Praying about the Epidemic

Life here has been greatly affected by the recent coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. Although we are far from there, it has had a profound impact on our lives and the people who live in our city. When we first heard about the outbreak, we never imagined that it would spread as fast or as far as it has. We believed that it would burn itself out rather quickly. However, the traveling due to Spring Festival has greatly compounded the situation.

Katie and I went to visit her parents for the holiday in a neighboring city. At that point, the infections were limited to Wuhan. We kept a close eye on it, and within a matter of days new cases of infections showed up in the majority of the provinces. We also heard about a family from Wuhan that had travelled to our town who was infected. We decided to go home early, and it is a good thing that we did. Just a few hours after we returned, the city government closed the highway ramps into our city and suspended long range bus services. A day later, the government has also mandated the closure of all theaters, tea houses, churches, gyms, and all other recreational gathering spots. Most restaurants and shops have also closed voluntarily. I also got word yesterday that schools are delaying their start up date by one week. 

A day after that, we heard that people were flocking to stores to buy masks and groceries. We already had the masks, but we didn’t have groceries, having just returned from a long trip. So, we went to a few supermarkets that we usually hit, but they were either closed or their shelves were empty. Eventually, we found a small vegetable shop and we stocked up. We bought about two or three weeks’ worth. Thankfully, we had a freezer full of meat. 


Lines at Pharmacies to buy Masks

Empty Shelves at Supermarkets

We stocked up.


Over the past few days, we’ve seen how this virus has spread around China and around the world. We decided that the best thing for us to do is to stay at home. We have the next three weeks off of work and school, so we’re going to bed down and wait for the epidemic to pass. 

We’ve been praying so much for China, the infected, the doctors, nurses, and other medical workers, for China’s leaders, and of course for cure. We know that ultimately, this is all in God’s hands. We know and trust that He has a purpose and a plan in the midst of this craziness. 

“Only one form of contagion travels faster than a virus. And that's fear.”
 – Dan Brown 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cooking Up a Storm

Image
There has been quite a bit of coverage in the media about the economic impact of the COVID-19 virus. Obviously, Chinese businesses have been hit quite hard, as have the businesses around the world that rely on Chinese consumers and manufacturers.  One thing that has gone somewhat unnoticed is the effect it is having on some farmers. Katie has been following the chatter on the web about the struggles that some farmers are having because their products are not consumed as frequently as the staple grains, proteins, and vegetables that typically comprise the average Chinese diet. Many of them are selling their products for well below their average price in an attempt to increase demand; it is sad to think that their products are spoiling when they could be helping so many people. My wife has a huge heart, and over the past few weeks, she has been ordering things from these farmers online, and not just in small amounts… like a lot. So, we’ve had foods like, okra, asparagus, basil, ...
Read more

Pan Wei Bo Concert

Image
Last Sunday night I had a rather unique opportunity. One of my friends was given tickets to a concert. She asked me if I wanted to go. I thought about it for a while, and I decided to go. It’s not too often that famous pop stars make it all the way to Changzhou, so I had to check it out. The concert was held in a small sports stadium that was built within the last year and modeled after the bird’s nest in Olympic park in Beijing. I would guess that there were about 20,000 people there. One thing that I noticed immediately was that although the tickets had seat assignments, very few people sat in their seats. This was nice because my friend Dorty was able to sit by me. The tickets that we had were for seats that were not near each other. Ironically, I also saw my friend Andrew there, so he also sat by us. The stage was an explosion of dancing lights. The setup was very elaborate. The concert was not at all what I was expecting. The headline name for the concert was Pan Wei Bo (a famous ...
Read more

Getting Ready for Christmas

Image
Wow, this year is going so fast. The holiday’s really snuck up on me. The last four months have seemed like an endless flurry of events. I really feel as if my feet have not yet touched the ground since I arrived here in August. I do know that Christmas is one of the most important holidays in my country, and each year it is my greatest hope that I can communicate the true meaning of Christmas with my students, friends, and everyone else in my life here. Each year I take one class period and explain the culture of Christmas to all of my students. Many of them know things about Christmas. Usually, their knowledge is limited to Santa Claus, gifts, and Christmas trees. In addition to explaining those things, I try to explain to them that Christmas is much more than that. I tell them the reason that we give gifts and why we started to do that some two thousand years ago. It is always so amazing to see the wonder in their eyes when they begin to understand the true meaning of Christmas. The...
Read more