I can not stay home…I’m a healthcare worker.”
This message was posted by a Ghanaian nurse on her Facebook page in the course of her duties when the city of New York was battling Covid-19. Unfortunately, she contracted the disease and died as a result. May her soul rest in peace. She was virtually announcing to the whole world that no matter the cost, her calling was to save lives.
Will spiritual health workers combating the devastating effects of Sinvid-01 remind each other and stand up to our duty call as this professional nurse did? “Spiritual health workers” is an expression used in this book to connote all who have come to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, been discipled and are expected to go out and fish for sinners or victims of the sinvirus, vaccinate them with the gospel and disciple them for the cycle to continue. In the Lord’s vineyard business, there are some whose schedules put them directly in the frontlines always. There are others, too, who may be classified as “back-room front-liners” due to the roles assigned to them. In whichever way, they are still part of the battalions in the frontlines.
Be that as it may, once saved from the power of sin by faith through Christ Jesus, we are all expected to ensure profitability in the vineyard business by evangelising and discipling the nations. Spiritual health workers are, therefore, not necessarily the full-time ministers, evangelists, church leaders or officers, but all believers saved by grace. The charge by the Lord in Matthew 28:18-20, which has been termed as the Great Commission, is never the preserve of any specialised group of believers.
The power of self-motivation
When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, He said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all you soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:34-40).
Jesus then proceeded to add the second greatest commandment even though the questioner didn’t ask about that. He said, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” He went further to conclude that, “All the Law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.” This means all who profess to love God completely and also love their neighbours as themselves can only prove that by obeying His voice and reaching out to the lost.
Regarding the real state of victims of Sinvid-01, Apostle Paul could not have put it better when he said in Romans 3:9-11: “No one is righteous, not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one is good, not a single one.
Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies. Snake venom drips from their lips. Their mouth are full of cursing and bitterness. They rush to commit murder. Destruction and misery always follow them.
They don’t know where to find peace. They have no fear of God at all.” In Isaiah 6:8-9, the prophet heeds to God’s call of “Who will go?” The Lord is still asking the same question; whom shall I send?
As believers, our love for God should be the significant self-motivating booster in the business of reaching out to the lost. Depending and relying on leadership to bring out favourable policies and packages as well as meeting all the logistical needs before attending to the duty call will only lead to complaints, bitterness and rebellion while people keep on perishing.
It is not unimportant to talk about the need for leadership to make available the necessary logistics for the fight against the sinvirus. There will never be such a time in real life when all logistics needed for evangelism and discipleship would be enough. Spiritual health workers who aren’t self-motivated by the love of God will always find reasons against leadership for their ineffectiveness.
Insurance package for Spiritual Health Workers
As a motivation booster, the government of Ghana, through its Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyeman- Manu, in a letter dated 28th March, 2020, addressed to all heads of agencies, announced a life insurance package for 10,000 health and allied professionals in the frontline of the fight against Covid-19.
If even humans with limited resources know how to design insurance packages for our healthcare officers fighting coronavirus, how much more the Lord God who owns and controls everything under this universe? In Luke 18:29, when Peter, one of His field workers asked Him what they will get after leaving everything and following Him, He answered: “Truly I tell you, no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the Kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come, eternal life.”
When the seventy-two also returned with joy and said “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name,” He replied “I saw Satan fall like lighting from heaven… however, rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).
What has He not provided? And what insurance again are we waiting for to be motivated to go all out for Him? As if it was not enough, moments before ascending to heaven, He assured all the spiritual health workers who were going to spread His vaccine that “…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt 28:19-20).
The Believer’s Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in fighting Sinvid-01
In the fight against Covid-19, the WHO listed some of the PPEs to be used for the frontline healthcare officers as N95 masks, gloves, goggles, gowns, hand sanitizers, soap and water and cleaning supplies. These, the officers must necessarily depend on their leaders and governments to provide. The WHO also expects health officers to follow established occupational safety and health procedures.
The PPE in the battle against Sinvid-01 are, however, clearly stated in Acts 1:8 and Ephesians 6:11-18. It is the power of the Holy Spirit in full regalia of the believer’s armoury which comprises; belts of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet in readiness from the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God and, of course, with all kinds of prayer.
The reason I have emphasized being consumed by God’s love as a major source of self-motivation is the fact that none of the above-listed PPE can be provided by leadership. The best leadership can do is to create the enabling environment for the field workers to put on their own armoury for the battle against Sinvid-01 and the force behind it. Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, Head of WHO’s emergency disease and zoonosis unit, told reporters: “It is very important that health care workers take additional precautions when they are working on Covid-19 Patients.”
Health officials recommend that medical staff wear N95 masks because they filter out about 95% of all liquid or airborne particles. This is because of the mode of transmission of the coronavirus. In Italy, for example, the list of clinicians who lost their lives during the Covid-19 pandemic was being compiled by Italy’s National Federation of Orders of Surgeons and Dentists (FNOMCeO). The president of the federation, Fillipo Anelli at one point told the UK’s Financial Times, “Our doctors have been sent to war unarmed.”
Jesus Christ, the owner of the vineyard business, has already made provisions for all logistical needs through some chosen servants of His and has empowered us by the Holy Spirit who has made available for our use, the whole armour of God on the battlefield. The essence of the PPEs in the battle against sinvirus is for believers to stand firm and strong in the midst of persecutions and attacks from the evil and wicked forces behind it.
Nature of the fight against Sinvid-01
Jesus hinted His followers in Matthew 11:12 about the nature of the fight against Sinvid-01 when He said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence…” This was after John was placed under arrest to be beheaded at a later date by Herod due to John’s uncompromising stands against the sinvirus and its symptoms. He spoke against Herod for marrying his Brother Philip’s wife.
In all this, Jesus admonishes all His spiritual health workers to rejoice even in the face of hostilities and persecutions. He already defeated and made a public display of the devil on the cross and after His resurrection. Believers are, therefore, not to be afraid of the devil’s attacks. Fear is one of the most potent weapons the devil uses against the spiritual health workers.
Advising the Covid-19 health front line workers, Nii Teiko Tagoe, the Regional Officer of Nurses and Midwifery Council of Ghana, said: “When you feel afraid, take a deep breath and remember you are called to care for others. The first insurance is to prepare yourself emotionally, wear the right PPEs and adhere to the precautionary measures set by the WHO and Ghana Health Service, and you will be fine.”
This approach to dealing with fear which hinges on the physiological, psychological and professional attitude towards the oath sworn as a health worker, may work to a considerable extent in the fight against Covid-19. The fear venom, however, that is unleashed against the frontline health workers fighting Sinvid-01 is managed by faith and the daily pill from God’s word that says “Fear not.”
It is worth noting that fear entered the world through the sinvirus. This is because the first time the Bible recorded the word fear is after Adam disobeyed God and got contaminated with the seed of sin in Genesis 3:10. In 1 Kings 18, it is incredible the kind of strength Elijah exhibited in killing all 400 prophets of Baal. Yet when he heard Queen
Jezebel was after his life, fear gripped and took the better part of him to the extent that he voluntarily decided to resign from pursuing his God-given task. He proceeded to make an appeal to God for Him to take his life.
Fear can kill its victims or stop them even before the substantive thing dreaded comes to them. At the time Elijah was calling God to end his life, he had not handed over the double portion of his anointing to Elisha. There was no way Jezebel could kill him. If you have found yourself in the frontlines in the battle against the sinvirus, fear not and never belittle yourself. According to Numbers 23:22-23, the strength and energy you possess can be likened to that of a wild ox. Fear is, therefore, not to be entertained as a spiritual health worker for God.
In Joshua 1:5, God told Joshua, “No Man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life.” This, by extension, means all who are determined to execute the go-out mission have a life insurance certificate before, during, and after they are done with their task. The Israelites’ battles before, during and after signifies the kind of fighting spiritual health workers of God must expect.
Joshua was not going to war with spirits or being threatened by them, but by his fellow humans. We usually become afraid of men and their perceived capabilities in our lives, especially those we suspect to have some links with the evil world. God’s word is simple; if we are on an errand for Him, let us not be afraid of anyone or the devil, their master.
In Acts 18:9-11, when Paul became so tensed up and fearful for his life, the Lord spoke to him in a vision and told him not to be afraid because no one was going to attack or succeed in taking his life. The reason being that He (i.e., God) had many people in the city to save through Paul’s ministry.
Romans 8:36 puts to rest the question as to why spiritual health workers are being chased and sought after day and night to be slaughtered, killed or destroyed. A vote of God and His Kingdom automatically put an individual at the frontlines of the warfare against the forces behind the sinvirus. Thank God the verse 37 says, “In all these, we are more than conquerors.”
Focusing on the battle objectives other than conspiracy theories
As spiritual health workers, we must continually maintain our focus on the mission and the battle objectives but not on the conspiracy theories around the sinvirus while souls are perishing. The battle against Covid-19 inspired countless and wild conspiracy theories about its origins, effects and cure. To mention a few, some said it was a by-product of bat soup, and others said it was an escaped bioweapon, a disease treatable by Lysol, oregano oil, or worse yet, rinsing with bleach.
Apart from creating xenophobia, these theories created relentless demand and considerable profit for products that are unlikely to help anyone. It was also being circulated during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic that certain groups of people and race need not worry about the virus at all.
Indeed, one theory suggested that black people were utterly immune to Covid-19, or would recover quickly and easily if they did contract it. This turned out to be false. In February 2020, US Senator Tom Cotton and Francis Boyle, a Law Professor suggested that the virus may have been a Chinese bioweapon. Others also said it was a US biological weapon. Plenty of US citizens initially thought the virus was a hoax or a cover for some shadowy power grab.
While U.S. media outlets and pundits continued to call the disease the “Chinese virus,” the Chinese officials are now claiming the virus originated in Italy or from a military laboratory in the United States.
Ayatollah Hashem Bathaie Golpayengani of Iran also claimed that “America is the source of coronavirus, because America went to head with China and realised it cannot keep up with it economically and militarily.” Iran’s Press TV asserted that “Zionist elements developed a deadlier strain of coronavirus against Iran.”
Similarly, various Arab media outlets accused Israel and the United States of creating and spreading covid-19. Others also say it was a spy operation by Chinese scientists who stole the virus from a Canadian virus research laboratory. Another group says it was a population control scheme created by Pirbirth Institute in England and by former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. “Wild conspiracy theories are infecting the internet. Hatred is going viral, stigmatizing and vilifying people and groups. The world must unite against this disease, too,” the UN Secretary-General lamented.
While all these conspiracy theories were ongoing, the death toll and rates of infection kept on rising and wouldn’t wait for anyone. The sinvirus even have thousands of such myths and conspiracy theories surrounding it.
Whereas some have been inspired by the devil who doesn’t want to free its victims, scientists and some academic scholars have also propounded many conflicting theories about it. Many confusing and unsubstantiated opinions to discredit its source, effects and the final destination of its victims who die with it is in the system.
As spiritual health workers, time would not be on our side to sit aloof and watch a dying world swallowed up with the sinvirus. We must stop engaging in arguments, accusations and counter- accusations about the origin of sin. What we have which the world doesn’t have is the truth and the tested vaccine to the Sinvid-01, which is Christ Jesus and which the world needs badly.
