 2023, the respected clergyman asked the congregation to pray for Israel as a nation, for its peace and security in the face of the attacks.
He also extended the prayers to cover the Middle East and all continents of the world stressing how unpalatable war was. The flag of Israel was emblazoned on the giant screen behind his as the prayers were said.
In a social media post days later, the Israeli Embassy in Ghana extended thanks to the clergyman for his prayers and support.
They captioned their October 17 post on Twitter (now X): "We would like to extend our appreciation to @ArchbishopNick and the entire @ActionChapel community for their support for Israel.
"Led by His Eminence, members of the ACI congregation both on ground and online prayed for peace for the State of Israel and the Middle East as part of their Sunday Service. We are very pleased with such show of support in these devastating times. #PrayForJerusalem," the post accompanied by two photos added.
In reacting to the post however, social media users were largely critical of the post for different reasons.
Most of them, who appeeared to be pro-Palestinian in the orientation, pointed out how Israel has doggedly mistreated Palestinians on whose land they are continually annexing by force.
For others, the fact that Israel is a Jewish nation that continued to get the attention and solidarity of Christian faithful was a concern. The fact that the clergyman has not prayed for flood victims in the Volta Region was the concern of another person.
The Israeli onslaught on Gaza was triggered on October 7 when Hamas launched a military offensive that killed 1000s in Israel. Israel declared a state of war and has since been bombing Gaza.
See some reactions below:
SARA
Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.
You can also watch this episode of People & Places on GhanaWeb TV:
Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams during the prayer fir Israel