Reflection: My Heart Journey in the COVID-19 Epidemic
WCIU Journal: Health and Disease Topic
March 25, 2020
by May Nor Clara Cheng
I live in Los Angeles County, where it is hit hard by the COVID-19. My health care provider called me by phone, warning that I am at high risk if I caught the virus. I started to isolate myself before the government ordered social distancing and shutting down of social gatherings and most businesses.
I found that my first reaction was fear. I already have a respiratory problem. My fear was not so much that I could die from this virus but that I would be inflicted by permanent damages to my lungs, being permanently attached to a ventilator. I sensed the fear like a grip on my heart. In addition, I have been working for years on a set of missionary training materials and I am near the end of the project. So my second fear was that I would die before I could send out the teaching material to the mission organizations. My third concern was for my local church. It is a small church. When the order of no gathering was issued, I became concerned that the spiritual growth of our church members would be stagnated.
Then I started to read Psalm 91, claiming the assuring promise of verse 10 for myself: “then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.” But the word “then” caught my attention. What is the condition of the “then”? I found the answers from verses 1, 9 and 14: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High”; “if you make the Most High your dwelling”; and “‘because he loves me’, says the Lord.”
As I continued to pray for myself, my heart started to settle down in peace. Instead, I started to pray for my church, my family members, and for my friends. But then, a fire started to burn in me. I found that my prayers became focused on praying for the Church of Christ globally. I pray that the global church will be guided by the Holy Spirit to shine even brighter these days and grow even more than usual. May the enemy not defeat Christ’s Church through fear in self-isolation. May we be creative in caring our neighbors!
“Who are our neighbors?” In time like this, the most vulnerable population may not be the people we have in mind. They are the forgotten ones‑the disadvantaged populations in societies: the homeless, people losing their jobs and income, outcasts in India, Christian “outcasts” of societies that oppress God’s ministers and their families, and so on. With our physical mobility restricted, may God guide all of us daily in how to contribute to His Kingdom!
My burning prayer is, “God, let not this epidemic be a mere destruction of humanity. Revive Your Church—Your Bride! May you wake up those who do not know You and and may they cry out to You! May Your Name be even more exalted over
May Nor Clara Cheng has a Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. She is Associate Professor in Psychological Anthropology at William Carey International University. She served with OMF International for sixteen years in Japan, in the Philippines, and in Taiwan.
Her area of expertise is equipping cross-cultural workers in their inner-beings in order to lead a healthy emotional, social, and spiritual life and to be effective in their cross-cultural endeavors.