The Reality of Living in a Post Coronavirus World

When I sat down to write about what was happening here in El Salvador with the coronavirus in March, I was overwhelmed. The country had been placed under the strictest of military quarantines, and thousands of people ended up jailed for as little as taking a walk outside. 

Every business was closed except the supermarket (though shopping days were assigned once a week based on ID numbers), and even essential activities have shuddered. While the arrests only lasted about two months or so before significant backlash forced the government to relax their policies, not much else has changed. The quarantine is no longer as strictly enforced and even a few essential businesses have reopened, but 95% of businesses are still closed and there is no official date for the reopening of the rest of the economy. While many are worried about what kind of impact the lockdown will have in the near future (with some predicting that we may see more deaths by starvation in the world than from Coronavirus), the church's ability to meet or even visit congregants has been on the very bottom of the government's list of importance. 

Meanwhile, contrary to what we had hoped, actual cases of Coronavirus just started to pick up in El Salvador, and the lock-down has not been able to stop the disproportionately high amount of deaths (typical of a developing country with sporadic infrastructure) from growing. In addition to the virus itself, the country has also experienced serious flash-flooding from Tropical Storm Amanda which left 25,000 families homeless - plus the unemployment and economic problems resulting from the lockdown which has pushed people to the edge of themselves. The most popular memes being shared on Facebook in El Salvador these days are ones comparing El Salvador with Egypt and the 10 plagues.

God has taken care of our family, even despite the craziness around us. Not only were we able to welcome home our new baby - but we have also been able to take care of different repairs in the house and have been well fed throughout the lockdown, even when our stove and refrigerator broke, God took care of it. But as much as I am thankful that we are doing well, just focusing on our family's survival feels like a life only half lived - especially when we know that there are so many people around us in very real need. But what could we do? I felt the need to continue working on the church plant, to be pastoring the people in need and evangelizing the sick and dying, but the first couple of months of lockdown had me feeling overwhelmed and defeated as I thought about all of the canceled ministry and possible future restrictions of having a church in a post Coronavirus world; it just felt like the ministry was over. 

Now, ministry being over may not seem like a big concern in everyone's eyes. Many pastors that have taken a break from ministry all together during the Coronavirus crisis, having been outmatched by the crisis and the limitations they already were dealing with in their churches, and unable to make the transition to online services. That was what the government and mainstream culture seemed to want anyways - their messaging was that church was no longer important, or worse; that church was actually dangerous. Of course, that is what non-believers would think, but as Rebecca and I talked through our options and realized how few we had, my heart sank; it began to feel like this could be the death of our church plant - or at the very least, a hard reset.  

"We may not be able to meet for the rest of the year if things go the way the government is saying"

What could we do? Even if we could open up under the radar, was it worth infecting other people? Was it worth playing into the world's hands and becoming 'those Christians who don't care about anyone else'? There was also the theological question: was it worth becoming a pariah just to be able to do church my way and on my terms? A prohibition on meeting together is not in of itself a prohibition of the church - because church is not just an hour-long meeting on Sunday mornings, even if culturally it has been reduced it to just that (it's no wonder non-believers think that church is unnecessary!). But how do I do church then? How do I make disciples, teach the word, and build community when everyone in the country is stuck at home? The only alternative I could find within our limitations was live-streaming, and so even though it felt like it was only fulfilling half of my calling, I began streaming three times a week, and doing everything I could to make the streaming experience progressively better. It didn't feel like I was pastoring people, but I had to do something. I felt burdened in my heart to serve God and others; to 'make the most out of every opportunity because we are in evil days' (Ephesians 5:16), and I couldn't let my expectations of what church ministry should look like keep me from serving where the LORD had opened the door.  

As I began throwing myself into streaming, I quickly learned that I had bitten off more than I could chew - there were folks who were doing this professionally with all the bells and whistles! Who was I to start streaming, with my phone no less? And yet as I have learned over these last few months, it isn't about the numbers - but as a missionary friend reminded me - it's all about being faithful in the small things. While some of the people we have been serving for years quickly joined and have been blessed by the new opportunity to go deep with the LORD virtually, I also surprised to see people we have never met, even from different countries tuning into our live streams and sharing out content. 

The streaming has also gotten better, especially after a donation that we received to get some basic equipment (like a webcam and mic). Numerically, the stream hasn't seen the same growth that was present in March when the quarantine was just starting, but the messages we have received thanking us for the teaching and testifying to how God has brought healing in their lives or motivated them in doing something new, or just to be faithful where they are at is worth all of the trouble. 

But if that wasn't enough, we had a surprise come out of it! Our new online presence enabled us to actually start serving in the real world too! Over the weeks that I was streaming, I had been receiving dozens of messages from people asking for food (for some reason people were convinced that our church was a big-budget operation with massive resources). While I was excited to hear from so many people, it was overwhelming to see so many needy people and feel completely unequipped to serve them. As Rebecca and I began praying about the needs of these people (and especially those left homeless after the floods), I told the LORD that He would have to do something because I simply could not. Not only did we not have the resources to give to these people, but I didn't have the emotional bandwidth to start another new ministry by myself without help. 

After about a month of waiting and praying, the LORD answered our requests, and a couple who been a part of our fellowship before but had lost interest called me out of nowhere and asked if I would be able to help them organize facilitate and distribute donations. They had been moved to action seeing all the homeless families and worked to raise money among their neighbors and family, but they didn't have a connection to any of the communities in need, or a way to bridge the gap. They needed a pastor to help them figure out who to give to, how to give, and how to keep things honest. The LORD brought us together, and thanks to their hard work we were able to bless 50 families who had lost everything in the floods with a week's supply of food, as well as encourage the local pastors who were ministering in the aftermath. There are still dozens of people asking for our help, and we will see what the LORD would have us do.

As Rebecca and I wrestle with our kids, take care of our baby, work on the ministry, and reflect on everything that has happened in this crazy season, one thing is clear - we may never know our real impact or reach of our sacrifice of love, or the hard work we have put into the ministry, but that is ok. Jesus hasn't asked us to know what we were doing or envision the outcome, all He has asked us to do is just to be faithful. Hopefully, when things calm down we may even get a break from the nonstop activity. As for what the future holds, it looks like we may not be able to have church meetings until next year, and because many people have poor internet, online meetings have not taken off here like in the US. My planned trip to visit friends and supporters in the US has been suspended pending the crisis, and our scheduled trip to neighboring Guatemala to teach indigenous missionaries in August is up in the air. But we trust that God will show us what to do, even if it's agonizing to watch the calendar pages flip while we wait for an answer. That's the reality of living in a post coronavirus world.