UGANDA: “GOD IS DRAWING WORLD ATTENTION TO HIM THROUGH COVID-19 PANDEMIC”-RELIGIOUS LEADERS

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The Minister of Health Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng washing her hands in Lamwo sugar cane farm.

Theme: Psalms 46:10. “Stop fighting”, he says, “and know that I am God, supreme among the nations, supreme over the world”-Good News Bible.

“Isn’t He drawing our attention to Him? Isn’t God really whispering to us? Hotels, Churches, Factories, Stadia and Airports have remained closed worldwide due to the pandemic. Sports had become an idol and we had forgotten God. God is saying; ‘be still and know that I am God’. This is the time for meditation”,

GULU-UGANDA: The Inter Religious Council of Uganda and Uganda’s strong man, President Yoweri Museveni, has yet again run to God for His Devine mercy over the escalating number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 pandemic in Uganda.

The prayer, which was held at State House in Entebbe, the official residence of Mr. Museveni, on Saturday May 09, 2020, was streamed live through all the radio and television stations across the country. This is where important guests, including visiting world leaders meet Mr. Museveni.

This is the second time the nation, whose motto is; “For God and My Country”, is bowing down on its knees in prayers for God’s guidance in dealing with the pandemic since the first case was reported late March 2020.

It is also the thirteenth time that he is addressing the nation since Wednesday March 18, 2020 and has since issued out 35 guidelines for Ugandans to follow as a way of containing the spread of COVID-19 leading to total lockdown.

Uganda has registered 139 cases of the pandemic, 55 recoveries with no death reported as of Thursday, May 14 2020.

The religious leaders, who referred to Uganda as “A Nation of Believers”, called upon the medics and scientists ‘not to forget to seek refuge in God’, urging them to always pray to God to inspire them to find cure for the pandemic”.

In his opening remark to Ugandans, the Catholic Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese, Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, told his listeners that King Solomon, who had married up to 700 princesses and had 300 more concubines, realized his mistakes in his old age, that the luxury and pleasure he had had in life ‘were meaningless and useless’.

“King Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible to guide and spare future generations from pursuing luxury and pleasure when he said everything in life is meaningless and all is emptiness”, he said.

He appealed to Ugandans to turn back to God by loving and worshiping Him alone with all our ‘body, mind and soul, and not to worship idols’ and secondly to love others as we love ourselves as commanded by Jesus Christ.

 The Anglican Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Dr. Stephen Kazimba Mugalu, told his listeners that God ‘is whispering to us through COVID-19 that man has strayed away from God, have abandoned Him for idol worship.

“Isn’t He drawing our attention to Him? Isn’t God really whispering to us? Hotels, Churches, Factories, Stadia and Airports have remained closed worldwide due to the pandemic. Sports had become an idol and we had forgotten God. God is saying; ‘be still and know that I am God’. This is the time for meditation”, he says.

The Archbishop says there is a ‘lot of anxiety in the world and that there is food challenges saying; “people are really hungry and personally, I am praying for the lifting of some of the lockdown guidance. Look at the kind of pestilence since 2002; there is ‘spiritual aspect’ to this pandemic which we need to explore”.

He told the men, who would always spend their time away from their families drinking alcohol in bars or watching sports through giant screens; that God was forcing them to stay at home with their children through the pandemic.

“This is not just COVID-19. God is calling us. The Ministry of Health needs a big budget to care of our hospitals. Who is really in-charge? Are they scientists? No, they have limitations. Are they religious leaders or politicians? No, He is God alone. Big countries are shaking and they don’t know what to do. God is calling the Earth to order”, asserts the primate.

He reminded world leaders that even trees which God had created for man to take care of and use to satisfy his needs have been yearning because of pollution of the environment.

“Animals are enjoying nature now more than ever before. Even expensive weddings are no more now. People who wed now are stress-free. Don’t co-habit because you used to fear the cost of weddings. Once there are five witnesses, the wedding is over. We should renew our relationships with God. Don’t take your time lightly”, he reminded the listeners.

He appealed to leaders to take lessons from the pandemic and lockdown to give more attention to the economy by reducing wasteful expenditures but invest more in production to revitalize the economy.

He said as a Church, the lesson from the COVID-19 lockdown when the Church door was closed to worshippers, is that the Church must invest in income generation instead of relying only on offertories and tithes. He appealed to people to prepare for retirement early.

The religious leaders also prayed for the economy of Africa in general petitioning God to make Africa a Super Power economically to enable Africa stop the importation of the basic needs of man such as medicines, food and clothing by giving them entrepreneurial spirits.

“It is just fifty days of lockdown and yet people are already crying themselves hoarse because of food insecurity. Give entrepreneurial spirits to Ugandans so that we don’t import the basics of life. Give us wisdom to use our herbs instead of Western medicines. Herbs are enough to heal us. You have disarmed them. This is not just talk but a reality. We can turn evil into good”, says the religious leaders.

They appealed to President Museveni to put godly people in charge of the economy, decrying the rampant corruption which has eaten the fabrics of society. They said the third National Prayers should be for thanksgiving with maximum humility.

President Yoweri Museveni promised to open the lockdown in phases, slowly without jeopardizing successes. He said regional leaders have identified the main avenue of the spread of the pandemic and have worked out a formula to solve it. He emphasized the wearing of face masks by all Ugandans when getting out of their families.   

 

 

 

  

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