I spent most of the week before last editing a group of webpages. It was a sad task, as I had to tell some Cru staff members that they must continue limiting ministry activities because of COVID-19.
Since last March, I’ve been the primary writer for Cru’s COVID-19 crisis team. Initially, we sent a weekly email to all U.S. staff members informing them about the changing situation. As things stabilized, we slowed the frequency. The 42nd email went recently and I’m preparing the 43rd.
As we informed staff members of the situation, we also put that information and even more onto web pages. The pages cover health, travel, facilities and meeting-size limits. At first, the tone was about closing things down. We added pages as needed, without an overall plan. We didn’t know from week to week what we would have to say next.
Then, as we gained some increased freedom to meet and interact with people, the tone changed to “reengaging” with ministry activities. In June, I was hopeful that the day might come when we could remove all of those pages. But as cases continue arise in some places, we had to make a sad decision.
We decided to change the tone to continuing a ministry in a world that contains COVID-19, and that likely will for the foreseeable future. It gave me a chance to review the whole set of pages and to organize and update them.
The virus still affects us daily. Neither Anne Marie nor I go to our offices every day. We’re cautious about visiting Anne Marie’s parents in nearby Clearwater. And we haven’t visited my dad since November 2019 (shown in the photo above). We’ve also avoided other travel.
As you think of us over the next few weeks, would you pray as we both plan to begin to travel once more? In early September, we both have travel plans, but we won’t be traveling together.
- I plan to go to Nebraska the first several days of September to visit my dad and other people we haven’t seen for such a long time. Please pray for good health for me, my dad, and everyone I’ll visit. And pray that there won’t be too many limits on my visits with him due to restrictions in the place where he lives.
- Anne Marie plans to take part in a writers conference in early September. Pray that she and all the participants will arrive in good health, and that everyone at the event will remain healthy. And pray that everyone there will leave inspired with better writing skills.
As always, we’re grateful for your generosity and prayers for us. And do let us know how we can pray for you.
— Mark, for the Winz family