Covid Update

Over this past month, during our lockdown, the situation has improved. Our daily new infection rates have dropped from about 1600 to about 800. But along the way Namibia has become first in the world in deaths per capita due to covid. Starting tomorrow things will open up a bit with no regional travel restriction, a later curfew, and groups of up to 50 people. And, thankfully, we'll be able to return to face-to-face teaching at the seminary.

Regarding vaccines... I mentioned earlier that we did have two different vaccines available (AstraZeneca and Sinopharm). I even had an appointment earlier this month, but before I could go for the appointment our whole city ran out of vaccine stock. 🤦🏼‍♂️ We have now received more stock, but with the sudden spike in cases now everyone's interested and the lines are long. For some people the wait has been 3-7 hours (not exaggerating!). That's not for the poke, mind you, but due to all the hand written paperwork (🤦🏼‍♂️again). But even still, only 6.1% of our population have gotten their first shot, and only 1.8% have been fully vaccinated.

But in all this I have great peace, because the truth is any suffering we experience is a microcosm of God's great story. Remember from literature class, the tension of any plot line cries out for and points us toward the resolution. So any pain and suffering we experience in this world, is only a temporary precursor to life eternal! As Paul said, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us" (Rom 8:17).

I love the lyrics from Andrew Peterson's great song, "The Dark Before the Dawn":
I had a dream that I was waking

At the burning edge of dawn
And I could see the fields of glory
I could hear the sower's song
And all that rain had washed me clean
All the sorrow was gone
And I could finally believe
The king had loved me all along
I saw the sower in the silver mist
And He was calling me home

Covid Update

Since our second wave hit during the December-January holiday time, new cases had leveled off in Namibia. We were feeling optimistic with the decrease in cases and news of vaccines circulating. The government brought in a million doses of two vaccines, AstraZeneca and Sinopharm, and made it available for free. But people have been suspicious of conspiracy theories, or vaccine related deaths, or that it may be the "mark of the beast" from Revelation. So few people were going to get vaccinated that you could literally walk in with no lines and no waiting.

Additionally, people are tired of the restrictions, the face masks, the distancing, the group size limits. They are anxious for life to return to normal, so they stopped taking precautions. Recently, a video surfaced of a group of people partying at a night club after attending a covid-related funeral earlier that same day. So it wasn't much of a surprise when the third wave hit.

I first noticed it when more and more people in my circles were testing positive, or were in close contact with those who did. Then the numbers started rising, 400, 700, 800 new cases daily. Each day we kept setting new records for new cases. We've now been over 1000 new cases daily for the better part of this week, topping out at 2075 on Wednesday. These number may seem small in comparison, but remember we are a nation of only 2.5 million people. That makes Namibia the country with the second highest rate of new infections per capita on the entire continent.

With nearly 50% of the new infections occurring in the capital city, the government instituted a quarantine zone around the greater Windhoek area. Schools have been largely moved to distance learning mode. All contact sports have been cancelled and night clubs and casinos are closed. And we continue to have a curfew at 10pm each night.

Fortunately for me, NETS (Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary) is closed for their mid-year break, and with my other SIM duties I can mostly work from home. So I have been able to stay fairly self-isolated and healthy during this time. Our hope is that this calms down over the next month allowing us to resume face-to-face classes when we return for the second semester in mid-July.

Covid-19 Update

On March 17, Namibia received its first two cases of Covid-19 and immediately declared a State of Emergency going into lockdown. After feeling the economic pressure of the severest lockdown restrictions, the government has increasingly been trying to keep those restrictions limited. Additionally, though our total confirmed cases has eclipse 11,000, our daily average of new cases has declined. Thus it is no surprise that 6-months later, when that State of Emergency was set to expire, they decided against extending it.

Many were celebrating, calling Sept 18th an "independence day" since we were free from lockdown. Others claimed the government is simply throwing up its collective hands and saying, "Let the best immune system win." Somewhere in the middle, I believe they are trying to do their best to protect both life and livelihood, because as they said, "Poverty also kills."

We have all now settled into the routine of preventative measures such as face masks, sanitizing, contact tracing logs, and social distancing. Those measures will continue. Group size is still limited to 50 people. But the airport has reopened and is welcoming tourists. Domestic travel is unhindered. Curfew has been removed. Contact sports are allowed. So basically we have determined to coexist with the virus and move on with life.

NETS is continuing with face-to-face classes. We have not registered any positive cases on campus. Students with symptoms or close contact with a positive case are asked to stay at home and we will make special arrangements for them. Our hope is that this remains the case and we are able to finish our semester unhindered in about 6 weeks.

Covid-19 Update

Covid has officially made itself at home in Windhoek. Up to now, our epicenter in Namibia had been Walvis Bay, our major port city on the coast. The government set a quarantine zone around the coastal cities. But apparently it was not very strict and people were traveling from the coast around the country and taking the virus with them. It has now spread to every region in the country with our capital city Windhoek being our new epicenter. To date we have nearly 7,000 cases with 65 deaths (check here for up to date numbers). But more importantly, we currently have the highest rate of increase per capita of any country in Africa.

As a result, the government has fixed another quarantine zone around the cities of Windhoek, Okahandja and Rehoboth. Travel is freely allowed within that zone, but no one is allowed to travel into or out of that zone. Additionally, there is a nation-wide curfew from 8:00pm-5:00am.

Despite the steep increase, schools and universities, including NETS (Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary), are allowed to continue face-to-face instruction with health protocols in place. Class sizes at the seminary are already small. Everyone registers, sanitizes, wears facemasks, and sits at least 1.5 meters apart. The biggest adjustment we have had to make is to move evening classes earlier so everyone can be home before curfew. We are incredibly thankful that we can continue with face-to-face classes as it is clearly the better option over distance mode.

Covid-19 Update

Across Namibia, our number of Covid cases had been fairly limited into June, so the lockdown restrictions were being slowly lifted. However, a few truck drivers escaped from quarantine and took the virus back to their homes in Walvis Bay. Since then, our numbers in that coastal town have skyrocketed. The government instituted a quarantine line around 3 coastal cities that allowed travel between those towns but not into or out of that zone except for emergencies.

To date we are up to a total of 1,775 cases with 8 deaths (see live numbers here). Most of those cases are in Walvis Bay, however, lately cases have been showing up around the country from people who have traveled from there. It appears only a matter of time before the outbreak hits Windhoek as well.

Our economy is seriously struggling. Hundreds of small businesses have closed and even more jobs have been lost. The government is trying to find that line between "preserving life and also livelihood," thus avoiding another total lockdown is a priority.

Two Weeks with Corona

The past two weeks have easily felt like two years. I wonder if the hours and days of being home alone make the time seem to stretch out indefinitely. Or perhaps it's the rapid changes and daily updates in the news that make it seem like March 14th was so long ago.

Two weeks ago we had our first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Namibia, two Romanian tourists who had brought it in from outside. The government quickly moved up the mid-term break so schools would be closed for a month. All large group events were cancelled for the next three weeks. Stores and malls had employees greeting customers at the door with spray bottles of hand sanitizer. Borders were closed to people coming from high risk countries. It was basic prevention to keep this thing from spreading.

There were mixed opinions from the public. Some seemed overly fearful and anxious and bought the stores out of hand sanitizer, face masks, plastic gloves and liquid soap. Others didn't understand what the big deal was and carried on life as usual.

But things escalated quickly. Every few days you would hear about a new case popping up. So they closed down all the borders, except to returning Namibian citizens (who spent 2 weeks in quarantine) and importing goods. They heightened the restrictions prohibiting groups of more than 50 people. Yet still many continued normal life, hanging out at bars and shabeens.

So this past week the government declared a lockdown over the capital city and coastal region for the next 3 weeks. Parliament is closed, along with all non-essential stores. Only essential employees are allowed to work, and only up to 10 people. Everyone is to stay at home, only going out for food or health care.

There were, again, mixed responses from the public. Many people went to the shops and panic bought everything they could, stocking up enough supplies for probably the next 2 years. Others listened to the announcement and heard "3 week vacation" so they packed up and went back to their villages or farms, carrying whatever infection they don't know they have with them.

The official lockdown began today. We are currently up to 8 confirmed cases, but still no local transmission that I have heard. But we are still within that 2 week incubation period, which means, based on the experiences of other nations, our numbers could begin skyrocketing any day now. We hope and pray that these early preventative measures will have lowered the curve enough that our health care system can somehow manage.

From the church side, as in most places in the world, churches here have taken to the internet to stream services on Sunday mornings. Small groups are frantically trying to figure out how to do video conferencing. And many false prophets continue to pass around false information (e.g., that only non-believers will get the virus; that this is the end of the world; etc.).

I continue to be astonished by how many faithful Christians give in to fear and anxiety. Thus my message continues to be one of courage and boldness and hope. Times like these present great opportunities for Christians. We shouldn't be cancelling ministry to others just because we can't be with them physically. We shouldn't hole ourselves up inside our homes, build high the walls, and let the world fend for themselves. No! More than ever this is the time to courageously engage with the world, to boldly share the hope within us, to creatively share God's love in practical ways. "Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (Josh 1:9).

COVID-19 Update

COVID-19 has officially come to Namibia. Yesterday two cases were confirmed in Romanian tourists who had arrived on Wednesday. They had a few days of interaction with people, but it's impossible to know how far it has spread since then. All schools, public and private, will be closed for the next month. The Independence and Presidential Inauguration celebration planned for next weekend has been cancelled, and all major gatherings will be suspended for the next 30 days (though they didn't define 'major'). They have also suspended inbound and outbound flights for the next 30 days. I know these kind of precautions have been going on all around the world, but yesterday was when it finally hit here.

To make matters worse, the World Health Organization considers Namibia in the category of least prepared to deal with this kind of epidemic. Self-quarantine is virtually impossible in communities where families live with sometimes 10 people in a one-room shack. And those shacks are packed together like tetris cubes. The most vulnerable are the elderly and those with a low immune system already, and Namibia has a huge number of HIV/AIDS cases, which is itself an immune system deficiency. And on top of that, only the upper class can afford the best quality health care if it comes to that.

Stores quickly sold out of
hand sanitizer

This situation could also have a devastating effect on our already-hurting economy. Travel restrictions will impact our tourism industry, which is the second largest industry in the country. Any one who is not a salaried employee will have no source of income with all the business closures and panic (e.g., domestic workers, gardeners, day laborers, etc.). We import most of our food and goods, so closed borders could lead to empty shelves in the stores. The effects of this outbreak could be far reaching.

But despite the potential for doom-and-gloom, we have a great hope in Jesus Christ. And that's what the church has to offer the world during this time of intense fear and panic. This coronavirus is only a symptom of a much bigger problem, that is, the reality that we live in a world affected by Sin. Not only is the creation broken, but each one of us has a sin-sick heart (Jer 17:9). We need more than a doctor; we need a Savior! So even in the midst of a global heath and economy crisis, those who trust in Christ can have rest and peace.

So please pray for us in Namibia. Pray that God would curb the spread of this virus and protect the lives of our vulnerable people. Pray that people would not be overcome by fear and anxiety and irrational thinking. And pray that this global pandemic would cause more and more people to find their hope in Christ.