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Over 15,000 people from all walks of life on Saturday 22nd March 2014, participated in a fitness walk dubbed �Life walk 2014 - 30,000 pairs of feet walking in gratitude for 30 years of favour�. The event is organized annually by the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) to keep members fit and healthy. It is normally an 18 kilometre health walk; however, this year, as part of the Church�s 30th Anniversary, the General Overseer, Pastor Mensa Otabil and other organisers of the walk reduced the length to 10 kilometres to enable everybody participate; especially those who found it difficult to complete the 18 kilometres. Apart from ensuring that members keep fit, the event was also held to raise funds to support the Children�s Cancer Unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. below is a message from DR. MENSA OTABIL to participants before the walk Fellow Participants Friends from The Media Ladies and Gentlemen Early this morning, we set off from Christ Temple on the 10th edition of our annual fitness and charity event, Life Walk 2014. It is instructive that this year�s event covered a distance of 10-kilometres instead of the usual 18-kilometres we have become accustomed to over the years. It is evident that the abridged version made it possible for many more of you to start and finish the full distance. This year�s walk has added significance because it coincides with the 30th Anniversary of the birth of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC). We symbolically chose the theme �30,000 pairs of feet walking in gratitude for 30 years of favour.� Not surprisingly, we have had a record attendance at this year�s event. Taking part today were some of you who have participated in all ten (10) Life Walk events since March 2005 and others who joined for the first time this morning. To all of you, I say �Ayekoo� and congratulations. It is our hope that your commitment to health and fitness shall not be an annual one-day affair. Right on this premises we have an ultra-modern gym and fitness centre Body Temple, which is rapidly becoming the preferred centre for health conscious individuals in the city of Accra. I wish to extend a personal invitation to you all to register and enjoy activities such as aerobics, fitness classes, salsa, bachacha, zumba and African Dance, among others. Ladies and Gentlemen, Beyond promoting the health and physical well-being of participants, Life Walk is used to raise funds internally to support the social intervention projects of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC). Over the last six (6) years, funds generated through Life Walk and other activities have been used for a number of social and community development projects. Ladies and Gentlemen, For four (4) years running since 2011, ICGC has committed itself to supporting the Childhood Cancer Unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital with funds towards medications and treatment drugs every month. From an initial contribution of GH�60,000 in the first year, we have increased our annual support to GH�84,000. By the end of this year, ICGC would have provided a total amount of GH�300,000 towards medications and treatment of children with cancer in Ghana. Our information is that since we started supporting the Unit, the number of children with cancer who report every day at the Unit has increased tremendously. The good news is that those who report at the Unit have been receiving 100% treatment. This means that no one is being turned away for financial reasons. Glory be to God. Ladies and Gentlemen, In 2012, ICGC engaged the Abossey-Okai �1&2� Junior High Schools in a 1-year academic improvement project. The aim was to assist the two schools to adequately prepare their JHS 2 students for the 2013 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). The project involved forty-five (45) JHS students receiving free tuition in seven (7) subjects including Maths, English, Social Studies, BDT, RME, Integrated Science and Ga from trained professional teachers mobilized from ICGC Christ Temple. In addition, each student received a free school bag, exercise books, math set, pens, pencils and meals. A total of GH�60,000 was spent on the first year of the project. I am pleased to report that the BECE results of the students showed a remarkable improvement on the performance from previous years. Additionally, for the first time, 13 students (representing 23% of the students who sat the exam) got their first choice senior High Schools. We have therefore extended the programme for another year with a second batch of 55 students. As a church, we are humbled by what God has done in our lives. As we ponder over three decades of leadership, vision and influence, we remain grateful to God and convinced that the best years are ahead of us. Finally, I wish to thank you all for partnering with me and ICGC to be a blessing to our people, community and nation at large. I thank all ICGC assemblies and congregations for participating in Life Walk throughout the country. I wish to commend the Social Action Committee and Programmes Directorate of Christ Temple for planning and successfully organizing Life Walk for the Accra-Tema metropolis. Thank you all for coming! Keep on walking for life! Shalom, peace and life to you! See you again next year!