Dear ENC,

This is real.

This is big.

I never imagined that this situation would get to the point it’s at now, but here we are. A lot of us are scared; a lot of us are frustrated. A lot of us are sad; a lot of us are angry. Many of us are anxious and confused, stressed out about what’s to come. For every student who’s happy-go-lucky, ready for an extended spring break part II, there are many others who are uneasily asking questions:

“What does this mean for my degree?”

“What does this mean for graduation and commencement?” “Where am I going to live?”

“How am I going to make money?”

“What am I going to do now?”

I don’t know how this has all affected you. Maybe it hasn’t; or, maybe it has, and quite significantly. With our school now among the many institutions that have had to greatly alter their operations in the face of COVID-19, this is now personal. Countless people right here on this campus are anxiously awaiting the days to come with their next few weeks, or even months, clouded in uncertainty.

People are worried about their family members dying because of this virus. People are losing their jobs because of this virus.

Someone is having to say “good-bye” to close friends much sooner than they anticipated.
Someone is having to re-evaluate their life course because their future has met an uncontrollable obstacle.

Maybe that someone is you; maybe that someone is your close friend. Or a family member. Your roommate. A teammate. A student in a couple of your classes. That Hebrews worker. That kid who plays in chapel. Whoever it is, it is someone: a person, a fellow human being who is walking apprehensively day by day alongside you as this situation unfolds.

While I personally am not in an uneasy state of ground shaking worry, I now personally know people who are. So, on behalf of the Executive Student Government Association, I say to them, and perhaps to you, this:

ENC has cared, does care, and will continue to care very deeply about you. This situation is not ideal, we all know that. We are all upset and we all wish things could have worked out differently. As difficult as it may be to see it, the decisions that have been made, are being made, and will be made by the administration of our school do truly have the best of intentions in mind.

More than that, we believe in a God who loves you perfectly. We have trust in and call upon a God who holds every little thing in His hands. He doesn’t just know what is best for you, He desires it and is working out all things for good.

In situations like these, that may be hard to believe. It may mean nothing for some of us; for others, it might even make us angrier. But allow me to humbly put this before you:

Is there not great refuge and assurance in entrusting situations like this to a God?

More than that, a God who has everything in His control?

And even more than that, a God who is for you?

Is there not great confidence in turning to a God who, having loved you enough to die for you, is standing there by your side, holding your hand through it all?

A God who is most definitely, unmistakably, and undeniably on your side?

As your student leaders, we’re right here in the thick of it with each and every one of you. But, we’re not going to try to simply offer you our condolences or empathy, because, let’s be honest, what use is that when it’s your life up in the air? More than that: we’re praying for you.

Our prayers for you will do far more than any words of support or actions of encouragement ever could because our prayers will call upon a God who cares for you more than we could ever care about you. Our prayers will be heard by a God who has more power to affirm you and assure you than we ever could try to.

With that, ENC, here’s our farewell. Maybe you know who we are; maybe you still don’t know our names. Maybe you’ve seen the work we’ve done and the effort we’ve put in this past year; maybe you still don’t know what exactly we do. Regardless, it has been our honor, our privilege, and our pleasure to serve you as your Exec SGA leaders this past year. In some ways, this year hasn’t gone exactly as we had hoped and it’s certainly not ending the way we wanted it to.

But, here we are.

It’s been real.

We were your 2019-2020 Exec SGA. Our prayers and well wishes are with you. And more importantly, our God is with all of us.

On behalf of Exec SGA,

Paul Chong
Executive SGA Vice-President. Director of Finance