The Chairman of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, on Tuesday morning [March 17, 2020] addressed the teeming members of the church in a live television broadcast on PENT TV, the church’s official television station, on measures taken by the church against the spread of the novel Coronavirus pandemic.
The broadcast followed an emergency Executive Council meeting held in Accra on Monday as a follow up to the directives announced by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his address to the nation on Sunday, March 15, 2020, which banned all church services and other social gatherings in the country.
Apostle Nyamekye encouraged members of the church and Ghanaians in general not to live in fear and panic but trust God to end the global pandemic, saying, “We believe that in times like this, we need not live in fear and panic or spread anxiety. Christ in you is still the hope of glory.
“In moments like this, we need to have living faith in the living God. I believe in the God who is alive, a loving and a merciful God who answers prayer. I am convinced that the prayers we have prayed, He has answered and the roots of the Coronavirus is effectively killed.
“But just as in Mark 11:12-21, when Jesus cursed the fig tree, the leaves withered and the roots died the next day. Similarly, I believe by the fervent prayer of the righteous the roots of the Coronavirus has been killed. But until the leaves wither and the roots effectively destroyed, it will be wise for us to keep the precautionary measures as given by the World Health Organisation and our various leaders in our nations.”
Referring to the church’s first circular letter to all assemblies in Ghana dated March 13, 2020, the Chairman indicated the preparedness of the leadership of the church to fully comply with the new directives from the seat of Government and also support Government’s efforts to curb the spread of the virus in the country.
The Chairman informed the church public about some of the directives by the Executive Council as follows:
- All church services including retreats, revivals, conferences, funerals and weddings are suspended for the next four (4) weeks.
- All Church of Pentecost schools have been closed till further notice.
- The second part of the Apostolisation programme scheduled for Monday 16th – Sunday 22nd March 2020 has been cancelled.
- The Royals and Politicians Conference scheduled for Monday 23rd to Saturday 28th March, 2020 has been postponed. A new date will be announced later.
- The 2020 Easter Convention which falls within the four-week ban, has also been cancelled.
He further announced the suspension of the 2020 General Council Meetings due to the fast rate of infection of the Coronavirus in many nations of the world, especially, in those considered ‘high risk’ zones, since many of the delegates would be coming from over 100 nations. The Council Meetings have been rescheduled as follows: Executive Council Meeting from 1st – 6th June, Heads meeting from 7th to 9th June and General Council Meetings from 9th to 13th June, 2020.
To sustain church life through prayer, fellowship and the dissemination of information relative to the pandemic during the interim period, while still maintaining the necessary social distance, the Chairman said the Executive Council has further recommended that members intensify intercessory prayers at individual and family levels, take their daily personal and family devotions serious, organise family, friends and cell meetings in homes to pray and share fellowship and also ensure that church buildings are opened during the day to give access to individual members who may want to go there to pray and meditate.
He also stated plans by PENT TV to reorganise its programmes to meet the spiritual needs of members. He thereby called on the members to patronise the TV station and other social media platforms of the church.
Apostle Eric Nyamekye ended the broadcast by declaring every Friday as fasting and prayers for the nation and the world against the pandemic at the individual level.
As of Tuesday, March 17, at 08:30GMT, 182,424 cases have been confirmed, 79,433 recovered with 7,155 deaths.
PENTECOST NEWS