Early Return

Michael & I are scheduled to fly home in less than 24 hours, on March 17 ☘️, inshallah (God willing), rather than the original departure date of March 31.

Due to coronavirus restrictions into and in Israel, our Ecce Homo Reservations Office has become, as one worker wryly observed, our Cancelations Office. With so many fewer pilgrims to serve, Sister Rita, our director of volunteers, gave Mike & me her blessing to get an earlier flight home. Otherwise, if more flights become canceled, we’d be scrambling to leave before our three-month visa expires April 1.

When we get back to North Carolina, we plan to self-quarantine as much as possible for 2 weeks. We don’t have symptoms, but I’d feel terrible if we unknowingly got the virus & infected anyone. We’re in contact with lots of people here, and we’ll be on flights from Tel Aviv to London to Chicago to Charlotte. So who knows if any passengers might unknowingly be contagious 😷.

Some of you may remember the iconic 1975 Viet Nam photo of frenzied people trying to board one of the last helicopters out of Saigon. Things aren’t THAT panicky here, but there’s a feeling of urgency, and much uncertainty for Ecce Homo staff. But this is a loving, praying community with a strong sense of esprit de corps. It’s a beautiful sunny day, which helps. We invite you to join us in praying for these 50+ people. I hope to share with you more photos of them later. We love them. It’s painful to leave. I showed them our written list of all their names, told them Mike & I prayed for them by name yesterday, will continue to do so.

 

Some of the dear staff, employed or volunteers, on work break this morning

Also, Mike’s mom fell recently, had to have seven stitches in her forehead, was hospitalized to check out her pacemaker, blood pressure, etc. We thank God that she’s doing well and was able to return to her room at a retirement community in Pennsylvania for rehab. We hope to see her when visitors are allowed again.

We were sorry we’d be missing church at St. John’s, but even it’s been canceled for two weeks, so a lot of our fellowship will need to be online or by phone. We were able to worship across the miles yesterday as the pastors and some of the staff led a service, purposely with no one in the pews.

On Mike’s laptop in our room  stjohns-salisbury.org

Life these last few days here haven’t been all gloom & doom, by any means. (“A merry heart does good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dries the bones.” Proverbs 17:22)

Saturday Mike & I taught friends from Mauritius and France how to play Five Crowns, a card game I learned from a Bible study friend who learned it on a mission trip to Tanzania. So lots of international connections! Then we played Uno.

Playing Uno in the Volunteers Community Room with, left to right, Sandra from Mauritius (country in East Africa near Madagascar), Sister Wafaa from Egypt, Clarisse from France
Yesterday morning we walked to Redeemer Lutheran with a friend, Erika, but the two young women at the reception desk said there was no church service. (There aren’t supposed to be gatherings of more than 10 people because of corona concerns.) We walked down a street of upscale stores with outdoor art. Here we’re imitating sculptures of Olive Oyl & Popeye.

We discovered the Lions Fountain at a Jerusalem park…

With Sister Erika from Brazil, at Lions Fountain

Lions Fountain

… and beautiful tulips near the King David Hotel.

Four uplifting things to share before finishing packing:

1. By “Abdu Sharkawy, a doctor and expert at the University of Toronto in Canada”

I’m a doctor and an Infectious Diseases Specialist. I’ve been at this for more than 20 years seeing sick patients on a daily basis. I have worked in inner city hospitals and in the poorest slums of Africa. HIV-AIDS, Hepatitis, TB, SARS, Measles, Shingles, Whooping cough, Diphtheria… there is little I haven’t been exposed to in my profession. And with notable exception of SARS, very little has left me feeling vulnerable, overwhelmed or downright scared.

I am not scared of Covid-19. I am concerned about the implications of a novel infectious agent that has spread the world over and continues to find new footholds in different soil. I am rightly concerned for the welfare of those who are elderly, in frail health or disenfranchised who stand to suffer mostly, and disproportionately, at the hands of this new scourge. But I am not scared of Covid-19.

What I am scared about is the loss of reason and wave of fear that has induced the masses of society into a spellbinding spiral of panic, stockpiling obscene quantities of anything that could fill a bomb shelter adequately in a post-apocalyptic world. I am scared of the N95 masks that are stolen from hospitals and urgent care clinics where they are actually needed for front line healthcare providers and instead are being donned in airports, malls, and coffee lounges, perpetuating even more fear and suspicion of others. I am scared that hospitals will be overwhelmed with anyone who thinks they “probably don’t have it but may as well get checked out no matter what because you just never know…” and those with heart failure, emphysema, pneumonia and strokes will pay the price for overfilled ER waiting rooms with only so many doctors and nurses to assess.

I am scared that travel restrictions will become so far reaching that weddings will be canceled, graduations missed and family reunions will not materialize. And well, even that big party called the Olympic Games… that could be kyboshed too. Can you even imagine?

I’m scared those same epidemic fears will limit trade, harm partnerships in multiple sectors, business and otherwise and ultimately culminate in a global recession. But mostly, I’m scared about what message we are telling our kids when faced with a threat. Instead of reason, rationality, openmindedness and altruism, we are telling them to panic, be fearful, suspicious, reactionary and self-interested.

Covid-19 is nowhere near over. It will be coming to a city, a hospital, a friend, even a family member near you,at some point. Expect it. Stop waiting to be surprised further. The fact is the virus itself will not likely do much harm when it arrives. But our own behaviors and “fight for yourself above all else” attitude could prove disastrous.

I implore you all. Temper fear with reason, panic with patience and uncertainty, with education. We have an opportunity to learn a great deal about health hygiene and limiting the spread of innumerable transmissible diseases in our society.

Let’s meet this challenge together in the best spirit of compassion for others, patience, and above all, an unfailing effort to seek truth, facts and knowledge as opposed to conjecture, speculation and catastrophizing.

Facts not fear. Clean hands. Open hearts. Our children will thank us for it.

2. More calming, perceptive words, this time from C. S. Lewis

C. S. Lewis on the Coronavirus

3. On Sunday, March 1, at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Jerusalem, Pastor Carrie invited congregants to suggest favorite hymns for a short “hymn sing” as people arrived. A woman near the front said, “Have No Fear, Little Flock,” which I appreciated as a brilliant, calming choice for these anxious times.

Have no fear, little flock;
have no fear, little flock,
for the Father has chosen
to give you the kingdom;
have no fear, little flock!

Have good cheer, little flock;
have good cheer, little flock,
for the Father will keep you
in His love forever;
have good cheer, little flock!

Praise the Lord high above;
praise the Lord high above,
for He stoops down to heal you,
uplift and restore you;
praise the Lord high above!

Thankful hearts raise to God;
thankful hearts raise to God,
for He stays close beside you,
in all things works with you;
thankful hearts raise to God!

4. Last but not least, a poem from Sister Rita, from a friend of a friend:

Pandemic
“What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath —
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.
And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.
Promise this world your love–
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.”

Blog readers, thank you for reading. You’ve got your own challenges with closed schools, etc. Feel free to e-mail us prayer requests at mjconnor1982@gmail.com and bjconnor1982@gmail.com.

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”    Numbers 6:24-26