July was another difficult month for me. Though the pandemic level was eventually lowered to Level 2, we maintained closed. Out of an abundance of caution, we kept our services all online for the month of July.
There has been difficulty with online classes. The cafe is pivoting towards providing English classes. One of the goals of the classes is to make up lost revenue due to the cafe being closed. It feels almost impossible figuring out to market these classes. There is also some conflict with the ministry focus of the Friday night English conversation events (“Coffee Talk”). July was also difficult for the “Coffee Talk” ministry since the cafe was closed. It has been hard finding ways to keep engaged with them.
We took advantage of the time to experiment with new ways to do worship during our service. Previously, the worship leader would lead from their home computer with just a guitar. Since the pandemic level was lowered to level 2, members of the worship team could gather at church. I was able to figure out a way to get our camera, ProPresenter, and Ableton sound setup into zoom. It vastly improved the quality, especially sound quality, of our live worship sessions during our Zoom meeting.
August seems to be a better month here in Taiwan. The COVID situation seems to be getting better. Also, the cafe will be opening up for in person dining as well. We will able to start hosting smaller in person events. There is hope at the end of valley. Through all of these struggles, God has remained faithful. Even when things have seemed impossible, his sovereign grace has soaked in everything that we do.