Cornerstone's training and equipping classes were conducted online for the first time in history on 7 Apr 2020, just as soon as the Circuit Breaker kicked in. Even though most instructors were new to teaching behind a screen, everyone adapted quickly and the students were very grateful to be able to learn amid the pandemic. Several CGN churches joined us remotely for both the April and August teaching semesters, and we had about 3000 registered participants from 14 nations, including Malaysia, Ireland, Spain, USA, Wales, Myanmar, Australia, Belgium, Indonesia and Thailand.
As the nations went into lockdown and international travel was restricted, the church continued to connect with our Cornerstone Global Network (CGN) community over Zoom. The missions department started planning online masterclasses for the CGN pastors and leaders, covering the topic of Implementing Cell Ministry in September and Financial Stewardship in November. The ministry A21 was also invited to share on Child Protection Best Practices on 21 October, a topic especially relevant to the ministries in poverty-stricken areas.
Although the pandemic restrictions did not allow us to send out mission teams in 2020, it was critical for us to continue to keep our CGN pastors in prayer as they worked the ground amid the pandemic.
The first Get to Know Your CGN Pastor talk was held on 13 October, with Ps Enrique Carbajal from La Mision Cornerstone and Ps Raymond Maseuecos from Cornerstone Novaliches sharing the needs of their ministries so that we could pray with them.
More of such talks with the CGN pastors will be organised in 2021, to get Cornerstonians connected and involved with what God is doing in the nations. Look out also for opportunities to serve the community in Singapore through this year's Cornerstone Couriers Programme too!