Steve Ephraem
JEHOVAH’S Witnesses worldwide have resumed in-person assemblies starting this January.
Chipinge District will be privileged with two assemblies this month; the first one taking place at Goldfields Complex in Chipinge town on Saturday, 7 January 2023.
The second assembly will be held at Jehovah’s Witnesses Expandable Kingdom Hall, Checheche Growth Point in Chipinge South on Sunday, 8 January 2023.
Hundreds of men, women and children are expected to attend these large assemblies.
This comes after Jehovah’s Witnesses paused these large in-person gatherings for the past two years due to COVID 19 global pandemic. A total of 110 assemblies are to be held here in Zimbabwe in 2023.
Kudakwashe Chikuvadze, spokesman of Jehovah’s Witnesses of Zimbabwe indicated that the assemblies are open to everyone.
“Everyone is invited! For the benefit of all, information will be presented in the languages of the locals, including Venda, Tonga, Ndebele, Shona, Zimbabwe Sign Language, and English.
“We have also set up local venues convenient for the attendees across the country, from Victoria Falls all the way to Beitbridge,” he said.
In Zimbabwe, there were 153,716 attendees in 2019, with more expected this year.
“To avoid unnecessarily putting others at risk, we have taken the necessary precautions to protect attendees from COVID-19. We encourage all in attendance to respect COVID-19 protocols in line with the recommendations from health officials,” he added.
Chikuvadze further outlined that a streaming program will be setup for those who have flu-like symptoms or those who have recently been exposed to someone with COVID-19.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are already applying these protocols in their local Kingdom Halls, including wearing a surgical mask when attending these indoor gatherings.
Mr Chada who will be attending the Zimbabwe Sign Language assembly, says, “I can’t wait to see my deaf friends from different parts of the country!”
Miss Mtetwa, who will attend one of the Ndebele assemblies, also says, “It will be nice to once again hear the loud enthusiastic applause after a touching discourse and to see the speaker face-to-face from the platform, and I cannot wait to see and hug all my friends from other congregations after such a long time.”