MARCH came in quietly but busily. We had no clue what was in store for us as we prepared for the beginning of the school year, an evangelistic event and a missions team! However, amidst the preparation for the event and the missions team arriving we heard whispers about a virus that was making its way through many regions of the world. We did not put much stock in it and were genuinely saddened when the missions team had to cancel their trip just days before coming down, and then the news exploded with possible ramifications due to this virus and we knew something bigger was beginning to occur. Praise God, we were able to have our event on Saturday, March 14th! Our church family turned out as a collective unit to serve our community through handing out school supplies and providing discounted physical exams. Amidst all of this we all shared the Gospel to dozens of neighbors. What a privilege to not only serve their physical needs, but also their most basic spiritual need of all: their need for a Savior. Many were interested and said they would come to visit our services, and one young mom, Daniela, accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior! We Praise God for this decision!

That very next week, the government set a quarantine for the country, shutting down everything except the most basic services like food stores and hospitals. As a result, we have not been able to visit those who indicated they wanted a church visit from us, and  also have discontinued church services and meetings. The quarantine began officially on March 20th and has continued through now, supposedly until May 27th. That might change however, as it has  been continued to be pushed back every two weeks. As a result APRIL was a learning curve- figuring out how to meet our people’s needs virtually. This has included facebook live Sunday services, Wednesday night Zoom meetings, online ladies’ Bible studies, and discipleship and counseling sessions through Whatsapp video calls. Thankfully Both Ben and Rachelle now have religious ministry permits to do visiting, but we long for the day when we can once again meet as usual with our church family.