Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. Psalm 116:15
"A Filipino physician has become the first Seventh-day Adventist missionary in active service to die of COVID-19 after contracting the virus in the Central African country of Cameroon.
Dr. Manuel Bellosillo, whose 25 years of mission work also took him to Zambia, Botswana and Nepal, fell ill with malaria at a remote hospital in Cameroon and then, in his weakened condition, succumbed to COVID-19. He was 67, and he and his wife, Elma, were only months from finishing a six-year mission term at the hospital.
Manuel Beldia Bellosillo was born on Feb. 18, 1953, to elementary teachers Silvester Burata Bellosillo Sr. and Victoria B. Bellosillo in Pontevedra, a coastal town in the central Capiz province, located about 375 miles south of the Philippines capital, Manila.
During their 11 years in Zambia, the family had no television, cell-phone reception, or Internet access at Yuka Adventist Hospital, located about 550 miles (990 kilometers) east of the national capital, Lusaka, and serving a surrounding village of small mud-and-straw houses. The local radio station was their only source of information. But the isolation enabled the family to focus more closely on the people whom they served and to make many friendships.
Dr. Bellosillo worked long hours and often was on call around the clock, especially during the years when he served as the only doctor in the hospital. At times, he slept next to a landline phone in the family’s living room so he could quickly answer calls to return to the hospital.
After Zambia, Dr. Bellosillo accepted a position at Kanye Seventh-day Adventist Hospital in Kanye, Botswana, where he served from 2004 to 2007. For the next five years, he worked at Scheer Memorial Adventist Hospital in Banepa, Nepal. Then he returned to Africa to work for two years at Batouri Adventist Hospital in Batouri, Cameroon, and later at Buea Seventh-day Adventist Hospital in Buea, Cameroon, a position that he held from 2014 until his illness. His mission term with the hospital was scheduled to end in 2020.
He also served as a church elder and a Sabbath School teacher and organized outreach programs.
Dr. Bellosillo contracted malaria in early May 2020 and again a second time in late May. A subsequent medical test on June 7 showed that he also had COVID-19. He passed away on June 17."
ANN
"A Filipino physician has become the first Seventh-day Adventist missionary in active service to die of COVID-19 after contracting the virus in the Central African country of Cameroon.
Dr. Manuel Bellosillo, whose 25 years of mission work also took him to Zambia, Botswana and Nepal, fell ill with malaria at a remote hospital in Cameroon and then, in his weakened condition, succumbed to COVID-19. He was 67, and he and his wife, Elma, were only months from finishing a six-year mission term at the hospital.
Manuel Beldia Bellosillo was born on Feb. 18, 1953, to elementary teachers Silvester Burata Bellosillo Sr. and Victoria B. Bellosillo in Pontevedra, a coastal town in the central Capiz province, located about 375 miles south of the Philippines capital, Manila.
During their 11 years in Zambia, the family had no television, cell-phone reception, or Internet access at Yuka Adventist Hospital, located about 550 miles (990 kilometers) east of the national capital, Lusaka, and serving a surrounding village of small mud-and-straw houses. The local radio station was their only source of information. But the isolation enabled the family to focus more closely on the people whom they served and to make many friendships.
Dr. Bellosillo worked long hours and often was on call around the clock, especially during the years when he served as the only doctor in the hospital. At times, he slept next to a landline phone in the family’s living room so he could quickly answer calls to return to the hospital.
After Zambia, Dr. Bellosillo accepted a position at Kanye Seventh-day Adventist Hospital in Kanye, Botswana, where he served from 2004 to 2007. For the next five years, he worked at Scheer Memorial Adventist Hospital in Banepa, Nepal. Then he returned to Africa to work for two years at Batouri Adventist Hospital in Batouri, Cameroon, and later at Buea Seventh-day Adventist Hospital in Buea, Cameroon, a position that he held from 2014 until his illness. His mission term with the hospital was scheduled to end in 2020.
He also served as a church elder and a Sabbath School teacher and organized outreach programs.
Dr. Bellosillo contracted malaria in early May 2020 and again a second time in late May. A subsequent medical test on June 7 showed that he also had COVID-19. He passed away on June 17."
ANN