On 24th March 2020, the GOI under PM Narendra Modi ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days limiting the movement of the entire 1.3 billion population of India as a preventive measure against the CORONA VIRUS pandemic in India. This lockdown, first of its kind, restricted people from stepping out of their homes. All transport services from metros to trains to flights were suspended. There was little to no movement everywhere. Even our weekly congregational Church services had to be shifted to online mode. Since then, the media team along with our pastors and other church leaders have been working tirelessly to feed the congregation with spiritual manna in every way possible, feeding us with weekly devotional contents and timely words of God. Our praise and worship sessions had been limited only to singing songs in sync with the pre-recorded worship songs played during our weekly online worship service. Tough times call for tough measures and it’s great to see our Church adjusting to the situation in every way possible.
It’s been nearly six months since the last congregational Church service and this has made most, if not all of us feel the difference in a regular worship service and an online service. In conversations with some of my dear ones, I’ve come to an understanding that it’s certainly not just me but others too who feel that regular worship services can never be replaced by any other form. The Spirit of God does work in mysterious ways but it certainly seems like the spiritual hunger is best fed when you’re in communion with God and His people. And it won’t be a lie to say that I’d personally been praying ceaselessly for regular worship services to commence.
In answer to my daily prayers, the MHA on JUNE issued fresh guidelines for reopening the country. The first phase of UNLOCK 1.0 began and religious places with limited capacity were permitted to be opened. I thanked God for this fresh sigh of relief and then prayed for an opportunity to have at least a short area fellowship. God once again graciously heard my prayers and on 23rd August 2020 we the BYF, Dwarka area were able to have our first fellowship in over five-six months. It was an overwhelming experience. Live praise and worship with our fellow believers, sincere mass prayers and delightful devotional talks gave us all moments to cherish and to look forward to. It was definitely a moment that we all needed and longed for. The feedbacks were flowing with all positivity that needed to be passed on. So today I take this privilege to encourage my beloved brothers and sisters to follow suit if possible and not just be satisfied with online services. The pandemic has given us enough time to re-evaluate our faith and given us so many thoughts to be shared. The online worship services provide us with a useful dose of nourishments to our souls but it’s never complete as it's mostly a one-way communication. In the beginning, many of us had mental images of all returning at once to our Church in celebration. We now recognize that this will have to happen in phases. As we gear up for these phases, we must avoid framing our situation in terms of a false choice between reviving economies or our churches and saving lives. As the word says, ‘man shall not live by bread alone’ both the Church and our personal lives ought to be given due consideration and the steps ahead planned wisely. The future that we will find ourselves in depends not only on the behavior of the virus but also on our actions as individuals, Churches, communities, and governments. How we continue our journey of faith depends on how we respond to the situation God allows us to be in. The way forward will not be a matter of following a routine but of faithfully discerning the signs of times and responding accordingly.
So let us once again get on our knees, open the doors of our hearts, pray and worship our living and all-powerful God with our fellow believers as and whenever possible. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 150, “Praise the LORD. Praise God in His sanctuary… Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.”
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*Thugelhtu, tulel a Interview Crew member (Media Team), EBCC Delhi hihna len lel, banah BYF Dwarka area coordinator te laka khat ahi. Lungdam lua hang.
