Posted on 11/27/2020 5:01:37 PM PST by Jemian
[I'm excerpting to my experience. Some missionaries have chosen to return to their home countries.]
...
Some missionaries never had any choice. Mary Lott is currently in Alabama, hoping that next year she and her husband can go back to Indonesia. She would have stayed if she could have. A staff member with Wycliffe Bible Translators, Lott and her husband have worked at an international school since 1995. They considered the health risks when they first moved to the country—long before anyone knew of COVID-19. “We knew malaria is endemic,” Lott said. “Dengue fever. Typhoid. Typhus. Tuberculosis. We knew that when we signed up that it might cost our life.”
Lott, 65, has survived dengue fever and—though she doesn’t know the exact number—probably 50 cases of malaria. She has also had cancer. There are limited health care options in Indonesia, and she is considered high risk for COVID-19, so Wycliffe leaders decided the Lotts needed to leave.
In April, the US embassy arranged a flight out of Indonesia for 47 expats who wanted to go. The Lotts had five days to pack, find a home for their dog, arrange a caretaker for their house, and suspend the life they had made for themselves for 25 years.
“One of the hardest things [was that], as soon as we had the order to leave, all our Indonesian friends started coming by our house, telling us how much safer it was in Papua than in the States,” Lott said. “Our Indonesian friends said, ‘We thought God was sovereign. Why are you not trusting the Lord to keep you safe?’ ”
The Lotts took one of the last international flights out of Indonesia. Their plane took off just 20 minutes before a mandatory curfew fell on the country.
(Excerpt) Read more at christianitytoday.com ...
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You do the Lord’s work and now your famous! Thanks for sharing.
God bless you, Jemian. Psalm 91
They were in Thailand for a missions conference when it was announced that they couldn't go back to China.
While a friend got their family laptop out, everything else was left behind, and has been given away. I haven't heard what is going to happen to their apartment lease - they may still be required to pay.
A very sudden and incredible change to their lives.
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