“And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, 38 being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.” (Acts 20:36-38)
This passage took on new meaning for me this morning. I took my sisters, Ruth and Hawa, to the airport to return to Sierra Leone. You know, that place with the deadly Ebola?
Do you know what Paul had just finished saying when everyone prayed and wept? He had just told them that he was going to return to Jerusalem, and while he didn’t know what it might look like, he knew that afflictions awaited him, and they may not see him again. That’s a rough goodbye when you love someone deeply.
Ruth and Hawa have been here for 3 weeks. Well, ok, not quite three weeks. Know how I know? Because we all came out of Sierra Leone together, and we are keenly aware, on a daily basis, of the 21 day incubation period for Ebola. Tomorrow will be our 21st day. Tomorrow, I will be free of the daily question mark. Tomorrow, Ruth and Hawa will land back in Sierra Leone, and start the daily cycle of uncertainty once again.
But it’s worse now. On Thursday, Makeni was quarantined. The transmission rates were deemed to be too high for the powers that be. So, they closed them off. Well over a million people to date – closed off from the world, from health care, from food supplies, from help. How does this help the situation? We’re all trying to figure that out. The over 100,000 people of Makeni, including 300 women with disabilities who have no sustainable income, are now sitting in an incubator of Ebola, waiting to see the outcome once the “indefinite” quarantine has been lifted.
It is to this that I sent off my 2 sisters this morning. The usual travel hassles – a fire at Air Traffic Control in Chicago that shut down O’Hare and rerouted them through Charlotte and the dreaded Newark, check-in agents that don’t know that you’re allowed 2 bags at 50# each when traveling to Africa, bags that weigh 52.5 pounds and have to be reduced – all are compounded by the uncertainty of the arrival destination, and the fact that one traveler has traveled alone only ONCE and is accompanying another who has only ever traveled once, and is blind. Upon arrival, they don’t know what will happen. At the time of this writing, they have not been able to secure passes to get back into Makeni – or for our staff to come and get them at the airport. They could be stranded at the airport indefinitely.
Here is what we do know – where they are going afflictions await them. Food prices have skyrocketed just in the past 2 days since the quarantine. Getting home will be tricky and complicated. Hawa’s children were parceled out to relatives who are not in the quarantine zone, so even if she gets home, she may not be able to get her children back. The women we serve are going to be in dire straights in not too many days, as their sources of income (begging, petty trade and fair trade sales) dry up and food prices rise.
Goodbyes are relatively easy for me. Or maybe they aren’t. Maybe I’ve just learned how to pack them properly, like a spot-on 50# checked bag. But like their overweight baggage today, this one overflowed its boundaries, dumping salty liquid in quantities that would probably not meet TSA guidelines. “And we sat and prayed. And there was much weeping on the part of all; we embraced, being sorrowful most of all because we didn’t know when we would see each other again. And I accompanied them to the TSA line.” That’s my version of Acts 20 for today. 
I NEVER watch people walk through the TSA line! Never. This travel thing is so old-hat to me, I’m a “drop-at-the-curb” kind of girl. Not today. I stood and watched through tears all the way down the familiar C-Terminal corridor, until they turned at Moe’s and walked away.
So much unknown… Will they get all their connections? Will the agents reseat them so Hawa can sit with Ruth? Will they get to Makeni? Will the virus ramp up and start killing off our staff and women? Will we ever be able to return to Makeni and the women we love? When will our program go back to development and getting women on their feet again?
Even in this, O Lord, you are sovereign. Even in this, Lord, you are good.