Lawrence Apaalse, the Chief Executive Officer of Lapam Zorkor Hotel in Bolgatanga and former Chief Director at the Energy Ministry, has donated GHC10,000 to support the renovation of Saint Anne’s Catholic Church in Bongo.
The contribution was made in honor of the late Reverend Father Armand Roger Label, a French-Canadian priest who founded the church over five decades ago.
Rev. Fr. Armand Roger Label, who was first appointed to the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese, played a significant role in the education and spiritual development of the region. He taught at Saint John Bosco Training College and Notre Dame Seminary SHS before moving to Bongo in 1970, where he established Saint Anne’s Catholic Church.
Despite being a pillar in the community for over 50 years, the church has not undergone a major renovation since its founding. Speaking on his motivation for the donation, Mr. Apaalse expressed deep gratitude for the role that Rev. Fr. Label played in his life.
“The key things that he did in our lives were that, first of all, he influenced our spiritual upbringing by insisting on all of us being baptized, he insisted on confirmation, and he insisted that any time we were going to school, we should pass by and say goodbye to him. Each time we passed by, he would dip his hand into his pocket and get us something,” he stated.
Recalling his experiences as a young boy in the early 1970s, Mr. Apaalse shared a personal story about the profound impact the late priest had on him. He remembered receiving a scientific calculator from Rev. Fr. Label, which he described as a pivotal moment that opened the doors to his academic and professional success.
“The turning point for my life was the donation of a scientific calculator that he gave to me. It was more like a toy, but it imbued in me the knowledge of mathematics, and I gradually grew into science just because of the calculator. Other colleagues used to come to me to use the calculator to do calculations, and the wrong impression was that I was a good mathematician, but it was the calculator that was the good mathematician. However, I earned the glory through that. So, when I look back through my life, everything that I do today is because I did science to the extent that I am not a lawyer but I am advising the UN now on the law of the sea. It is because of my background in science. So, I credit all this back to Fr. Label,” Mr. Apaalse said.
Receiving the donation on behalf of the church, Retired Rev. Fr. Sebastian Aduko, the first priest from Bongo who was ordained under Rev. Fr. Label’s mentorship, expressed heartfelt thanks to Mr. Apaalse for his generosity.
“We are deeply grateful for this support, especially in honor of Rev. Fr. Label, who was such an important figure in the establishment of this church and the spiritual development of many in this community. His legacy lives on, and this renovation will help preserve the church he built for generations to come,” Rev. Fr. Aduko said.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Joshua Asaah|Bongo
