A TANZANIAN STORY by Esther Abayo
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) swept through Asia, Europe and North America early this year, medical experts warned that it was just a matter of time before other continents, including Africa, would start to report cases.
For Tanzania, that day came on Monday, 16th of March 2020, when the Minister for Health, Ummy Mwalimu, reported the first case of COVID-19 in the country. A female had traveled from Tanzania to Belgium on the 3rd of March and returned on the 15th of March, infected with COVID-19.
It was bad news to everyone in the country. We were so scared and did not know what to do. No one knew what kind of virus it was; the only thing we heard was that there was no cure—in case someone got infected.
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa shut down all primary and secondary schools, colleges and other institutions of higher learning for a few months to help curb the spread of the deadly virus. Across the country, meetings and conferences were cancelled. Almost all public building spaces were sanitized and buckets of chlorine-treated water and soap used for washing hands. We were told to wear masks in public places and to practice social distancing.
Dr. John Magufuli the president of the United Republic of Tanzania encouraged the public to continue attending places of worship, rather than imposing stringent restrictions to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak. Explaining his decision, the president stated,
“We are not closing places of worship. That’s where there is true healing. Corona is of the devil and it cannot survive in the body of Jesus.”
He told the nation to keep on working hard while using our local traditional medicine to curb the spread of the deadly virus. Public transportation was up and running. He was widely criticized.
President Magufuli ordered that samples of pawpaw, bird and goat be tested for COVID-19 in the Government Chemist Laboratory. The samples were assigned human names and ages and the technicians were unaware of their origins. The Pawpaw, bird and goat tested positive. The results were shared throughout Tanzania on all media platforms, shocking citizens and raising suspicion about the virus.
The results from the government’s laboratory that had diagnosed the samples to be COVID-19 positive were followed by a shift in public health messaging. Indeed, President Magufuli called upon all Tanzanians not to be afraid. He called upon all religious leaders to keep places of worship open, to stop fear and panic and to continue with economic activities.
The President called upon all religious leaders to encourage their fellow believers to take three days for prayer and fasting, asking God to heal our nation. The Seventh-day Adventist leadership in the country had already encouraged us to pray for God’s protection and healing. They told us through media (television and radio) to trust God in such a difficult situation, according to 2 Chronicles 7:14. God says,
“If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
As Seventh-day Adventist church members in Tanzania, we claimed this promise. We fasted and prayed for God’s healing and protection upon our land. While our neighbors thought we were crazy by not taking all precautions as presented by WHO, we turned to God to remove fear and panic among us.
For a short while we had divine service alone and many members were afraid to come to church. Many churches organized church services though the internet. After a few months, schools, colleges and other public places were opened. Today churches are open for all activities. Children are in school, colleges are open, businesses are on and people do not talk much about COVID-19.
We attended camp meetings as usual and we are praising God for his protection upon our land. As Seventh-day Adventists, and as a nation, we decided to trust God instead of science and technology in the case of COVID-19. God protected us, healed us and took away fear and panic from us.
It is my humble advice that whatever difficulties you are going through, you may surrender all to Jesus. Trust Him and let Him handle everything for you. Just trust Him.
Sister Esther Abayo is a Seventh-day Adventist business executive living in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She is actively seeking evangelists to preach the Three Angels' Messages in her country. She serves on the General Conference Executive Committee.