By KELVIN MUDENDA –

LIVINGSTONE Catholic Diocese has held a special church service to seek God’s intervention to bless the country with rains as dry spells prevail in most parts of the country and beyond.
Catholic Bishop, Raymond Mpenzele urged Christians to take a leading role in praying for rains in view of poor rainfall patterns being experienced in the country and other parts of the region.
Bishop Mpenzele said it was the duty of Christians to pray for God’s intervention when the nation is faced with a challenge, such as changing weather patterns.
The church service which was held on Friday last week at Saint Theresa’s Cathedral attracted several worshippers who prayed for the gift of rains.
Bishop Mpezele asked church members to take a leading role in addressing issues of climate change.
He said that the continued dry spells being experienced in the tourist capital and other parts of the country were a source of worry and required divine intervention.
“In a normal rainy season, January  is a very wet month as we know it, this is the time when we often get continued rains for several hours a day, this is a time  rivers  and dams fill up, the maize crop is tall nearly flowering, the grass is tall and plentiful, but this is not what is happening this year.
“But we don’t lose hope because we have a loving Father, God, Himself, who always provides for His children,” he said.
He said climate change in the world was a wake-up call because it was man-made and that human beings had caused it because of economic activities that have damaged mother earth.
“This evening, we are not only praying for rains, we are also praying  that people in the world may become more aware that we human beings have caused climate change and that  we should bring to a stop to those activities that cause climate change resulting in lack of rains and hot temperatures,” he said.
He appealed to Zambians to turn to alternative sources of energy, especially solar energy and further urged families in Zambia to continue being persistent in praying for the rains.
St. Theresa’s Cathedral Parish Priest, John Rurangwa asked Catholics in Livingstone to seek  forgiveness for playing a part in the destruction of nature.
On Saturday, the city of Livingstone received rains after several days of experiencing a dry spell and hot weather.