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Reaching Hermosillo, Mexico with the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Archive for September, 2008


test results are in

Published September 5th, 2008 in Prayer Requests, Updates | No Comments »

We stopped by the lab today to pick up the results of the biopsies that were taken during the endoscopy on Tuesday. I am happy to report that there was nothing significant to report, especially the part that said there was no evidence of malignancy. The diagnosis is chronic gastritis with metaplasia.

Obviously we are pleased with the results and grateful to God for no serious implications. We trust that a few weeks of medicines will alleviate the gastritis and the discomfort.

Thanks for your ongoing prayers for us!

ongoing prayer request

Published September 3rd, 2008 in Prayer Requests | No Comments »

Please continue to pray for the G. family, dear friends of ours here in Hermosillo. G. is a pastor who recently resigned from his church after a very strong controversy. The story is complex, and I won’t share the details here.

G. has transitioned to secular employment for a time and is struggling to make a living. As you know, jobs here don’t pay much. In addition, the family must soon vacate the church-owned home in which they’ve lived for the last 9 years. They are faced with finding a rental for a time, as they try to sort out their credit potential, and find a home for which they can qualify.

During these days, many of their friends have forsaken them, due to the difficult circumstances in the local church. It really is a rough time for them, and our heart goes out to them. We ask you to pray earnestly for them: for wisdom, for encouragement, for faith in God, for opportunities, and for answers to their immediate economic needs.

medical followup

Published September 3rd, 2008 in Updates | No Comments »

As you remember, I suffered some severe pain back in June which felt like a heart attack. After 24 hours in the hospital, and then a couple of followup visits with the cardiologist, I received a clean bill of health, as far as the heart is concerned. The cardiologist recommended that I see a gastroenterologist to check out my esophagus and stomach.

I went to see the doctor about 2 weeks ago. He concurred and recommended an endoscopy after 15 days of taking no meds. That happened yesterday in his office. The procedure was pretty simple, really. The anesthesiologist gave me a very light dose of some happy juice, but I never went to sleep. Then he sprayed some kind of novacaine type spray in my throat. The gastro doctor stuck the TV camera in my mouth and told me to swallow. Gulp! I was laying on my side, so I could more or less watch the monitor as he fished the snake down my throat.

Bottom line, the doctor didn’t find anything alarming. There were a couple of areas that appeared to be slightly inflamed, and he took several biopsies. But no ulcers, no hernias, praise the Lord.

Interestingly enough, the doctor handed us the biopsies and gave us directions to the lab across town. We’ll go pick up the results on Friday. His instruction was to come back in 2 months, unless there was something in the lab reports that concerned us. Things work a little differently down here!

In addition, I’ll be taking two drugs, Tecta and Zantac, once a day for 6 and 4 weeks respectively. I am on a low-acid diet in the meantime. I am praying about whether or not I can give up coffee and tea, as the diet recommends. Oranges and grapefruits and strawberries will be easy enough to avoid, but coffee and tea? I don’t know! Ha Ha!

Bottom line, praise the Lord for the test results, and we continue to pray that there will be no unpleasant surprises with the biopsies.

 

a pretty good week so far

Published September 3rd, 2008 in Prayer Requests, Updates | No Comments »

On Sunday, we celebrated the closing of the 40 Days of Purpose campaign. After an encouraging message from the pastor we set up the tables and chairs and enjoyed a delicious dinner of tamales, refried beans, rice, and salads. For dessert there was coconut pie, cheesecake, brownies, strawberries, and cupcakes. About 30 were in attendance and everyone seemed to have a great time.

On Monday, we went to the home of a friend and national colleague, C., to launch a new church planting effort. This dear saint has proven to be an effective evangelist, discipler, trainer, and encourager. We are grateful for her disposition and her desire to see the gospel spread. After talking to her last week, we had agreed that we would begin the Rancho Grande Project with a prayer time on Monday. When we arrived at her house, we were pleasantly surprised to find that she had assembled a team of 7 for the project. Donna and I, along with our disciple P., made 10. What a great start. We talked briefly about strategy, and then had a touching prayer time. All 10 team members poured out their hearts to God. Donna and I reflected later that the prayers we heard seemed to be sincere and truly from the heart, rather than some superficial, canned prayers that we so often hear.

On Tuesday, we headed out for our weekly Bible study time at P.’s house. This week, several new people had been invited, so we went by the church to pick up a few extra chairs. It’s a good thing that we did, because before it was over, there were 18 of us sitting in a circle. The topic for the evening was from Acts and culminated in discussion of baptism. We have several new believers that are procrastinating about being baptized. Please pray for them that they will have the courage and commitment to follow through with this important step.

We’ve spent some time watching the hurricane coverage this week and praise the Lord that Gustav was no worse. We are thankful that our family members who evacuated, should be able to return home today or tomorrow.