Recent happenings

Most recently we've been having an enjoyable time...

My classes have taken off- we are 1/3 through the first course "Methods of Bible Study and Bible Interpretation". We have about 30-35 coming out (they have not all shown up on the same day yet and we've had a few new ones join-- maybe some others drop out- we'll find out for sure soon!!). So far the reviews seem to indicate that they enjoy it alot and are learning quite a bit- I'm glad to be a part of it!!

If you could pray for us, though. My translator's English is good, but Theological English is a little different and he's taking the class at the same time so he's trying to learn new things while trying to translate them into Spanish- we've had some struggles recently. One night we just weren't getting on the same page and so we took a break and I asked the people to pray that we'd communicate well. Well all 30 folks began to pray at once- loudly! We prayed together for about 10 minutes or more and as the sound began to quiet down, we started the class again. The rest went very well and they "Got it" at the end! Praise God!!

Sharlene is doing well- My mom went home last Monday and Shar is doing well. She is walking with a cane still and is better than she was pre-surgery, but still in pain and in need of rest almost every day.

Elijah had a birthday party last week. We had a bunch of people over and we had Carne Asada for lunch (Thin BBQ Steak tacos). It was a great time and I'll include some pictures.

We went to a $3.00 circus about a week ago- we were hoping for animals and got dogs and 1 tiger. The tiger was at the very end. Mostly it was people dancing around on stage. We won't go to another circus unless we see elephants and such out front... This one didn't even have circus goats.
Here are some pics...

Mickey Mouse and Ariel along with a bunch of dancing disney characters...


Circus tiger-- he was there for1 minute and then whisked away- after that they brought in another, slightly dopey tiger tied to a table with a standard dog chain. You could get your pic with the tiger for $10.00-- some people put their infant kids on the tigers back!


Circus dog being swung around



Elijah's 10th Birthday

lizards- 2 of 5 the boys caught today-- this big one about as long as the tip of my middle finger almost to my wrist...

Until Next time,

Mike for the family...

class in session

Hey folks,

Just a short note with a report and prayer request...

1. Shar is back in Mexico now. She is doing very well!! She needs to get a couple hours of bedrest each afternoon, but is able to get around the house with only 1 crutch and she walks around the block with 2 crutches almost every day. She gets her staples out this week and is looking forward to increasing mobility and decreasing pain in the coming weeks and months.

2. My mom is still with us for 2 more weeks- she has been a great help and will continue to be while shes here. Shar's first day back she did too much (happy to be home again!!) and needed to rest alot the next day- so now she is learning to lean a bit on gramma!

3. Bible Training for Pastors and Leaders has been going for 1 week now. The first monday we had about 12 out- which was a bit discouraging, because we'd been aiming at 20 or so-- The next saturday we had quite a few brand new faces and we had about 18 out. Last Monday night we had 23 out and a few were missing from the other sessions. So we are maxed out at about 30 or so (I need to order more books). More than half seem to be pastors and/or spouses, and the rest are church leaders with an interest in Bible Training.
So far it seems to be going well- with good response and lots of interest- Please pray that it continues to go well and that we would all grow closer to Jesus as we study together!!

4. Our vehicles--- are still in insurance and registration limbo... Our donated 1991 Ford explorer 4x4 (needed for the roads down here-- ask someone who's been here!!) is in process of getting imported. Hopefully it will be done by this weekend, because it is supposed to rain here this weekend and everythign stops without a 4x4 here...
Our van has Mexican Plates, but we are working on getting the proper Mexican and US insurance on it. That is tough enough when you come from provinces with "Plate Insurance" that is automatic when you get your license plates... but even more so when you are trying to get insurance that is good for 2 countries and do so in your second language (I don't quite have my "insurance Spanish" perfected yet- but am improving...). As in most things here-- it will be done "Mañana" (Literally "tomorrow"", but in reality only means "not today!) Please pray that this gets done quickly- as we have been "borrowing" a YUGO vehicle with a bad transmission. It is costing us 10 cents// Mile and has been since August 22nd-- when my Saskatchewan plates expired.

Thanks for your prayers and partnership!

Blessings,

Mike

Medical Missions

It seems to be a recurring theme this last while- Medical needs...

Last week I took Pastor Daniel in to an eye Doctor to have him look at Daniels cataracts. Daniel has been waiting for 3 years to get his eyes done as they progressively got worse. He could no longer see well enough to drive or work much and they had been living off of very little income. Last spring he asked me for a large print Bible because he could not read his with the print so small. He then went on to tell me about his cataracts and how it was very very expensive to fix- $700.00. Which may be close to a few months income for them. No way he could afford it.

I mentioned this need in Canada at Little Woody Baptist church and a lady came up to me afterward and said that she could pay for his surgery- well, last Friday was surgery day. It was somewhat marred because Dolores, his wife, had a horrible toothache. The cost to get one pulled was between $35 and $50 US- too much for them to afford- especially after the medication.

I bought her some new medication and it helped- but today she is in pain again and needing it to be pulled soon...

While in the Colonias we heard of a young guy- 16 years old- who is the single breadwinner of his home. He broke his collarbone at work the other day. they cannot afford to go to a doctor. So what do they do? he can't work- and if he doesn't work - they don't eat...

Another little girl has some issues with her legs and is in need of crutches. She has been in need for months or years and finally, in the mail this or next week, will come the crutches she needs to be able to rehabilitate and be somewhat mobile.

Another lady is in need of medical work- and still another has a severe tear duct blockage which has resulted in a bad eye infection. She has found someone to help pay for her surgery- about $300.00 and so she'll be better soon...

The needs are huge- and this is only in one small church of about 35 people in one community!! It can be overwhelming at times to see the great needs and our limited resources.

As I finish re-reading my post I realize this... It looks kind of like a psalm in a way. At once I am lamenting the overwhelming needs of my friends and their friends, but as well I'm inadvertently sharing the blessings of God's provision of resources for others! The needs are huge, but our God is bigger! Please pray with us for the folks who have not yet had their Medical needs cared for- ask that He would be their provider!

And if you happen to know of anyone who has the abilities to doctor, nurse or dentist- Pray that they would be moved to lend their skills in service of the poor!!

God bless you all- thank you for your partnership with us...

Sharlene comes home tonight.... Praise God!

Until next time,

Mike for the family...

Shar's Recovery

Thanks for praying!

Sharlene had a great surgery! The worst part, she says, was waiting around for a LONG time for the surgery to begin!

In pre-op they froze her from the belly button down and gave her a pretty pink pill that made her feel "a little loopy" during the surgery. She could hear things that were going on, but is pretty sure she slept for at least part of it. Near the end she had a brilliant question to ask the Doctor, yet all she could seem to get out of her mouth were unintelligible gurgle sounds. She even heard herself do it- and wondered why she couldn't talk, but was not too overly concerned.

From the wait time, to pre-op, to operation, to the time they took her out of post-op to her room was 3 hours.


Sharlene was staying at the Health Resource Center in Calgary. Today (Friday) she will be out of hospital and on her way to Ponoka, Alberta to stay with a nurse friend for a week. They let her out a couple days earlier than she expected, and so she needed to do some rearranging of transportation to Ponoka, but it all worked out- Praise God!

She does not particularly like the pain-killers she is on- they make her mind a little foggy and she finds it difficult to think or make decisions, so they will be cutting her down a bit- hopefully the pain will be bearable!

She feels absolutely none of the hip pain she has lived with for almost 10 years only muscle pain from the surgery! She is doing well, her excercises are going well and she has been walking around the hallways already!

Thanks again for praying!!

BTW, My mother arrived safely and in good shape. She was up at 2:30am EDT to catch the shuttle to the Toronto Airport and she just went to bed at about 9pm PDT - Midnite her time- so hopefully she'll be able to get some rest tomorrow.

We truly appreciate you, our partners!

PS- Please pray for our finances this month!! I am importing and insuring 2 cars (total cost about $1600.00) Shar bought her blood thinner today at a cost of almost $500 and she'll need to fly back once more for a check up at an additional cost of about $400... We were given some generous gifts that have helped cover the cost of our Summer Support raising endeavour and our initial costs of returning and we are trusting God that he will supply all of our needs these next 2 months!

God bless you- thanks for partnering with us!

Mike

Cirugia (surgery)

Shar has been hanging out at family reunions (not her family- someone elses...) waiting for surgery to happen.

And waiting...


And Waiting...

And the time is almost here.


She goes into the hospital at 8am on Wednesday Sept. 5th (without coffee or breakfast!!!!!!) and
has surgery at 10:00 am. I don;t know how long she'll be in surgery for...

It sounds like she'll be coming out of the hospital on the Saturday or Sunday and then off to Ponoka Alberta to recover a bit at a nurse friends house there!

She is very nervous but is looking forward to being on the road to recovery!!

Thanks for praying!!

Mike for the family...