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Mary John Fleming and her husband Mike are sitting on pins and needles in Troy waiting, hoping and praying their son David and his wife Jordan will be coming home.

David and Jordan are missionaries in Lindi, Tanzania and have a flight booked with Emirates, leaving today and arriving Atlanta Wednesday.

“Jordan is pregnant so they already were planning to come home in May with a stop in Paris,” Mary John Fleming said. “But, when President Trump advised that those who are overseas and wanting to come home had better come now or be prepared to stay indefinitely, David and Jordan began making plans to come home.”

However, booking a flight was difficult.

“Other countries don’t want flights coming into their country,” Mary John said. “It was not easy for them to book a flight but, thankfully, they have this one with Emirates booked. We are hoping.”

The couple left for Tanzania in September 2018 and this homecoming will be their first.

“Thank goodness for Facetime,” Fleming said. “We have been able to see them as well as keep in contact. We are excited and so hopeful that they will be on their way home. It will be a long flight and, with a nine-hour layover in Qatar, it will be even longer. We just are anxious to know they will be coming home. But, we are hearing that some Emirates flight have been cancelled because other countries don’t want people traveling through. It’s wait and see.”

Davis and Jordan Fleming are full-time missionaries with SIM (Sudan Interior Mission), which is a century-old catalyst for global mission. 

Fleming said David and Jordan work with Christian pastors in the Lindi area.

David works individually with the pastors in the different areas of church including adults and children.

“He is also involved with a Christian school organization there,” Fleming said. “He has always had a heart for education. He thought in the Pike County schools for three years before going into missions. Jordan works with the pastor’s wife and with fundraising.

“The church there has a store where they sell items of different kinds. They are both involved in Bible study and other church activities.”

Having been a part of the Lindi community for more than a year, the couple is also involved with the community as a whole, Fleming said.

For Mary John and Mike Fleming the thought of their son and his wife being back at home is an exciting one. It’s also an anxious time waiting for word as to whether it’s “take-off” or “flight cancelled.”

For the Flemings, state-side or across the waters, they can only wait, hope and pray.