Sunday has come and another 12-hour duty was nearing an end over at one of the hospitals in QC. Nurse Karen, known outside of church, and Teacher Karen, inside of Kid’s Church, is fighting off fatigue with coffee and overflowing love for the kids of preschool. All in all, a tiring yet fulfilling day serving both patients and young children.

That was until March 2020 rolled in.

Since then, instead of the usual Kids’ aprons, she would don PPE after PPE. Instead of the familiar yellow room with kids whose future gives her excitement, it’s the hospital’s COVID ICU with patients fighting for a future, that occupies most of her days. This was a future unlike she has been used to— filled with anxiety and uncertainty.

Yet, even when the landscape and the protocols have changed, the Mission has not. While unable to passionately serve kids as much in this season, God opened other doors for her to be a vessel of His healing, both physically and spiritually. In the very place where lives are a breath away from ceasing, God called Teacher Karen to speak life, and His life-giving breath, into the patients.

Beyond just the patients, God also used her to organize a support group with fellow Christian frontliners, a Wednesday worship time with Ptr. Dan, a 15-minute prayer time with Ptr. Emil during duty, and a way to include Bible verses in the patients’ meals. Working with a dynamic schedule, she also helped establish a prayer hotline for patients and colleagues.

Now the frontlines have been a difficult battlefield, but the support of the church community has certainly been felt through countless prayers, food, and PPE donations. As a church, we can also support our frontliners by obeying all safety guidelines whenever we go out.

And as we all await the end of the pandemic, Teacher Karen will continue to pray, preach, and practice her craft. Once reached out in college in Bacolod through friends, now changing the world everyday in the ICU wards.