2 minute read
WORLD NEWS
WORKERS HELP PREPARE COMMUNITIES
We are all experiencing the impact of coronavirus. Day to day life has changed dramatically. In this pandemic we need only to lift our eyes for a moment and we see affected communities in every corner of the globe.
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OM is present in over 110 countries. Many of these countries are already battling with poverty, economic decline, or the reality of conflict or the effects of natural disasters. Workers share God’s love in crowded refugee camps and slum communities, where social distancing is a distant dream. We wonder, what is living through this crisis like for them? But we lift our eyes again, and meet the gaze of our heavenly Father; who sees it all, knows it all, and holds the whole world in His hands.
Spurred on by His love and enabled by your gifts to the Mercy Appeal, workers have been busy preparing communities to respond to coronavirus. In Indonesia, workers are educating children in poorer communities about the risks of the virus and how they can protect themselves and their families. Similar projects have taken place in Pakistan as concern mounted for communities who hadn’t heard about coronavirus, many of whom live hand to mouth and were not able to stock up on food before shops started to close. Workers have been distributing food parcels and conducting awareness programmes. These actions are echoed by workers around the world, all seeking to share God’s love practically in this season.
As many towns and cities go into lockdown and empty streets become the norm, workers adapt their ministries to use virtual communications. Workers in the Arabian Peninsular make regular phone calls to vulnerable people in the communities they serve. Offering words of hope and praying for people over the phone has become a vital ministry; “God is opening people’s hearts,” one worker shared.
As the situation unfolds, workers continually adapt their ministries to respond to the needs in front of them.
