JC CHURCH BURNS

MATSAPHA – Jesus Calls (JC) Worship Centre staff members, including employees of an external contractor, were lucky to escape unhurt after the church caught fire.

The incident took place at around 3pm yesterday and the swift intervention of the Swaziland National Fire and Emergency Services (SNFES) personnel saved what could have been a fatal fire incident.

Flocked

There was a panic among the church members as while the fire fighters were busy inside, a number of them flocked the worship house. However, relief was written on their faces as they found that the SNFES personnel had everything under control.

Apostle Robert Kasaro, the founder and Senior Pastor of the church, also came and was seen taking pictures of the damaged roof and talking to some senior church members. However, when he was reached for comment, he referred the publication to Pastor Armstrong Dlamini for comments.
According to Jesus Calls Worship Centre Pastor Armstrong Dlamini, there were staff members, including cleaners and employees of a contractor inside the church when the incident took place.

Smoke

He said the cause of fire was unknown as those who were in the church saw smoke coming from one side and they raised the alarm while bolting out of the structure. He said those who were outside the structure quickly called the SNFES toll free number and the personnel responded promptly to the call.
“In fact, the incident could have been worse if it was not for the quick response by the SNFES personnel,” the pastor said.

The man of the cloth said the most damaged part of the church was part of the roofing and by the look of things, it would be costly. He said even though he could not have an estimate figure of how much the damages would cost, the pastor mentioned that there were a lot of things that were damaged in the roofing.

Damages

He said they would only be in a position to state the costs of the damages after evaluating everything.
“We are happy that no was injured as this could have been a fatal incident,” he added.

When asked if they would be able to have a service on Sunday, the pastor said even yesterday night they would have a service as planned.
“We have a backup system in place. It’s just a matter of connecting it and everything will be back to normal,” he said.
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the incident. She said the police were still investigating the matter.

Worth noting is that this is not the first fire incident to take place in a church as back in 2015,  The Canaan Church in Zion in Msunduza, Mbabane was gutted down by fire.

Incident

This incident took place barely six months after a senior pastor, Reverend Sam Dube, passed away. Everything inside the church, including more than 40 chairs and an altar, were burnt to ashes.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: