Gbarnga Mission | Liberia – West Africa

I arrived safely home to Massachusetts last Wednesday afternoon and the world has changed quickly in a short time. My original itinerary was Monrovia-Brussels-Frankfurt-Boston but the coronavirus had already made its presence known in Germany and my two Lufthansa flights were cancelled. I was rerouted on TAP airlines through Portugal with no delays in my overall travel time.

Within days, travel from Europe to the US was being banned. Today I heard of a missionary with Lutheran Bible Translators who is getting out of Liberia this week as all flights are soon to be suspended to/from Monrovia. It appears I made it out just in time.

Flattening the curve and social distancing have become part of our lexicon of self-isolation. Each day I watch the news of more cases in Massachusetts, the US, and throughout the world. I noted the first country in Africa, then the first sharing a border with Liberia (Ivory Coast), then the next (Guinea). And then the inevitable news of Liberia’s first confirmed virus case just yesterday, then the second today. I called Sumo and the Ministry of Health has already told schools to close for a week – GLTC followed orders so the the campus is vacant save for our faithful security staff. I shared that our schools were already closed and would be for three weeks. Sumo’s first response was, “and we will pray for each other.”

Indeed.