Update 2: Aunt Na

It's been a few days since I've updated, but I'm sure many of you have been following the updates my sis, Katie, has put on Caring Bridge.  Yesterday was a very hard day.  Definitely some set backs and it was discouraging.  The hardest part was that my Mom was only one at the hospital when things went a little sideways.  Read all about it here.

My cousin, Andy, and I drove up to Reno yesterday afternoon and got here late last night.  Came right in to see Aunt Na.  I'm so glad for the pictures I was able to see of her this week before getting here, but nothing can quite prepare you to see someone you love so much in this condition.  Seriously, so hard.  Honestly, it sucks.

We came back this morning to see her and she was giving us thumbs up when we asked her questions.  She still just seemed out of it, like it took tons of effort to respond in any way.  Right before we left so the doc's could do their rounds, the neuro PA came in to talk to us.  He was awesome.  Realistic, but encouraging.  He explained the injury in a way we could understand and it made so much sense.

We just came back after rounds and she's had her eyes open a lot!  Andy stood by her side and she turned and seemed to look right at him.  She kept them pretty wide for several minutes.  We're just sitting in her room, praying, playing worship music, talking to her.  Don & Shirley...great family friends....just arrived.  Shirley said she's WAY more alert and responsive than when she was here last weekend, so that's encouraging.

The nurses here are incredible.  So kind, patient, and loving.  We couldn't ask for better care for our sweet Aunt Na.

PLEASE continue to pray.  Thank you for your faithfulness to pray and ask others to pray.  She needs them.  It's going to be a long road to recovery, but we're so thankful for the progress she's already made.  It's been a long week...emotional, tiresome, up, and down.  But the Lord has been so faithful. 
He always is.  He hasn't left her or forsaken her.  We're so thankful she's knows Him, as He will be her....our....Ultimate Peace, Comfort, Strength, and Joy through this healing process.

Give me Jesus....Give me Jesus...You can have all this world...Just give me Jesus.

ready

Last year I unintentionally chose a word to define my year.  After reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, I chose the word eucharisteo...to be grateful, feel thankful.  And this year, I truly learned how to be...in spite of infertility questions, Steve still looking for consistent work, moving to a new part of town, having 3 out of 5 grandparent's health significantly decline...

I am truly thankful for each of these things...have seen God in all of it...felt His presence more powerfully, intimately, and peacefully.

So this year I prayerfully, intentionally chose a word.  Thinking about some things this year WILL hold...Claire turning 5 and going to kindergarten is the main one...and thinking about some things I HOPE this year will hold...another child, consistent work for my husband...which could possibly lead to moving to a whole new place...homeschool, public school, or Christian school, will I keep working full-time, will we continue to live with Steve's parents...all of these things, when I think about them altogether, I get overwhelmed and just want to stop.  Yes, I am grateful, I feel thankful for all these things...opportunities, goals, dreams...but I am overwhelmed.

So my word for this year...what I want to consistently, faithfully be is READY.  I know...not very deep, not very spiritual, not super biblical...but God put it on my heart...He wants me to be ready for any and all things.  To be ready to step out in faith on a daily basis...every hour, minute, even second.  My heart is racing just thinking about it...slightly overwhelmed now, but mostly excited...and ready...to take on 2013.

 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
Hebrews 12:1

Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.  Psalm 9:10

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 Romans 15:13

camp

Last week I went to camp with 110 3rd-5th graders from church.  From the minute we got to camp I could see God's provision and grace in how He provided 11 amazing counselors...including one the day before we left.  I did my best to prepare the counselors for what to expect that week, but of course words can't even to begin to describe the wave of emotions that go through you moment by moment.  I mostly just wanted them to know that I was there for them, to help in whatever capacity they needed.  At that point, little did I know how much those words would mean.

 The kids arrived...excited, scared, sad to leave moms, nervous, noisy, shy, anxious...many of the counselors were feeling the same way!  Sunday night was fun, but tiring.  The kids were too excited to sleep, many of them bragged the next day that they didn't fall asleep until 3:00am or 5:00am, which is funny because they had absolutely no way of telling what time it was!

I spent most of Monday with one of my counselors who had signed up at the last minute.  I really felt like I was feeding him to the wolves, as he had just returned from camp himself, hadn't gone through any of the camp trainings, and was closer in age to the kids than to me.  He was amazing though, and it was clear from the beginning that he was connecting and had a strong bond with his 10 boys.  He and I also connected that week...in ways people should never connect...over cleaning up barf!

Anyway, I checked in periodically with the other 10 counselors, who were doing a great job.  I'd help walk kids to the nurse so she could bandage scrapes and bruises, made sure kids were drinking water, ask the counselors if they needed breaks, etc.  Everything was going so well.

When I woke up Tuesday morning, I was anticipating BIG THINGS from God.  That night the salvation message was going to be taught by Festus, the camp director.  I love hearing him teach kids about Jesus.  He is so intentional and brings it right down to the kids level.  After the morning meeting, I gathered my counselors together to pray, specifically for those we knew weren't believers.  I couldn't wait to hear their stories that night of how God had transformed kids hearts and minds.

me, Cinnamon, & Ariel

 The day was great...kids were having fun, relationships were continuing to develop, counselors had great attitudes...what more could I ask for?!?

That night, as we walked into the barn for the salvation message, I could just feel that some things were off.  The girls were great, but there were just a few small things going on with the boys that were causing a lot of distraction.  I stood in the back, not listening to anything being said, just praying, watching, tapping shoulders to quietly hush, and watching 3 boys in particular.

One couldn't stop chatting with the kids around him, one kept laying down on the floor, and one was crying, sitting close to the back door in case he needed to leave and be sick.  At the end of the barn meeting, the crying one was now almost in hysterics and it took several people to try to help calm him down.  3 of us walked with him back to his dwelling, a covered wagon, but we never got there.  We realized he had had an accident and that's why he was so upset.  His counselor got clean clothes and shower supplies for him to get clean and hopefully calm down.  We never got that far....because...that's when it all started....barfing....everything came out all over the place...and it didn't stop...at least 5 times.  Poor kid, all he wanted was his mom, and that's all I wanted at that point, too.

We FINALLY got him cleaned up and into bed, but it was a struggle...it lasted a couple hours...finally promising him to call home in the morning.  We thought we were in the clear.  Mufasa (the counselor) and I went to meet up with the other counselors and hear all the stories of kids giving their lives to Jesus,  It was exciting to hear that 25 kids asked Jesus to be their Savior, but I was so tired, I told them to give me all the details the next day (now looking back, I should've just made them tell me right then).

 Jane (my boss) brought walkie-talkies out for all the counselors that night.  I'm so glad she did for many reasons...one being that it offered comedic relief to what was turning into a difficult week.  Give 5 boys walkie-talkies and suddenly they think we all need to know all the details going on with them, and it's always followed with "10-4" or "do you copy?".  The other reason I'm glad she brought them was because then everyone was able to get a hold of me and let me know exactly who was barfing...not even joking...that was the night it all began.

After we all said goodnight, I walked back with Mufasa to his wagon to check on our little barfer and discovered he hadn't stopped.  BUT, he also never woke up...I'll let your imagination take it from there!!  We cleaned it up the best we could...

Shaggy & Marky-Mark summarizing the week

 The next morning, I started hearing rumors of all the barfing that had been happening through the night.  I went to the nurses office and it was all confirmed...so many sick kids hanging out in her office.

We went about our day doing more fun activities...all the time in the back of my mind I was hoping all the sickness was over with.  We zip lined, went to the petting zoo, sang fun camp songs, swam, did archery...and I continued to trek back and forth to the nurses office.  By the end of Wednesday, we had sent 9 kids home.  I was really sad about it, but it seemed like we were on the mend.  Wednesday night a couple more kids got sick and went home...then...finally, some relief.

Thursday was a great day...our last full day of camp.  I was exhausted...I hadn't slept for more than 4 hours each night and I felt like every emotion had been drained from my body.  But I was still having fun...the one thing that was bothering me was this tight, queasy feeling I had right in the middle of my stomach. "OK God...I can get sick on Friday when I get home...but I HAVE to be here for these kids and my counselors," I kept praying.

I stayed up late that night with Jasmine...she was the other mom counselor...my partner, a big reason I was able to get through the week, she made me laugh at all the right times.  We stayed up late laughing and talking, and I'm so glad we did because we were already awake and ready for the excitement of that night.

By the end of camp on Friday at 1:00pm, 29 kids and 2 counselors went home with the flu.  At that point, I let the tears flow...from behind a tree of course.  I seriously felt like a mom to all those kids, so it was heartbreaking to see them leave.

8 of the 11 AMAZING Counselors!!

I couldn't have asked for 11 more amazing people to go on this camp journey with...Jasmine, Cinnamon, Butterfly, Ariel, Fancy Nancy, Lavender, Mufasa, Marky-Mark, Baggins, Ski, and Shaggy...the Dream Team...and professional Barf Analysts...I love you all and am SO thankful the Lord brought you to my life.

I'm also so thankful for the 25 salvations we had at camp...God is SO good, even in the midst of gross trials...He remains so faithful.

Although it sounds like a bad week, it wasn't.  It was amazing....I grew so much, I was challenged beyond what I thought I could handle emotionally and physically...I am so thankful God took me through that journey...and I can't wait for IHC 2013!!

Ethia-opy

Ethia-opy is what Claire was calling Ethiopia this morning. :)  For those of you who know my family, you know Ethiopia has become a big part of our lives.  We sponsor a little girl there through Compassion International, and for those of you who know my Dad, you know he's there almost as much as he's in the USA!  We call it his home away from home.  Anyway, he's there right now with e3 Partners, who he and my Mom serve with, and he just sent the most incredible update email of the ministry that's going on there...thought I'd post it for those of you who might be interested...

Unbelievable day!  We visited in 4 different homes today with people who had all been trained last April to find out how they've done since then.  We were all overwhelmed with how faithful they've been in sharing the gospel, leading people to Christ, starting new churches and going to more communities to find a person of peace for the purpose of starting "2nd generation" churches.

me, Dad, Pastor (can't remember his name), Mom, & Katie in Ethiopia in 2007.

Home #1:  A young Orthodox Priest was led to Christ by a born again Orthodox Priest privately witnessing to him in Orthodox Bible School.  He's now leading church in his home and has started planting 2 more churches in unreached areas.  And...he's ALWAYS smiling...Jesus radiates from him!

Home #2:  A woman's husband went to prison, got saved came home and led his family to Christ.  Since then they've started a church in their home and have planted another in a different part of their larger town.

typical Ethiopian mud hut

Home #3:  An Ethiopian evangelist who had never led a church took our training and went home to start a multiplying church.  Soon he'd led nearly 20 to Christ, gathered them together for worship and instruction and trained them to go to other villages and follow his example.  10 other areas are targeted and have young Christian evangelists working hard to begin new churches.

this mom was SO pregnant, I'm sure she birthed the child right there in the field, as there weren't any clinics around.

Home #4:  In a village 1/2 hour drive from town a farmer who was saved, came to our training and while walking home heard the Lord speak to him to plant churches in his village of 2,500.  He wasn't sure how, but trusted God to lead him.  Not many days later he heard a loud commotion in a neighboring hut.  He went and found many people gathered around a woman who was demon possessed and close to death.  She'd tried everything for help...Orthodox Priests, witch doctor...but nothing helped.  He proclaimed to all who had gathered that only Jesus could deliver the woman.  He prayed and, not surprisingly, she was delivered and several came to faith in Christ. Since then, others have been miraculously healed, delivered from demonic possession and become followers of Christ.  A group of over 30 meet regularly...a "Mega Church" for this area!  And he now has several other villages that are targeted for new churches.

What a day!  We all are exhausted from praise and thanksgiving!

Katie & her translator helping someone get reading glasses at the eye clinic.

We don't always extend our trips to include "checking up" on churches that have been previously planted, but it sure was exciting to see how God continues the work of building His Church after we help start the process.  To Him alone belongs the Glory!!!

I love that my Dad has such a heart for missions!  Please pray for him and the team...God is moving in Ethia-opy!!