A few months before COVID hit us all, one of our church members and a retired pastor, came to Joy and me one Sunday morning and said, “How are we going to fit all the people in here?” We asked, “What are you talking about?” He answered, “I feel like God said that our attendance is going to grow to 500…” Well, that was definitely a problem since our rented space only held 150! And then COVID hit and the government shut down all gatherings of more than 10 people and those of us over 60 (which is most of us) were not even allowed out of our house except to buy food and go to the doctor. Americans and Canadians were advised to go home, and most did. Not exactly the direction we were expecting to go.
We knew we had to change to online services, but we did not know how. Someone suggested that we begin teaching on Facebook Live. That technology was something new and unknown to us but we hesitantly experimented. Joy and I in the transition also tried a new thing—we began teaching together or what she likes to call having “a discussion.” And people are loving the new approach. A couple weeks into our Sunday morning discussions, we were able to report to Randy that “Yes!” he had heard from God. We were having 500 views online! God used COVID to fit 500 people into our new online “building.”
But God wasn’t finished with us. We also had to transfer our donations from passing baskets to online giving. And a big shout out to our friends at the Great Commission Foundation. Not only has our attendance dramatically increased, but so has our donations. Being an expat church and in a tourist area we would have lots of people attend in our winter months, January through Easter specifically, and of course our tithes and offerings were also higher then. But then in late spring, summer and early fall both our attendance and giving would drop drastically. But no more, because of Covid and GCF our donations are more consistent.
So now we expectantly wondered how God was going to solve our outreach and mission team problems. We weren’t able to gather people into the local churches for either program. No breakfasts, lunches, English classes or mission teams. But people were hungry—for food and fellowship. Even hungrier than before because of lack of resources and social distancing.
God led us to another new thing. We asked our church to give specifically for Covid Relief food bags. These bags include milk, tuna, pasta, rice, lentils, oil, canned vegetables, tomato paste, hot cake mix, cookies and hand soap. We figure our food bags, along with some additions that they might already have in their cupboards, contain meals for about five days for a family of four. And it also turned out that this became a nice personal touch as these are distributed by hand rather than at large gatherings. The people are so thankful, sharing small gifts in response as a way to show their appreciation.
So in this particular area of our ministry it turned out that instead of just the kids and mom‘s coming to the local church for a meal and socializing, whole families are being fed with even more food. We actually have more personal contact with the neighborhood. Also, the church plant in our neighborhood that we are working with has used this Covid time to expand their facilities getting ready for new growth.
Finally, we didn’t think we’d ever see a mission team for a long time. What new thing could God do when people are either afraid or prohibited from gathering and traveling? Well, we got a call from a couple who had attended our church a couple times while on vacation. He is a retired chiropractor and asked if we would like to have a chiropractic mission team come down from the Christian Chiropractic Association. They have now come twice this winter and they are amazing ministers and perfect for COVID restrictions. They also bring along a team to do eye exams with free glasses. Individual, loving, compassionate care and healing. It is like they’re washing the feet of tired, hungry people with who they are, their training, their experience as health professionals and God’s love in their hearts. They are helping our local church partners reach out in their communities while expanding our partnerships with new churches and the local Youth With A Mission team. Another new, amazing, and unexpected blessing from God.
So no, God was neither surprised nor frustrated by Covid. After having expanded our boundaries unexpectedly, we are so excited to see what God is going to do next!
