The chairman says the pilgrims should see the exercise as a spiritual one.

The Chairman, Ekiti Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Aaron Komolafe, has urged participants of the 2012 Jerusalem pilgrimage to see the exercise as a serious spiritual one and not as a jamboree.

He gave the charge on Monday in Ado-Ekiti at a one-day orientation programme organised for the intending pilgrims.

Mr. Komolafe said the programme was aimed at sensitizing intending pilgrims on what would be required of them before and during the pilgrimage. He also advised them to allow the pilgrimage reflect on their lives, families and the society as a whole positively.

He warned them to be moderately dressed and to exhibit characters that would show them as people from the land of honour, adding that they should be good ambassadors of the state.

Mr. Komolafe lauded the state government for the support given to the board towards making the journey to the holy land a huge success.

One of the resource persons at the programme, Ola Olajobi, spoke on the topic “Pilgrimage as a Tool for Spiritual and Moral Reforms’’. He encouraged the intending pilgrims to use the opportunity to pray and have a change of heart.

He said that it would be ridiculous to return to bad habits after the exercise.

Also speaking, a health worker with the state Ministry of Health, Idowu Adebayo, said that the aim of inoculating the pilgrims is to prevent them from contracting yellow fever and other infectious diseases during the pilgrimage.

Some of the intending pilgrims commended the state government and other sponsors for making this year’s pilgrimage possible.

They pledged to use the opportunity to pray for the state, the nation and to seek the face of the Lord and to remain focused.