After living in Australia for many years with her husband, Jessie Chen finally had an opportunity to spend the Chinese New Year with her family in Wuhan, China, her hometown. Jessie’s husband, Benny Wen, was invited by the Fujian Adventist church to be the speaker for their winter camp.
“I was so looking forward to it, especially this time with our two children,” Jessie said. But she had no idea that less than a week after landing, she would be stranded in the epicenter of what the World Health Organization described as “the worst global crisis since the Second World War.”
Arriving in Wuhan in mid-January, just a week before the Chinese New Year, Jessie and Benny were looking forward to the big day, when sudden breaking news spoiled the new-year atmosphere.
“Because of an initially unknown respiratory disease that had already spread widely in the city, the government decided to have the whole city in hard lockdown,” she explained.
With the lockdown in place, no one was allowed in or out, and everybody inside Wuhan had to quarantine at home for two weeks. “At any given time, each household could have but one person to go out to shop for food,” Jessie added. “Most businesses in the city were required to close. Wearing masks became compulsory in public areas.”
Almost 10 million people were stuck in the lockdown, and the sudden changes brought anxiety and stress to everyone’s minds.
Staying at a different place from her parents, Jessie, her husband, and their children were only a short drive from her family, but they were not allowed to see each other due to the lockdown. “We were no longer separated from family across the ocean. We were a short distance away, yet like poles apart,” she said.
Frustration, Worry, and Disappointment
“At that time, we thought it would last for just two weeks, not knowing there were months to come. I felt very disappointed, but I knew I should not show my parents my frustration; otherwise, they would feel even worse.”
Jessie recalled trying to be cheerful and encouraging every time they chatted on video. Still, with a climbing number of confirmed cases and most patients being elderly people, she started to worry more about her parents, who already had health conditions. “They used to have a helper at home, but during the lockdown, she was away, so they had to look after themselves,” she said.
To make things worse, her parents’ apartment was located just across the street from the biggest hotspot of confirmed cases. “I felt helpless and hopeless at that time,” she admitted.
“Every morning, the first thing was not to read the Bible or pray but to call my mom and check whether they were well. This indescribable anxiety gave me numerous sleepless nights. I forgot about the mighty power of the Lord. My heart was sorrowful, and I felt lost.”
Feeling the world’s weight on her heart, Jessie found herself in a vicious cycle of negative feelings and emotions. “How often Satan used this opportunity to pull us down and draw us away from the Lord!” she said. Noticing how depressed and discouraged she felt, Benny prayed with her every night, but anguish would still linger in her heart.
You’re Not Alone
“Then, one midnight, the whistles of an ambulance broke through the quietness of the air, traveling across the lonely streets of the empty city,” Jessie recalled. The echoing of the siren made Jessie realize that thousands of health professionals who also had elderly parents and young children had been working tirelessly in the snowy winter days.
“Hundreds of them died on the battlefield because of a COVID-19 infection; yet thousands more voluntarily flooded into the city from other parts of the country,” she said. Realizing the enormous sacrifices happening all over Wuhan brought Jessie to question her way of facing what she was going through. “What about me? At this most difficult time for the people in this city, what did I contribute?” she asked.
“I even almost forgot I have a merciful and almighty God who is always with me, waiting for me to reach out to Him.”
Count Your Blessings
Bursting into tears and asking God for His forgiveness, Jessie started counting blessings from above. Almost 30 days of quarantine had passed, but all her family members were well. Her children were coping well with the lockdown; they also had sufficient food supply every day and a loving community back in Melbourne, Australia, that would send school and piano lessons to her son, Elisha, regularly. In the epicenter of a pandemic, Jessie was not forsaken. “The Lord has blessed us in our daily life all the time. Count your blessings, and you will also be amazed.”
From then on, Jessie stopped worrying and complaining. She was sure that God cared for them and all the people in that city. “When I would see the news with thousands of new cases of COVID-19 every day, I was concerned, but with no fear. I knew God is the One in charge.”
All Things New
Like all the doctors and other health professionals, Jessie wanted to contribute in some way. Even though she couldn’t go to the front lines, she decided to pray for Wuhan as Abraham prayed for Sodom and Gomorrah. “With faith and trust in God, my family prayed each day for all the sick, the doctors, nurses, policemen, volunteers, and all who worked hard to keep the city going,” she said.
She also started dedicating herself to make her family’s days enjoyable by teaching Chinese to Elisha, playing Bible games, and learning to make many different types of food. “It seemed that God used this experience to prepare us for the end time,” she reflected. From this experience, Jessie learned that even in the darkest times, she could draw closer to God and remember His blessings through the power of prayer.
On April 8, after 11 weeks of the city’s closure, the lockdown was finally over. Wuhan was alive again. Two weeks later, Jessie could finally see her parents. “It felt like a reunion after a whole millennium. We were so excited, we could not hold back our tears.”
Even though the lockdown was over, Jessie said that returning to Melbourne was not a smooth journey, but God provided the plane tickets for them to arrive in time for her Bible student’s baptism.
Landing in Sydney, they faced 14 days of quarantine and a 12-hour drive to Melbourne, arriving home on June 26. “When we arrived home safely, there was a lovely surprise behind the door. Spotless floor, beautiful and fresh flowers, delicious home-cooked food — all from our church family. Tiredness was gone, big smiles on our faces, sweet dreams of the first night home. We found rest in God’s strong arms.”
After a journey of tension, stress, and miracles while stranded for months in the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, Jessie affirmed that none of that is scarier than losing faith and trust in Jesus. “Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Nothing should separate us from the love of God,” she concluded.
The original version of this story was posted by Adventist Record.