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We have been looking for ways to deepen our worship together as a family, and the coronavirus quarantine has brought unexpected opportunities to do just that; blessings can come when you least expcect them can't they?! For example, over the last couple months or so, we’ve eaten almost every meal together as a family. Which also means we’re praying together a lot more.

Early on, when we didn’t know just how bad the virus could get, if we’d get sick or not, if life as we knew it would forever be altered, we resolved to focus on gratitude and thanking God for the life we did have, the health we did enjoy, and the predictability we took for granted every morning at the start of a day.

After a few times of showing our gratitude in this way, we started to feel we were too limited by our words. Try as we may, we were starting to repeat ourselves. Our external rituals were becoming inadequate reflections of the internal state we wished to cultivate.

I started to read a Psalm every day at lunch and immediately our vocabulary of praise and worship expanded. Now we were giving thanks to God for creating the heavens and the stars (Ps. 136); for knowing our every thought (Ps. 139); for his goodness (Ps .145); for being a rock and sanctuary in trouble (Ps. 18); for reigning supreme over all earthly affairs (Ps. 47); and cleansing us from sin (Ps. 51) and so many other things.

Soon the kids asked if they could be the ones to read psalms, which has been a real blessing. They take such pride in lugging their Bibles to the table and turning to the psalm they picked out to read that day. Even the little one, who can’t read, will open his children’s picture Bible (sometimes upside down) and recite from memory the Lord’s Prayer as best he can.

There were some hiccups in the beginning. My kids had seen me use a highlighter when I read the Bible, so naturally they found some permanent markers and “highlighted” what they wanted to read. I winced a bit, seeing their Bibles marked up in all sorts of colors, pages folded and marked up. I wanted them to be more meticulous and tidy, and treat the Bible as a sacred object. But then I realized, this is even better. This was the whole point of wanting to share scripture with them, for them to engage it on their own terms. And they did finally start using the right highlighters.

It took me a while to get used to letting the kids pick which psalms they read. The first couple days we were treated to kids reading about God striking enemies in the face and pouring out burning coals on the wicked. I told them to find psalms that were happier or less violent. My wife Elin wisely suggested we shouldn’t restrict them like that else they end up with a one-dimensional view of God.

And so we’ve settled into a sweet rhythm. By the grace of God I was able to get out of the way. The kids now pick a wide range of psalms. We’ve added to our daily lunch ritual along the way. We now ask them why they chose that psalm, what they liked about it. Then we ask a question or two about what something meant. And we’re learning to pray the psalm, say God’s words back to him in worship.

Lunch time, which is to say Psalm time, has become a real oasis. There are days when I get to the lunch table stressed or distracted because I’m on the phone with a client, days when frankly I want to just eat fast, and then I look around the table, Bibles open, faces eager and I relax a bit. It’s a relief that this doesn’t all depend on me and my particular mood. We have grown into a community of believers, every one of us coming to the table with something to share, ready to encourage the other.

There have been some hard times in these days of quarantine. We had an uncle die of coronavirus. We’ve had spells of fear and moments of uncertainty. And that’s when I’m most thankful we haven’t been chasing a one dimensional God. That’s why all the psalms are important, not just the “happy” ones. Prayer gives us a passport into the wild country of death and dying and sickness and cruelty and brokenness. We can venture forth, tethered to gratitude, the certainty of God’s character, and the hope of our eternal joy in Christ.

Talk about life-changing….

I remember the first time I realized I could store scripture in my mind.  I was 10, and a VBS leader had challenged my group to memorize all of James 1 over the course of a week.  I spent a ton of time rehearsing what I read…line by line, passage by passage. I have a clear memory of repeating verses from the chapter in a dressing room at the mall while my mom tried on clothes. For the first time in my life, I was being immersed in truth.

It absolutely changed my life. Though I received a massive bag of M&Ms at the end of that week for having successfully memorized the entire chapter, the spiritual rewards I’ve reaped from then on have been far greater. (Don’t take that statement lightly.  I LOOOOVE M&Ms.)

Growing up, I had always cared about honoring God.  I just never knew, really, how to do it or whether I would slip up at any given moment.  And then, what would I do about my slip-ups?  I often felt that He was far off and was not sure how to access Him, or even if I was worthy to access Him.  The Bible always seemed too big and vast for me.  Where would I even start?  I felt reading it was for people much smarter and older than I.  Finding that I could store God’s own words in my heart was revolutionary for me.  No matter where I was or what circumstance had befallen me, I had direct access to my heavenly Father, His wisdom, His comfort, His peace, His strength.  His word was being stored in my heart as a stock-pile of riches, nourishment, and weapons for battle.

As a parent, I’ve flailed and failed over and over at my many attempts to grow my children spiritually.  Despite my commitment to our daily devotions, our countless conversations (in which they often tune me out), and all my other strivings to get them to desire God, I’ve found that I really can’t change their hearts.  I can’t make them choose Jesus.  I can’t bring transformation in their lives.  I can’t even really convict them of sin…though I try.  The truth is that God’s power is not found in my striving.  As I learned at the age of 10, it is God’s word that holds the power to do all of this and more.

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Teaching, reproof, correction, instruction for righteousness….sure sounds a lot like parenting.  That they may be adequate, equipped for every good work….this is what my heart longs for for my children.

And so, the most important and effective thing I do to invest in our kids spiritually is that very same discipline that opened my eyes to the treasure-trove of scripture all those years ago.  We memorize God’s word together.  This is not me teaching and testing them.  This is us at the kitchen table, repeating a chunk of God’s words together, often with hand motions that help us remember what comes next.  This is me messing it up and having to be corrected.  This is me admitting that I don’t know what is meaningful about my head being anointed with oil and then having to go look it up.  This is me trusting that God’s words will have greater effect in all of our lives than any words I could say.

Levi told me a couple mornings ago that he’d had a nightmare the night before.  Normally, he has a very hard time going back to sleep after having bad dreams.  This time, though, he hadn’t come upstairs to find comfort.  He’d come to his heavenly Father through His word.  He said that he began reciting the current passage we are working on, Psalm 121:  “I lift up my eyes to the mountains.  From where does my help come?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth…”. He said he was able to fall quickly back to sleep.  I thanked God for this experience for Levi.  He sought God out on his own on the basis of His word and found Him able and willing to meet his immediate need. 

This is no revolutionary concept.  It is merely seeking out God together and practicing the discipline of storing His word in our hearts.  We do it together because I need it just as badly as they do.  It’s so good for us to go to the diamond mine of God’s word together, joyfully gathering as much as we can hold each day.  You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to do this.  All of God’s word is worth our time to consider and store in our hearts.  If you need a good place to start, check out Psalm 121 with us! 

As you can see from our video, we are still working on getting it right.  However, as you can see from Levi’s bad dream, you can be in process of getting it right and still experience the effectiveness of the scripture’s work in your heart and mind!

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven,” states the Teacher in Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV). Certainly we are living in a season, right now.  A global pandemic has gripped the world and changed the way we live.  For good and for bad.

I consider myself fortunate to hear from many people of many diverse views and backgrounds.  Some, during this season, yearn for a return to normal.  Some declare we are in a new-normal. Many ask what has changed about our lives and what will remain forever-after changed and how will we adapt? 

I know people who absolutely believe with all of their hearts that the novel-Coronavirus of 2019 (COVID-19) is an elaborate hoax.  I also know people who view this season, with an equal amount of passion, as very real and the most horrifying experience of this era.  There is certainly a spectrum of opinions about this.

My point is not to argue any opinion over the other, for it is not up to us to pass judgement.  I would like to offer a humble perspective. A perspective past politics and pandering, paranoia and paralysis. A perspective on this season.

This is a season of worry, of uncertainty, and of confusion, but we must take solace that it is not a season of hopelessness. Yes, many of us are trying to pay the bills. Keep the lights on. Teach our children. Put gas in the car. Yes, we are frustrated because the truth of our daily lives has changed. And, yes, these are good things.

The Oxford Dictionary defines the word ‘normal’ as: conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected.  I believe this season has shown us there was a comfort in normalcy. My question is, simply, why are we satisfied with normal?  In Economics, we use a latin phrase ceteris paribus, meaning ‘all other things being equal,’ to describe a method of mathematical or scientific analysis wherein a specific variable is defined and studied.  All other variables might be considered normal or standard; usual, typical, or expected.

I believe a legitimate question in this season is, “All things considered equal, were we happy with normal?” Pause there, don’t judge.

How many of us turned off the news and opened up the dusty board games hiding in the closet? How many of us have actually enjoyed being around our families in the last few months? How many puzzles have you completed? Is your to-do list shorter? Did you reach out to someone for the first time in a long time? Have you helped a neighbor, or been helped by one? Who of us figured out how to do something new? Who read a book, or several? Who is making healthier choices? Who among us learned we may not be as important to our lives (our work, our bosses, our clubs) as we thought we were?  Of those, who found it a blessing?

AND, have you spoken more to God recently than you did when things were “normal?”

You may take the answers to these questions as a roll-call, check-list or a calling of things yet to do. But we can still embrace what makes us good and just as children of God.

Yes, this is a scary season.  No matter your opinion or position. But we mere mortal humans shall struggle on. We shall trust His plan. For, I believe through it all we have learned in large ways and small ways how to enjoy the next season more than the last. We are learning that what is truly important are things we forgot were supposed to be integral to ‘normal’.

Let us encourage one another.

Let us ask the Lord what ‘normal’ should look like.

Let us follow His plan!

This is the fourth and final blog in our four part series about MCC Missions during the Covid 19 Pandemic; looking at how mission’s efforts are being affected and how we can come alongside to pray for, encourage and support these programs. Today we are focusing on our partners in Bolivia with Food for the Hungry.   

Bolivia currently has over four thousand confirmed cases and 169 deaths associated with COVID-19. The pandemic is aggravating an already tense political situation with the current ruling authority postponing elections by at least three months. This has also led to concerns over the manner with which the lockdown has been implemented. Lockdown in Bolivia is significantly different than what we have experienced—only 1 person from a household is allowed to leave their home once a week to buy groceries.

Despite these severe restrictions, Food for the Hungry (FH) continues to serve their community by strengthening the promotion of health and hygiene practices in all areas of operation so communities can remain healthy and virus-free! Praise God that the men and women we support are still able to go out and share God’s love and encouragement while training the community on the best ways to stay healthy! Specifically, FH staff included COVID-19 materials provided by the Ministry of Health in the Cascade Group lessons related to handwashing and acute respiratory infections.

Jennifer Ward recently reached out to our FH contacts about how we can encourage and pray for the FH Staff, our FH sponsored children, and the people of Bolivia.

Fabiola Yanina Vargas (an FH interpreter that travels with Missions Teams visiting Bolivia) shared a few ideas on how we can encourage FH staff and FH sponsored children. She said,

“It would be great to have news from your church and some encouraging words! Another church we work with sent videos to the staff; 2 minutes videos sending greetings and advice for them to take care of their health during this pandemic. If you want to you can do the same. Just email me the note or video so that I can translate it and then send it to German.” 

In addition, for those with sponsored children, you can do that same thing! Read Fabiola’s note below for an update on conditions in Bolivia and directions on how to get a video to your sponsored child today!

“Dear FH Ambassadors!  

When borders are closed, Ambassadors are more needed.  

We are really missing seeing you and your teams visiting our communities. Expending one week with each of your teams is something we look for all year long and by now it is not possible. Therefore, we want to update what’s going on in our corner of the world.  

Since March 22nd all Bolivia is in quarantine, which means basically that everyone has to stay home. Only one person per family can go out to buy groceries once a week, according to the last number of the i.d. card. 1 and 2 go out on Mondays, 3 and 4 on Tuesday and so on, the week-ends everyone has to stay home. Farmers are allowed to transport their production and there are some other exceptions to the lock down.  

It really made change life in general, it is hard in the communities as you can imagine and very challenging to us because we are forced to think in new ways to accomplish our mission. All the staff is working from home. One thing that we are doing thanks to technology is a contest for FH children and their families. They have to record short videos and write letters explaining why everyone is staying home. Our hope is to encourage them to express how they are feeling and to reflect why things are this way.  

These weeks we are working on finding funding to implement projects to answer to this sanitary emergency. God willing, we will be able to help especially those that earn daily the money for the day with some goods that they need now and also helping them to produce their own income.  

Please pray for food and health for all the families that work with us. Pray for restored relationships during the quarantine. Join us to thank God for this situation, we believe that He is in control of everything.  

We would also enjoy to receive short videos from you to your sponsored kids, if you want you can send them to me and they will be shared with the kids.  

Thank you for praying for us, and please let us know how can we pray for you, it would be our honor.

Love,

FH Bolivia team”

We hope you will join us in praying for the situation in Bolivia! And by sending encouraging notes and videos to the FH staff and FH sponsored children!

Join us for Part 3 of Missions During the Pandemic as we share how missionaries in Peru are continuing to share God's Word and God's love in-spite of travel restrictions and Covid 19. Be encouraged by their deep love for those they serve and our relentless God whose Word is magnified even in isolated places around the world!

In Peru we sponsor Jorge and Victor who work with impoverished indigenous villages in the Amazon jungle. COVID-19 is impacting their ministries as Peru has been locked down for the last five weeks. The virus has made its way to the small jungle cities where Jorge and Victor live. Pucallpa has 57 cases and San Lorenzo 4 cases. All boat travel is banned in the region, which is the only mode of travel. In fact, the local governments have warned that violators will be shot. These villages are remote and isolated to begin with, now they have no connection to the rest of the world.

While the Indians live largely off the land, they still depend on river trade for medical supplies, tools, fuel, and bullets (for hunting). Victor remains in one of the jungle villages with the Indians where he brings hope through daily devotionals every morning! Rather than returning to his home in Pucallpa, Jorge and his wife Esther moved into the South American Ministries compound so that they could minister to the Indian villages in close proximity. The pictures below show Jorge leading a bible study and below helping return a family to their village right before the lock-down.

Please join us in praying for Jorge and Victor.

Pray for:

• the Indian Villagers who are highly isolated at this time. All boat traffic has been shut down and thus access to trade, medicine, supplies and supplemental food items that they depend upon
• the health of Victor, Jorge  and their families as access to health care is very limited in the region where they are quarantined.
• our pastors in training whose seminary classes have been postponed until 2021.

At times like these it seems even more important to pray for our missionaries and their families, to encourage them in God's Word and let them know they are not alone! Click here if would like to send Victor or Jorge a note of encouragement. Vince will make sure those notes are translated and relayed to Victor and Jorge!

Victor has also requested nine new Proclaimers from Faith Comes by Hearing. This is the full bible recorded in the language of the Indian Villagers in the Peruvian Jungle where we are working. This provides a means of keeping the Word of God in the hands of villagers in these very remote communities. While they won’t be able to be delivered until after the stay-at-home order is lifted, they will have the Word if they close things down again. These cost $75 each, and are a wonderful way for our body to show our support. If you would like to donate to this effort, on top of your normal giving, you can donate on our Giving Page and specify Missions. 

Click here to learn more about MCC Missions.