Coronavirus, Snow and Good News Within the Darkness...

We're now nearly three weeks into our almost lockdown here in Slovenia. It's amazing how people adapt to the new normal. I don't know how many other people have experienced the sensation of watching TV that was obviously filmed ages ago and felt nervous that so many people were standing in such close contact! I'd like to welcome people in the UK to the lockdown party, I'm not sure it's a party I want to be in but I'm going to reiterate what many, many people are saying: STAY AT HOME! It's for your own good as well as for the good of everyone else around you!
This week I braved going to the supermarket. You can see that here we're quite good at the social distancing thing. It took 20 minutes to get inside and before we were allowed in we had to have our hands sprayed and everyone was given a pre wiped down trolley. It was a bit of a surreal experience.
From what I've seen, people in Slovenia are better at keeping the rules than those in the UK. At the moment we seem to be keeping the situation under control. Yes people are still getting sick and dying but it's a completely different situation compared to that just over the border in Italy. I'm sure many people are joining together in praying that this will all end soon.

As I already worked from home, my life hasn't changed too much. I'm able to conduct most of my work over the internet and most of the church groups are now happening online too. Until this last week the weather was nice enough that people were able to go for exercise outside. I live very close to the river and so I've been trying to get fresh air there, of course following all social distancing guidelines. What no one expected (ok I guess meteorologists may have done) was that it would snow this week! Last week we had temperatures of 20 degrees celsius which suddenly dropped to 2! Anyway, this has meant that more people are staying inside and that's probably helping things in all reality.
For me, I'm staying in good spirits although occasionally, within the last two days, I've started seeing signs that I may need to get outside for my own sanity. Yesterday I honestly had the thought "fish must be really fit since they have to keep swimming all the time..." One of my housemates and I have also been playing the game 'hide the balloons in the other's room.' We've had to get quite creative since we're both inside most of the time. Last night, however, I dreamt that she put them in my bed with me whilst I slept! Thankfully it wasn't real (I hope I haven't given her ideas!) but it is a sign of what's uppermost in my mind. I've also taken to building a work nest on my sofa. Everything I could possibly need is right there within reach!
Again, I'm praying that this all ends soon.

Despite these hard times, God is still in control and has not forgotten us. He is still working in the lives of the people I work with and I continue to be encouraged by the young people I meet with every week.
I've also seen God working in my own life, smoothing the path for when I return to the UK at the end of August. I have been accepted into the Cornhill Bible Training Course in London starting in September. I will also have a placement at my sending church in Swindon and so I will be moving back there for the next year. I know that many of you support me in prayer for which I am very grateful and without which I couldn't do the work God has given me. I do, however, need to raise financial support both for this next year in the UK and for the future when I hope to return to Slovenia. God has already been answering many of these prayers, making all of this possible but if you feel that you would be able to help me in this please either let me know by email: s.re.deacon@gmail.com or by visiting my ECM worker page: https://www.ecmi.org/en/worker-detailpage/01441085-2cdb-4671-88d5-488b3c3c7ef1
Many thanks to those of you who already give or support me in various ways, it is really appreciated and once again I couldn't do this without all of you behind me.

Just to finish off, since I feel it is my civic duty to do so: STAY AT HOME (unless you're a key worker, are getting groceries or are doing your daily exercise)!

Coping with the Coronavirus Threat in Slovenia...

 Today is a miserable wet day here in Ljubljana. This morning I was sat in my room reflecting on the first few verses of Psalm 37 which say: ¹ Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; ² for like the grass they will soon wither like green plants they will soon die away. ³ Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. ⁴ Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Now I know that a pandemic is not a person but I think the principle remains the same. We shouldn't fret because this time will pass. Instead, we should be trusting God and he will give us a hope and a future. It was at that moment that I looked up out of my window and saw that amongst all the greyness and the bare tree branches, one tree is in full blossom. To me this was a great picture and reminder that although the world around us may be falling apart, God always keeps his promises that these days will pass. His promises of hope and blessing are the anchor that we should be holding on to. We can trust him because he always has and always will do everything that he has promised.

It's in that perspective that I want to explain what the situation here is like. Since Slovenia is a such a small country it's not making any news headlines, but in case you have forgotten, we border Italy. Until a couple of days ago there was still a lot of cross border movement! The situation here has changed a lot and very quickly within the last week or so. The first case was confirmed on 4th March and as of today (13th March) the number is 141 with thankfully no deaths. Now in absolute numbers this doesn't seem too high but that's 67.8 cases per million. In context, China is currently on 56.1 and the UK is on 12. 

This isn't all my food...

Whilst the likelihood of me catching it is still quite low, I am feeling the effects of it. Some of my friends and family in the UK have had to self isolate (although as far as I know none of them have it) and our flat had our own mini panic earlier in the week although it turned out to be a false alarm. We haven't been panic buying (although one of my housemates did insist that we have enough toilet paper (!)) but we've tried to make sure that we are stocked up and prepared for the almost inevitable lockdown. 
Lots of restrictions have now been put in place. Gatherings of more than 100 people are banned which meant that a youth conference due to happen tomorrow has had to be postponed until October. All schools and universities have been closed and it looks like further measures will soon be introduced. Yesterday I got the news that all church activities have been cancelled at least for 2 weeks and that we should be restricting meetings with other people. Well, that's pretty much my entire job. Thankfully we live in the age of easy contact via the internet and I have arranged lots of Skype meetings, including my language lessons. That's the benefit of having a private tutor! I'm also very glad I have housemates, I think I may have started to go a bit mad if I was stuck in a flat by myself for 2 weeks! Don't get me wrong, we still have freedom of movement for the time being but I don't think much will happen. Everyone is very afraid of catching it and giving it to someone they love who may get very ill from it. There's definitely a sense of worry and guilt here.

My situation is not the same as those in Italy by any means but it feels like we're on the edge of that. To make things worse, Slovenia doesn't actually have a government at the moment. Please be praying for the leaders here that they will have wisdom in how to deal with the situation and that the health system would be able to cope with the massive pressure it will be put under. Most of all, please pray that we would remember not to fret but to trust God and in his promises!