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Brother Michael Guerrero: On the second half of this week’s episode of INC News World: see how a young family faces quarantine in Las Vegas; a home garden has new meaning in times of panic buying; meet another local congregation of the Church Of Christ. Your INC News World starts now. 

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Brother Michael: Welcome to INC News World, I’m Brother Michael Guerrero, coming to you still from the San Francisco bay area, praying that each of you watching from your own homes is staying safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 cases multiply all over the United States, many if not 

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most medical professionals are at work much more than usual, some are even living apart from their families to protect them from exposure. The Atlantic

Brother Michael: Let’s meet a Las Vegas family who had to face a difficult decision. Stacy Larkin has the story. 

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AGUSTIN FIGER (ON INSTAGRAM VIDEO): I love you! Mama’s boy, look at this mama’s boy! Hi handsome boy! Can I get a hug? I love you! 

STACY LARKIN: This heartwarming video was posted on Agustin’s Instagram, as he and his wife, Kim, were reunited with their son Troy. 

AGUSTIN FIGER (BLUE DIAMOND, NEVADA): One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my whole life. We never thought that at any time that we would have to sacrifice giving up our son for two weeks. 

STACY LARKIN: As registered nurses working in home health care, Kim and Agustin are there for their patients to provide much needed love and care during this time of crisis. 

KIM FIGER (REGISTERED NURSE – BLUE DIAMOND, NEVADA): We also absorb all the emotions that they’re feeling: the anxieties, the fear. 

STACY LARKIN: While at the front lines, the couple understands the danger of their job for their family and the need for their sacrifice.

AGUSTIN FIGER (BLUE DIAMOND, NEVADA): With the COVID-19 and this pandemic that’s going around worldwide, we’ve actually had to do a self quarantine due to the fact that some of our patients had symptoms,

which are pretty common, but particularly at this time is a little more scarier than usual. 

KIM FIGER (REGISTERED NURSE – BLUE DIAMOND, NEVADA): We asked my mom’s help and my sister’s help if they can watch Troy for two weeks while we sanitize the house, while we watch out for our own symptoms for two weeks. Got in touch with our own primary care provider and asked for his advice on what to do and he also advised that we should quarantine ourselves for two weeks.

STACY LARKIN: For new parents like them it was a heartbreaking decision to make. 

AGUSTIN FIGER (REGISTERED NURSE – BLUE DIAMOND, NEVADA): I’ve been through a lot, I’m 43 years old and you can say I’ve been through a ton, ups and downs, financial crashes, different epidemics. Through my 43 years on this earth, and all that, this, being away from my son has been the hardest. All those times that we took for granted, all those times he was crying and throwing a temper tantrum. Man, we miss it that much more. You know, just every moment since we got reunited yesterday is truly something we cherish more and more, more every day. It was really tough, it was really tough. But again, you know, our faith brought us through.

STACY LARKIN: With the government ordering residents to stay at home, Agustin and his family are able to continue strengthening their faith through the live streaming worship services of the Church Of Christ.

AGUSTIN FIGER (INC MEMBER – BLUE DIAMOND, NEVADA): When you really pay attention to these lessons, especially now in these dark times, they’re catered to strengthen us. 

KIM FIGER (INC MEMBER – BLUE DIAMOND, NEVADA): Same thing, you know, the feeling where you feel like, you don’t have control over anything, everything’s a mess, you don’t know where to start, you’re lost. I was worried too. I’m a mom. I’m a wife. I’m a friend. I’m a nurse. Then it was that worship service, he [my husband] asked me, “Why were you crying?” No. Because I felt so enlightened, We shouldn’t be scared because as long as we have faith, as long as we put our trust in God, that’s all we needed. Our family, our duties in the Church. That’s all we needed. So after that, thank you to the Church Administration for allowing us to still continue with our worship services. 

STACY LARKIN: As this crisis continues we thank our health care workers for braving being on the front lines, setting aside their personal worries and struggles to continue saving lives. To hear more inspiring stories from the front lines check out INC News World on incmedia.org. Stacy Larkin; Iglesia Ni Cristo News Network. 

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Brother Michael: The COVID-19 pandemic has inadvertently sparked a social epidemic of panic-buying. This selfish behavior,

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Sparked by greed and fear, has created a domino effect, leaving many essential items such as toilet paper and food difficult to obtain by many needing them. The Conversation

Brother Michael: But in Texas, we see a hobby for a family that’s turned into a blessing in disguise during these times. Michelle Peredo has more.

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KATHLEEN GREGORIO (HOME GARDENER – CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS): So our Texas Governor, he did issue in certain counties, they’re having to practice shelter in place. The grocery stores were limited, and everybody has to stay home.

MICHELLE PEREDO: With the shelter-in-place order and grocery stores with limited supply, Kathleen can see how this situation has put a toll on a lot of families.

KATHLEEN GREGORIO (HOME GARDENER – CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS): When my parents-in-law immigrated from the Philippines one of the concerns of my husband is what activity could they do around the house as they were retired. So they decided to create what’s called a rain garden plot. They actually were participating in Christian Family Organization Home Garden Competition, it was an effort to have like a positive activity for the brethren in their part of the Philippines, as well as providing other alternative food sources for the members to encourage to practice their green thumb.

MICHELLE PEREDO: But her family was prepared to adjust to these times without even knowing it, way before the COVID-19 pandemic shifted life as we know it. 

KATHLEEN GREGORIO (HOME GARDENER – CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS): Some of the things that we’re growing right now so we have kale, we also have eggplant. We have tomatoes, bell peppers. We have a lot of green onion. 

MICHELLE PEREDO: A home garden built in their backyard which they began in early 2019 which has since yielded plenty of seasonal vegetables. 

KATHLEEN GREGORIO (HOME GARDENER – CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS): This gardening hobby actually is very important in terms of having to stay home because if you’re just stuck inside, enclosed in a routine, four walls, it can feel a sense of cabin fever. But when you’re outside, taking care of the garden, you feel that sense of being outdoors and not being restricted in an enclosed space. You can exercise when you’re bending your knees and cutting weeds and pulling weeds and planting things, having the sunlight, the fresh air, the garden lets you escape to another place, even though you’re still at home.

MICHELLE PEREDO: The Gregorio family has since then yielded the benefit of sustaining themselves with their own food, but that wasn’t the only benefit. 

KATHLEEN GREGORIO (HOME GARDENER – CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS): It became a recreation, a pastime, a stress relief for my parents-in-law, and also like a way to have an additional food source that came at a really great time. Who knew that this crisis, this lockdown, this pandemic was going to happen, and how convenient it was to have a garden.

MICHELLE PEREDO: In many ways, it was able to bring their family closer together.

KATHLEEN GREGORIO (HOME GARDENER – CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS): As they were building this garden it became such an enjoyable activity for the whole family, because, like, my husband and his dad they work together as a team, like digging, digging the ground and building things together and arranging where the seeds were going to go. And then me and my mother-in-law, we would go out and harvest, depending on what the recipe of the day was. 

MICHELLE PEREDO: And with the shelter-in-place order in effect, obliging families to stay indoors, spending time as a family has been more meaningful; and not just because of their home garden.

KATHLEEN GREGORIO (INC MEMBER – CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS): Being able to have our worship service, even just gathered together with your own family I’m really thankful that in the least we still are able to connect to the worship service and hear the words of God. Because more important than the food for our bodies, we have that food for the soul, you have that encouragement, that trust, that strengthening of faith and the blessings to find the solutions and to be able to pray, and ask God for help to give you the ideas and the wisdom to help you better survive in this world. 

MICHELLE PEREDO: While many families are remaining in their homes to help flatten the curve of this pandemic, they’re also finding ways to make time at home more meaningful with each other. To keep up with all the current events inside the Church Of Christ, visit incmedia.org/incnewsworld. Michelle Peredo for the Iglesia Ni Cristo News Network.

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Brother Michael: Inside the Church Of Christ, the projects and activities that are featured on this snow come from all around the world. But where are these congregations located? Let’s find out on this week’s “INC Community.” 

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Brother Michael: Shining bright amongst all the lights in this world-famous city is the Local Congregation of Las Vegas. Since its establishment in April of 1982, the local congregation is one of 7 in the Nevada area, and one of 25 in the Mountain States region. For nearly 38 years, it has held numerous projects and activities to strengthen the brotherhood, and to demonstrate love and care within this community. 

Today, while we continue to comply with government orders to stay home and follow social distancing, why not use this time to get to know more about the Church Of Christ congregation in Las Vegas? Learn about the architecture and history of this congregation on the show Blueprint. And discover how this congregation has impacted its community on the INCGiving Show. 

To learn more about its most recent projects, tune it to weekly episodes of INC News World. While we’d love for you to come and visit in person, until then, you can still connect with us online. If you have questions click the red questions tab to the right of the incmedia.org website. And feel free to look around, you might just find the answer you were looking for. You can even schedule a Bible study with us online and we’ll try to connect you with the local congregation nearest you. No matter where you are, we welcome you, and can’t wait to meet you!

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Brother Michael: Well, that does it for us on INC News World. Tune in every Friday for new episodes of INC News World on incmedia.org. I’m Brother Michael Guerrero, on behalf of the entire INC News World team we’d like to thank the essential service workers, whether in healthcare or in any of the required industries that are keeping the rest of us safe; we hope you are all safe and healthy, wherever you may be. Thank you for joining us, have a great weekend and God bless!