Dear COVID-19,

You’ve really outdone yourself. You found ways to sneak into various corners of this world — our world — and make your presence known.

• You’ve claimed news headlines all over the world.
• You’ve taken the lives of our loved ones, young and old.
• You’ve isolated us from our communities; and while some families are safe, others are not.
• You’ve paused our income and livelihoods.
• You’ve made us hoarders, stockpiling anything and everything we *might* need.
• You’ve infiltrated our economy.
• You’ve slowed our age of international travel.
• And you’ve made our futures, and the future of coming generations, less certain.

Ultimately, COVID-19, you’ve draped a blanket of fear over our whole world. We don’t like it — in fact we hate it — and we’re done with your “15 minutes of fame.”

Despite all the reactionary measures we’ve taken to prevent your spread, through masks and gloves and lockdowns, and governmental measures, we’ve realized a different side of you that you were probably hoping we wouldn’t see. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t appreciate you. But we do appreciate some things you’ve indirectly brought about…

• You’ve banded us together and unified our world in new ways.
• You’ve slowed down our lifestyle to better prioritize our values.
• You’ve given us more time to enjoy and revisit leisure things, like homemade meals, the arts, and being outside.
• You’ve given us a new appreciation for good health and for our jobs, even those you’ve closed down.
• You’ve given us a new perspective on the importance of community, and more time by which we can have quality conversations with others.
• And you’ve sprouted more HOPE in places and in people than there was before.

Ultimately, you’ve created spaces for GRATITUDE. You’ve made us realize that we are out of control — however, it just points to the reality that we were never “in control” in the first place.

So instead of choosing the FEAR you’ve created, we’re going to choose HOPE, GRATITUDE, and FAITH. Even you are not great enough to take those things away from us. We’re going to cling to the PEACE and JOY that transcends you and can only be found in Jesus. We’re going to do it for ourselves, for our country, for our world.

We at Hope Africa Collective are more than just hopeful, more than just being for Africa, and more than just a collective of people. We are more simply because of the God we believe in, who we’ve witnessed empower life change, healing, and community transformation like none other. And we know He can do it again. We don’t have all the answers for this world, but we do have Him.

So our prayer is for you, COVID-19, to leave, and for you to take with you all the havoc you’ve already wreaked. Our prayer is for more open hearts to receive more HOPE, GRATITUDE, FAITH, PEACE, and JOY found in Jesus. And our prayer is for worldwide unity against the fear you’ve draped over us.

So although we may still wear masks and gloves, and we still abide by social distancing regulations, do not mistake those things for us giving into your antics. Rather take heed that you will not overcome us, for we are strong people with an even stronger God on our side.

Thanks for what you’ve taught us, and we hope to never see you again.

Sincerely,

Hope Africa Collective & the rest of the world