My Memoir

Welcome to Angola, Something Always Goes Wrong:
A Memoir of Missions and COVID-19

02 November 2022

In March of 2020, I visited an Operation Mobilization (OM) mission base in Menongue, Angola to see if my family and I should move there to teach and do mission work. I got stranded when the coronavirus hit and the country went into lockdown. I made it out with the help of the US Embassy and a team of evacuating HALO Trust personnel who let me hitch a ride. That was over two and a half years ago, and now, on the eve of our move to Angola, the story is finally ready to be shared.

I wrote my story in book form, reconstructing events from the journal I kept and including quotes (occasionally paraphrased) from the journal. I am converting the memoir into a series of blog posts and will release it over the next few weeks or months. The story unfolds in three acts:

Act One: Welcome to Angola: Mission trip activities as I share in OM’s ministries. News of the coronavirus trickles in, as well as rumors that Angola will close its borders.

Act Two: Something goes wrong: After lockdown. No flights or overland travel permitted. Kept busy until arrangements were made for my escape. Attempted to leave Menongue in the dead of night.

Act Three: HALO Trust and the coronavirus convoy: Tour of the HALO base. National Geographic and Into the Okavango. Two-day, 600-mile drive to the capital city and a repatriation flight home.

If you find this book edifying or entertaining, or if you want to support our work, please consider sending me a “tip” at ko-fi.com/welcometoangola Both one-time and recurring monthly donations are accepted at Ko-fi. All proceeds support the outreach programs at our base in Menongue, Angola.

My Memoir

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