Church collapses before Easter

FIRST came the earth tremor that was felt all the way from Tongaat to Durban in early February.

Then a week ago a storm hit and added to the huge cracks that had appeared in the wall and also damaged the roof.

And on Friday at a prayer service, church members watched in horror as the house of God collapsed!

With just two weeks before the Easter weekend, members of the African Gospel Church in Tongaat, north of Durban, don't know how they will get everything back on track. Yesterday the flock of believers held their church service in a hired tent.

Daily Sun reported that the members said it was a beautiful, sunny day with no sign of disaster on the way when the building collapsed all of the sudden on Friday.

Pastor Mthetheleli Mkhalali said: "The ceiling had started falling off bit by bit and we reckoned it could be because of the building's age. We knew that it would soon need fixing."

But now they will have to hire a tent every Sunday until they can raise the money to rebuild the church.

"We were supposed to host five branches from all over Durban this Sunday, but had to cancel it. I'm appealing to people for assistance to fix my church. Our biggest fear is that while other believers will be celebrating Easter, we won't have a service to communicate with God," he said.

Church member Zodwa Chili (43) said she was worried that she wouldn't be able to attend church for the next few months as it will take time to fix all the damage.

"I've been attending this church since 1993 and I believe God listened to me when I was inside the church because every time I went to church to pray to God for something, I would get it," she said