The Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) has introduced awards in CRK for the junior secondary 3 and senior secondary 2 classes of Loyola Jesuit College, Gidan Mangoro, Karu-Karshi Road, Abuja.
Mr John Akume, Special Assistant to NCPC Boss, Rev. Tor Uja Executive Secretary of NCPC, explained that the award would be based on merit.
Akume noted that the award would create a desire in the students to go for Christian pilgrimage next year and beyond.
He thanked the management of the schools for providing the platform for the Commission to sensitise the students on Christian pilgrimage.
“We want you to know about Christian pilgrimage so that you can go to Israel, Greece and Rome.
“We intend to give the award to the best deserving students in those classes in Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK),” Akume said.
Earlier, Mrs Victoria Ojogbane, Legal Adviser, NCPC told the students that there was a new paradigm shift in the way pilgrimage was being run.
Ojogbane enjoined the students to develop interest in embarking on pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
She said that this could be possible if they were able to convince their parents of their desire to go on pilgrimage rather than going on holidays to Europe and America.
In his remark, Mr. Sunny Udeh, Head of Mobilisation Department, NCPC, explained why pilgrimage was important to every Christian.
Udeh further expatiated that pilgrimage would enable them to observe what was in Israel in terms of spiritual Biblical endowments.
According to him, observation is key to advancement.
“It will also help you to confirm that the stories in the Bible are true, not a figment of imagination”.
He admonished them to have a desire to go to Israel.
He further explained that pilgrimage would afford the students the opportunity to meet with other children from other nations and exchange ideas spiritually, economically, technologically and otherwise.
Mr Udeh hinted that the Commission would work out the modalities with parents of the students and the school authority to come out with a template for the pilgrimage programme next year.
He stressed that the Commission would continuously carry out its sensitisation drive to the schools.
The NCPC’s sensitisation team included the Head of Media, Mr Celestine Toruka and the Coordinator, Abuja Metropolitan Office, Mrs. Evelyn Farry Okuobeya. (NAN)