Buffalo City faithful able to worship together via social media platforms

With many religious institutions remaining shut to avoid congregations becoming infected with Covid-19, a group of church leaders in Buffalo City are continuing to provide daily spiritual sustenance for people via Facebook.

The Virtual Worship Word and Prayer-athon initiative involves 10 religious leaders, who preach sermons and lead prayers on the social media platform in the morning and at night. The host of this virtual worship is religious leader Apostle Bathandwa Kwatsha. She said the initiative hoped to encourage people to develop a personal relationship with God. “I started this after lockdown. I thought that there must be some way to help people connect with each other and connect to God.”

The initiative is not just about prayer, but encourages people to live the Christian message and to actively assist their communities where possible. “We need to help, whether it’s to pass on information about Covid-19, food parcels, or whatever it is you can do to help. We need to get involved, come up with strategies and do something to help to lighten the burden,” she added.

Kwatsha said the public response had been positive. “We have received a lot of appreciation, commending what we’re doing, even from people that we don’t know who see ministers of the gospel working together.”

The virtual worship morning session from 5am-7am is led by pastors Gugu Mbuku, Malombo Sigobelwana, Simphiwe Nojoko and Kwatsha.

In the evening, pastors Afrika Mhlophe, Sabelo Ndingane, Sizwe Mlungwana, Babongile Moto, Sakhiwo Rala and Apostle Mangaliso Matshobane take the reins from 5pm-8pm.

Despite occasional technical glitches, sessions are divided into 30 minutes each on the relevant spiritual leader’s Facebook page.

“It’s for people to be comfortable with their cup of tea and spiritual leader. It’s also easier for that pastor to have their own base after lockdown so we can all grow,” Kwatsha said.

She said as much as Covid-19 was an invisible virus, prayer worked in the same way. “Prayer is an invisible weapon and a tool to depend on God, who we believe is in control. Fear gets you and we want to unite the body of Christ with the rest of SA,” Kwatsha said.