April 5 Today in OPC History

On this day in 1976, Orthodox Presbyterian medical missionaries Grietje Rietkerk, M.D., Cornelia Van Galen, R.N., Sandra Campbell, R.N, and the Rev. John Mason left East Africa. Dr. Rietkerk and Miss Van Galen left for the Netherlands, and Miss Campbell and Rev. Mason went to the United States. Earlier in the year they had closed the hospital at which they served and evacuated to Asmara with their possessions. Foreign Missions General Secretary John Galbraith arrived to negotiate with local authorities about the missionaries’ return permits and the status of the hospital. It was agreed that the government would not expropriate the mission properties and that the mission in return would allow the government to use the hospital until the missionaries were able to return.

Picture: Grietje Rietkerk (middle) serving at clinic