Returning in 2020

It’s time again to return to Sierra Leone.

The borders were reopened recently and the protocols have been put in place for us to return: Negative COVID PCR less than 72 hours before departure. On arrival we get two tests, both a rapid and a more time intensive test. If the rapid is negative, we leave the airport and are allowed to travel as long as public health can contact us at a moment’s notice. If we test positive on the rapid test, we are forced to stay at the airport hotel until the confirmatory test comes back. We booked tickets a few weeks ago and have had the dates and the times changed multiple times. But for now, we depart the US on the 13th. 

It was obviously emotional leaving home last time to move to Sierra Leone, but I’m surprised how complex the emotions are this time. 

There were two weeks this trip when all 3 of my parent’s biologic children were living in their house with their spouses. We joked that my mother had given us a checklist growing up (Get good grades, go to college, find and marry the right person, find careers you’re happy with), but now that all of us have completed these checklists we don’t know what to do! So we all came home and moved back in. Seriously though, with 3 children who each have a spouse, 4 out of 6 of us have driver’s licenses with Mom and Dad’s address on it.

It has been both wonderful and lacking all at the same time. Weddings we couldn’t attend. Trips we couldn’t take. Friends and colleagues we couldn’t see. All due to COVID.

It’s like we had something great and unique, but we still want more.

On the other hand, I am so anxious to get back to Sierra Leone. Apparently I’m not a classic workaholic day to day, but months without seeing patients just feels too long. Sometimes we feel like this has been the most selfish 3 months of our lives. We buy stuff. We see family. We eat fantastic food. All of our time is for us and family. Especially without church, it’s easy to misconstrue our necessary rejuvenation as selfish or bad.

I’ve also faced something I’ve not needed to put words to before: self worth. It’s been revealing to me how much of my self worth is wrapped up in my identity and work. The western ideologic framework easily ties ones ‘worth’ to their productivity. What’s my worth when I’m a missionary doctor who ‘abandoned’ their post during the worst pandemic in 100 years? What kind of missionary spends 3 months with all their time focused on themselves? I feel far from being the ‘perfect’ missionary.

It sounds so easy to say ‘Your identity should be in Christ.’ Or ‘It’s Jesus who gives you your worth.’ I’ve spent a lot of time recently thinking about these trite things we say as Christians. Honestly I have no answers. And I can only imagine the pain that others are going through. I still have a job; I have a loving family that can house me for 3 months. I can only imagine the existential crisis that people are going through during this coronavirus time. I worry that the usual and easy trite Christian reassurances are going to look even more inadequate to a hurting world.

And this is just about the US. As I have been communicating with Dr. Kabba (the medical director) and Mr. Fobbie (the business manager) things are even harder for the hospital than I expected. 

In late May and early June, the government of Sierra Leone approached the hospital and requested that we collaborate. They could use our facilities and they would provide salaries, supplies, and COVID patients. The Waterloo Adventist Hospital would become the local Community Treatment Center (CTC) for the coronavirus. 

But because the situation is so dire for the government, they are completely unable to adequately supply the hospital with enough PPE, medicines, fuel, or equipment to take care of the patients. There has been basically no money for salaries. And because all of the hospital was taken to treat coronavirus, there have been no facilities to see or treat the medical patients for revenues to pay the staff.

By mid July, there was only $500 in the bank which is no where near what’s needed to buy fuel, medicines, or even pay a portion of salaries. God always provides and we’ve received enough donations to pay the staff a fraction of their salary and provide a bag of rice. The SDA Mission has also offered the hospital a building to use as a small medical clinic in the interim. However, this building is so rudimentary it doesn’t even have electricity. God has continued to bless and a donor came forward to help us with partial renovations to at least make the space usable. And this is just a sampling of July's challenges.

Because things have been so difficult recently, we’ve updated the website to include a COVID donation section. If you’d like to donate please visit:

https://adventisthealthsystem.sl/donations/