The government of Rwanda in Central Africa has allowed children to attend church services and eased some restrictions that limited church operations for the last 1.5 years.
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| Children at a place of worship in Rwanda |
In new guidelines released on Wednesday by the
Local governance ministry, “Children are allowed to attend church services
along with their caretakers”, according to the guidelines Faith Reporters has
seen.
Since the country declared Coronavirus directives in
March 2020, children had been barred from attending church services even when churches
have been slowly reopening to a restricted number of worshippers.
Pastor Hesron Byiringiro the President at Rwanda
Union Mission for the Seventh-day Adventist Church told Faith
Reporters on Sunday 24th October 2021 that the church perceived
it as a “positive move”
“Children are the future church. Going to church
without children means we are not shaping them for upholding the Church values in future
generations” Pastor Byiringiro said today.
Byiringiro said that the church’s Children’s
Ministry has so far resumed after it had ceased.
“You know, children are cardinal agents of change
and the church has many programmes for children which had been restricted due
to the Coronavirus directives. But now everything has resumed” he explained.
A few churches are open in Rwanda, a country that
had even before Coronavirus in 2018 had issued directives raising church
structure standards and required a Bachelor's degree for pastors which saw
about 8000 churches closed especially in the capital Kigali.
Reports said that the Central African nation but
also in the East African Community bloc also prosecuted about a dozen pastors
for showing unwillingness to respect the government directives in 2018.
The Coronavirus directives found believers already
grappling with the contributions of rebuilding churches that meet government standards.
While children were barred from going to places of worship, they have been free to go to markets, schools, travel in buses and group-sporting.
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| Rwanda children attending Kungsfu in November 2020 |
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| School of Medicine, part of the Adventist University of Central Africa |
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