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Jill Duggar, Derick Dillard Reveal Why They Aren’t Returning to Central America

Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard are home for good! The couple announced in a post on the Duggar family blog on Thursday, August 10, that they won’t be returning to their mission work in El Salvador.

Related: Duggar Family Photo Album

The Counting On stars revealed that they’re discontinuing Dillard Family Ministries. “Beginning this month, we are discontinuing Dillard Family Ministries and will no longer be accepting donations through this organization,” they wrote. “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.”

Duggar, 26, and Dillard, 28, who tied the knot in June 2014, have been living in Central America on and off for two years. In May, the 19 Kids and Counting alum revealed that her family had returned to the U.S. for the birth of their second child. The pair welcomed their second child, Samuel Scott, in July. They are also parents of 2-year-old son, Israel. 

Related: Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard's Wedding Album

“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 read. “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. At this time, God has seen fit for our family to continue serving him in ministry within the context of Northwest Arkansas.”

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Duggar previously revealed on Counting On that she feared for her safety at times. “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,” she explained in an October 2016 episode. “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.’”

Recently, Dillard received backlash for posting controversial tweets about I Am Jazz star Jazz Jennings. “What an oxymoron…a ‘reality’ show which follows a non-reality,” he wrote on August 2. “‘Transgender’ is a myth. Gender is not fluid; it’s ordained by God.”

Jennings, 16, reacted to the incident on August 3, tweeting, “Every day I experience cyber-bullying, but I keep sharing my story. Today was no different.”

Counting On season 3 premieres on TLC on September 11. 

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