Over the last 6 days, life tumbled upside down in Liberia for our friends and the people they were serving with. Many of the details could not be shared on-line due to safety concerns in the increasingly volatile situation, so we spent much time in prayer as it worked out over the course of the week. Each day presented increasingly difficult challenges for the care workers in Liberia. As fear of the disease spread among the Liberian people, local antagonism against health care workers escalated to violence, making an already challenging task of managing effective care nearly untenable. News of Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol contracting the virus was a blow to the fight against the epidemic in Liberia, both symbolically to the those watching and tangibly to the the team serving in Liberia. The leadership and support provided by these two were key to the ongoing effort there for both Samaritan’s Purse and SIM. Questions about safety in the hospital lead to conclusions that the cause of Kent and Nancy’s exposure to Ebola was most likely not the failure of safety at the hospital, but more likely due to contact made outside the hospital where the safety suits, processes, and procedures are not in place. Regardless, it was evident that the protection of health care workers could not be ensured by hospital safety alone. The risk outside of the ELWA hospital walls was growing beyond manageable levels. The Liberian government closed the borders, local fear and violence continued to escalate, and the prospect of maintaining the safety required to provide care for Ebola victims was all but gone. Samaritan’s Purse and SIM began working to evacuate workers to their home countries.
Our Friends, Our Plans
After a significant rally for prayer, we got word that our friends, the Bullers, have opportunity of being evacuated. Logistics for evacuating this dear family are challenging, so please continue to pray for peace, provision, and protection. They were not able to give any information regarding the timing or the destination. Clearly, our plans to go to Liberia were cancelled early in this story as we turned our focus from planning to praying for Liberia, for the Bullers, and for the new names and faces we were growing to love and pray for. There is still much need, and we still have much opportunity to care for the Buller household and potentially others affected by this grieving situation. Please continue to pray for them. Pray for tough decisions for caring for family and loved ones. Pray for protection and strength for those who are not able to evacuate at this time.
(Note: See the follow-up post regarding new challenges of these workers' return)
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