On Saturday morning, I received a call from one of my Yuli friends with the horrible news that one of the missionaries/teachers in Yuli had passed away in a tragic airplane accident.
Our time in Yuli just overlapped a little, but I remember meeting him when he first arrived in Yuli and being so thankful that God has provided Christian teachers for the town I loved. I'd seen him a few more times on some of my return visits there, and could see that he and his team were making a huge positive impact on the people there. Some of my good friends were also really close to him.
On Sunday morning I took the train down to Yuli and was able to pray with a lot of people there. I was awed by the sense of worship there was. We know God is good, but sometimes when we face tragedies we have more questions than answers. Fortunately, we can know that God is still in control, and that he brings good out of even the most acute pain.
There was a memorial for Jon-Eric on Friday, and his family will be returning back to the States soon. Please keep praying for them, as well as for his team members and close friends in Yuli. In the days and weeks to come they will still be coming to terms with his loss and learning how to live without him.