By Sir Kt Bro Albert Essien
Chairpersons, Representatives of the Supreme Council and Grand Court…. Regional Grand Knight, Regional Noble Lady…. Regional Chaplain……Sir Knights, Most Respected Ladies, Worthy Brothers, Respected Ladies, Higher Officers…… my Brothers and Sisters.
The theme provided by the Supreme Council to guide our deliberations during this year’s Regional Conference is “Understanding and aspiring to live by Fratelli Tutti, the Encyclical of Pope Francis – as Marshallans.”
In “Fratelli Tutti”, the most recent social encyclical by Pope Francis, he indicates clearly that fraternity and social friendship, are two ways to build a better, more just and peaceful world, with the contribution of all: people and institutions. This, he said, would be amply supported with an emphatic confirmation of a ‘no’ to war and globalized indifference.
In the background of the Encyclical is the Covid-19 pandemic which Pope Francis revealed, “unexpectedly erupted” as he “was writing this letter.” The global health emergency has helped demonstrate that “no one can face life in isolation” and that the time has truly come to “dream, as a single human family.”
Furthermore, the Encyclical aims to promote a universal aspiration toward seeing all others as brothers and sisters, in our bid to save ourselves and the world. Pope Francis also points out that the right to live with dignity cannot be denied to anyone. Since rights have no borders, no one can remain excluded, regardless of where they were born.
In line with this theme, the Accra East Region has also elected to work with a sub-theme: “Strengthening our Christian Faith and building Financial Resilience to fulfill the call for Fraternity and Charity – The Accra East approach.”
We are all aware that over the years, the leadership of the Accra East Region have taken bold steps that indicate clearly that we in this region intend to fulfil the call by his Holiness Pope Francis, for fraternity and social friendship. We intend to combine this action with strengthening our Christian Faith and by building financial resilience to enable us fulfill our various obligations.
Fortunately, to achieve this, brothers and sisters in the region will be supported by the schemes that have been put in place to improve our financial resilience. This means that we will not only experience spiritual growth but will also be better resourced to extend a helping hand to those in need.
Christian Faith.
To strengthen our Christian Faith, it is important that we refocus on the Word of God and let His message guide us through our life’s journey. Two thousand years ago, that biblical command was spelt out in response to a questioner, who asked, “which is the greatest commandment?”
The Gospel of Matthew records Jesus’ answer: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself”
Without doubt, the first way to build our faith in God is by consistently listening to the word of God. We need to fill our lives with The Word, not just on Sundays but every day. The more we hear God’s word the more our faith will grow as it will cause us to stay focused on the word.
Another way to build our faith in God is by reading and meditating on His word. Let the word of God be sweet to you, a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.
We can also build on our faith in God by using it and acting on the word of God. We must take the authority that God has given us seriously and make use of it. For example, the word of God says; “you will lay hands on the sick and they will recover – act on this word.” The next time a friend or a family member falls sick, why not exercise your faith by laying your hands on that person believing that he or she will be healed as scripture says? Remember, all things are possible to him who believes.
We can also build our faith in God by reaching out to others with the gospel of Jesus Christ. God confirms His word when you share it with others. As God confirms His word it builds your faith even more. It is rather interesting that to love one’s neighbor is not the first but rather the second commandment. Yet, as Jesus said, “it is like the first.”
Many of us have found that trying to love one’s neighbor – those living next door or working at the next desk in the office, is not always the easiest thing to do. However, by keeping the two commandments in their proper order, we can assure the fulfillment of both; for a heart filled with love for God naturally overflows.
Knowing God to be “Our Father,” the true parent of each one of us, we are no longer just neighbors but equally loved brothers and sisters. God tells us to always share with others who have a need. Averse in Proverbs 11 says, “Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; and those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” Sharing with those in need is more than charity; it is also smart financial management.
It is to do all this and more, for our brothers and sisters, that the leadership of the Accra East Region wants us to be financially resilient.
What is financial resilience and how do we build it?
Financial resilience is defined as the ability to withstand events in our lives that impact our income negatively. This might be the loss of a job, a reduction in your income or a major increase in your household or lifestyle expenses. Important events in life like getting a mortgage for our home, an addition to the family and other mishaps can have a great influence on us getting into financial challenges.
Indeed, there is increasing concern that a typical household does not have enough financial resilience to withstand such pressures and emergencies without turning to bad credit behaviour. The Accra East Region, has taken the initiative and will move heaven and earth, to ensure greater financial resilience in order to improve our ability to make ends meet and help us set and stick to our savings goals.
Chairpersons, my brothers and sisters. In order to build financial resilience, we must first of all……“Have a financial plan.”
We need to set goals to help us stay focused on what matters most and to help us prepare for things that might shake our “financial resilience journey.” Having a strict plan and sticking to it is one of the key ways to build our financial resilience.
A plan is not just a resolution that we make on a whim, but a well thought out and detailed blueprint for how we are going to make a difference. In order to get started we need to answer questions like:
“What do we want to achieve?” Why is having a plan important to us? Why and how have we made previous financial decisions?
Our answers to these pertinent questions will form the basis of our financial plan.
We also need to……“Build an emergency fund”
We might already be saving for several things we desire to have, but the real question is……are we also saving for the unexpected? With no financial buffer in place we may not be able to meet any of those surprising expenses. An emergency savings fund can help us recover from financial setbacks in the shortest possible time.
For an emergency savings fund, it is advised to have a financial shield of no less than three months. If for example, we lose our job unexpectedly, we should aim to have enough money in our emergency fund to cover three months of everyday expenses, such as our rent, food and household bills.
We definitely must……. Understand where our money goes” By understanding where our money goes and how savings and debt affect our financial resilience, we can take better control of our financial position. It must be noted that some types of payments are fixed, like rent, food and transport costs. Other types of consumption can be regarded as discretionary or surplus to your needs. Such discretionary expenses are costs which you have a choice over.
That is not to say that you should never buy anything outside of these essential costs. However, understanding how much of our money goes into buying these items is key to building financial resilience. If we buy things on credit, it means we are buying them before we have the money to pay for them. In effect, we have turned these transactions into “fixed” rather than “optional” expenses.
They should be factored into our financial resilience plan to help us………Reduce or eliminate our debt
Outright ownership of all our assets provides us with more of a financial cushion and increases our security. If we don’t owe any money on our assets then we need not worry about losing them if our income is reduced or even if we lose our job. This is easier said than done, since reducing our personal debt can be a daunting task. We need to make a plan for which debts we want to pay off first, and a good place to start is the ones which attract the highest interest rates, then work backwards.
We will definitely need to…… Build up our knowledge
Sadly, in school, many of us were not taught about financial planning and management, so navigating this world as an adult can be unknown territory. Financial resilience requires a base of financial knowledge – which is key to financial wellness. It is all really just about confidence and so challenging ourselves to constantly learn about our own personal finances and the ways we can improve is the best way to do this.
Together, we can achieve this since we in the Accra East Region believe that all our brothers and sisters should enjoy the benefits of having financial resilience. We must therefore work together with our leadership to better manage our finances, especially through the application of the recommended schemes – The Accra East Credit Union and The Accra East Region Insurance Scheme, that will help set us firmly on the path to financial freedom.
Accra East Credit Union
The Accra East Credit Union, like other credit unions, is a financial cooperative, created and operated by members and shares. The Credit Union is a nonprofit entity that aims to serve its members rather than seeking to make a profit. As expected, the Accra East Credit Union is set to offer very attractive terms – better savings rates, lower loan rates and other reduced fees.
Accra East Region Insurance Scheme.
Group life insurance, is basically a single contract for life insurance coverage that is extended to a larger group of people. It is fairly inexpensive and has a relatively low coverage amount.
One of the major advantages of the Group Insurance Policy for brothers and sisters in the Accra East Region is that, it has been made possible for us to secure lower premiums for individual members – significantly lower than if they were to out and purchase individual insurance policies.
Conclusion
Chairpersons, my brothers and sisters. It is without doubt that seeking to strengthen our Christian faith and building financial resilience, to fulfill the Pontiff’s call for Fraternity and Social Friendship, will not be easy.
However, the path that the Accra East Region has chosen to tread means that we will all, by working together, stand a much better chance of achieving our goal – to experience spiritual growth and also be better placed to honour our financial obligations.
In line with “Fratelli Tutti,” we must continue to be there for each other. As we pray that the Accra East Region, “the Rising Sun” continues to grow from strength to strength, we must not lose sight of the fact that we all need to remain truly worthy members of the Noble Order of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall.
I am totally convinced that by strengthening our Christian Faith and building financial resilience, we can continue to promote fraternal relations and social friendships, through our existing Marshallan activities, to exemplify our motto: “Unity, Charity, Fraternity and Service.” I end by wishing us all very fruitful deliberations during the 2021 – Accra East Regional Conference.
I thank you all.