Jill Duggar & Husband Derick Ditch Dangerous Central America Mission After Two Years
Aug. 10 2017, Published 4:08 p.m. ET
Jill Duggar and her husband Derick Dillard have come under fire over the past two years for their mission work in Central America. After a friend’s murder, Zika fears and more, the Counting On stars are finally returning to Arkansas for good.
Jill and Derick, who are parents to young sons Israel and Samuel, broke the news on their blog.
“Through a number of circumstances, and guided by much prayer and counsel, we are discerning the Lord leading our family’s full-time ministry back to the United States for the time being,” the post read. “We understand very well that mission work definitely requires flexibility. This, we have witnessed and experienced first-hand in our years of ministry.”
The post continued, “It is, and always has been our aim, to seek the Lord above all else. This includes walking in close relationship with Him daily, seeking His direction for our family, and doing our absolute best in everything, namely, being a Gospel witness and Kingdom worker in whatever context He places us.”
Their departure comes after they have been highly criticized for the last two years for putting their children in danger.
In October 2016, Jill revealed how dangerous living in Central America with their son Israel has been.
“Every week, it seems like there would be different instances because Derick would preach one night a week a little distance from our house, so I would be at home alone with Israel,” Jill said. “One night, we were getting ready to go to bed, and we heard this loud crashing sound. Derick’s like, ‘You go in the bathroom,’ which is our safe room. We have our laptops, so we were messaging people back home like, ‘Pray for us. We don’t know what’s going on.'”
In February, they received backlash for living in El Salvador while Jill was pregnant with their youngest son Samuel.
The New York Times reported that El Salvador advised women in the country to not get pregnant until 2018. The mosquito-borne virus has been linked to brain damage in babies.
Then in May, their friend was kidnapped and murdered in El Salvador.
“We were shocked when we learned of his kidnap and murder,” they wrote at the time. “We’ve had them into our home three times in the past couple weeks!”
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