Covid-19: "Gabola" church battling to cope with restrictions

- The popular drinking church is struggling to adhere to lockdown rules and practice their particular brand of religion

- The lockdown rules state that churches can hold sermons to no more than 50 people but people cannot assemble to drink alcohol

- The Gabola changes the locations of their services to avoid encountering the police and face arrest

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The popular church which encourages its congregants to drink and holds its sermons in shebeens and bars has struggled to adhere to lockdown rules.

Churches can hold sermons but not to more than 50 people and there is a ban on people gathering drinking alcohol.

They have had run-ins with the law and have been arrested for holding their sermons and drinking alcohol.

"They can arrest us until Jesus comes back," Tsietsi Makiti told Reuters, wearing a bishop's mitre with a miniature bottle of spirits hanging off it.

To counter this, the church is moving its sermons from shebeen to shebeen. The clergy blesses the alcohol and the congregants imbibe according to ENCA.

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"At Gabola church you (bring)... the liquor of your choice... and the pastor will bless the liquor so that it will not be poisonous to your body," Makiti said.

The "Gabola" is named after the word in the Tswana language which means 'drinking'.

Makiti's sermon included such proclamations as: "We are a church that will remake the world."

"People call me a drunkard," said one worshipper, Nthabiseng Kotope, who said she joined the church in March.

"I agree with them. I do God's work while drinking."

In other news, Briefly.co.za, reported that Pope Francis has released his prayer intention for the month of July as he asks everyone to pray that today’s families may be accompanied with love, respect and guidance.

The pontiff said family ought to be protected, adding that it faces many dangers: the fast pace of life, stress, among others, Vatican News reports.

The pope said: "Sometimes, parents forget to play with their children."

According to Pope Francis, the church needs to encourage families and stay at their side, helping them to discover ways that allow them to overcome all of these difficulties.

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Source: Briefly News