By innocent Mvundula
Lilongwe, Malawi: Leader of the Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and the National Advisory Council (NAC) of ECG Malawi welcome the decision by the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 to continue allowing public gathering at 100 people.
We understand that the Taskforce earlier moved to limit general public gatherings to 10 people and funeral gathering to 50 people with noble and honest intentions to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
We also understand that the faith community and some sectors of our society raised concerns regarding the move and requested a review from our Head of State, His Excellency Dr Lazarus Chakwera.
By moving swiftly to give the concerns an ear and, again, making adjustments accordingly, we find President Chakwera to be a listening leader and his decisions immensely progressive as it signifies the spirit of making every voice matter.
We believe that the battle against COVID-19 can only be won through a multi-sectoral approach as such, as President Chakwera’s government has demonstrated; we all need to embrace a spirit of listening and understanding each other.
ECG Malawi wants to assure government that we will continue to be a church on the frontlines of containing COVID-19 by ensuring that all our branches, from Nsanje to Chitipa, restrict gathering to 100 people and, most importantly, intensify implementation of wearing face masks, hand sanitizing and observing social distance.
Further, as a church we will—led by our spiritual leader Prophet Bushiri, continue to be steadfast in prayer, asking God to protect our leaders and every Malawian from this pandemic.
In ECG, we believe that God is never in the business of putting His people in battles that they cannot win. We believe, as a prophetic church, that He is not a God who can take His people this far just to abandon them.