“From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail…Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built.” (Nehemiah 4:16-18)

The rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem was going well. The Jews set their heart on finishing what God had tasked them to do, under Nehemiah’s leadership. But their enemies would have none of this and wanted to attack them (4:8). Nehemiah quickly reorganized the people and foiled the opponents’ plan. Every worker now carried a weapon while they continued to put up the wall. This nimbleness in response got the wall up in quick time (6:15) to the chagrin of their enemies (6:16).

In the early days of the pandemic, masks and face shields were in short supply. People quickly stepped up to produce them, using their shops or factories (even homes). Many started from scratch, transforming their work places to make personal protective equipment. Their swift response made it possible to protect a lot of people in a short time.

Like the people above who had to quickly adapt, SYFC also found herself adjusting swiftly to a new way of doing ministry at the start of the pandemic. Now, she needs to be nimble again as Singapore transits into a “new normal” with the easing safety measures. This REACH catches up with a few staff on what it was like to shift from in-person ministry to online and now back to in-person or hybrid.