Although Brantly has never been to Zambia, he’d never been to Liberia before either. “We’re trusting that God has opened the doors, and he’ll pave the way,” says Brantly. “If there’s running, heated water, we’ll be fine.”
During his five-year hiatus from overseas missions, Brantly did some public speaking, taught in the residency program at a Fort Worth hospital, and treated low-income patients at a neighborhood clinic. The family lived in an apartment that housed many refugees and immigrants, while Amber worked with refugee resettlement and racial reconciliation in the church. Brantly, who met his wife while doing medical missions in Honduras, says God has been equipping her with passions and skills that will greatly benefit their work in Zambia.
Brantly says Ebola isn’t really “in the front of my mind” as he returns to Africa. He’s not particularly concerned about the virus reaching Mukinge but admits he’d feel afraid if it did. He says he hopes he’d “choose to stay and help and take care of patients again”—and also that he’d “be wise about how my family navigates that situation and prevent my wife and children from unnecessary risks.”
In the end, Brantly says, “It’s not a matter of not fearing. It’s a matter of choosing to have compassion despite fear.” After all, adds the doctor, God calls his followers to “extreme love and not to self-preservation.”
