I’m trying to maintain my global perspective in the midst of this Covid-19 inconvenience.
Our squad has been back in the States for a month now. This, obviously, is not where I had planned to be, but I’m not going to let that stop me from trying to do the Lord’s work.
I’m not in Texas or Louisiana, where most of you would expect me to be. Instead, I’m actually in Colorado. Here, our squad coaches (spiritual mentors who have been working with us since training camp) have opened their home to any of us who need a place to stay or otherwise feel called to be here.
I can’t explain exactly why, but I feel called to be here spending time focusing on myself and my relationship with God. A few members of my team are here, along with some other World Race alumni.
What I do know about my time here is that while I focus on my relationship with God, there is also a great need for hope and love in the community around me. We have plans to continue ministry in any ways we can, including volunteering at the food pantry and with other local ministries.
To answer your question, no I’m not afraid of getting Covid. We waited a couple weeks to see how things progressed and make sure we didn’t bring anything home from the field. We’re well and healthy. But the fact is, the needs of the world haven’t stopped just because a virus slowed the world down.
My friend Yaner from Nicaragua continues to minister in Nicaragua where things have also largely shut down by helping to build a house for a family who doesn’t have one.
Please remember that: while we encourage everyone to stay home at this time, not everyone has a home to stay at and this isn’t just affecting the US. The world has been hit by Covid and everyone the world over has had to adjust. Recently, I know my own beloved town of Monroe, Louisiana was struck by a tornado. There are people there facing a new reality without a home in a strange world. They need love and ministry.
So, I will continue to serve the Lord while I am here, hoping for the opportunity to return to the foreign mission field where I already have learned so much and been so blessed. I’m not afraid of leaving the country after this mess of a virus. I’m just not. I love traveling and the unknown and I trust God to keep us where we need to be.
And I encourage you to overcome any fears you may have in this time and remember to serve your family, neighbors, friends, community, and world in any way you can. There are so many opportunities for serving from home. First and foremost, I encourage you to serve the people you live with well.
And I want to remind you that this pandemic has affected and changed the world. I don’t know what this world will look like once this trial has passed, but I expect it will be different and the same in so many ways.
I know I have to be ready to change with it.
And while that’s unsettling, I know my God is bigger than that and that I don’t have to be afraid because He does know what is coming. He does know His plans for what to do with the world through all of this.
And, maybe, if we serve our God and our family and our friends well in this time, we’ll see a revival of faith in America unlike any we’ve seen before.
That’s the hope I’m clinging to in this time.
There’s nothing easy about this time for America or the world. It’s hard. But we’re not alone. God is here. God is with us. God sees and knows what is happening and what is to come. I’m doing my best to partner with Him in this time.
Ministry didn’t stop just because my plans changed and I came home.
Loving the world didn’t stop just because a new virus changed my experience.
Serving the Lord didn’t stop just because my idea of what that looks like got reframed and reimaged.
I’m called to something new in this time.
Covid-19 has not and will not break us.
And I will do my best to remember, in word and in deed, to love the people of the world and serve God.
