Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, many have migrated to Russia for a variety of reasons. People from countries of the former Soviet Union came because economic opportunities were better in Russia during this time. In the past 10–15 years, there has been a growing number of people being trafficked from African nations. Often, they have been told that if they can get to Moscow, they will have a gateway to Europe and ultimately to financial success. Traffickers lure with many promises that are, of course, never fulfilled.
War, disease and imprisonment: These words have the power to fill the heart with pain, fear and hopelessness. They often make the lips of those witnessing such strife ask, “Surely, this is not where God lives?”
The Book of Lamentations begins with these words: How lonely sits the city that once was full of people! How like a widow she has become, she that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces has become a vassal. She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her (Lam. 1:1–2a).
COVID-19 has us all rethinking the way we do ministry. And now, as churches ponder reopening, what will worship service look like? Will the new model of online worship service become the new normal?
The famous quote from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. aside, Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre says the arc of the moral universe “couldn’t care less where it bends.”
