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HARVESTFORCE 2020 • 3
Seeking NEW RESOURCES in post-pandemic missions “I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” Acts 20:33-35 (ESV)
Rev Dr Chong Chin Chung
新加坡卫理公会 会督 Bishop of The Methodist Church in Singapore. He loves local delights like char kuey teow, chai tow kway, prawn mee soup, gado gado, lontong, nasi lemak, etc.
Editor’s note: This is Bishop Dr Chong’s last article. Our Bishop-elect, Rev Dr Gordon Wong, will be writing for the next issue onwards.
M
issions needs resources including money, materials, talents (involving the missionaries, personnel, and professionals at both the frontline and backend). The circumstances of the mission fields and the sending countries are bound to change over time - slowly over a century or more quickly within decades. No one could have foreseen that the COVID-19 outbreak would become a pandemic in 2020, having a global impact in such an unprecedented way. The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed life in every sphere and at all levels, in particular with the implementation of lockdowns. Slowly, people began to adapt to staying home. Employers and employees became familiar and comfortable with the idea of the “home office”. As such, companies no longer fretted over providing suitable work spaces, thus cutting back on office floor area, and saving on furniture and other office paraphernalia which relieved some of the pressure of ever-increasing rents and business costs. Workers are also happy with the workfrom-home arrangements as this saves them travelling time, transport costs, from dressing up, and the costs of meals outside home. Working from home allows one to be with family, and to be more casual and relaxed. Most importantly, much of what used to require our physical presence such as training and meetings can now be done online. These practices will continue as the new normal after the COVID-19 pandemic is over. In fact, this will surely have a huge impact on our future missions strategy in ways we may not even fully understand yet. During the pandemic, MMS requested all our missionaries to return home from the mission fields. It was an unexpected but absolutely crucial policy. The reasons are firstly, the ability of some countries to control the pandemic has been inadequate. Medicines and medical supplies were in short supply. The chances of infection were very high and missionaries and their families were in danger of being infected. Secondly, the cost for prevention and treatment was prohibitive. Most countries placed a priority on taking care of their own citizens while non-citizens are responsible for their own treatment costs without any forms of subsidy. Under such situations, even insurers may decline to accept premiums as they do not want to provide coverage. Thirdly and importantly, during the Circuit Breaker and lockdowns, the various governments stipulated that no activities, fellowship, or worship services would be allowed. The missionaries had to choose between staying indoors wand going back to their home countries. Many mission fields were without their foreign missionaries during this period.
