Coronavirus Pandemic: A Personal Perspective

Written by Ps David Wong

In 2003 when SARS hit Singapore, we were living in Hawaii, serving with Haggai Institute, a leadership training organisation. Friends told us not to come to Singapore which over three months saw 238 people infected and 33 deaths. That year we visited Singapore seven times including during the SARS period. I did so as I was also overseeing the training programme in Singapore.

Was I foolhardy and courting danger? Perhaps. But I remember someone once said, “We are immortal till God calls us home.” I remember also the words of the apostle Paul when he insisted on going to Jerusalem though he knew dangers faced him there, adding, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:24 ESV

His concern was not that he might die but that he might finish his course and finish it well. In that light, Jenny and I did something that SARS year that we had talked about and said we must do but never got down to do it. We saw a lawyer and wrote our will. Why? Because SARS could get us and within a few days we could be gone.

Like Paul, we put our lives completely in God’s hands, but prepared ourselves for any eventuality. Of course, we also took all necessary precautions to safeguard ourselves from SARS. The current COVID-19 is turning out to be more devastating on account on how fast and far it is spreading. The death toll of more than 13,400 has far exceeded SARS of 774.

Am I anxious? I have every reason to be. We have a son-in-law, a medical doctor, living in Seattle, a city first to be infected by the virus. He was seeing patients without protective gear as supplies then were inadequate. Our daughter there has an underlying chronic health condition. They have three young children. Jenny and I at our age belong to the vulnerable group. We have another son-in-law recently returned from work overseas. I once preached on the word “crisis” and said it calls on us to “cry” to the Lord and “seize” the opportunity to learn what He is teaching us. May the present unprecedented crisis drive us to God and help us deepen our faith, extend our love and cherish our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.