Tim and Julie Bishop

ESCANABA — After being stranded in Honduras as a result of that country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, Escanaba residents Tim and Julie Bishop finally made their way home last week. However, the process of returning to the United States was not a straightforward one for the couple.

The Bishops flew into Honduras on Feb. 25 and were scheduled to fly back on March 25. They are involved with a mission group that has been working in La Paz, Honduras, for about 11 years.

When the United States government issued an advisory to all travelers from the U.S. to return to the country, the Bishops contacted Delta Air Lines and moved their flight to March 15. The evening before they were set to leave, they heard the Honduran government planned to shut down all entry to and exits from the country at midnight.

The next day, the Bishops contacted Delta Air Lines and the U.S. Embassy in Honduras. They also worked with U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman’s office as they attempted to return home.

On March 20, it was announced that the Honduran government would allow evacuation flights to take place. While the Bishops did not have much luck finding one of these flights early on, the situation soon changed.

“Things started to happen pretty quickly,” Tim said.

The Bishops found a charter flight on March 23 that was set to leave early in the morning two days later. Tim said the flight was leaving from the city of San Pedro Sula — four hours to the west of their location at the time. They left La Paz and started driving to San Pedro Sula on March 24.

“As we were driving towards that city in the morning, all of the gas stations were closed,” he said, noting he and Julie had not heard about this before they left for San Pedro Sula.

Eventually, the Bishops had to turn around and head back to La Paz. On their way back, they got a call from Tim’s brother-in-law Mark Ruge, who had connections in Washington, D.C. and had been working to help them get home.

“We had been given the two last seats on a military plane that was leaving the next morning,” Tim said.

The plane was leaving from Soto Cano Air Base, a joint Honduran-U.S. military air base just 15 minutes away from where the Bishops were staying, but there was a catch. To actually board the plane, they first had to drive about two and a half hours east to the city of Tegucigalpa in order to go through a health screening. They would then get on a bus heading back to the air base.

Though they did not have enough gas to get to Tegucigalpa, the Bishops stopped at the air base on the evening of March 24 in the hopes that someone there would be able to help. While the soldiers at the base were unable to provide direct assistance, a Honduran soldier there was friends with a taxi driver who had a special permit allowing him to travel during the shutdown of public transport in the country. The driver was willing to take them to Tegucigalpa that night for $60.

The Bishops stayed overnight in Tegucigalpa, had their health screenings on the morning of March 25, got on the bus and headed back to the air base. There, they were loaded onto a transport plane heading to Norfolk, Va. with about 150 other people.

When they landed, the Bishops stayed in Norfolk for a night.

“We got an early flight out to Milwaukee in the morning, and from there, everything went smoothly,” Tim said.

Looking back on his experience, Tim described it as an “adventure.”

“It was interesting, being in the country as it was shutting down,” he said.

Specifically, he said the experience of being in Tegucigalpa — the largest city in Honduras — at a time when it seemed deserted was memorable.

However, Tim was concerned for the people living in Honduras. While the Honduran government had announced plans to distribute food packets to its residents, he had heard from people in La Paz that the food had not been handed out there.

“They hadn’t received that food yet, so that’s my worry,” he said.

Tim gave his thanks to those that helped him and Julie get home, including their family, friends, Rep. Bergman’s office, the U.S. Embassy in Honduras and the people stationed at Soto Cano Air Base.

“I feel gratified by how much support we got,” he said.