"When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters -- one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity."

- John F. Kennedy

In a fast-moving and uncertain situation, many of us are looking for a simple answer to questions we don’t even want to ask ourselves. When asked, though, we tend to give a simplistic answer – “pray,” “have faith in God,” “focus on God.” These answers are not wrong by themselves; but these answers are easier said than done.

What is the picture of having faith in God in times of crisis? What does it mean to focus on God when a deadly COVID-19 is changing your entire environment ─ the norms of your community and country? Often, the answer just cannot be that simple.

When the Israelites faced the plague of venomous snakes in the desert, Moses did not simply instruct them to pray and have faith in God. Instead, God instructed Moses to mold a bronze snake and put it on a pole for people to look at when bitten by a poisonous serpent.

When Pharaoh and his army were running after the escaping Israelites, Moses did not just instruct the panicking people to focus on God for everything to go well with them. Upon the Lord’s instruction, Moses lifted his rod and stretched out his hand towards the sea ─ resulting in the parting of the Red Sea, which allowed the children of Israel to cross through dry ground.

Amid a crisis, encouraging people to pray and trust God is just not enough. What the world needs are leaders ─ leaders appointed by God ─ who listen to His clear direction on how to deal with a crisis while being anchored on God.

I am convinced that the Bible is teaching us that this crisis is a concealed opportunity for transformative change and lasting growth. It teaches us to anchor on God, instead of relying on our traditional ways of doing things. This crisis could be an opportunity for the entire organization to undertake new paradigms, let go of tightly held traditions, and implement innovative strategies. In other words, this crisis helps us step out of our comfort zone and truly trust God to do what we should have done early on.

With the ASEO Leadership Team, I ordered the formation of a COVID-19 R&D taskforce ─ composed of some of the best minds in our Area ─ to help us uncover the opportunities hidden under this global crisis. With the leadership of Arnaldo Ganaba, I am expecting to mine something precious from this catastrophe that will help us make our vision 2020 a reality. I challenge you: Do not let this COVID-19 global crisis go to waste. Let us take advantage of every opportunity we are uncovering from this calamity. Let us support the COVID-19 R&D taskforce.

With you in transforming nations for Christ,

Cris Uy
Area Team Leader for Southeast Asia
Cru