Twenty girls were honored for keeping their virginity by the Wenchi West District of the Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA) of the Mid-West Ghana Conference in the West African nation’s Bono Region.
According to Citinewsroom, the girls, aged between 13 and 16, were honored at a thanksgiving ceremony that was held during the first weekend of January 2025. The ceremony, which took place in the town of Wenchi, saw the teen girls receiving an unspecified amount of money for not losing their flowers.
The Wenchi West District Coordinator of the Young Adventist Women Ministries, Mrs. Nana Amponsah Poku, heaped praises on the girls for remaining chaste and encouraged them to abstain from sex until marriage.
“God created you uniquely beautiful and you must not allow anybody to lure and break your virginity until you marry,” she told the girls. Mrs. Poku also told the teens to be wary of the kind of friends they made in 2025, Citinewsroom reported.
She also said the ministry was keen on nurturing girls and young women to become responsible adults. Mrs. Poku additionally stressed on the importance of the re-introduction of ancient traditional rituals, such as puberty rites, to keep girls in check from promiscuity.
“The ancient Bragoro or Dipo rite was very essential in preserving girls’ virginity and controlling teenage pregnancies inimical to the growth and development of young girls and women,” she explained.
A number of the girls who were honored expressed their gratitude for the support given to them by the church. The girls were also praised and given words of advice by the Associate Pastor of Wenchi West District of the SDA Church, Pastor Andrews Dua Bour Kyere. Pastor Kyere urged them to focus on their studies.
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