Prayer amid Pandemic

Latest Episodes:

The First Native American Saint’s Life Was Scarred by Smallpox Jun 26, 2020

Show notes

Kateri Tekakwitha became the first Native American saint in 2012. Much of her life was marked by violence, disease, and loss brought on by French colonization and conflict with local tribes. The Mohawk woman died at the young age of 24 but her resolute faith throughout her hard life inspired many.

On this episode of Prayer amid Pandemic, Susangeline Patrick, assistant professor of world Christianity at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City and adjunct professor in the history of Christianity at NAIITS (formerly North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies) to discuss the smallpox outbreak that scarred her body, the faith that sustained, and what the church can learn from her brief life today.

Tamara Mayer, a theology student in Berlin Germany, offer this episode’s prayer.

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Music by Urban Nerd Beats, Prod. Riddiman, and Oliver Dúvel

Prayer amid Pandemic is produced by Morgan Lee, Mike Cosper, and Erik Petrik

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The Christian Teens Who Took on Ebola's Spread Jun 24, 2020

Show notes

In 2014, the Ebola outbreak began in West Africa. Over the next two years, more than 11,000 people died, the majority from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. As people struggled to adapt to the new normal brought on by the epidemic, the government and public health workers enlisted church leaders in educating their congregants about the disease.

On this episode of Prayer amid Pandemic, John Jusu, a Sierra Leonean missionary with the Association of Evangelicals in Africa who currently serves with Overseas Council International as the Africa regional director,

This episode’s prayer is from Gabrijela Althaller, a youth leader at the evangelical church, New Covenant, in Zagreb, Croatia.

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The 17th -Century Poet, Nun, and Theologian Who Died Caring for Those Sick with Cholera Jun 19, 2020

Show notes

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz was a renaissance woman from 17th century Mexico. Born an illegitimate daughter of a Spanish Captain and a Criolla mother, Juana went on to become a scholar, nun, theologian, and poet. At age 46 she died after tending to her sick sisters after the plague arrived in Mexico City in 1695.

On this episode of Prayer amid Pandemic, Joel Morales Cruz, the Histories of the Latin America Church and a contributor to Christian History’s issue on Latin American Christianity, shares how the world in which Juana inhabited was deeply shaped by epidemics, what made Sor Juana’s faith so strong, and what the church can learn from her today.

Nyei Sandu from Juba, South Sudan, offers this episode’s prayer.

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Music by Urban Nerd Beats, Prod. Riddiman, and Oliver Dúvel

Prayer amid Pandemic is produced by Morgan Lee, Mike Cosper, and Erik Petrik

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Perpetua’s Brief Life Came Between Two Plagues Jun 17, 2020

Show notes

Perpetua was a noblewoman from Carthage who had a guaranteed life of comfort ahead of her. Born in the late 100’s, she lived with her husband, her son, and her slave. Then she converted to Christianity, a decision that changed everything.

On this episode of Prayer amid Pandemic, Megan DeVore, associate professor of church history and early Christian studies at Colorado Christian University, shares about how Perpetua’s brother’s death left an impression on the saint, what strengthened her faith despite intense cruelty and hardship, and what the church can learn from Perpetua today.

Constantin V. Lysakov, a pastor in Moscow, offers this episode’s prayer.

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Music by Urban Nerd Beats, Prod. Riddiman, and Oliver Dúvel

Prayer amid Pandemic is produced by Morgan Lee, Mike Cosper, and Erik Petrik

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Even Fellow Believers Didn’t Understand Her Love for AIDS Patients Jun 11, 2020

Show notes

Philomena Percival has counseled and cared for hundreds of AIDS patients in Guyana for more than 25 years. She joins Prayer amid Pandemic to discuss how an ectopic pregnancy led her to care for those afflicted by AIDS, how witnessing this suffering up close changed her faith, and why Christians should spend more time with the sick.

This episode’s prayer is from Miguel Castillo, the coaching coordinator for M4 Spain, who resides in Madrid.

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Music by Urban Nerd Beats, Prod. Riddiman, and Oliver Dúvel

Prayer amid Pandemic is produced by Morgan Lee, Mike Cosper, and Erik Petrik

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Sickness Shaped the Faith of This Family of Fourth Century Theologians Jun 03, 2020

Show notes

The most famous siblings of the early church are likely two brothers, Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa, and their sister Macrina. “She was deeply precious to them for her love, her insight, and her wisdom; they even called her “Teacher,” wrote David Hutchings for Christianity Today last year. Macrina ultimately died after a long battle with an unknown illness. Her life and suffering inspired several works by Gregory of Nyssa, including the Life of Macrina and On the Soul and the Resurrection.

On this episode of Prayer amid Pandemic, Amy Brown Hughes, assistant professor of theology at Gordon College and author of Christian Women in the Patristic World: Their Influence, Authority and Legacy in the Second Through Fifth Centuries, along with Lynn H. Cohick, discusses Basil, Macrina, and Gregory’s remarkable family, why Macrina’s death made such an impression, and what the church needs to hear from them today.

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Music by Urban Nerd Beats, Prod. Riddiman, and Oliver Dúvel

Prayer amid Pandemic is produced by Morgan Lee, Mike Cosper, and Erik Petrik

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What a Plague-Ravaged Village Knew About Eternity May 27, 2020

Show notes

The village of Eyam sits about 30 miles East of Manchester in the UK and according to the 2011 British census, it has less than 1,000 residents. But during the 17th century, this unassuming town was hit by the bubonic plague. In the coming months, it killed dozens of residents. Then, just when town leaders thought the crisis had abated, it struck again.

On this episode of Prayer amid Pandemic, Mathew Knell, the program leader and lecturer in historical theology and church history at the London School of Theology, describes how the church overall reacted during the time to the bubonic plague, why the story of Eyam has turned into a myth over time, and why the faith of the leaders in the village should inspire the church today.

Carlos Barros is Cru’s director of Vida en Familia in Tucumán, Argentina and offers this episode’s prayer.

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Music by Urban Nerd Beats, Prod. Riddiman, and Oliver Dúvel

Prayer amid Pandemic is produced by Morgan Lee, Mike Cosper, and Erik Petrik

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The Black Death Left Many Terrified. Not Catherine of Siena. May 22, 2020

Show notes

Much of Catherine of Siena’s life was defined by sickness and plagues. The future saint was born in 1347. The next year, the Black Death began—an epidemic that killed more than 20 million people over the next five years. Despite growing up surrounded by death, Catherine was unafraid.

When a plague struck again less than two decades later, the 20-something convinced her followers to stay and serve the sick. Catherine was relentless in her work. According to historian Philip Schaff she “day and night, healed those of whom the physicians despaired, and she even raised the dead.On this episode of Prayer amid Pandemic, Karen Scott, an associate professor of history and Catholic studies at DePaul University, explains how Catherine’s life was shaped by the aftermath of the Black Plague, why her actions to the suffering were so radical, and what the church can learn from her example today.

Thir Koirala, Nepal Micah’s national coordinator, offers this episode’s prayer.

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Music by Urban Nerd Beats, Prod. Riddiman, and Oliver Dúvel

Prayer amid Pandemic is produced by Morgan Lee, Mike Cosper, and Erik Petrik

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They Named a Pandemic After This Christian Leader May 20, 2020

Show notes

The man who would become St. Cyprian of Carthage was born in North Africa around 200 A.D. Cyprian did not convert to Christianity until later in his life but became a bishop shortly after his conversion. In his 10 years in office, Cyprian led his church through a period of intense persecution, a devastating plague, and another round of persecution that ultimately ended his life.

On this episode of Prayer amid Pandemic, Franklin Norton,a Latin and church history teacher at Covenant School, shares why this plague was named after a Christian bishop, how his leadership shaped the church’s countercultural response, and what the church today needs to hear from Cyprian.

Shori Sungawa, a student in Japan, offers this episode’s prayer.

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Music by Urban Nerd Beats, Prod. Riddiman, and Oliver Dúvel

Prayer amid Pandemic is produced by Morgan Lee, Mike Cosper, and Erik Petrik

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What a Puritan Leader Learned About Disease Control from the Man He Enslaved May 15, 2020

Show notes

Perhaps no American community is as polemic as the Puritans. One of its biggest personalities was Cotton Mather, a New England minister whose life is largely remembered in connection with the Salem Witch Trials. But another key part of his legacy are his scientific interests, specifically Mather’s response to a smallpox outbreak in his community, one inspired by his slave Onesimus’s life story.

On this episode of Prayer amid Pandemic, Jan Stievermann professor the history of Christianity in the US at the Heidelberg Center for American Studies and faculty of theology, joined Prayer amid Pandemic to discuss how Mather tied the smallpox outbreak with God’s judgment, the nature of Onesimus and Mather’s relationship, and the larger societal tensions that Mather’s disease-fighting actions revealed.

Eva Sarsa, a ministry leader in Finland, offers this episode’s prayer.

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Music by Urban Nerd Beats, Prod. Riddiman, and Oliver Dúvel

Prayer amid Pandemic is produced by Morgan Lee, Mike Cosper, and Erik Petrik

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