As we pass the one-year mark of the coronavirus pandemic, we wanted to include the voices of RTS faculty, staff, and current students who have seen the impact of the pandemic for believers worldwide. In these interviews, conducted via email, you’ll hear from Karen Ellis, the director of the Edmiston Center for the Study of the Bible and Ethnicity, who has worked in advocacy for global religious freedom. We also reached out to Dr. Gray Sutanto, who has been teaching for RTS Washington since June 2020 from his home in Jakarta, Indonesia. Lastly, we emailed Chris and Heather Shepherd, current students at RTS Atlanta, who moved back to the United States after working with refugees in the Middle East.
Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity. Due to safety concerns, we have removed all indicators of location and names in the Shepherds’ answers.
Karen Ellis (KE): For our immediate household, the pandemic has given my husband and me the opportunity to slow down and be present for my mother-in-law’s twilight years. She’s 94 and lives with us. She’s often said she’s glad to be home with us during the pandemic. As a teacher, I’ve seen the Holy Spirit work through technology to still create community in our online classes. When I hear my students praying, or discussing how to apply course materials with each other, I can hear that they’ve forged community and relationships that will last past the course itself. The Spirit moves, even in the Zoom room, and I know this is a grace!
Dr. Gray Sutanto (GS): I think the biggest way the pandemic has impacted us is that it has delayed our move to Washington, D.C. We were supposed to move back in May 2020, but unfortunately, immigration to the United States has been frozen even until now. I have been personally grateful for the patience and tenacity of our students as they have endured Zoom classes! Other than that, day to day we have been quarantined at home, and occasionally, we’ve enjoyed spending extra time with our friends and family. Groceries and the like can be delivered, and so we have been grateful for that as well.
Chris and Heather Shepherd (CHS): We were still in the Middle East when the pandemic hit and our country was locked down. Their culture very much values the elderly and was concerned about protecting them. The emphasis culturally and politically is more focused on collective good over individual freedom. People were allowed outside the house on certain days to get food or go to the store, but there was a mask law that was enforced by police. Children and anyone over the age of 65 weren’t allowed out of the house for three months, which was hard! We had a small “backyard” that was all concrete and we would take our boys out there occasionally just to get some sunlight. We were preparing to move to the United States in the midst of a lockdown, and it was hard to be able to connect with our friends on the team, in our church, and in our ministries to say goodbye. One of the most essential things to cultural adaptation is to dive into community with local people. Thankfully, our church in Georgia meets in person and is very careful about COVID. That has helped us to build relationships, but we haven’t been able to dive as deep as we would like.
How has the pandemic impacted you and your family?
Karen Ellis (KE): For our immediate household, the pandemic has given my husband and me the opportunity to slow down and be present for my mother-in-law’s twilight years. She’s 94 and lives with us. She’s often said she’s glad to be home with us during the pandemic. As a teacher, I’ve seen the Holy Spirit work through technology to still create community in our online classes. When I hear my students praying, or discussing how to apply course materials with each other, I can hear that they’ve forged community and relationships that will last past the course itself. The Spirit moves, even in the Zoom room, and I know this is a grace!
Dr. Gray Sutanto (GS): I think the biggest way the pandemic has impacted us is that it has delayed our move to Washington, D.C. We were supposed to move back in May 2020, but unfortunately, immigration to the United States has been frozen even until now. I have been personally grateful for the patience and tenacity of our students as they have endured Zoom classes! Other than that, day to day we have been quarantined at home, and occasionally, we’ve enjoyed spending extra time with our friends and family. Groceries and the like can be delivered, and so we have been grateful for that as well.
Chris and Heather Shepherd (CHS): We were still in the Middle East when the pandemic hit and our country was locked down. Their culture very much values the elderly and was concerned about protecting them. The emphasis culturally and politically is more focused on collective good over individual freedom. People were allowed outside the house on certain days to get food or go to the store, but there was a mask law that was enforced by police. Children and anyone over the age of 65 weren’t allowed out of the house for three months, which was hard! We had a small “backyard” that was all concrete and we would take our boys out there occasionally just to get some sunlight. We were preparing to move to the United States in the midst of a lockdown, and it was hard to be able to connect with our friends on the team, in our church, and in our ministries to say goodbye. One of the most essential things to cultural adaptation is to dive into community with local people. Thankfully, our church in Georgia meets in person and is very careful about COVID. That has helped us to build relationships, but we haven’t been able to dive as deep as we would like.
