By SYLVESTER MWALE –
SECRETARY to Cabinet Rowland Msiska has directed that all bars and other public places of entertainment should remain closed between 06:00 hours and 18:00 hours during the Day of prayer and fasting on October 18.
. Msiska
Dr Msiska said clergymen should lead their congregations in prayer for the nation and called on all citizens to spend time in prayer and fasting at their places of worship and churches.
“All forms of entertainment shall be suspended during the period when Zambians dedicate the day as a solemn fast in response to the social and economic challenges,” he said.
Dr Msiska said in a statement in Lusaka yesterday that President Edgar Lungu had stated that as a Christian Nation, Zambians were reminded of what God had promised in His words.
President Edgar Lungu has declared October 18, 2015 a Day of National Prayer and Fasting which would be celebrated with the aim of fostering reconciliation and forgiveness.
The Head of State has also called on Zambians to restore the friendship and goodwill which prevailed in former days among the people of all provinces and tribes in the country.
“Let our fervent prayers rise to His throne that He would remember us in this hour, as he did our fathers in time past and preserve our peace, freedom and unity, and bless the works of ours hands for
generations to come,” Dr Msiska said.
Meanwhile, the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) says it is laudable that the Government has dedicated the current country’s social and economic crisis to God through national prayer and fasting.
The church mother body called on Zambians to humble themselves before God and confess individual and national sins while asking God to “save us from the horrors of tribalism and disunity”.
This is according to a Pastoral Letter signed by CCZ president Alfred Kalembo and General Secretary Suzanne Matale which was released in Lusaka yesterday.
The church mother body said it was important to emulate Apostle Peter and other disciples in Acts Chapter 5 who persisted in preaching the Gospel and thanking God despite being arrested.
The CCZ said the current social and economic challenges facing the country should not be seen as a sign that God had abandoned Zambia because He counted Zambians worthy of suffering hence the need to
continue thanking Him.
Meanwhile, Two former Zambian diplomats to Europe,. Catherine Mukuka and Samuel Ngoma have backed the October 18 National Day of Praying saying there is Biblical, historical and empirical evidence that Jesus Christ hears the cry of a nation when they humble themselves in prayer before Him.
The two, who served Zambia until 2012 in Switzerland and Belgium respectively, said in Lusaka yesterday alongside Chishala Kateka, author of the 2004 Book: ‘Let’s pray for Zambia’, that on Sunday May 26, 1940 at the request of King George the Sixth, Britain observed a national Day of prayer on the cusp of the Second World War.
