A missionary friend shared the following on social media yesterday in regards to the coronavirus. People all over the world are panicking. Information is conflicting, some of it very hopeful and some of it incredibly grim. While I have reasons why I believe it isn’t going to be half as bad as many projections, I think that regardless of what happens we need to have hope, walk in peace, and fix our eyes on the Great Physician. I hope the following, from someone who deals with the poor, the sick, and the downtrodden daily, offers a different perspective on how we can position our hearts toward faith:

 

“We are flying home today from India where at the moment it is far safer in regard to the spread of the virus- than it is in the US.

It’s interesting to watch as these world events unfold but even more interesting to see it from a third world perspective.

We have worked here, along with our 2 daughters when they were younger, for over 31 years. Mere words don’t do justice to the atrocities we have seen during our time here. Some so shattering we have never spoken of them.

When we felt the call to India we knew that call would take us to the lowest of the low, to those who lived in unspeakable squalor. Where sewage ran in the streets, cardboard and plastic were used as walls and ceilings- and along with the stench and the heat would come the flies. Thousands of flies.

Bear with me a moment as I share just one story with you. During the formative years of our ministry we found ourselves working in Calcutta. Where early mornings before the sun rose, dump trucks would work their way through the streets picking up and discarding the bodies of street people who had died overnight.

It was the stifling heat of one afternoon that drove us out of our hotel room and onto the streets. I held the hand of our little daughter as we meandered up and down the narrow pathways. After sometime we turned a corner to head back and suddenly realized we had stepped into a small leper colony. I think they were as shocked as we were. Everybody froze.

Without hesitation my husband extended his hand to shake the fingerless hand of one of the men. I reached out to hug one of the women with open sores, who then proceeded to break down and cry. When they realized someone was open to touch them, to hug them, they lined up and one by one they buried their faces into our chests and wept. We spoke no Hindi, they spoke no English but it did not matter. Enough was being said.

After some time we returned to our room, removed our dirty clothing, showered long, ordered tea and stared into the ceiling. We did not sleep that night and there have been many sleepless nights since.

From that day our journey has taken us to a place where we along with our teams work with sex-worker children who potentially have AIDS, with trash picker children who carry disease, and run a hospital that sees some of the worst of the worst—and as long as we can we will continue to do so.

So I said all of that to say (and please forgive me) I might be a little embarrassed right now.

Embarrassed by the hoarding of food in the US while the fight for us and many ministries here to feed slum children one meal a day is very real.

Embarrassed by the closure of church community at a time when community is needed now more than ever. While all the doors are shutting, I wish ours would remain open.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying I have not felt fear. I have felt fear for my 91 year old Mother living in Florida and my eight year old grandson living in Georgia. I have felt fear all my years of serving in India.

But fear does not own me like my faith does.

Don’t get me wrong. We DO need to operate in wisdom. We DO need to be prepared.

But we also need to be the light when it is the darkest. We need to have open hands, open hearts, open pantries and open doors.

This virus will dry up and go away as quick as it came. It will not survive.

I pray we can all look back with the satisfaction of knowing we did not miss this divine moment. I pray we see this obstacle as the opportunity that it really is.

I don’t know about you but I am personally tired of talking about church. I am tired of just going to church.
I want to BE the church.”

-Missionary Friend-