My Storm
In this boat
waves
crashing
water
filling
bailing …
not fast enough
can’t see
6 feet
let alone
the shore.
Others in my boat
look
at me
like I know
what to do!
Is he asleep?
I think
I should wake him
with my prayer …
desperate, I cry—
find him not at all
startled … not surprised.
His word calms
my storm, even while bailing,
his promises
ease my fears, even while searching
for the shore.
“As I have done,
each time before,
I will take you,” he reminds me
“and all those
in this same boat
safely, lovingly
home.”
So … here I am
again
I think
seeking to awaken him
and all this while
only my faith was sleeping.
~ David Goodman, 2020 Pandemic
Navigating the Pandemic
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee … Isa. 26:3
Personal Updates
We have peace, gratitude and things are well with our souls. Staying-at-home at least through April has us praying forward, still trusting in God’s timing. We pray for those struggling with deaths in their families, those with the virus, out of work, in financial crisis and we seek the Lord for our role in serving others near and far. A great opportunity for spiritual growth in us and through us and ministry we had not anticipated. We can become better people and a better Church.
Thank you all for your prayers for David! He is well, fully recovered and we wait patiently for the second kidney procedure because our surgeon says, “knowing what we know, no hurry.” Likely in the fall sometime.
Ministry Updates
Staff overseas trips were falling like dominos as one country after another closing their borders. In a few short weeks, it became every country and we were scrambling to get staff into the appropriate locations to ride out this period. Some Entrust staff are self-quarantined in highly contagious environments.
We also have a number of staff working in restricted-access countries that we do not name. We need to pray for these believers and church leaders who put themselves at risk for the cause of Christ.
Africa has us quite concerned! Dr. Fauci, in the president’s commission, mentioned the possibility of COVID-19 spreading aggressively in the lower hemisphere as it enters into winter. That could be tragic, with medical capabilities lagging way behind other regions. Dutch staff member Johan Boekhout writes:
“Since cyclone Idaï last year, our team of Africans have been working on a course Resillience: God’s Church Responding and Preparing Communities for Disaster. This is Africans writing for Africans. For them, the world is ‘capricious’ and many have turned from worshiping the spirit world to seeking protection from God. A church in action is very relevant to make our Lord visible!”
Our weekly office staff meeting is now completely online. Our morning prayer time (usually done standing in the office with approx. 10 people) now completely online, has grown, even doubled and many have “connected” from Hungary, Serbia, Spain, Austria, Netherlands, Canada as well as various USA locations. We pray through our staff and board list, covering all individuals over the course of two weeks of prayer. It is a powerful 10-15 minutes of very meaningful prayers.
In contrast to all the disruption, our online trainings continue with their wonderful “normalcy” of training and weekly spiritual support, just as they always were, “on screens.”
This pandemic will change our lives and organizations for many years and the world, your church, even your neighbors will not be the same after this. All the more reason to ask God to help us find kingdom opportunities in this time.
Ironically, the same technologies that have enabled the church to “go” and raise up church leaders around the world are also the vehicles that so quickly spread this virus. In a fallen world, perhaps, there is nothing completely good. But we must, with the Spirit’s power, utilize everything at our disposal for kingdom good.
Thanks for your partnership!
PO Box 25520, Colorado Springs, CO 80936-5520
Memo line: "David & Nancy Goodman, M125"
DavidG@Entrust4.org * NancyG@Entrust4.org
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