Members of the Assemblies of God movement had to conduct their prayers service outside the church on Monday 31 March, when they found the church was vandalised.
Members of the Assemblies of God movement had to conduct their prayers service outside the church on Monday 31 March, when they found the church was vandalised.
Speaking to Grocott’s Mail on Monday, Bongiwe Faye, who was the first to arrive at the church, said she noticed a broken window and the curtains ripped.
“I was coming from the home where we usually keep our keys and noticed that something was odd. I decided to wait until other members arrived and not touch anything,” said Faye.
She said it was not the first time they had arrived to find that the church had been broken into.
“Last December they stripped off the security door and also took offering basins, "said Faye. "This time they stripped all the electricity cables and we are in the dark now.”
Koleka July, the pastor’s wife, said these break-ins were not going to get the church down.
“We are going to serve our God even if it is outside. This shows that the world is in a terrible state if they can vandalise churches. We are going to pray for them and for God to save them,” said July.
Church elder, Mnyamezeli Mlatsha, who has been an elder for more than six years, said the church has often been a victim of crime.
“We have a service on Sunday mornings and in all these incidents we find out on Monday, during our prayer service, that someone has broken into the church,” said Mlatsha.
He said the church experiences around four break-ins a year and they report this to the police.
“Once we came here on Monday and our door was stripped off. These people steal the fencing and we continuously replace it,” said Mlatsha. He said it was the first time they had held a prayer service outside, in the dark.
“It is really annoying. It ‘s dark inside because all the electricity cables have been taken. There is blood on the table and we suspect the person injured himself with the broken glass window,” Mlatsha said.
