Travel Update
I have been purposely not posting much about this debacle for the past few weeks. There has been a lot of talk concerning this pandemic and we have had our shared experiences of people giving us funny looks when they heard we were coming from China. Though, I haven’t said much, the Howard family has been praying for China and any other victims of this virus since it became such a serious problem. Our hearts are with the Chinese people and may God bless you all with good health/ safety. It breaks my heart to see this event take place in my second home.
This post is mostly an update about our stay here in the USA and let our friends and family know about what is going on with us. We arrived in my hometown back on January 21st and have been enjoying good quality time with friends and family. I cannot believe it has been 3.5 years since I have returned to the USA. Most days that I have woken up in the morning, I feel like I’m in a dream. Looking in hind sight now, a lot of my friends were asking why we would travel back to the USA during Lunar New Year and not the summer. Well, I honestly think this was all part of God’s plan.
He has been taking care of every step of the way. With this pandemic that has struck across China, if we have had arrived in the USA just a few days later, Elizabeth would have been quarantined for up to two weeks in the USA. This is the end of our 3rd week here in the USA and we have been safe and healthy. We were supposed to leave back for China on the 10th of February, but now they have cancelled all flights returning back to China for sometime. At the moment, we are not sure when we can return, but it seems like perhaps the end of this month or beginning of March.
God has kept us safe this entire time, allowing us to be comfortable here in the USA sparing us from this tragedy. My school has delayed school until March 2nd and they are quite positive that we will not be able to meet again until later. They have recently purchased a license to work with Canvas (a Learning Management System) so that we can try to get on with school despite these precautionary delays. Even in this regard, it is a blessing to still have a job even while we are stuck in the USA and that we live in such a connected world where I can still teach while not being in China.
Either way, please continue to pray for the people of China. I know most people are safe from this type of virus, but there is still a lot of uncertainty among the Chinese people about what they are facing. There is still a lot of emotional stress, psychological pressures, financial struggles with people who cannot go back to work, etc. We need to pray that the blood of Christ will be poured out over China and that God will grant officials, doctors, people the wisdom on how to deal with this issue.
中國加油！上帝祝福中國！阿門！
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