Church ‘obedient to God’

A church elder at the centre of Auckland’s sub-cluster says he got tested for the first time on Friday after receiving a call from a pastor.

Joseph Hohepa Kotuku said, as an elder at the church, it was his duty to get tested.

“It’s for the good of community that’s what it’s all about. I’m a bornagain Christian so it’s all about the community.”

There are now 33 cases in the Mt Roskill Evangelical Fellowship subcluster and 15 cases in the bereavement group.

The bereavement group started when an infectious church member visited a grieving family while Auckland was in level 3.

Health officials have urged members of the congregation to get retested and the Ministry of Health said yesterday 98 per cent had complied.

Kotuku said God is his healer but he also believes it’s important to use wisdom and abide by the law.

He attended the prayer meeting last month, which was broken up by the police because it was a larger gathering than level 3 rules allowed.

“I understand they have to do their duty because of the government law. We all understand that. We’re not perfect, sort of, but we are obedient to the word of God’s call.”

He said prayer meetings have been held over Zoom since then.

Kotuku said he was aware of critical comments about the congregation.

“You’re going to get that with a lot of critical people that are not Christians, they don’t understand where we stand,” Kotuku said.

“I see a lot of criticism but that doesn’t worry us. We’re doing what God has instructed us to do through the word of God.”

Criticism doesn’t worry us. We’re doing what God has instructed us to do. Joseph Hohepa Kotuku