About three years ago the Daughters of The Holy Cross at Anglican Church of the Redeemer in Chattanooga, Tennessee began to sense an increasing desire, perhaps even a calling, to put faces and facts into these prayers. Who are the persecuted? Where are they? What specific suffering do they experience? What is the reality of need behind our prayers for them?

The extent to which biosecurity events like this current COVID-19 pandemic affect the world, including mission, are yet to be determined. But big changes to ministry are (probably) coming and things may never be the same again. It may leave a lasting impact on various contexts for generations to come.

God’s first choice for where humankind should live was a garden. The soil in the Garden of Eden was completely fertile and every kind of flower, tree and plant imaginable grew in perfect conditions.