Moa Jamir
As the State grapples with the second wave of COVID-19, there are going chorus of voices in Nagaland for the churches must be more proactive in responding to what is clearly a health and socio-economic crisis.
This is not to argue that the churches have had not been doing anything so far but with the resources, networking, and the social capital in terms of the community of faithful, many argue rightly that they could do more. For instance, during the first wave of the pandemic, many churches in individual as well as collective capacity, among others, established or run quarantine centres as well as provided essential items.
When the vaccination process started on January 16 this year, the apex bodies of different denomination of churches in the state addressed the vaccine hesitancy and unequivocally endorsed the process. “Our role is to pray that God will use the vaccine to bring protection to the community,” Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) General Secretary Rev Dr Zelhou Keyho stated on the launching day, while the Conference of the Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) declared that “Catholics can receive COVID-19 vaccines ‘in good conscience,’ The Chakhesang Baptist Church Council (CBCC) was more outright and postulated then that vaccines were “indeed God’s answers to the prayers of believers.”
Despite such endorsements, vaccine hesitancy remains high even among health care workers initially and vaccination ‘picked-up’ pace only when the second wave hit the country. In hindsight, the churches’ endorsements should have accompanied by its leaders taking the lead in taking the vaccines and sharing the same in the public domain.
Besides, CBCC’s other argument that it is a moral obligation of the church to ensure that each individual has the opportunity to live a healthier and fuller life, is pertinent and resonates more as the health crisis aggravates.
In what way do the churches intervene then? Activation of the Medical Ministry in churches to extend assistance is vital and is the need of the hour, a church leader in Delhi recently told The Morung Express. Among others, this involves galvanising outreach mission by pooling networks as well as resources.
To care is a humane approach and not necessarily spiritual. It involves responding to contemporary real-world concerns with integrated medical, social-economic and cultural approach– a practical application of wisdom provided in the scripture, not just moral teaching.
Given the unique nature of the current pandemic, there are many practical and technical challenges including lack of workforce and required professionals, volunteers, hesitancy among faithful etc.
However, churches could intervene in many others, including main emerging issues such as lack of beds, oxygen cylinders and concentrators and the questions of livelihood. Vaccine procurement is another vital area. In view of aforesaid challenges, the churches must also reach out to concerned authorities to assist, locate, and organise modalities of intervention.
The Church must revisit its engagement with both its congregation and the non-believers and start listening and respond to the needs of the community and match the same with its resources.
