My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ ,
Loving Greetings in the Master’s Holy Name!!
In Psalm 91:14, 15, our Blessed Lord’s promises are vivid and clear
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honour him.”
During the course of last two weeks, I have been receiving multiple calls from many of our people based in various parts of the country with queries on how we, as a company of God’s children, should respond and act in the wake of this terrible pandemic Corona virus which has overtaken people globally.
Especially in the wake of many a Governmental directions/stipulations on the subject, I am jotting down the following for the benefit of all my fellow brethren, especially for the ones who are living in isolated remote areas of our country where you have very few Senior brothers to receive godly and wise counsels from.
First of all, in these days of uncertainty and anxiety, I would like to reassure you that our blessed Lord is in charge and control of all situations and nothing happens by chance or without His Supreme Will. As we have seen at the very outset, He has promised us “He that call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honour him.” I believe that this promise will suffice for all of us, who are His, having being bought with the remission of His precious blood.
Secondly, another matter of paramount importance is that we are duty bound to comply with all the Governmental directives and stipulations on this subject. As we are commanded to submit to ‘all the ordinances of Man for the Lord’s sake’, kindly see to it that all brethren in our personal capacity and also as local Assemblies of believers comply with the Governmental guidelines on the matter.
As the Central and State Governments have issued very elaborate guidelines about matters like social distancing, personal hygiene, quarantine procedures, restrictions to people of certain aged groups etc., all are kindly requested to strictly adhere to these stipulations without fail.
In this connection, I would like to especially impress upon all our dear brethren including the ones who are residing in remote areas to please adhere to the highest form of hygiene in all things especially so in the matter of partaking from the Lord’s Table. Both our hands including the nails should be washed properly and sanitized before partaking from the Bread and personal hygiene should be undertaken in taking part from the Wine. We cannot afford to compromise in this matter as it may lead to terrible and dire consequences.
Thirdly, dear brethren, I would like to encourage all of you that the Lord has a specific intention and purpose with regard to each one of us, for letting us pass through this trial and bringing us all to this kind of an unprecedented difficult time when we are not even able to gather together as a corporate body on the Lord’s day, this Sunday morning. The Lord has a definite plan and He is watching to see if we will be true to Him and stay focused in Him alone this Lord’s Day within the confines of our own homes. He desires that each one of us as families, should sing songs of praise glorifying His Name, read and meditate on His Holy Word, and spend quality time in prayer repenting for all our intentional and unintentional sins and intercede for each other, for our community, our society, our country and the world as a whole to be healed from this great calamity that has overtaken us. We should pray with tears and genuine burden in our hearts that the Lord may use this time of crisis to bring many into His fold, that their eyes be opened to see the Truth. If each one of us strive to do this, Satan will be a defeated foe and the name of our Lord Jesus Christ will be exalted high.
Finally, let me take this opportunity to assure you that all of us at Stewards Association in India (SAI) are with you in these difficult times. We are aware that some of our beloved brethren who are working for daily wages are without jobs and are finding it very difficult to take care of the basic needs of your families at this difficult juncture. For your information, the Lord has allowed us to function full-fledged till yesterday (20th March) and we will be able to provide for all who are in need if you send us a mail or letter asking for some kind of assistance.
Yes, our beloved brethren, we are with you in these hard times and you can be rest assured that we will are here to serve you if you need any kind of spiritual, financial or legal help at any point of time. May our blessed Lord grant you adequate wisdom and diligence to accomplish His will and purpose in these difficult times.
Yours in His Royal Service,
Raju M. Koshy General Secretary,
Stewards Association in India,
Bangalore