Good day to all!
Welcome to a “stay at home” episode
of Iglesia De Cristo Mundo. I’m Angelica.
As the world battles the COVID-19 pandemic,
it’s easy to get lost in all that is happening.
Take a look at this statistic:
According to the World Health Organization,
by the first week of April 2020,
the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19
topped 1.2 million globally.
And while COVID-19
can cause serious complications,
many people who are infected
may not show any symptoms at all
but can still spread the virus,
making it even more important
to follow the instructions about
hand-washing and staying at home.
Quarantines and social distancing
have forced us into a “new normal.”
So, while facts and figures
keep us informed,
how are we adjusting physically,
mentally,
or spiritually?
Let's head over to Spain and take a glimpse
at how youths like Pablo
and the Aala brothers,
maintain their spirits and stay hopeful.
I'm Pablo Martín
and I live in a neighborhood
in the center of Madrid,
full of life and entertainment.
However, since the arrival of the coronavirus
and the beginning of the quarantine,
like many others, calm and quiet.
But life keeps moving.
This is our neighborhood.
We live in this flat.
It’s calm here.
Yeah, there's not much noise.
I have a list,
I have everything,
I have gloves
and the mask in order to leave
Protecting absolutely everything
Going outside is restricted for everything
except for essentials, like food or medicine.
There’s no one.
They made me put on my mask and gloves,
and took my temperature.
Well, that’s it, I finished shopping,
got everything my mom wanted,
but I left the mask on because it’s necessary.
I’m going home now.
The streets are deserted,
there’s no one.
It’s so weird for it to be the center of Madrid.
Great! A car.
And on top of it,
the weather is really nice.
It’s just really weird isn’t it?
We’re at home.
I already received part
of the vitamin D that I need.
Always better to wash your hands every day,
any time, it doesn't hurt you
and
it's easy.
One of the things that we do a lot now
and we always have to do is wash hands.
And I almost forgot to wash my hands!
So what we always do here is
it's always recommended: water and soap
It’s the best,
and recommended by the government.
The only things you must do everyday.
Water and soap,
(soap noises)
and lather well.
It’s what you can do
to stay protected,
especially your hands
because we use them the most.
What we use to touch objects everyday.
So before we leave, wash your hands.
Clean.
We cannot even go out with two people
in the streets at once because they’d fine us.
The police are-
they watch us exhaustively.
In the supermarkets they don’t
even let us get near one another.
Closure of schools from kindergarten to universities
in Madrid will affect at least 1.53 million pupils and students.
Hello everyone,
as you can see, I’m at home
and I’m doing
my Literature homework.
We need to remember that
even though we’re in quarantine,
we need to study hard.
We students, for example,
in my case, here in Madrid, well,
we’re lucky, or better,
that’s what my teachers say,
we’re lucky and that we have this
on a web platform!
Sometimes it’s stuck from the quantity
of people that are connecting to the network.
Here they assign work, for example,
I have assignments in Spanish language
and Literature.
These are precious times
and we shouldn’t waste them.
We have a lot of time to do what we want
and learn what we want to learn in this life.
There isn’t anything more I have to do.
This is what it is under warning.
Normally, almost everyday,
I talk with my friends,
with those that help me the most at school.
I want to maintain contact with the people
though above all our moments in quarantine, there’s nothing to do.
Many times, with a “What’s up?”
“Hello, good day,”
That’s enough, I believe,
to continue maintaining relationships,
to hear it renewing, or that
they had become stronger.
Yes, this is my life.
What are you doing mom?
These are plantains.
It is called plantain turon.
Oh, you already made some?
We like to spend time
together in peace and calm,
But, very simple things.
My family is very simple to be honest
and they don’t like to be on the camera.
Thank you!
Look at these others when I was small.
My grandmother.
My mom!
When she was a choir member
before I was born.
This is my family.
I play the piano one hour a day.
I generally practice classical music
so I can play it in public.
I also think I should
play everyday to practice
and explore music.
Of course, when I play the organ,
for example,
at home or I'm practicing a musical piece,
well I put on
I put on headphones.
and you won’t hear what’s playing.
Because I don’t want to disturb my neighbors
and the walls are thin.
I practice the songs in the chapel
although, for example,
in these times of quarantine, although
we don’t perform our duties [in the choir loft]
I practice the songs so I do not forget them.
Pablo is an organist in the local congregation of Madrid.
Despite the circumstances,
how important is it to not live in fear?
What can we do to help lift people up
no matter how small?
One of the things that is becoming a routine
in the lives of the Spanish people
is that always, starting at eight in the evening
the people begin to clap
from their homes, their balconies,
as a sign of recognition
to all the medical staff and workers
who work hard against the virus
for our good
for all the people who are in quarantine.
Now we have just finished
our family devotional prayer.
We did it through
a video call via Messenger
with our sister, who is in the Philippines
What happens there in the Philippines
happens also here in Spain, the quarantine.
Thanks to the quarantine
I speak with friends
or people that I haven’t talked to in a long time,
I had no idea of anything about them
but we are back to staying in contact
and updating each other
a little of how life is going.
Siesta is over,
and now we’re going to have worship service.
This is what I’ve been waiting for all week
because it’s something that I look forward to.
When worship services arrive,
with new technologies,
it helps me to continue.
I feel that God is closer—
I feel that I am more close to God.
Well I just finished worship service.
Let’s see, the quarantine is something that I,
at least in my life,
never thought that I was going to go through
or have never heard of a
quarantine like this.
I never thought that I would experience this
but look at us now.
For me,
you always have to keep your spirits up.
Be blessed in the face of trials
and persecutions.
Continue to be happy,
but always, under the command of our Lord God.
For members of the Church Of Christ like Pablo and the Aala brothers,
it becomes even more important to find spiritual upliftment.
Drawing close to our Lord God
is very important in these times of
crisis and difficulties because we need to
be firm above all
and not to have a weak soul.
Certainly I have to
return to worship service,
that for me is more like a second home.
Because for me, it is the only place
or the only moment where my faith
my hope and my spirit are renewed
to continue in this world.
I think that by putting God first always,
everything that happens in this world
will not affect me
Whatever trial, persecution you have,
it is possible to overcome all.
The rice and the meat and a salad.
The combination of being Spanish-Filipino.
Filipino...
Spanish and you get this.
This is the best, the best thing in the world,
vanilla and turon.
It's about to be twelve o’ clock
at night and we are going to have our family devotional prayer.
So I hope that you have enjoyed the vlog,
these are my days in quarantine.
I hope that you liked this
and see you next time.
It’s nice to see everyone sticking together,
even though some of us may be
apart from our loved ones.
Even after this crisis ends, for many,
life may never be the same.
But this is definitely a time to reflect,
and draw even closer to God.
Please stay safe and take care of yourselves
and your families.
Thanks for watching.