India implemented the world’s largest lockdown from March to July in our region, halting industries, schools, and personal lives. It was historical and unprecedented. The impact on the urban poor was staggering.
Many people from our state migrate across India to work in factories, shops, and transportation. When the sudden lockdown occurred, millions of people had no jobs, places to stay, or any way to get back home. So, they started walking, hundreds of miles, in 100-degree heat. Others suffered the sudden loss of “daily wage” as many people earn by the day. This created a massive crisis.
We called together our partners and 30 of us organized into groups to get basic supplies to the needy migrants arriving back to our state. We went out to train stations, set up roadside food distribution centers, and served hot food out of neighborhood homes. We were thrilled to see so many people join us to respond to the extreme physical need of over 1300 families that we were able to help.
Even during the pandemic, we have continued our weekly contextualized fellowship online. Alex has facilitated new conversations with seekers, inviting people from various parts of the country to fellowship together. It has been interesting to have guests and guest speakers who normally wouldn’t come to our fellowship in person, join us online. We often see people setting up a smartphone on a chair in a crowded room of 40 villagers just to participate in fellowship.
We praise God that even in COVID times, we’re able to see blessings in our partnerships and online fellowship, both of which grew as we fed the needy physically and spiritually! God is able to work all things together for the good!
