'19 Kids And Counting' Stars Jill Duggar And Derick Dillard Announce Extended Missionary Work: Will This Affect TLC Series' Fate?

It looks like Anna and Josh Duggar aren’t the only ones making a big move this summer. With the fate of their TLC series “19 Kids and Counting” still very much up in the air, Jill Duggar Dillard and Derick Dillard announced they’re moving out of the country.

Entertainment Weekly first came across the news that the couple will leave the U.S. in July to focus on missionary work. They made the announcement on their personal family website.

“God has put a desire in our hearts to serve Him internationally for longer than the typical short-term mission trip, but we didn’t know yet how God would fulfill that desire in us. We were prepared for the possibility of it being years before our family would be able to make a move of that magnitude. It’s something we’ve prayed about together in an effort to seek God’s plan for our lives in His service,” Derick wrote on the site as he announced the move. “Earlier this year, God brought about an opportunity much earlier than either of us was expecting. Several months ago, a new opportunity arose for us to serve God on the mission field. Before us we had a choice to make that would undoubtedly change the trajectory of our lives forever.”

The couple said they told the rest of their family about their major decision in May and plan to get started in coming weeks. The news comes just days after they celebrated their one-year anniversary together along with their newborn son, Israel Dillard.

The move comes in the wake of TLC putting the fate of the Duggar family’s reality-television show in limbo after the molestation scandal surrounding Josh Duggar. The network took the series off the air, and Hulu later removed all episodes of it from its streaming service. It’s unclear whether the show will return at all following the news that Josh reportedly molested young girls, including two of his sisters, when he was younger. It’s also unclear whether the loss of Jill and Derick will have any impact on the network’s decision to bring “19 Kids and Counting” back.