Church on the phone, a blessing in disguise

Melissa Mpofu, Showbiz Editor
I’LL be very frank, I hate waking up early and so, waking up early to go to church on Sundays has always been a challenge for me.

Also, the labour of having to carry a Bible, hymn books and all, just makes matters worse. As such, I ended up scrapping going to church completely.

Till one year when I visited my cousins in South Africa and had to go with them to their church. You see, thing is when you are in Rome, you have to do what the Romans do so telling them I was not able to go with them to church was not an option, I just had to.

Like he knew I was not so keen to go, my cousin brother Obert said to me “You’ll love this one cuz, trust me.”

So here I was, preparing to go to church after a long time and guess what, when I was looking for a Bible to carry, my cousin said: “It’s not that kind of church cuz, you just walk in as if you’re walking into a club. Even the dressing, don’t bother going all out.”

But I’m not the type to walk out looking plain and boring, I said to myself, but I tried my best to dress down.

So we drove to the church, Rivers in Sandton for the 11AM service (great time) and wow, just by looking at the exterior, it was clear this was some classy place — it looked like some seven-star resort. The cars which were parked there also told a story. At this point, I knew I was going to enjoy, well not only taking pictures for the gram, but the general experience.

The level of organisation at this church was very commendable from ushers ushering vehicles to ushering people inside the church. Praise and worship session felt like some live concert — it was superb. I later got to learn that Rivers Church is part of the Hillsong Family, explaining the band’s vibe. The service itself, no prize for guessing, Pastor Andre Olivier did the things. He motivated and made me believe I could do pretty much anything.

So thereafter, I was hooked. This is what I needed in my life, a simple church where people do not brag about their riches, dress to outshine others and generally, a church with a pastor who is not judgemental. Also a church where you find the word printed out, ready for you to fill in the gaps as the pastor preaches. From that Sunday, I was the first one to get ready for church. But all good things come to an end, I returned home (Zimbabwe) and looked for a similar church locally. My friends who all attend Celebration Church suggested I join them, but the challenge was that the service starts at 9AM, which was a major challenge for me as I will be wanting to rest on weekends and wake up at 9AM.

So I gave it a miss.

Unbeknown to me, as the Covid-19 pandemic started affecting countries in Africa last month, most started banning gatherings resulting in churches streaming their services online. So I rushed to the Rivers website to check if they were also streaming theirs and to my pleasant surprise, they were.

I had always wanted them to do this, but for reasons known to them, they had been hesitant to stream their services.

But thanks to the pandemic, churches have been pushing people to get out of their comfort zones. So, to be part of the livestream, one has an option to either watch the service from the church’s website or through the church’s mobile application. Another interesting thing is that kids are also being catered for as they have their own service which they can watch on their tablets concurrently with their parents.

How convenient could this be, I thought to myself. So I registered on their mobile app this past Sunday and logged on at 11AM sharp. The service was just as good as the physical one and even better because I watched it in the comfort of my couch, streaming the service from my phone. To have a better view, I then put my Smart TV to the test by using the screen mirror application so I could watch from a big screen instead.

Locally, most churches have begun streaming their services so do not be left out, visit their social media pages for details and join me in worshipping the Lord this coming Sunday.