Pray for the protection of our natural heritage
Join KNP staff and members of several denominations on Saturday to seek divine intervention in the protection of wildlife and rangers, as well as to condemn related crimes.
The Kruger National Park (KNP) in partnership with various church denominations from the park’s neighbouring communities will assemble on Saturday August 13 at Skukuza Soccer Field to pray for the protection of wildlife and the rangers, as well as to condemn wildlife crime.
“This gesture of goodwill by our local churches is a good example of the fact that there is room for anybody to actively take part in the fight against the killing of our precious wildlife. The duty of churches is to pray to God for divine protection and this is what they will do for us on Saturday. We welcome this support and are grateful to have churches stepping in to help us in the fight against the torture of our rhino and elephants,” said the KNP managing executive, Glenn Phillips.
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Dr Elijah Maswanganyi, a well-known pastor, author and motivational speaker will lead the prayer session among a very long list of church ministers who will attend the prayer service. There will be specific prayers for among others protection of the wildlife, protection of the anti-poaching teams and security forces and prayer for the welfare of the organisation.
“We invite everybody who can make it to Skukuza, SANParks staff members and members of the public to join the session on Saturday. However, most importantly, to break their silence because withholding information of wildlife crime does a lot of harm. We cannot continue to protect criminals who are selfishly enriching themselves at the expense of all of us by wiping away our natural heritage to the detriment of our future generations.
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“With tourism being one of the country’s economic drivers, high prevalence of poaching which may lead to extinction of species can have a negative effect on those who rely on the wildlife for employment. Tourists who come to this country for wildlife will stop coming and people will lose their jobs while our country’s economy will be negatively affected,” concluded Phillips.
The spiritual assembly has become an annual event in the KNP calendar since 2012, when it was held at Shingwedzi Rest Camp with Christians coming together to declare war against rhino poachers.
