Dear friends,
Our last
newsletter found us recently returned from the Philippines. We traveled
through an almost deserted Seoul airport and arrived to find the airports in
the U.S. running normally. That changed a week later when international borders
began to close. We are glad we returned before that happened, though we would
not have minded an extended time in the Philippines. As with all of you, the
Coronavirus has affected our lives in many ways. Here are some of them.
Church: We worshiped with our church here
in Georgia that Sunday, and then for the next six weeks, we stayed home and
watched online. Slowly, the church began to reinstate services. Now, most things
are back online. People have overcome their fears of being together in a room,
and we even sing! The difference is that Joan and I wear masks. We are not
afraid for our own health, but we are concerned for the physically weak in our
congregation.
Health: I continue to recover from my
stroke. One provider told us that when you hit the one-year anniversary, you
will not recover any more abilities. During the last appointment, the
neurologist told us that he does not believe that. My verbal abilities were the
most affected – speech, writing, spelling, and typing. Since those are
activities I do every day, the neurologist expects me to continue to recover
for a longer period than one year.
In
January, doctors advised Joan to have surgery. Since she was not experiencing much discomfort, the surgery was
postponed until after our Philippines trip. Then the Coronavirus shut the
hospitals. When they reopened, the surgery was scheduled and performed. She
stayed overnight, but I was not able to be with her. However, I had recovered sufficiently
so that I was able to drive her to the hospital and pick her up the next day. We
even survived my cooking and washing for a while. She has recovered completely
and is glad to have that behind her.
Children’s
Ministry: Our
church has reinstated its ministry to children, and we are grateful to be part
of the children’s church team, but there were no special meetings planned this
summer because of Covid. We also heard from neighbors that many of their
children’s usual activities were canceled. So Joan sent out letters to the
neighbors in our little subdivision of 22 houses to ask if anyone was
interested in attending an outside Bible club. One of the neighbors contacted her
and agreed to host it in her yard and they set a time. It was just three days
because of the hosts’ schedule, but 12 children from the neighborhood attended.
Church Visits:
Through
all these changes, one thing did not change. GOD. We rest in His unchanging
character and thank Him for who He is and what He continues to do.
Prayer
requests:
- Continue
to pray for my healing. I am doing most things now, but I tire easily. The more
tired I am, the harder it is to communicate clearly.
- Pray
that we would be able to get back to our international ministry soon.
- Pray
for our trip to Maine. We will need a Covid test before departing for Maine. Pray
that it is negative. Pray for safety along the way and for Joan as she will be
doing most of the driving on this trip. Pray that we would fill our calendar
for our stay in Maine.
Please
keep us in your prayers.
Charles
and Joan Farley
