Dear Alumni: A Letter of Care and Connection in Unprecedented Times

Dear Alumni here and around the globe,

How are you?
Seriously, that is the primary question we have for you right now.

Our staff has been gathering more often in the past few weeks to pray and collectively discern how the Lord might be leading our ministry these days as we join with the rest of the world in changing course due to the impact of COVID-19. Without fail, in every one of our prayer meetings, we find ourselves lifting up you, our alumni – some of whom we know are in other countries and contexts, dealing with these things in a “far from home” kind of way. And it came to mind to reach out and ask specifically how COVID-19 is impacting you and your lives right now.

Do you have family members or others close to you who have contracted COVID-19 and need prayer for healing?
Are you reeling from the impact of job loss or financial insecurity?
Are you living in a cross-cultural or marginalized society trying to navigate a new way of living? A new way of ministering? What are your struggles in doing so?
Is COVID-19 complicating other life circumstances (ie. postponing life events like weddings, funerals, graduations, etc., or making caring for aging loved ones difficult or impossible)?

We would love to hear your stories and know how to pray for you all specifically. Each of our students from each of our teams from each of our summers and from each of our Kairos classes are so precious to us – we’d love to be able to express that in praying specifically for the things you are wrestling with in this season.

You may not know that we have a special page on our website just for you, created to connect with our alumni on a regular basis. We have just now re-designated it to be able to collect these prayer requests in this time especially. You can find this page here.

For those of you who don’t feel like you have a specific prayer request – we’d still love to hear from you! Connecting with people, especially loved ones, seems like a significant need for all of humanity these days, so please pop on and let us know where you are and how you are doing as well! We’d love to hear from you.

For those wondering what some of the current global realities mean for Reign Ministries: we don’t know yet. Not entirely, anyway. Our current Kairos class has moved to finishing up their school year online, and we are still receiving applications for next year’s class. We are prepared for more online learning if necessary, but obviously we’re hoping and praying for the ability to gather in person. Royal Servants is looking at plans A-Z in determining what we can and will do this summer.

While the realities of COVID-19 are very real and should be taken seriously, so too are the realities that 1) God has always used young people to impact His Kingdom, and that won’t change, and 2) our passion is to come alongside to both disciple and equip young people to do just that, and that won’t change, either. There will be a post-Coronavirus world, and while we trust that God will have work for us to do then, we also know that He has work for us to do now, even in the midst of this pandemic. Pray for and with us for wisdom as we discern what exactly that work looks like.

If you hear nothing else from this letter, please hear this as a giant, “How are you?” You are dear to us!

Grace and peace be with you all.