Africa-Press – Tanzania. AS Tanzanian Christians joined the rest of the world to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, a call has been made on parents, government and the community to raise children in good faith and instill good characters for the betterment of the nation.
Delivering his message to all Christians and the general public during Christmas mass held at Kanisa la Biblia Tanzania in Mtwara region, the cleric, Bishop John Mchopa said a nation of morally upright people starts with good and responsible parenting of children.
He said many children are left unattended by parents and ignored by communities and later end up having bad attitudes and behaviour which affects their future lives.
“Many children lack parental care from their own parents and the society, leaving them to become street children, where they end up with negative attitude and behaviours,” he said, calling on parents and the community as well as the government to raise the children in God’s faith as Mary and Joseph did to Jesus Christ.
He pointed out on fathers and mothers abandoning their children as another source of creating a generation with negative attitude and behaviours.
Bishop Mchopa also pointed to women and mothers harassing house girls, saying such women lead to the creation of women with negative attitudes and behaviours towards their future families.
He urged such parents to use this Christmas holiday to take back control of their abandoned children and raise them as a family in order to build good attitudes and behaviours.
He also said that parents should avoid family conflicts as they affect the children, leading to behavioural problems, adding that parents should show their children God’s love by loving them as Jesus Christ was loved by his parents.
The cleric used the occasion to ask Tanzanians to thank the almighty God for protecting them against Covid- 19, saying the miracles and love that God has continued to extend to Tanzanians must be appreciated and be thankful for.
Speaking at the mass, the Mtwara Regional Commissioner, Gelasius Byakanwa echoed the Bishop’s message as he insisted on the need for children to be raised in a manner that will lead them to respect their parents.
“As parents strive to be responsible to their children, children should also be led to be responsible to their parents by respecting them in order to enable them become responsible to others in future,” he said, adding that parents should plan a good future for their children and build their behaviours to become responsible in future.
