By Lyson Zgambo and Martha Chikoti
Churches in Malawi conducted services on Sunday despite a ban on church gatherings.
Government on Thursday banned religious gatherings over the coronavirus pandemic.
On Sunday, Malawi24 visited several congregations in Mzuzu including St Andrews CCAP Church where over a hundred people gathered for holy communion.
The situation was the same at Matope CCAP in Zolozolo, and Chibavi and Viyere CCAP in Luwinga.
One of the members at Chibavi CCAP who did not want to be named said the church is not taking the Covid-19 pandemic seriously.
“The world is crying because of the pandemic that has left no one, our leaders are not protecting us.
“Of course we need to look to and trust God in everything but we can pray at home even in groups of less 100, not the way we did today,” he said.
At Lunyangwa CCAP which is under Nkhoma Synod, less than 70 members attended the resurrection prayers on Sunday and they maintained social distance.
In Lilongwe, members gathered for Easter prayers at St John’s Catholic Church (Msamba Parish).
In an Interview with Malawi24, Member of the church Louis Dickson said they will continue gathering and praying to God because he is the only one who can intervene into the current “misfortune”.
Dickson who is a marriage counsellor at the church added that they are following the hygienic measures to avoid from contracting Coronavirus.
“Our way of living should not be a barrier and also stop us from crying to our Lord, however we are supposed to be following both spiritual and physical ways to overcome this temptations” he said.
He added that to ensure social distancing, they have increased the number of services from three to eight.
Malawi has recorded 13 cases of the novel coronavirus and has registered two deaths.
