05.06.2020

Online Meeting of Evangelism Contact Persons

Yesterday morning, thirteen of the sixteen UEM Evangelism Contact Persons (ECP) on three continents met via Zoom for bible sharing, prayer and the exchange of experiences. Here is what they reported:

Friska Simamora, ECP for Mentawai, is part of her church’s COVID-19 response team and in charge of buying the goods that the church distributes to poor families. Rice, cooking oil, face masks, soap and disinfectant are among the goods provided to those in need. Mentawai, which belongs to West Sumatra Province, is still under lockdown. New clusters of COVID-19 infections have been reported from Sipora Island.

Pimpinan Brades Sijabat in Kalimantan has been busy streaming Sunday services from his local church. A planned literacy project he was involved in was moved online and has been successfully completed.

Joko Mahendro, ECP in Java, still lives in a region under lockdown. He provides materials for house worship for his congregation members. After a successful project in which vegetables donated by local farmers were distributed to poor city families in Salatiga, a second larger project is now being planned where farmers producing rice will exchange parts of their harvest with farmers producing vegetables, so that all have sufficient food to eat. Mahendro worries about the village children whose schools are closed, and who have no internet access to follow online teaching. Their parents are often uneducated themselves and cannot teach their children either.

Marudur Siahaan in Sumatra teaches at a Bible school. Due to quarantine orders, the school has moved all classes online, but was able to conduct their final semester exams.

Samuel Tarigan, also in Sumatra, also live-streams his Sunday services. In addition, his congregation shares worship materials by WhatsApp, and delivers printout to congregation members who do not have internet access.

Dolfina Yahuy, ECP in Papua, also organizes home worship services and also distributes food to poor families. In Papua, worship services are possible in church buildings with a maximum of 20 participants and social distancing.

Ramesh Fernando, ECP in Sri Lanka, reported that Sunday services are still not possible in his country. After the country-wide curfew was lifted last week, it was re-established for two days this week to prevent people from traveling during a Buddhist festival. He himself had a special pass which enabled him to travel all over the island during the curfew to deliver food to needy families. The Methodist Church in Sri Lanka has been assisting rural congregations in acquiring digital equipment. The church produces Christian messages on audio CDs and distributes them to believers in villages without internet access.

Anderson Kipande from the Northeastern Diocese in Tanzania shared that some church activities are continuing on a small scale and with social distancing. Sunday school is not possible, though. Markets are open and people are able to travel. Pastors are able to visit congregation members in their homes.

Ainekisha Bulaya, ECP for Northwestern Tanzania, has just returned to Tumaini University, Makumira, where she is enrolled in a Masters program. The university re-opened after having been closed for several weeks. She is planning evangelism trainings for September and optimistic that those can be held as planned.

Venant Ntakirutimana in Rwanda has seen some loosening of lockdown measures in the country, even though the number of COVID-19 cases is currently increasing. Church gatherings and activities are still not permitted, so he spends his time developing teaching materials on evangelism and liturgy. Sunday sermons are distributed to believers via WhatsApp groups.

Juliane Gayk in Germany, who works as a hospital chaplain, was able to continue visiting people in the hospital even though other visits were prohibited.

Sven Körber, whose main responsibility is the Bible center of the Westphalian Church in Dortmund, is on extended leave until the end of July as the center is closed.

Onalenna Kaartze (Botswana) and Talla Waffo (Cameroon) were unable to join due to a lack of internet access in their respective rural locations.

Marthe Maleke Kondemo (DR Congo) is in the hospital in Mbandaka being treated for Malaria. Eirene Gulö from Nias is currently in the Netherlands for a PhD program and will resume her ECP duties in August.

Rev. Dr Claudia Währisch-Oblau (Executive Secretary for Evangelism)