GIANTS OF COVID:
THE IMPACT ON MIGRANT AND IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES BY GINNY FELDMANN, PETER SAMIR, SARAH SCOTT WEBB AND SUNDAY BWANHOT
Some of the harshest stories from the Covid-19 pandemic have unfolded far from the gaze of mainstream journalism – but so have some of the most uplifting. The pandemic has hit the most vulnerable communities
Learning new skills
the hardest, communities which are hidden from the more stable neighbourhoods around them and which often have large migrant and immigrant populations. Typically, migrants and refugees have suffered more because they lack a supportive, protective network which can help alleviate a lot of the physical and spiritual isolation, and the mental health challenges that can develop as a result. The disproportionate access to vaccines and care is a common narrative in majority world settings and among migrant communities. But even in those communities, SIM workers and others have been finding creative and novel ways of sharing the gospel. In Chicago, “Emily”, a South Asian immigrant lived in fear of Covid-19 for much of 2020. She and her two sons did not leave their house and refused visits. Now, several months later, she is fearful of the Delta variant. Even so, this
has been an opportunity for an SIM worker to talk with her about fear and how we can pray and trust God. Immigrant pastors and churches have struggled with constantly changing public health protocols and the inconsistency of response. But a church in Cape Town, South Africa, has seen the congregation grow through the pandemic. Where once it was a small, older, white congregation, it is now vibrant and multicultural with lots of migrant and refugee families. The church has even established a community garden to help migrants. Some migrant ministry teams have felt both the pain and the joy of moving everything online in the face of the pandemic. Many invested much time doing evangelism, discipleship groups, conferences, and meetings online, to the point that they were busier than before. But this has also led to some confusion and a drop in the
Giants of Covid
CLOUD OF WITNESSES
14
SIM’s former International Director, Ian Hay, and his beloved wife, June, died within six months of each other this year. Ian died at the age of 92 on March 2; June, who was also 92, died on August 31. They were married for 70 years and had lived for many years at SIM’s retirement village in Sebring, Florida. Their son, Bob, who works with SIM USA, said: “Second Corinthians 5:9 says, ‘Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.’ “The words, ‘whether at home or absent’ were often translated in my house, ‘wherever we are’,
and accurately reflected how my parents lived their lives.” Ian and June (above) served in Nigeria from 1952 to 1965, before Ian became North America Director. He became the first Deputy International Director in 1972, before becoming International Director from 1974
to 1992. Fuller obituaries of Ian and June are on the Cloud of Witnesses page on Port, as are other recent obituaries, including: JULY Ray Neil (British Columbia, Canada) served in Ethiopia. Muriel Hiron (Saskatchewan, Canada) served in Nigeria. AUGUST Esther Husband (Alberta, Canada) served in Niger and Nigeria. Doris Dehart (USA) served in Nigeria. SEPTEMBER Betty Miiler (Alberta, Canada) served in Sudan. Carol Rutt (Ohio, USA) served in Nigeria. WWW.SIM.ORG
