By Nelson Manneh
The Gambia Christian Council on Saturday 25th, March 2017, held a national day of prayer and thanksgiving at 
the Independence Stadium in Bakau.
Speaking on the occasion Rev. James Cole, the master of ceremony in his words, said it is good to give back thanks to God whenever he responds to your call. He said the Christians in The Gambia were about to be in bondage but with the mercy of God they are protected. “Our God is a living God. He said whenever we call on to him he is ready to answer to our call,” he asserted.
In her Exhortation Bishop Hanna Faal-Heim, the Methodist Bishop, said Christians should know that they cannot be marginalized anywhere in the world. The Methodist Bishop said when ex-president Jammeh first announced “that The Gambia is now an Islamic state, we were all thinking of what is going to happen next, again he (Jammeh) said The Gambia will be governed by the sharia law we all thought that this will be the end of Christianity in this great land. But with God, all things are possible let’s continue to call on to him as he is ready to listen to us”.
Bishop Robert Ellison the Roman catholic Bishop for his part said, “Christians have gathered again to give thanks to God for the deliverance that he has made. We continue to pray for the wellbeing of the people of the Gambia as we are one. What God has put together no man can separate it.”
Other speakers include Bishop James Odico, the Anglican Bishop and Brother Julius T. Freeman.
Under his rule, ex-president Jammeh declared that the Gambia is an Islamic state and later announced that The Gambia will be governed by sharia law which Christians regarded as a threat to their religion. In the face of this threat in early December 2016, the Gambia Christian council held a prayer day to call on to their God to come on to their aid as they were now being treated differently in their mother land where they thought they have equal rights like any other citizen. It is the belief of the Christians that this led to the fall of the iron rule of former president Jammeh.
