March Newsletter
Happy Easter!!! March has been a roller coaster, so read this newsletter closely and try and hold on for the ride as we try and explain the unknowns, we have in front of us. As we will soon celebrate our savior's resurrection, we also celebrate the sale of our house. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead in 3 days our house went under contract in just 3 days. What a great blessing. We have our settlement here in Maryland scheduled for April 23, 2021.
Our visas have been approved and arrived in our passports. They are ready to go thanks to Daniel Jenkins, a BIMI missionary in The Gambia, who helped to get them expedited. During that same time, our fellow missionary Joan Schmitz arrived successfully in The Gambia but didn't receive the same welcome she did on her last visit. There is a covid protocol in The Gambia that we and our fellow missionaries are well aware of taking place. As we have been asking and praying for the guesthouse to be an approved facility for over a month but have received hard no's at every ask. Once one arrives in the country, one will be covid tested again meanwhile staying in a government-approved facility. This information was quite a shock to many as Joan got off the plane. People were so upset, to the point of yelling at the surprise living situation that not only would they not be able to go to their destination, but that they would have to pay for the hotel they were being forced to stay in. Some just bribed the police/military and were waved on and the rest had to wait for the bus to take them to the quarantine location. As Joan waded through all the unrest and chaos for the bus to arrive, she boarded and took the journey to a rundown hotel that had been previously shut down but opened for quarantine purposes. Many just paid the hotel fee and stayed begrudgingly while others refused to pay and chose to sleep outside the walls but on the grounds of the rundown government-approved facility.
Upon the news of the theatrics, our ABWE team leader Jason Liard has decided to not clear us to enter the country. This is his recommendation, "Sell your house, book your flights, yet find a place to live in America and we will revisit this on a month-by-month basis because covid rules are changing constantly." Let us just say this is not the situation we expected to have ourselves in. So, we have booked our flights for April 24, 2021, the day after settlement. Please continue to pray for God to be crystal clear for His plan for our travel.
Prayer Requests
Pray for God to be clear on our departure and living situation.
Pray for the logistics, the packing and what to pack in a shipping container.
Pray that God would call more people to The Gambian mission field.
Continue to Pray for Michele’s uncle who is undergoing cancer treatment and it’s not going as well as they would like it to be and is now moving to a different treatment option.
In Christ,
The Reeds
Patrick, Michele, Alyssa, Danielle, Luke
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