Nothing has created the opportunity for prayer and the preaching of the gospel in recent times like COVID-19. It has created the right conditions for people to be receptive to the gospel. As The Guardian of London wrote, “Though Coronavirus leaves no part of the world untouched, its impact will be harshest in places that were already suffering. Yet the problems it brings with it may prove more deadly than COVID -19 itself. Even in the richest countries, Coronavirus has left families in hunger; for the poorest, it could mean starvation.”
Matthew 9:36-38 reports of Jesus’s perception of the multitude of his day, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” (Matthew 9:36-38 NLT)
Jesus saw the harvest as huge, but with few labourers. The harvest is even greater today. COVID-19 has made the harvest greater and has helped to ripen the harvest even faster. How? COVID-19 has worsened the conditions of humanity. We need the compassion of Jesus to see humanity the way they are and to be able to reach out to them in love. Humanity is no less confused, helpless, and hungry than they were in Jesus’ day.
On the positive side, COVID-19 is driving people to seek after God. There us a lot of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty which is making people run to God for safety. We are witnessing that those who don’t pray, are now beginning to pray. Those who hitherto did not believe in God, now call out to him to save them. We are seeing many calling out to God to save them from this pandemic.
Matthew 24:14 records that the gospel of Jesus Christ must be preached to all nations as a witness before the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. For over 2000 years since Jesus ascended, the Church has been engaged in the Great Commission. According to the Joshua Project, the population of the world is 7.67 billion people, out of which about 3.2billion people are yet to be reached with the gospel. If the other signs enumerated by Jesus in Matthew 24 have been fulfilled, then we believe that Matthew 24:14 will be fulfilled.
We all have a role to play to complete the Great Commission. We all are the much needed labourers who would hasten the harvest and the return of our Lord Jesus. We all must be involved in either Praying, Going for Christ, Preaching, Evangelizing, Witnessing, Sharing, Serving, Giving, Supporting, Encouraging, or Providing. We can all do these in various ways including social media, phone calls, or texting. Our response to the physically hungry must be practical and holistic.
The month of May has been tagged the GO 2020 month, a month of Global Harvest, taken from Acts 2020. It affords us all the opportunity to be witnesses for Christ. The GO 2020 vision is to mobilize 100 million Christians, to pray for One Billion souls, and to spread the gospel everywhere. Each Christian is to pray for 5 people and to share the gospel with them. Then, on May 28th, there will be the Global prayer call for a worldwide outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Then May 30th and 31st will be the Global Outreach Day, every believer is expected to be a witness. Please join the moving chariot.
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