25.03.2020

Corona: live streaming ministry through facebook

In the beginning of March 2020, the Indonesian government announced that two people in Indonesia are infected with Covid-19, and since then the number of infections is continuously growing. Today, on March 24 our government informs that there are 686 people infected by the virus and 55 people died. The government has decided to restrict public events, to close down the schools, universities, government offices, and tourist destinations in response to the corona pandemic. Even the Council of Churches in Indonesia (PGI) announces to all churches in Indonesia to change the form of communal worship into family worship so-called ‘stay at home’ - which is our new slogan now. Unfortunately, not all churches do the same ways
Now, many activities of the churches are done through social media like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. We are also socialized not to shake hands, but to wash hands, stay at home and manage the live streaming worship. We are even socialized how to make sanitizer and homemade disinfectant, because the both of things now very expensive. The HKI headquarters together with Moslem’s Youth distributing disinfectants, sterilizing churches and mosques, offices, orphanages and other houses 

Ministry through social media

Today, I want to share about our ministry for Sunday school children. Yes, in this emergency situation, all of us agree that one of very important things in our ministry is to serve the children of God, since the HKI synod decided to close the Sunday school in HKI’s churches and to move it to their own home, we have asked their parents to serve them and we provided liturgy for them, but some of the children shared to us how they need and miss their Sunday school teachers and friends. So in answering the children's request, last Sunday we managed to offer a live streaming Sunday school so that all of them could keep connected with one another. The Sunday school teachers formulated and led the live streaming worship through facebook as we know that the majority people are on facebook. We also opened up a WhatsApp group especially for the parents. The WhatsApp group can be a place for us for sharing information and discussing how we manage the children’s worship, and the live streaming worship model was one of it. Praise the Lord! We have a lot of support from the parents, they give us some ideas and information on the needs of their children. The WhatsApp group also helps us in sharing our struggle against the virus and our current condition, and in the live streaming we can bring the struggle in our prayers. The information helps us to be connected to each other and to pray together. From the conversations we know that the children and their parents are very enthusiastic to follow the worship, some of them sent pictures while they follow the worship.
In the live streaming worship we also inform in easy ways how as the children of God, we deal with this situation. We even explain why we use the live streaming model and how modern technology helps us to be connected while we are worshipping to God. We also want to increase awareness of the children how to protect oneself and to keep hope in God. There is no situation which might stop the children to praise our God.

From North Sumatra: Rev. Ramayanti Simorangkir (alumna of the MA Diaconic Management Course)