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Through these Bible studies, even in digital spaces, God began extraordinary works of revival. 

After a decade of chronic illness, I’ve learned how my body and heart speak the same language. The pain in my head tells of the twist in my heart. I’m still sleepless—mind, body, and soul. I wonder if your new realities feel sleepless, too?

In March 2020, I found myself living out the book of Lamentations. I watched firsthand as the City That Never Sleeps became the city with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country.

Even though Jesus felt more distant, the truth is that he isn’t an inch further from me or you than when this pandemic broke out.

International students or not, we simply don’t have control over the pandemic. But we do have control over how we respond. This is an opportunity to extend and be blessed by friendship.

God’s invites us to not only join him in the suffering around us; he is also inviting us to explore our own personal disappointments and losses on a deeper level. This difficult time can be an opportunity to cultivate newness.

I haven’t felt like praying lately. Of all times you’d think I’d want to pray more, it’d be right now—alone in my one-bedroom apartment in a foreign country during a global pandemic.

I don’t know what you are facing, but God does. He wants to meet you in the reality of the finished work of Jesus Christ, the gospel—our hope. Let him meet you there and, if necessary, seek out others and let them help you as well.

So what can our community look like in this new season? Scripture outlines key practices that communities of God can engage in, even in our new socially distanced world.