As the ban on mass gathering of people in Kenya enters its fourth month, the number of people meeting for churches has continued to grow in Nairobi, raising fears that the pandemic will end with more people in Church.
Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said that the number of active churches in Nairobi has increased from 4000 to 37000, driven by the mushrooming of home churches that are now more active than ever.
“We are concerned that underground churches are growing at an alarming rate. We see families meeting together every Sunday and some every day to pray, sing and read the Bible, something that we had not anticipated.”
The government said that since the definition of a church is ‘where two or three people meet,’ any form of meeting at home is already a church and the members should consider being registered with the government. “Some of them even have holy communion every day and they do not want to be considered a church. We cannot allow underground churches to defy our ban on gathering. This is not China!”
Other sectors that are closed now want the government to assist them open up and keep running in order to keep up with churches. “While churches are thriving, the clubs are closed. We must find a central point that will be fair to all parties.”
