GUIDELINES FOR ALL STAFF

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April 16, 2020

Greetings!

Jesus is alive and continues to offer the gift of Life and Hope in the midst of fear and death brought about by the Covid19 pandemic. Let’s continue to be channels of His Love, Life, Faith and Hope during this difficult time in our history.

It’s been several weeks now since most of our national governments have issued strict guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus. And yet, the number of infected people continues to rise and people are still dying. Good news is that there are some who are recovering. But most experts believe that the numbers of infected people in Southeast Asia have not reached its peak yet. They say that the numbers will most probably continue to increase in our area because of the limited number of testing being done in most of our countries. This pandemic is therefore expected to result in more crises like the economic crisis and others.

In light of this, we would like for our national movements to adopt the following posture/perspective:

1. Be Vigilant. We are still in the midst of the Covid19 crisis so we need to continue to be vigilant in…
   Praying and seeking God. Let’s continue to pray for those who are suffering, pray for God’s protection and for God to intervene. Let’s also be vigilant in maintaining a vibrant and deepening walk with the Lord.
   Following Protocols and Guidelines. Let’s continue to follow our government and crisis management guidelines and protocol. We are asking each country to prepare their contingency plans for the next three (3), to six (6) to twelve (12) months and let’s make sure all our staff are informed and following all the guidelines and protocols.

2. Be Empowering.
   Staff Care. The care and health of our staff, families and partners is our priority. So let’s continue to empower our team leaders and each staff to be able to care for one another. The job of caring for all staff and families cannot be done by just the crisis management team. We need each one to be involved in caring for one another and in meeting physical, family, emotional, mental, spiritual, ministry and other needs.
   Crisis Management Team. Let’s continue to support, encourage and empower our Crisis Management Teams (CMT). Make sure the roles and scope of the CMT and NLT are clearly defined, decision-making and communication processes are clear. Let’s also identify other staff members who can be part of the crisis management team. Because this pandemic is expected to be prolonged, our national crisis management team members will need to be relieved for some time to be refreshed and recharged. So we need to identify and start “training” those who can be the relievers and possibly the next batch of crisis managers.

3. Be Resourceful and Intentional.
   Maintaining our Ministry Partners. We are expecting that this pandemic will result in an economic slowdown so we need to prepare well. We encourage each staff to be creative in maintaining our ministry partners and making sure we have healthy support. We are encouraging all our national leaders and our Fund Development teams to take the lead in raising corporate support that we can use during this crisis and for future ministry needs. Let the 5 Every’s of Fund Development work especially during this time.
   Movement Building. It is encouraging to see how many of our staff have used the digital means to continue to WIN, BUILD, SEND and MOBILIZE in the midst of the lockdowns. We encourage all MCCs to continue to discern and discuss together how our movement building will look like while in the midst of the pandemic and post-pandemic. Read on what researchers are saying about the impact of this pandemic on our world, our lives and our work. Discern how God wants us to fulfill His mission in light of this pandemic and include them in your MY2020-21 ministry plans.

We are praying that we will be seeking and obeying God’s will in responding and living in the midst of this pandemic. Again, let’s continue to be channels of His Love, Life, Hope, and Faith during this time.

God’s blessings and protection be upon you and your families.

Cris Uy
Area Team Leader for Southeast Asia
Cru

March 16, 2010

Greetings to you all, my dear fellow staff servants of the Lord in Cru!

I trust that you and your families are well by God’s grace and loving kindness, even amidst these unsettling times.

These past weeks have really been disturbing times within the entire global community as we all continue to face the COVID19 virus situation! We have seen the numbers afflicted continue to increase alarmingly, reaching 168,976 positive cases with 6,508 reported deaths. More than 900 are confirmed cases in our area (Southeast Asia) which are as follows, as of March 17: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

• Malaysia – 566 cases

• Philippines – 142 cases

• Indonesia – 134 cases

• Thailand – 147 cases

• Vietnam – 61 cases

• Cambodia – 24 cases

• Brunei-- 54 cases

The world views this unprecedented situation as a precarious state as death tolls rise, as mobility is reduced in a global environment with government impositions of restrictions, and as an economic slump is anticipated, as results. It is a reality that fear and anxiety arise in such circumstances. As followers of Christ, I encourage us all to take time to seek Him deeply and nurture our intimacy with the Lord, secure as we see Him seated on the throne, our Sovereign God.

Yesterday morning, we as your Area LT have discussed what needs to be done at this time and agreed to declare an AREA-WIDE HEALTH EMERGENCY situation for ASEA. With this decision, we provide the following directives and guidelines for all our staff and employees for the next four weeks. We will evaluate the situation every week as much as possible.

1. Prepare & Implement Contingency Plans

1. • Communication protocols in place to ensure guidelines are disseminated to all staff for proper implementation

   • Clear Decision making processes by leaders

   • How to ensure staff will continue to have support

   • Guidelines in case a staff is positive for Covid-19

   • Guidelines in case government imposes a lockdown

   • Others

2. Work Arrangements

   • Stay at home and work from home

   • Encourage working online and maximizing technology

2. • • Enhance capacity on digital methods

     • Encourage staff to do virtual connecting, ministering, praying and building relationships with MPs

   • For ministry offices, limit staffing to a skeletal force

   • Evaluate your situations weekly and adapt to the changes that are taking place on how to effectively do ministry

3. Meetings & Gatherings

   • Big gatherings will be canceled and none to be scheduled for the next 2 months

   • Opt to conduct virtual MCC meetings

4. Ministry Travel

   • No Cru staff or contacts from other countries will be allowed to enter ASEA in the next two months

   • No travel outside of Southeast is allowed unless for medical, family and other emergencies

   • No travel to countries within ASEA in the next two months unless for medical, family and other emergencies

5. Crisis Management

   • Empower your CM Leaders / Teams reminding them to work with your NLT for any major decisions that need to be made that will affect the ministry and staff.

   • Work with the Area CM Leader (Leeboy de Velez)

6. Fast & Pray

• Most of all, we encourage all staff to fast and pray

This coming Friday, March 20, all our National Leadership Teams (NLT) are highly encouraged to participate in a PRAYER GATHERING via ZOOM starting at 9am MNL time. I have sent you the link and look forward to having you join this prayer time.

May I ask you to continue to spend much time in prayer, nurturing your intimacy as you seek the Lord and trusting Him for new and effective ways to minister given the changing environment?

I hope you will see the present situation as an opportunity to deepen and grow in Him -- to speak your heart and to listen to His still small voice responding to you. You are so loved by Him so openly receive His love! I pray His love to overflow in and through you to others needing to hear His message and experience His love!

With you in transforming nations for Christ,

Cris Uy
Area Team Leader for Southeast Asia
Cru

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