Juancho Chu
2020 has truly been a horrible year or some would say in Latin, 'annus horribilis' in terms of lives lost with, 3,500 alone in Ontario. Not to mention the disruption in the everyday lives of all the people of the whole world both personally and economically. But, I believe GOD is great and in control and gracious always. He is full of mercy! We were in Florida in the 2nd week of January last year when the pandemic was declared. Our flight was scheduled to take off 1 day before the flights were all grounded. The airport arrivals area was jam-packed with people trying to get home and when we arrived in Toronto, we were all packed again like sardines in the immigration and customs area without masks, without what we now call PPEs, yet the Lord protected us all from the virus! Praise God! There are many more blessings from Him that I can recall this year but I will occupy all your writer's column and time, suffice it to say that my heart is overflowing with gratitude to God for it all. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
I praise and thank Him too for I did not lose my job, in fact, He has allowed me to work from home! Isn't that great? Another thing to give Him praise is that He has allowed me the time to start reading the Bible more intently as I have made it my goal to read the entire Bible in a year and by God's grace and mercy, I should finish my goal by March. This pandemic has surely placed a crimp on our ministry as it has prevented us from running all our programs this year, however, we praise God that despite all of that, He has not allowed His people, especially those in the frontlines (missionaries) to be left wanting for support from our church. He also allowed us to meet even in these times with a tool that allows us to still see each other virtually. I could not imagine in a million years that we could do that as a church much less as a missions committee. The gates of hell surely will not prevail against His word.
May these words truly give glory to God alone and to our Lord Jesus Christ, blessings, and honor upon Him!
Praise God and so truly worthy of worship!!
Ariel Poquiz
I praise God because He is my ever-present helper during these unprecedented times. He is always there every moment of my life. I am grateful for His provision, and there is no moment that His stream of blessing has been disconnected. His grace was sufficient when my family had experienced different challenges amidst this COVID-19 situation. I am thankful for His goodness in so many ways. I have remained focused on my responsibility as a servant of the Lord and to the church. I have also found ways to connect with others virtually through a regular Bible study.
What have I learned from this crisis? It is more on obedience, in the sense of not being irresponsible to those around us. I must listen to the health and safety advice coming from the government and abide by it as I reflect Jesus Christ in our community. Additionally, the Lord has given me an opportunity to share the gospel with my family in the Philippines through Bible study.
Glory to God.
Melissa Borja
In the midst of the pandemic, I was challenged with the continuity of CNU. We started our Bible study through Discord in March 2020. As new applications have made it a lot easier to connect with each other virtually, we also faced lower attendance (with just one sometimes!). Whether the reason may be due to school, work, personal or spiritual, our calling is to be faithful no matter the circumstance we are facing and who our audience is. After all, we only have one audience that matters - God Himself. In this pandemic, God is bringing us back to the true heart of worship, without the embellishments of what a “church” is or a“ Bible study”. He removed the distractions of life that we take for granted and instead, urged us to seek His word, to pray and to engage in Christian fellowship. We are still currently facing the challenge but our hope is in the Gospel. Christ alone for Him, through Him and to Him!
Tim Paras
The pandemic has changed many things for everyone. Personally, continuing to work retail at Eaton Centre came with several concerns; getting sick, fluctuating work hours, and the uncertainty of continued employment. As a church member not attending services physically, I feel a significant loss in my sense of community. Being a youth leader, some new challenges arose. Before the winter break last year, we were using Zoom for our weekly meetings. It took time to adjust to the new meeting environment and the various technical difficulties. Losing the face to face interaction makes it even harder to communicate with the kids, especially when they don’t feel like turning on their cameras.
Through these difficulties, God has reminded me of His sovereignty - His will and control overall. This has become a great opportunity for me to practice my reliance on Him. God has given me peace and I look forward to how this will resolve in His will.
Earl Cabaluna
If I were, to sum up 2020 as a lesson, it would be the importance of community. I think throughout this pandemic, God has shown us the importance of community among us Christians. We so often rely on being able to see each other in person that we actually struggle when we don't get to see our friends and family in person. I think during this year, we had to adjust our approach with how youth would meet. It was definitely an adjustment, we all had to be on our screens more than we normally do. The kids in youth, when school started, had to be on zoom during school and then we expected them to be on zoom for a couple more hours after they finish school on Friday. Clearly, this was a big hurdle. To combat this, we (I believe) wanted our time on zoom to be as intentional as possible. It was not just a hangout but we wanted to be intentional with the lessons we provided, the questions we asked, and to also create a space for them to get to know one another. We wanted to be connected to each other. Just as the youth needed community, so did we as leaders. For myself, I have been so blessed with a church community that has supported me and helped me grow in my relationship with God this year. I was also blessed with a wonderful work community and a gym community that kept me motivated. God was truly working this year even in the midst of uncertainty.