Pictures with our Grandparents

Answered Prayer

All praise to God! Tim was discharged and they will be flying back to Uganda tomorrow! Thank you Lord! Tim will be on antibiotic for six weeks and still has a lot of recovering to do. He will have his blood checked frequently and he is using a crutch to walk but still has pain when walking. The doctors said it will probably be a month before walking starts to improve because of the damage. So keep praying for Tim. Pray for patience so he can heal. IF things do not improve then they may have to go to American for further care. For now they are thrilled to be coming back to Soroti to be with their children and team again.

Thank you all for praying with us! God is faithful and real! He loves us so much. Again He has shown His healing power to us. May it be a testimony to all who hear.

A bit of everything update

September 20

I am sure you are all wondering how Tim is so let me fill you in as best I know. I talked to Angie today and it sounds like the frustrations continue but they are at least making progress. We think we have a diagnosis – Osteomylitis -- which means basically an infection in the bone. So it looks like the infection in Tim’s elbow joint moved to his knee and into the bone. This means six weeks of antibiotic (probably by IV but hopefully done at home) and rehabilitation so he can walk and use his knee and elbow again. Thank God for an answer and something treatable!

Tim, Angie, Zulea, and Jennifer are doing well. Tim was quite discouraged this weekend and they are all tired but they are trusting in God through it all. Tim’s doctor in Michigan is now also talking with them and the doctors in Kenya. Hopefully tomorrow Tim will have a bone scan (he already had an MRI and CT-scan).

As for all of us, we are doing great. We enjoyed having Avalien and Moses with us for a few days. All of the kids were so good and I was thankful I could give love and comfort to Avalien and Moses while their parents were gone. They are now at their home with another team mate.

We are having so much fun with Grandpa and Grandma here! What a blessing. They have been really helpful in the “chaos”. They are getting a good taste of our lives here. Today Dad went with Josh to teach an hour away. Mom watched Luka this morning as I taught Lydia and Grace and in the afternoon helped me bake for dinner with our team tonight. I am trying to soak it all it. What a precious thing to have them here especially for the kids. It feels so good. I think Uganda overwhelms them a bit – it is not McBain! – but they are taking it all in and trying everything. Good for you Dad and Mom!

Right now we are waiting for our new team members to arrive, the Kaisers (a family of five). We have everything ready – goodie basket and all! Hopefully they will have a good adjustment to this big move.

Thanks for praying everyone. We are so grateful for you!

Prayers Needed

Hi everyone, I just wanted to update all of you about Tim. (For some of you this is the first email I have included you in so if you want to read the old ones they are on the blog - address below.) I am so thankful so many people are praying because things have not gotten better. I talked to Luka's doctor on Tuesday about Tim's condition and he immedately said he had to come to Kenya and preceeded to call the doctor he needed and told him to prepare for his arrival. Tim, Angie, Zulea, and Jennifer (our team mate who is a nurse) all flew to Nairobi, Kenya on Wednesday after a very frustrating and disappointing experience at a Kampala Hospital. Tim's infection has moved to his knee and he cannot walk well (or at all at times) so we arranged for a wheelchair, got the tickets (thanks to another missionaries help), parked their van at another missionary, got them what they needed...and got them out of here - actually they just caught their plane in time! We are so thankful they are in Kenya and under better care. The doctor met them at the ER door. Since then a team of doctor has been working on Tim and can not figure out what is wrong. The blood work has come back with an infection but not too bad, yet Tim continues to not feel well then does better, then worse, then better... They are now waiting for an MRI which didn't happen yesterday - rrrr! We are praying it shows what is wrong. The doctors told Angie it is a puzzle and they need to put all the pieces together before they will know what they are deal with.

Wow, it has now been a week and a half of dealing with this infection and I think everyone especially those in Kenya are really tired and stressed and emotionally drained and confussed and worried and... We all simply can't believe this is happening to our team again. We are holding on to God. Is this an attack from the evil one or a refining fire from our Lord? How good it is to look back at God's hand of love and healing with Luka and know that same hand is on Tim and Angie.

A couple other things. Luka's urine is completely normal! He is healed! Thank you Lord! His doctor would like his urine tested again in three months from Kampala and would like to see him again around June. Thanks for all your prayers. Also, Josh's parents arrived! We are so happy to have them here (feel bad it is a bit crazy with everything with Tim and Angie but what can you do). We are also caring for Avalien and Moses for a couple days too. I just pray they feel God's peace with all that is happening. Our team is also expecting the arrival of new team members on Monday. With Tim and Angie gone and with us having Josh's parents we need to make some adjustments and new plans. Please pray for all of us through this difficult time. But above all pray for the doctors to figure out what Tim has and for his healing.

Thanks everyone!

Tim

We need your prayers. Tim has gone downhill again and now the infection is in his knee too. He can't even walk on it. They will be going to Kampala first thing in the morning to go to the hospital. The doctor has upped his meds too. We are right now in Entebbe where Luka and I are flying out in two hours. Pray for Angie and the kids as they figure out detail and caretakers. Thank God for Jennifer and other missionary friends. Most of our team is at a training this week. Wow, what a lot going on and a lot of stress. To top it off Zulea, Sliedrechts baby, is sick too. PLEASE pray for Tim, the family, and all of us involved!!! I just had to write before I left to have a little peace of mind knowing others are praying. Thanks.

Grandpa & Grandma are almost here!

We are getting so excited! Josh’s parents, Paul and Carole Shaarda, are coming. They fly out of Grand Rapids on Monday September 13 and arrive in Uganda on the 14th. They will be with us for three weeks. We look forward to showing them the beauty of Uganda, our home, lives, and ministry here. The kids are anxious for Grandpa and Grandma to come – counting down the days. Lydia said today, “I am just going to cry with happiness when I see them.” (Seems unreal that they will soon be here -- sitting in our home with us.) Please pray for them. Pray for peace as they finish up packing and begin the big journey. Pray for their flights and for good health and safety the whole trip. (We do not want any ones back to go out!) We look forward to the blessing of having them here.

Please also pray for Mandy and Luka as they fly to Kenya on Monday for Luka’s appointment with his kidney doctor. We are praying he is now 100% and this will be his last visit to Kenya.

Thanks everyone!

Just a couple pictures to Share

Update

So last night Tim went down hill again. His fever came back and blood pressure went down. They decided they needed a new doctor and thankfully found a good one at the International Hospital in Kampala. They saw the doctor this morning and he agreeded with their diagnosis and refered them to the specialist they needed. It looked like they would do surgery to clean the elbow out and find any pieces of the thorn they believe are causing the infection.

However after an ultra sound and meeting with the specialist, it was decided that Tim should be on antibiotics for two weeks since he is not in pain and doing relatively well. After two weeks if he is not better or having trouble then they will have to do surgery. Everyone with Tim in Kampala were very happy with the doctor and confident with his decision.

It is all so confusing to me. One minute Tim isn't doing well, another he is doing well, one doctor says this, another this. What are we to do but trust in God and the care He has already shown to Tim and to all of us. So keep praying. The ultra sound did show fluid and parts of the thorn so we pray the medicine works and there is no long term effects.

I was laying in bed the other night putting everything that just happened together and realized what it all meant. Tim infection could have led to toxic septic shock. That is what happened to my grandma two years ago and she was in ICU on a breathing tube! I hardly dare say what could have happened. It is only by God's grace and His healing power!

So, after all this I have decided I do not want to be a mother of five kids seven years old and under :). Really I love the kids and they were so good. I did school with the girl yesterday and today (while someone else played with the boys or they were napping). They were all excited tonight when we took them to get ice cream after supper. Avalien had two funny comments while staying with us. One, she said I am just like her mom. Two, after we told them we were going for ice cream she said I love this family. Tomorrow Josh will be home (done teaching) so that will be nice. I also want to thank our teammates who are always ready and willing to help.

Tim Update

Well today Tim and the others are in Kampala. THey went to the clinic there and had another frustrating experience. Tim is doing better so they think he is fine. They did get an ultra sound on the elbow and blood work done. The doctor did get more pus out too. They have to go again tomorrow afternoon to have another ultra sound and see if the fluid is still gone. They are disappointed they went all that way for not much but mostly we are just thankful Tim is so much better. I really believe God healed Tim and God took away all medical help so that we have no one else to thank but Him. Praise God!

Tim still is sore and a bit worried about it reaccuring or effecting him forever if we don't get this fully taken care of (there maybe still be infection in there or a part of the thorn). Pray that God continues the healing He started until it is complete. So if nothing changes they should be back to Soroti tomorrow evening. Thanks again for praying. What a blessing to know we can always count on our friends and family - GOd's family - to help us in a time of need.

Thank you God!

Ok, so things have changed again. Tim did not have his minor surgery here in Soroti. After an hour of waiting at the clinic they still where not doing anything so they talked to the doctor in Kampala and decided to go to Kampala in the morning and have the surgery and treatment done there. Our team got together for a meal and prayer time (it was already scheduled before this) and Tim appeared be doing quite well. I felt it was really fooling all of us -- he is a sick man! Jennifer too was very unsettled about things. My stomach was all upset thinking about how Tim was really doing -- was he going to be ok? Jennifer took his blood pressure just before we went to pray. It was 90 over 49. Low, too low. She told him to drink as we went to pray.

So we prayed as the kids and Tim watched a movie in the other room. I LOVE our prayer time. It is like I can feel Jesus just filling me with His power. He is so sweet to me! I just love our Lord. He is real. He is with us. Ok, so we all lifted to the Lord Tim. One person prayed that Jesus' clean, pure blood would run through his veins. I prayed that when we were finished and we checked his blood pressure again that it would be normal so we knew God was at work. We surrender control to God and put all our trust in Him. We covered our team in God's protection as we all felt oppressed lately. We lifted the lost people on our hearts. And praised our Father. How good it is to be desperate for Jesus.

Then it happened. We went back to Tim checked his blood pressure and it was normal! 110/60. Praise the Lord! He is at work and with us. His one glass of water he drank did not bring his blood pressure up -- Jesus did! He also went to the bathroom which was another great sign we watned to see. The kidneys are working. I am just thrilled. We love Tim, Angie, our team, and most of all our Faithful Father.

Keep praying for Tim and everyone. Tomorrow morning they leave for Kampala with Jennifer and Beckie and Zulea. We will take care of Moses and Avalien with the help of our team mates. Then hope to be in Kampala just until Thurday. We pray tomorrow they get the elbow worked on and the infection drained out (or maybe God will do that by morning). Tim will have to recover which sounds like meds and physical therapy. Still a lot of unknows, but we know God is with us and at work. Thanks for joining us in prayer!

Tim

Ok, a new update. Tim is at the clinic (in Soroti) right now and they finally saw the doctor and are doing something. The doctor took a sample from Tim's elbow (which came out with infected fluid) so they are right now preping for a minor surgery to open the elbow up and get the infection out. Jennifer is hopeful that this will really help and hopefully be the start to getting Tim better.

We are all so thankful for Jennifer and the others helping her with medical advice and for our whole team who are all pitching in to help wherever they can. So good to be together. We are also thankful for the body of Christ praying with us! So many emotions come flooding back into my heart of all the prayers that touched us with Luka's sickness. Once again we can trust in a healing God!

Keep Praying!

Please keep praying for Tim! Really nothing has happened today working with the clinic here. We saw some signs of improvement but now he is back to what he was again. I really want to see them in Kampala. It looks like they will go first thing in the morning and Jennifer will monitor him tonight. He is getting the meds he needs but he has a fever again and his blood pressure is down again and he is not urinating. He has had IV too. It is so hard to know what to do. We are praying!!!

Please pray with us for his healing! Thanks,

Pray for Tim

For those of you who don't know, Tim has poked by the thorn of a cactus about two months ago and has had a lot of pain since then. Last night it became much worse and Jennifer (our teammate and nurse) said it looked like there was an infection and now it went into the blood stream. Tim was in a lot of pain, he had a fever, and his blood pressure was low. This morning his pain and fever are better only because of pain killers (and everyones prayers I am sure) but he still needs a strong antibiatic, an IV, and his elbow to be drained. Jennifer is helping Angie figure out what to do. They have talked to doctors in America and Kampala to make sure it is the right diagnosis. Right now they are getting the medicine in town and an IV I think. They thought they would have to go to Kampala to drain the elbow but through an expat doctor found a capable doctor in Soroti who is going to do it this morning.

Wow, how quickly life is through upside down and we are falling to our knees desperate for God's help. How we need Him. Last night as Josh and I prayed I was so thankful we have the Lord with us. Thank you for praying for Tim and Angie. We will try to keep you up to date. Be asured God is here taking care of Tim.

Prayer Request

Thanks to all of you who prayed for the training two weeks ago in Katakwi. We had 26 participants successfully complete the training. The road was rough (I had to replace 13 spokes on my back wheel over the course of the week) but the week went well. We had good discussions and people were successfully trained in how to teach the Christian faith to people of different ages.

This coming week I will be leading a training in Amuria, one hour Northeast of Soroti. The topic this week is "Preaching Biblical Sermons." This is not my favorite topic (I think partly because I have no training in this area) but believe it is important since people are preaching every week. Please pray that those who attend will successfully learn to prepare and present a sermon that is Biblically sound.

Next week we will be going to Kampala. Mandy and Luka will be flying to Nairobi for another check-up with Luka's kidney specialist. Luka's urine still has excess protien. They will return to Uganda 20 minutes before Josh's parents arrive. That's right, Paul and Carole are coming for their first visit! Please pray for them as they make that long journey and as we spend three weeks together.

Answer to Prayer!

The street boys were released from jail yesterday! I don't know the whole story yet but I do know they were arrested for doing drugs and sent to court and later released. Thank you for praying with us. Now join us in thanking God and asking Him use this to draw the boys unto Him. As one of my team mates pointed out in prayer, they are still released to no home, no family, no hope. Pray for the street kids here and around the world.