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!