Church Stands Firm Against Leaders' Order to Close.
A church in Malawi will not close its doors despite being told to do so. The Bangwe Seventh Day Adventist Church pushed back when leaders tried to close it down.
"We stay open," said Patrick Raphael, the church's senior elder, at a news meeting Sunday. He leads the branch that higher-ups want gone.
The South Malawi Conference, which runs many churches, told Bangwe SDA to stop all work. But church members said no.
"Our faith stays strong," Raphael said. He told the press that his group built the church themselves and plans to keep using it.
The church members trust they can go on without their leaders. "If they leave us, God will guide us," Raphael said. He speaks for many who refuse to give up their place of prayer.
Both sides seem set in their ways. The church keeps its doors open as leaders try to shut them. But the people who pray there won't budge. They say their right to worship matters more than what their leaders want.
A church in Malawi will not close its doors despite being told to do so. The Bangwe Seventh Day Adventist Church pushed back when leaders tried to close it down.
"We stay open," said Patrick Raphael, the church's senior elder, at a news meeting Sunday. He leads the branch that higher-ups want gone.
The South Malawi Conference, which runs many churches, told Bangwe SDA to stop all work. But church members said no.
"Our faith stays strong," Raphael said. He told the press that his group built the church themselves and plans to keep using it.
The church members trust they can go on without their leaders. "If they leave us, God will guide us," Raphael said. He speaks for many who refuse to give up their place of prayer.
Both sides seem set in their ways. The church keeps its doors open as leaders try to shut them. But the people who pray there won't budge. They say their right to worship matters more than what their leaders want.
