Now is the time to prepare
“The poverty around us can already feel overwhelming, so the thought of a deepening crisis might tempt us to despair. But as Christians, we are called not to look at the need around us, but to fix our eyes on Jesus – the one who began his ministry on Earth with the emphatic statement that he had come to bring good news to the poor.
“God speaks through his prophets not so that his people will fear the future, but so that we can prepare for it. Prophetic insight without preparation is pointless. Joseph turned his prophetic insight into planning to cope with the coming crisis. If everything is pointing towards tougher times for the most vulnerable, we don’t need to wait to see what happens. Now is not a time to fear the worst, nor to hope everything turns out ok in the end. Now is the time for us to act. But how? What are we to do?
“Many church leaders and activists are asking us these questions. They see the signs and read the headlines, but are unsure as to what we can do now, when everything is so uncertain. That is why we have put together this booklet. At Jubilee+ we believe that the Church has a vital role to play in society, especially when our country is in crisis. In a time of chaos and division, when our society is fractured, we are to be mercy-bringers, hope-carriers and peace-brokers. We believe there are key ways we can prepare now for future poverty – as individual Christians, and as churches. We have a role to play in influencing the powerful for the good of the poorest. We need to prepare our hearts, prepare on the ground, and prepare for influence”.
A Deepening crisis
The above is a quote from a publication released last November by Jubilee+ in response to a weight of prophecy indicating that a crisis was looming. Little did the writers realise how imminent that crisis was. Within less that two months rumours were coming out of China about the coronavirus.
As is always the case, those who are poor are most deeply affected by crisis, especially one that affects every man, woman and child on the planet. It is easy under these circumstances to be so caught up with our personal situations – which are not to be belittled – that we can take our eyes off the responsibility we have as churches to ‘remember the poor’.
Depending on where you are the covid crisis will be affecting you in different ways. Some countries are entering a period of increasing impact, others appear to be coming out of ‘lockdown’ with the uncertainty of fresh outbreaks being possible. But it is clear that there are still many months, even years, of crisis to negotiate before we see any form of normality and stability re-emerging. During this period it is the poor who will suffer most.
This booklet is an excellent tool to help the church to think through what we should be doing. I urge you to read it and use it as a guide to shape your planning and response to helping those whom you reach who are among the poor in this context, whether those who have long established poverty in their lives or the ‘new poor’ who will be facing the consequences of redundancy and so on as a result of this crisis.
You can download it here.