Photo by Maria Orlova from Pexels
Written by: David Hood (stories shared anonymously)
It has been a year since the WHO declared a global pandemic and since Ottawa locked down for the first time to contain the spread of COVID-19 and flatten the curve. Last March most of us had no idea how our world was about to change, but change it did. Almost overnight, we went from a world where we gave very little thought to viruses and virus transmission, to a world where we couldn’t visit grandparents, give hugs, share meals, leave the house for anything other than essentials, or go out without a mask. Worship and fellowship became online experiences. Our entire lives went virtual.
Those early days were scary. Thankfully we’ve learned a lot since then and we’ve made great gains and there is light at the end of this long tunnel. It remains to be seen exactly how the experiences of the past year will affect us in the years to come or how they have permanently re-shaped our society. Time will tell. But there is no denying the events of 2020 and 2021 are historically and culturally significant, and not just for one or two nations, but for the whole world.
One of the greatest challenges of this past year for Christians, especially in the West, has been trying to figure out what “church” is. How can we be the church in a world of distancing and stay-at-home orders? For many, we can’t. Restrictions need to be lifted or we can’t be the church and do what the church does. While I definitely agree that restrictions have made certain aspects of our church’s life more difficult, and we do look forward to the day those restrictions are gone, I disagree that COVID has all but made it impossible for us to do what Jesus has called us to do. The church is a family of missionary servants with Jesus at the centre. That is who we are. Jesus-followers. Family. Servants. Missionaries. At Southeast City Church, I feel we have been able to be all of those things even with restrictions, and in some cases, we’ve been able to be those things in ways we weren’t before because of restrictions, and we’ve written about some of those experiences here and here. But God has not just used us collectively as a church family, He has also used us as individuals and families. At our AGM last week we celebrated some of those stories together.
In these next two posts, we wanted to share a few of those stories with you on the anniversary of the start of the pandemic (stories shared anonymously). We’re not out of the woods yet. We need to keep going, and I hope these stories will inspire, encourage, and “provoke us to good works” (Hebrews 10:24); to be the church; to “not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).
“I began volunteering with SafePet Ontario in October 2020. It’s an organization that coordinates foster care for pets of individuals fleeing domestic violence. The program helps survivors seek safety while ensuring their pet receives proper care until they’re stabilized and safe and can reunite. Although I haven’t been needed to foster any pets yet, I have been helping screen volunteer applications to ensure there are safe foster families available for pets across the province.
An application to foster can come in at any time from anywhere across Ontario. The vast foster family network is crucial to making sure that these animals have somewhere to go while their humans can secure safe housing. Animals in homes where people are experiencing violence can often become the target of violence themselves. This creates a barrier for people wanting to leave because they want to ensure their pets will be safe as well. Helping to make sure safe places exist for pets contributes to creating conditions where someone can leave a violent situation, and with the rise of domestic violence due to lockdowns Safe Pet is a crucial piece of the puzzle in making sure people have the chance to leave violent situations.
SafePet Ontario combines two of my passions – helping survivors of domestic violence and animals. I decided to volunteer so that I could do things within my power (however big or small) that can help facilitate someone leaving a violent situation. Everyone knows how much I love my own dog. I would never want this love and care for a pet to be used to keep someone in a violent situation.”
Respond Ottawa/Ottawa Giving Project:
“Someone told me a homeless person died in Ottawa outside a shelter that was closed because of COVID. I thought perhaps it was because of the cold temperatures. I gathered coats, boots, scarves, mitts, etc from my neighbours to be donated to the Ottawa homeless shelters. I used my local ‘Buy Nothing’ group on Facebook to do this and was able to donate them through “Respond Ottawa” for their Ottawa Giving Project.
The Ottawa Giving Project (a partnership of the Alliance to End Homelessness and Respond Ottawa) is providing an opportunity for churches in our city to come together to support local agencies who serve Ottawa’s homeless and low income communities. COVID-19 has forced these agencies to stop collecting donations from the public due to their limited volunteer base and storage facilities. Meanwhile, homelessness in Ottawa has increased dramatically during the pandemic. They want to respond to this need by collecting, sorting and delivering to these agencies.
“I’ve been volunteering with Kids Help Phone as a crisis responder for two years. Jesus is clear that our neighbor is everyone, not just the people in our neighbourhood or circle. Youth and adults reach out to the crisis text line when they need someone to talk to, community resources, or guidance during a mental health crisis and I’m fortunate that I get to be there to love and support those individuals no matter where they are coming from.
Kids Help Phone is a charitable organization and they have been providing online resources to support young people through COVID-19. Articles like how to stay connected to loved ones even though you can’t see them in person, and ways to reduce anxiety and cope with triggering news stories. Kids Help Phone also has a free phone counselling service that is available 24 hours a day and those staff members work tirelessly to support individuals who contact them for help.
I love what I do because I know I can make a difference to someone. Kids who don’t feel supported at home come to us to feel validated and loved. While I can’t directly talk about my faith or personal beliefs to texters, I can show Jesus through my words and how I treat people who are hurting.”
Beautiful stuff. The people of God, doing the work of God, despite restrictions, and in some cases because of restrictions. Yes, our buildings have had to close at certain points, and we’ve had to press pause on or reimagine some of our ministries. We aren’t able to gather in-person all together in one place at one time, and this isn’t ideal, something is missing, and we long for those days (and those days will come again!). But make no mistake, Jesus is not on lockdown, and the church is still able to be the church even in these pandemic days.
Stay tuned for more stories to come soon. Matthew 5:16 “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
If you’d like to support any of the organizations/ministries mentioned, follow the hyperlinks.
To be continued…