A little over two years ago, my church announced we’d be moving services online for a week or two until the coronavirus situation got settled. “Surely we’ll be back by Easter,” we told each other, unable to imagine an extended quarantine.

We smile wryly now at how naive we were. It’s been a long, depressing, frustrating, anxious slog. It’s easy to spot the ways the church has messed up, fought, and stumbled.

But oh, what God has done! A few weeks ago, I asked seven random pastors from around the globe to share their COVID experiences. I expected some churches to have grown while others shrunk, perhaps some to have split, or some pastors to have left.

I know those things have happened, or are happening. And to be clear, nobody said it was easy. But on nearly every continent, pastors reported unexpected unity, fervency of prayer, and dependence on God. They wrote about new members, new ministries, and new church plants. They saw a sort of spiritual sifting, and a growth of gospel-centered maturity among the faithful.

“None of us would’ve wished for the pandemic, but I have a strong feeling that Christ has become more central, more sweet, and more significant for just about all of us,” UK pastor Julian Hardyman wrote. “And in the end, that’s what the Christian life is all about.”

If you’re up for a reminder that God works even in the darkness of disease, check out these reflections from China, India, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, and Canada.