BETHLEHEM, Israel (BP) — A Southern Baptist pastor on lockdown in a Bethlehem area hotel while awaiting results of testing for the coronavirus (COVID-19) said he and his 12 congregants are confident God will use the experience for His glory.
Pastor Chris Bell and 12 members of 3Circle Church based in Fairhope, Ala., were tested with nose swabs for COVID-19 Friday (March 6) and expect results within a day, he told Baptist Press. They have been quarantined since Thursday at the Angel Hotel in Beit Jala after a hotel resident tested positive for the virus.
“It is impossible for me to believe that God does not have a plan for this,” Bell told BP, “because how in the world could we end up in the hotel where the epicenter of this thing takes place?
“And we are convinced — we don’t like it, we don’t want it — but we’re convinced God’s going to use this. We’re convinced that He knows exactly where we are, and He has not forgotten us. And we believe that deeply.”
When Bell, church leaders and their wives traveled to Israel for a tour of the Holy Land, they were assured Israel was one of the safest places to travel while avoiding the coronavirus outbreak, he said. What were only three cases in Israel when the group left the U.S., he said, have since grown to at least 21, Israel’s health ministry announced Friday.
Despite faith, Bell and his members are still suffering.
“But of course we’re human,” he said, “and we’re worried and concerned and tired and exhausted and all of those things. Our emotions are running the gamut for sure.”
Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee President Ronnie Floyd contacted White House and U.S. State Department officials Friday to ensure they are aware of Bell’s situation, Floyd told BP.
Bell pastors the multisite 3Circle Church in Alabama, with campuses in Fairhope, Mobile and Daphne. The travelers have no indication of what the Israeli government’s procedure will be when tests results are received, but are eager to return home.
Source: Baptist Press
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