COVID-19: Closer to Home

So far I’ve written a little about COVID-19 in general, and then more about COVID-19 in Mexico. Today I’ll continue talking about Mexico a little, but I want to bring things a little closer to home.

First of all, when I say “closer to home” I’m not hinting that anyone in our family is sick. Our family, and extended family, is healthy at the moment. Well – as healthy as normal!

Here in central Mexico, things still appear mostly normal on the surface. I’ve seen supermarkets, markets, banks, highways – even a medical lab – all in the past couple of days. Yes, every employee at the lab was wearing a face mask (I don’t think I saw anyone wearing one correctly – so I doubt they did anyone any good!). And at the supermarket, there were friendly (and not-so-friendly) attendants who freshly wiped your cart with something supposedly anti-bacterial before giving it to you.

There are very few shortages – one has been the ubiquitous face masks, and the other anti-bacterial gel. But if you go to buy something, you’ll find the shelves mostly stocked as normal.

We are trying not to be envious of those who are looking for things to do during isolation. Isolated or not (not, at the moment), we have more to do than ever – and that isn’t likely to change.

So, like everyone, we’re adjusting to the new reality.

This weekend we will be doing some “online ministry”. Today we ran a test on Google Meet to see if we could use it for our Bible study tomorrow night. So far, so good. So our study will continue via live video chat.

We reluctantly decided to go online for our Sunday service as well. I won’t go into all the reasons why, but lets just say these are difficult and complex decisions. And we see this as a temporary step. Depending on how long this continues, we may move at least to small groups again. The assembly of the saints is a “necessary service”.

I’m curious to see what happens on the internet when thousands of churches try to go online Sunday morning. We shall see! But Lord willing they will at least have a sermon (my turn to preach) that they can watch or listen to sooner or later.

Hannah is facing the new reality, in her grade 12 year, of having a grad dress and no grad. Well, of course the students will graduate, but friends in the dorm are quickly saying goodbye and moving out, as the rest of their instruction continues online.

So earlier than normal, Hannah is thinking about a place to live in the months ahead, getting a job to pay for it, and all the things that we had put off dealing with in detail until graduation in June.

And Nathanael, the lucky home school student, is struggling to keep up with school while his parents are overly distracted with everything else that’s going on!

So we’re staying in touch with family and helping where we can, and also carrying on with ministry here in Mexico. The need is great here, and it’s likely to get greater in the weeks ahead. So we’re trying to figure out, day by day, how to best minister to our community in times of great uncertainty and change. We’re all fine, but everything that’s going on is a significant strain, so as usual we appreciate your prayers.