It looks like weeks and months just passed by within a blink of an eye! When things were going smooth and expectations were rising high, and plans were being made for the coming days, everything suddenly collapsed. We were told to stay in our homes and maintain social distancing. People went back to their places. No more gatherings. Weekly meetings came to a halt! Until when, we do not know! It seems to be like an end of a chapter. This is something no one anticipated, but we are all going through together.
When things started to turn over suddenly, and there was a lock-down in the whole country, I really did not know what to do. It came like a surprise to me. It took me a week for me to become fully conscious of what was happening. “What am I supposed to do now?” is the question that lingered in my mind for a while. When everybody else was taking their ministries to YouTube and Facebook, I decided not to hurry, but take time and think, and slowly act on it. I wanted to start simple, and take it slowly from there. So, I started praying for opportunities to read or study the Bible with a few people over the phone.
In the early weeks, a friend of mine (from a different church) pinged me to ask whether I would be available for a bible study. For more than a week, we spent in the book of Romans (in English) reading through passage by passage, over the phone. What a wonderful way to begin this lock-down period. As we were studying together, many questions were raised, that helped us think through the context and understand the letter in a much better way. Praise God for this time! After this, I started reading Romans with a small group of people from my church – this time in our language, Telugu! Romans has become the book of the month for me! It is still going on, and we are enjoying this time together, reminding ourselves every day of the goodness of God through the gospel. What a blessing in these hard times!
Along with this, I started reading Systematic theology with a friend who is staying with me. We just finished discussing the Incommunicable Attributes of God, and we are now working through the Communicable Attributes. What a blessed time it is to ponder upon the nature of God. I felt glad when my friend said that he never thought about God in those terms. Praise the Lord, he is learning something new about God. It is truly a great privilege for me to help people grow in the knowledge of God through these studies. God willing, I am looking forward to more such studies with more people.
I started to do something new in my morning devotions. I think, until now, I have never tried journaling my way through daily devotions, but I am enjoying it thoroughly. It is slowing me down to think and meditate upon the passage. I am going through Deuteronomy bit by bit and capturing my observations and thoughts as I read. It is truly a good exercise and I am glad that I started to do it.
Please continue to pray for the new work here. Although I long for this chapter to come to an end, and this new church plant can begin meeting together again, I rejoice in the fruit the Lord is bringing about in the midst of it.
