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GS Letter
Reimagining a
Post-Pandemic Future
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For no one can anticipate the time of disaster. (Ecclesiastes 9:12a, NRSV)
Most people will agree to the above verse. Honestly speaking, no one ever anticipated that the Covid-19 pandemic can dent humankind and society so globally and catastrophically as what we are seeing now. Not only has it taken many people’s lives and livelihood, but it has also devastatingly disrupted our life (at work, at home, in church, or socially), with the introduction of numerous novel and inconvenient restrictions and arrangements. We naturally long to go back to the way we used to live before the pandemic period.
However, what if the current rules on social distancing and wearing a mask in public remain, even beyond the Circuit Breaker (CB) period? What if Work From Home (WFH) and Home-Based Learning (HBL) in schools and tertiary institutes continue indefinitely? What if online streaming Sunday service and Zoom Bible study/small group fellowship becomes a irreplaceable necessity? And in the wider context, for example, what if the migrant workers continue to stay and live among us in our neighbourhoods, as big isolated dormitories would be considered no longer a benevolent option?
What if all the above becomes a new normal
that will stick with us all the time?
Our responses may vary. We can sigh, complain, or linger in victim mentality. Or we can embrace the hard realities of change and move on with readiness to navigate the change. I suppose that the above new circumstances and habits are like “signals” of the future being pushed into our life now due to the pandemic. So, though we cannot anticipate the time of disaster, we can attempt to, using biomedical terminologies, “dissect” those “signals” genetically and “edit” the future, which we, with our Christian faith and values, aspire to shape.
Before that, let us start this reimagination journey with the famous Serenity Prayer, advocated by Reinhold Niebuhr:
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage
to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
In my opinion, there are at least four things we must have courage to re-imagine in a post-pandemic future.
First, let us have courage to reimagine what really matters in our life. WFH reveals the state of our work ethics and the fabric of our marriage and family. HBL shows the level of patience we have as parents towards our kids and how genuine we study as students. If WFH and HBL remain, then can we reimagine a marriage, a family, and a workplace that are more loving, in mutual submission, filled with encouragement, and sincerity (Col. 3:17–22)? It is not where we work or study, but how we work and study wherever the location is.
Second, is to reimagine how we do church and missions. While physical meetings at our local churches may gradually resume, in the meantime, let us live out what pastoral care, discipleship, and witnessing may entail in the era of “church without walls”, like what we have seen during the CB period. Can we make a simple phone call to someone living alone? Or create a virtual safe space for the wary and depressed? Or start an online missional or social project across denominational boundaries? The body of Christ does not need to wait for a physical meeting, in order to be united and empowered. We have been united in Christ and empowered to do so by the Spirit. To the world and the Others, let us reimagine what a Resurrection People should live, as what Scripture mandates: to be Christ’s witness (Acts 1:8), love them as ourselves (Lev. 19:34) and do good works for them (Eph. 2:10).
Third, especially in FES student ministry, we need to reimagine and innovate, or face irrelevance. Our staff team and student leaders are now in rigorous discussion on this matter. FES has in place an online/virtual presence at the following: Telegram Channel: https://t.me/fesfellowship; Instagram: @fesfellowship; and Facebook Page: @fesfellowship. Kindly follow or subscribe to any of these if you have not done so.
However, we realise the above is insufficient. Brushing up new skills to effectively do training or Bible study in the era of Zoom meetings. Devising a relevant and useful digital pedagogy that really “scratches where it itches”. Stoking curiosity and conversations online, thus reaching out to groups of students unreachable by the standard CF programme. These are three examples of ideas in the pipeline. Pray with us that not only will God find us faithful in this disruptive era, but also trustworthy in what we have been entrusted (1 Cor. 4:2)
Lastly, a reimagination of what global politics and economy would look like. I will not mention much here due to its vast and complex scope. I pray and hope that God will raise people to voice out, using Walter Brueggemann’s phrase, “prophetic imagination”, for a better public health system, a deeper global solidarity, and an end to injustice and inequality.
Let us continue this conversation of reimagination, so it will not remain as wishful rhetoric, but embodied into real and tangible practices and ways of life. All comments and inputs are welcomed.
In His grace,
Lisman Komaladi
General Secretary
PS: Please visit https://circuitbreaker.fellowship.sg for relevant and useful material which the FES staff team has been curating during this CB period.
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A Word from the
Communications Team
This is a surprise edition because of COVID-19. What began in March as keeping 2 metres distance from one another in NUS rapidly descended into the suspension of CCAs across all campuses. Here are excerpts from the reflections of three students sharing their struggles and hopes amidst the ongoing pandemic. Please follow us on @fesfellowship on Instagram as we will post their full reflections through the week.
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A Renewed Frame of Mind
Joie Chin, a Year 1 Psychology Science major from JCU and Outreach Coordinator for JCUS CF, shares with us the struggle of the JCUS CF Exco:
"In JCU, we have an intake and graduating batch every trimester. Due to the Circuit Breaker coinciding with the start of this trimester, we could not hold our usual club drive yet we still had members graduating and leaving the CF from the previous trimester. This combination has caused the strength of the CF to drop for now. But numbers does not equate to the spiritual health of the CF. So we are not discouraged simply by the lack of numbers but we set our minds and hearts on what God has set out for us.
Another specific challenge was changing our upcoming Easter event and exam blessings to be online events. The sudden need to drastically change our plans forced us to reconsider their original purposes and why we do them at all. We reflected on God's heart for people and extrapolated that heartbeat for those around us on campus. We look forward to this renewed frame of mind for these events, such that it is not just another event, and anything we might do as a CF. We encourage our fellow brothers and sisters to not be disheartened, but journey with us and fix our eyes upon the Lord, trusting in His steadfastness."
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An Opportunity to be Set Apart
Azalea Wu, a Year 3 Political Science major from NUS VCF, shares with us her experience of being suddenly recalled from exchange in France:
"The news of COVID-19 only hit France when the outbreak in Italy started. Within two weeks, the situation escalated in France and I was called back with my fellow exchangers. I did feel upset and disappointed because I was in this sweet spot of getting used to life there and investing into new relationships. Saying goodbye was bittersweet but God was holding my heart in His hands, reminding me that each day I had on exchange was truly out of His grace. Whatever God gives, He can take, and surely He would not need anyone to counsel Him on what is good and right and wise...
I think that God has provided a good opportunity to set us apart as His children in the way that we respond to the crisis and to the change of plans in our exchange; to move in the opposite spirit of bitterness, and to count all things as grace; to move in the opposite spirit of privilege, and to look beyond ourselves with compassion; to move in the opposite spirit of despair and insecurity, and to put our firm hope and security in the One whose love and promises surpasses the now and lasts into eternity."
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A Time to Lament
Nicholas Stefanus, a Year 3 Civil Engineering student from NTU and president for NTU ISCF shares with us our final story:
"We had to cancel our face-to-face fellowship meetings since the Circuit Breaker started. But we decided to shift our meetings online instead to support one another in this tough period. This period is a time where Christians are supposed to lament about the situation and to seek for God's mercy and His will. As such, we continue to hold prayer meetings to conduct sharing and intercessory prayer for the front-liners, the sick, governments, other ministries, and the vulnerable in the society.
Some of our members may be demotivated and others may be anxious because of the uncertainty of their family's health in Indonesia. Some of our members are still active in attending our prayer meetings, yet some are disappearing. Thus, the leaders have had to increase our efforts in personally reaching out to them. We must strive to care for others, especially those who have been affected by the COVID-19, on top of ourselves.
Personally, not meeting other people has decreased my emotional capacity and made me lonely. Nevertheless, there are many things to be thankful of. In this period, I could rest properly, reflect, and read books."
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Please Pray with Us
The situation has only gotten tighter and harder for our CFs and staff workers alike.
Please pray for the CFs, leaders, and members as they navigate a whole new way of doing student ministry.
Please pray for the students: for the poly students who have just started school yet have not set foot on their campus at all, and for the university students who have had to rapidly adjust to doing school and exams now entirely online.
Jeremiah Goh
Communications Team Lead
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