Corona Virus Alert – Letter from Dr Goodwill Shana

To all Word of Life Churches and affiliates.

Dear Word of Life Family

During the past Sunday service of the 15th of March I spent a considerable amount of time speaking on the Corona Virus and actions that can be taken in response. As I mentioned during the Sunday Service ,in my overview of the CoronaVirus, that if the Government issues a declaration, decree or instruction we as the church will comply. The Governments of South Africa , Botswana ,Kenya and Zimbabwe and other governments around the world have issued cautionary public statements declaring national disasters or pandemics or lockdowns.

Where a government has issued a limitation or restriction on public gatherings I urge churches to comply but to do so with accompanying information, education and teaching on both the Corona Virus and our personal faith and human responsibility for ourselves and others. There is however no need to panic or abandon church meetings that are not in violation of government or health guidelines.

In the context of Zimbabwe ; only Sunday services and Thursday Prayer meetings with 100 people or less will take place.Those congregations that are larger than 100 people will need to break up into sections of 100 or less and use multiple services of the same venue or different venues to meet, or ensure other forms of ministry are in place. This will require an creative thinking, planning and innovative organization and never -say -die attitude and spirit.While this is the position taken for now , Members of Word of Life are free to make their own personal decisions as to the actions that they wish to take in the present situation. Branch pastors and leaders must take action that is related to their environment after consultation with provincial or regional leadership. As the Senior leadership we will continue to evaluate the situation so that we are neither laggard nor over reactive. Logistics and administration around this outbreak may not all be very clear and precise at this moment but are being refined as things unfold . Please bear with us as we deal with a first of its kind event in modern times globally and locally. Any Further details or changes to service venues and schedules will be posted on social media or groups.The situation will be further evaluated during the week and where necessary further direction will be given that takes into fact the state of things on the ground. This will be reviewed on a week by week basis for foreseeable future.

Please contact your local
Church office or Departmental, section or home group WhatsApp group for local updates and details.

For those unable to attend public services for one reason or other, please note that Ministry from the Senior Pastors will continue to be conducted via life stream on Facebook and Mixlr as usual for both Thursday and Sunday.

In this regard the Faith Convention has been postponed to a future more suitable date.

Please maintain contact with the church through the official departmental WhatsApp groups or church social media and our Facebook page. As I mentioned on Sunday ; we need to be people of faith as well as people of responsibility. While our personal faith maybe robust we need to act with responsibility in regard to others in our sphere of infuence or contact. We must make every effort not to expose ourselves , our loved ones and our communities to the risk of sickness or the possibility of quarantine during this period.

Let us remain responsible,positive, confident and inspirational in our faith, attitude and outlook.

Eph 5:15  (15-16) So be very careful how you live, not being like those with no understanding, but live honorably with true wisdom, for we are living in evil times. Take full advantage of every day as you spend your life for his purposes.
(TPT)

May God bless you and keep you.

In His Kingdom

Dr G. Shana and Pastor M. B. Shana
Founders and Senior Pastors
Word of Life International Ministries