Dear Alumni, Friends, and Supporters,
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) is impacting all of us. Classes have been canceled on nearly all of our campuses and the UCO staff team around the region has been working actively to help our students respond to the situation at hand. We also want to update you on how we are approaching this situation and continuing our mission to love, serve and witness to our students of Christ’s love.
First, our hope and trust remains in God, the creator of heaven and earth. He is our strength and refuge in this time. As Jesus to his disciples: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27) No matter what happens, God is with us and we can put our trust in Him. God can use us in a crisis to witness to a hurting world the transformative power of our hope in Jesus Christ.
Second, our students need support in this difficult time! They are scattered, pulled away from friends and support and struggling like all of us to know how to deal with this crisis. They are looking to us for support, guidance, and the ministering of the gospel. God is still inviting us to be on mission.
Third, we are being proactive in addressing the challenges of the situation. We do not need to be afraid, but we do need to be prudent and creative. In order to love and care for each other and our students, we are taking the following approaches to address Coronavirus (COVID-19):
We are following all CDC and local government recommendations and have canceled all in-person meetings and events.
However, our staff will continue to minister to our students. We are committing to follow up with every student we serve weekly via a video chat or phone call.
To continue to provide community and support, all small groups and bible studies will continue to run weekly through video conferencing.
Many of our students have told us they are struggling to find structure in their day due to classes being moved online. So, we will begin a regional UCO daily live scripture reflection (Monday - Friday) at 10am beginning sometime this week. This will be posted on our national facebook page. If you could use some encouragement, please join in for a 5-10 minute live scripture reflection with meditation questions.
We are broadcasting a weekly preaching locally. You can check out UCO Lansing on Wednesday and UCO Ann Arbor on Thursday, each at 8pm. We’ll post links on our national facebook page as they go live.
Finally, we are still partners in mission and we appreciate your continued support.
Please pray for our staff and students. We need prayer for protection against loneliness, anxiety and depression. Pray we can effectively minister through video and phone calls.
We are so grateful for your continued financial support! We are dependent on your help and support to continue this mission. However, we recognize circumstances and situations can change. If you need to adjust your support, please contact us at: missions@ucoweb.org
I know these changes seem like a disruption to our mission, but let’s remember the Lord can continue this mission, even if it doesn't look the way we expected it to.
In closing, I am reminding by Paul’s declaration: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)
Your Brother in Christ,
Andrew and the UCO Team