La Lumière: June 2020
The global health situation has made many people reconsider how they 'do' ministry. Necessity is drawing out creativity and innovation. Agapé Art had planned an exposition entitled "Selah," like the pause you read in psalms. It's ironic that the world was literally put on pause, which meant the expo had to be canceled. Thinking outside the box, or room, they pivoted to a virtual art exposition, making their works available for viewing online. Now anyone anywhere can pause, selah, and experience the artwork!
A colleague of ours, Jean-Claude Girondin, had a live conference scheduled commemorating the abolition of slavery. It had to be canceled. He shifted gears, doing two webinars instead on Martin Luther King, social justice and the health crisis. Jean-Claude went from being technologically challenged and reticent to embracing the cutting edge using Zoom conferences and live streaming to the ministry Youtube channel. A few hundred people tuned in and the channel increased by scores of new subscribers.
Our world has been profoundly marked by this virus. How will society pivot? We hope the feeling of solidarity with others will endure and we can move towards affirming the infinite value of each and every human life. The injustice of seeing George Floyd's life taken is even more tragic against the backdrop of our rallying together to fight against Covid 19 because every life is precious. Our world is broken, we are broken, and we have a redeemer. There is good news to share. Let's pivot together.
Praises
- that we were able to go back to Rennes for a few weeks of fresh air!
- for the opportunity to visit family in the States.
Please Pray
- for safe travels and continued protection from illness.
- that Efrem finishes his school year well, even taking early morning classes online.
- for renewed connections over the summer.
Taking a family walk on Mother's Day.
Efrem and Dan made brioche, a wonderfully light bread eaten for breakfast or a snack.
This is a wild and crazy ride. We bought tickets to visit the States this summer. They were canceled and we abandoned the idea. Then the situation in France improved and we spent at least six hours on the phone repurchasing tickets. It looks like we will make it back after all, which is a huge blessing for us and our families. However, with the virus still active and the inherent risks of seeing lots of people, we do not intend to have face to face visits. We hope to take full advantage of being in a similar time zone and still connect online. Haven't we all been honing our online skills? Maybe this could be another pivot too. We will be in Billings, Montana and Pueblo West, Colorado. Some time will be spent in self quarantine, but we're taking advantage of Efrem's high school continuing to be virtual. Classes in France go until the first week in July, and he has courageously agreed to get up to attend his classes from 1am - 4am. It has been three years since our last summer in the States, and we can't wait. Everything is exceptional about this year. There is no playbook for this!
