“We are administering the COVID-17 tests that we got through The Hope Center here at 3 Circle Church and American Esoteric Laboratories. The tests go the lab and we will let them know in the next five to seven days if they are positive or negative. We are telling them if they are displaying symptoms go directly home to quarantine. Giving these tests is more personal for some of our staff because we were quarantined in Bethlehem. We thought we were safe in Israel. We had no idea that we were checking into the hotel that was the epicenter of the pandemic in Palestine. We know the stress and anxiety that comes from this situation.

In the hotel, we prayed God would give us peace. Paul wrote to the church of Philippi from a prison cell while he was being beaten and spit upon, ‘Let the peace of God that goes beyond our understanding guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’ We didn’t go through anything close to what Paul went through, but we prayed that God would provide comfort during this time. We were well cared for by the Palestinian authorities and the staff of Angel Hotel made sure all of our needs were met.

They discovered a guest had gone home to Greece and tested positive for COVID-19. Someone on the hotel staff tested positive. They told us we need to leave the hotel and we were driving to Samaria, our next destination. Then they told us we had to come back because four people on the kitchen staff had tested positive. They sanitized everything and we went back to the hotel for quarantine. There was so much uncertainty and no plan, but the local media played a large part in getting the word out about our situation. More and more news outlets picked up on it, including The New York Times, and U.S. authorities started helping us. We all tested negative and were cleared to come home. We self-quarantined in the middle of nowhere when we got home, just to be socially safe and put people at ease. People dropped off groceries for us at the fence.

Right now, world has no idea what is happening day-to-day. We are building systems as we are flying the plane. As a church, we are trying to be the hands and feet of Jesus and asking what Christ would want us to do during times of need. We are feeding the hungry and buying groceries for the elderly and shut-ins. You can go to 3CircleChurch.com/give and there is a COVID 19 special offering. One hundred percent of these donations are used to buy groceries. We purchase gift cards from Walmart. A volunteer uses those to buy groceries for an individual, and delivers them to their doorstep. We have given thousands and thousands of dollars in groceries so far because of these donations. I am proud of the generosity of our church.

I grew up in Mobile. At 17, I walked into the back of a church and heard the gospel presented so clearly for the first time. I was overwhelmed with conviction and couldn’t believe that someone like Jesus would take on my sins and give me his righteousness. I walked down front and it felt like a million pounds lifted from my shoulders. I immediately felt God calling me into vocational ministry. If you are a Christian, you are in ministry. We are just called to minister in different ways.

22 years later I am still in ministry. We put up the testing signs last night. I never thought I would be putting up signs in a church parking lot that said, ‘Don’t roll your windows down,’ and ‘COVID 19 testing center.’ We just paved this brand new parking lot and the first thing we are doing is holding a testing center. I am proud of that. Our church will serve wherever we are needed.”

(I am now doing Soul-cial distancing interviews by phone. If know someone I should interview, send me an message or email. [email protected])