Faithfulness In The Midst Of Quarantine

Seemingly A New World

Since the last time I updated my blog, a lot of things have changed here in the Czech Republic as well as back home in the United States.  In my previous post, I shared about the Progressive Dinner and Stelina coming to visit.  Since March 10th however, we have seen major changes to our everyday way of life.  Schools were closed, initially for two weeks, but closings, for the most part, have expanded through the end of the school year.  This left teachers, students and families scrambling to figure out how best continue educating students at all levels, while school buildings we closed.  Several days later, the restrictions were expanded, closing many shops, malls and restaurants as well as requiring many people to work from and for all people to self-quarantine and only go out for essential reasons and to get some occasional exercise, wearing homemade masks every time they ventured out.  

These restrictions also affected churches here in the Czech Republic, as they have in the United States and other places around the world.  Church leaders quickly needed to figure out how to continue to faithfully proclaim the name of Christ, teach God's word, maintain community and uplift one another while being obedient to the authorities that God has placed over us.  Here in Ostrava-Poruba we have sought to do this through virtual communication.  Weekly church meetings, Bible studies, and youth meetings have continued via Zoom.  This has allowed people to not only view, but take part in these meetings, interacting with each other, even if it can only be virtually, at the moment.  This has been a real challenge for special services, such as Good Friday and Easter Sunday services, which usually have an extra special feel to them as well as causing challenges for people who aren't so computer savvy or don't have access to an internet connection.  Not only are there technical difficulties, but as I'm sure many of you know, it can be difficult to remain as focused as usual when there are so many different things that can distract you as seek to study God's word or worship from the comfort of your living room couch, there are so many extra things which can distract us.  Please pray for those who are struggling to find ways to connect with the church and with others during this time.  Pray that the church would continue to reach out to the lost, who view victory over this virus as just a challenge of human perseverance rather than recognize their need for mercy from a loving Savior.

This has caused some difficulties with the youth meetings as well.  As I mentioned before, we have chosen to meet weekly through Zoom, which does allow for face to face interaction, albeit virtually, but it doesn't give the same feel as it would being in the same room with one another and it makes our time for fellowship and playing games a bit more of a challenge.  As you can imagine, most card and board games are immediately taken off the table when it's impossible to share the same deck of cards or board.  We have also found it difficult to connect with some people from the group as they have chosen to take the quarantine as a license to isolate themselves almost completely, either because of laziness or a predisposition toward isolation.  We have also had a bit of a challenge with people even holding onto what day it is, as many of the normal daily and weekly scheduled events or responsibilities are currently non-existent.  Please pray for those who are over isolating or turning completely inward, that they would not only recognize their own need for community, but also recognize their own importance to the community.  Pray that they would recognize that they are loved and recognize their need to show love to others.

Our youth meeting from a little more than a week ago.

While there have been difficulties, we are seeking to remain faithful to the work of God's kingdom.  We continue to consider how we can best teach, reach out to, serve, support and love others in a situation that is unique in our lifetime.  We also seek to move forward in wisdom and faith as the government here is considering easing restrictions in the next few weeks and months, which opens the possibility of returning to regular youth and church meetings and keeps the hope alive to host the summer English Camp.  Please pray for the English Camp, which has been a huge blessing in years past, under normal circumstances and could be a special and unique blessing in a year that has been difficult for so many.  Please pray for not only the logistics of organizing the camp in the midst of this strange time for the Czech church, but the American team as well.  But please pray also for faithful of spirit on the part of the American team as well as the Czech church in taking steps forward in faith when no one but the Lord knows what tomorrow will bring and for obedience to God's will in either going forward with the camp or accepting a cancelation of this summer's camp.