As you know, COVID is a thing that is currently affecting the entire world. At the beginning of 2020 it caused 500 plus missionaries with Adventures in Missions alone to be quickly transported back to the United States. Everything changed and we all had to adjust to new norms. One of those norms was staying home as much as possible.
Yet, here I am in Costa Rica once again traveling with the World Race. I was honestly surprised that we were able to launch now and even more so surprised that we got to launch internationally. I am so thankful though that God has opened these doors. I shouldn’t be surprised by that though because nothing can stop God from moving and working in the world. As one of the leaders at launch said: “the world might be on lockdown, but the Kingdom of God is not.”
There are still however many ways that COVID is affecting the world race and I wanted to share with you what that looks like.
First of all, parent launch was moved to online and there were many differences for the racers. In 2019 I spent my launch intermingling with my entire squad and even some of the other squad who launched at the same time.
This year, I was only able to mingle with my team of six. The whole squad was in one room and on the floor of that room was tape that marked off each teams “bedroom.” Inside of this small rectangle we had to sleep, eat, and all other things. We wore our masks at all times and stayed 6 feet away from the other teams. This was a precaution so that if someone did get COVID we would still be able to launch most of the squad rather than all 48 of us being required to stay back.
We also did health checks every morning (and these will continue through the entirety of the race). Our squad leaders take our temperatures and ask us a series of questions to determine if we have any symptoms (mild or severe), or contact with someone who has recently tested positive. By doing this we hope to catch COVID early and quarantine to keep it from spreading through the whole squad.
As far as ministry goes, there are adjustments to be made, but we can still serve in many ways. The organization that we are currently working with is having us stay at the ministry site/guesthouse for the next few days so the locals will see that we are being cautious and conscious of the reality of COVID. Today was our first day of ministry and we spent it at the base cleaning, painting and organizing. Soon we will be able to be out in the community more, but we will still be wearing masks and practicing social distancing.
Sure, COVID is making us have new norms and things feel different and weird. I’m thankful for the AIM leadership that has worked hard to adjust to these new norms and have made pursuing ministry still possible. Probably the biggest thing that I’ve learned though missions is how to be flexible and this is just one more thing that teaches that. I’m sure I’ll discover other norms of the race that have been forced to change. One thing that will never change though is God’s love and His desire for people to know Him.
Blessings,
Kaci
