A nurse practitioner from Mississippi who was on a mission trip remains jailed in Macedonia on charges of smuggling coins considered artifacts out of the country.
Candi Dunlap was part of a missionary team from Fifteenth Avenue Baptist Church in Meridian when she was stopped at the airport September 28 prior to her return trip. Team members are quoted as saying the coins were given to Dunlap as a gift by a Macedonian, and that she had no idea it was illegal to leave the country with them.
Meridian television station WTOK talked with her pastor, Wayne Smith.
"The most important thing people can do is pray and just trust the Lord and ask him continually, over and over again, to be moving through this process," said the pastor. "I mean, something we can simply pray for is that God will place a judge in this case who will be fair and compassionate."
Dunlap is employed at O.C.H. Regional Medical Center in Meridian. An employee there declined to be interviewed, but did say Dunlap appeared in court Monday, did make a statement through an interpreter, and the next court appearance is scheduled Friday. Dunlap's husband Marc was in the courtroom.