By Faith Sanyu
Everyone is talking about the new normal, but does that mean that COVID-19 has come to stay? We are past mid-2020, and things are not getting any better. The 2020 calamities have disillusioned people of all calibers. More so, many people have lost their lives and loved ones to the dreaded COVID-19 disease.
Several people have lost their jobs. Others still have their jobs intact but have not been paid since this pandemic struck their countries. Employers can not pay workers for no work done. Have you wondered how these people are surviving? Imagine the breadwinners of extended families, COVID-19 is a rope around their necks, and no wonder, suicide death tolls have hiked this year. All the time, the western countries announce hope of a COVID-19 vaccine, which always seems to hit rock-bottom.
If they have exhausted all options, should we say we are doomed? Maybe there is something the world is not doing. A collective human effort to save our world from perishing might be what we need.
What Have Religious Leaders Done to Fight COVID-19?
Prayers are ongoing throughout the world, and probably that’s the way this pandemic will end. Scientists have tried several vaccines, and nothing seems to work. Speak of the floods in the UK, Sudan, North Korea, Uganda among other countries, the hurricanes in Australia and the US, the locusts in the Arabic countries and Eastern Africa, the increasing Bubonic, Ebola, and Cholera plagues in China, Uganda, Congo among others are all 2020 calamities. The recurring political and geographical strife in Mali, Libya, India, and China, Taiwan, Lebanon, Hong Kong, to mention but a few don’t seem to end.
Humans require a higher power to fight off these calamities. Throughout the face of global struggles, many empower and improve themselves to endure and succeed through the efficacy of prayer. World religious leaders have taken upon themselves the initiative to seek God in these turbulent days. Many church leaders have formed platforms to enable global prayers to fight the pandemic that has caused the comprehensive financial breakdown.
For instance, Global Prayer Works 2020, the Virtual Prayer Summit, gathered over 100,000 believers worldwide in a life-changing prayer that lasted from 20 to 22 August 2020 under the theme “Rising Above This Moment Through Effectual Prayer.”
It featured live constant prayers in different languages, with guests across the globe, including India, the UK, the US, Nigeria, and Ghana. Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, Apostle of Strategic Prayer, led this project. Benita Francis from India and Ezekiah offered people the motivation to go to the next step of their lives and resolve obstacles.
The WHO Speaks on T.B Joshua’s COVID-19 Miracles!!
The Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) led by Prophet T.B Joshua in Nigeria, was endorsed by the WHO (The World Health Organization) to pray for the COVID-19 affected patients in different isolation centers on the globe. The most famous was when he prayed for patients in the Honduras COVID-19 Isolation Center. The prayers are done virtually on Zoom, live on Emmanuel TV founded by T.B Joshua. The popular man of God and other prophets at SCOAN are praying for people around the world who have previously tested positive for COVID-19. Later, they return to testify with negative results free from COVID-19.
Dr. Tedros, the director of WHO, said; “We advise religious leaders to follow their faith and at the same time use signs.”
He encouraged COVID-19 positive patients to follow their faith but continue taking medicine. Dr. Tedros furthermore said that the two do not contradict, they work together. He, therefore, called all the religious leaders to be in this fight and save lives.
It is a digital era; thus, all religious denominational leaders should take the front line in fighting this pandemic and help encourage those afflicted by this disease. Religious leaders can motivate and impact the lives of many people through these prayer sessions on platforms like Zoom, Skype, and GoogleMeet, among others. This will drive out the fear that Coronavirus has struck at the hearts of people all over the world. It is time to rethink about God. Without Him, the new normal might not be normal, after all.
