Dear Friend,
This week two very significant things have happened in New Zealand…
Covid 19 precautionary measures are tightened up
The Covid 19 threat, which is causing so much chaos and alarm around the globe, has led the Government in the last few days to take the wise step of banning inside meetings of over 100 people. It is also strongly advising “social distancing” to be practised at all times, even in small groups, as a means of impeding community transmission of the virus.
All this has huge implications for churches. Many churches are urgently cancelling worship services, arranging live streams, establishing more house groups, reviewing the safety of all their activities, and working out how they can best serve those people who are self-isolating, locked down, sick, or fearful and downcast.
Will this crisis and the sudden changes it has brought discourage and scatter the people of God, and weaken churches? Will it be hard to gather people back together, when the pandemic is over? Will some drift away? Or will these circumstances shake up the churches so that they become more faith-filled, more active, more prayerful, more compassionate, more engaged with others, more Christlike?
The New Zealand Christian Network urges churches to be both scrupulous and caring in the way they respond to the threat of this virus, and for the sake of our people and the wider society to observe the very best practices of protecting our people.
At the same time, we should be covering our nation in prayer, and asking the Lord to comfort and uplift the anxious, and to turn many people in our society from self-possession to humility and faith before the living God, who is alone our eternal hope.
See links below for many helpful resources on how churches may respond well to the challenges of COVID-19.
The Abortion Law Reform Bill was passed.
We regret the passing of this very unbalanced bill, which unjustly erased the human rights of unwanted unborn, and has removed all protection for them. The Abortion Law Reform Bill “decriminalised” abortion, but we believe it is tantamount to crime against nature, humanity, and God. We applaud all those who made a stand. We urge prayer for this nation, and for the underlying moral and spiritual myopia of which this is but another symptom.
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