Grounded

We have been grounded. Churches have stopped meeting. Planes have stopped flying. Most of our appointments have been canceled. For the unforeseeable future, we will stay put. But we have not been grounded like a naughty child for disobeying the rules. We have been grounded, like all of you, to prevent the spread of a deadly disease

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A pastor's house in the Philippine countryside

We are grateful that, in the months previous to the pandemic hitting the U.S., we were able to be active. Charlie's recovery from the stroke was sufficient so that we were able to join a team from our church on a mission trip to Jamaica in early January. Although he could only be involved for about half the day, we were confident that his healing was progressing. Based on that trip, we booked tickets to go to the Philippines where Charlie would teach a class on church leadership at the Mindanao Evangelistic Baptist Seminary and Institute. 

Charlie's class

Our trip to the Philippines was a huge blessing. Charlie taught a group of ten pastors and teachers who are working on obtaining a Master of Ministries degree.  The school provided a guest room so we could stay on campus. That allowed him to rest during the lunch hour so that he would have the energy he needed to teach in the afternoon. The seminar format he used was easier for him to manage with his compromised speaking skills.

I prepared the students for their summer ministry of VBS by teaching them a curriculum about Daniel. Due to a bad cold I picked up just before leaving the U.S., I almost lost my voice. God was gracious in allowing me to continue, but it was touch and go for a while. As a result, I gave them more responsibility for teaching each other, and that seemed to work well. 

My class

We returned to the U.S. just in time to avoid the quarantine in the Philippines. Our flight back was almost empty, and we were able to stretch out and sleep. We are planning to return to Mindanao next year for a longer trip with added ministry opportunities to the rural churches.

We are grateful that we still have plenty to do. Charlie has resumed his speech therapy and he's trying to figure out the next step in his doctoral program. I, too, have several projects that need my attention.

Right now, we are thankful to be grounded in the Lord. May you, dear reader, be rooted and grounded in the love of God so that this pandemic and the ensuing economic difficulties will not sway you from the total security that is found in Christ. (See Eph. 3.)

New Things in Jamaica

We have gone on many trips to many countries. Many of the experiences are familiar. Packing, wrestling with suitcases, travel to the airport, checking in, going through security, flying, layovers, customs and immigration are all things that we expect.

Our team

Yet our trip to Jamaica had some things we had not experienced in a long time, and it even had some new experiences for us.

This was the first time to travel with people from our church and to be under the leadership of our pastor. It was a good experience. We enjoyed getting to know each of these people better. It's one thing to show up on Sunday and Wednesday to worship and pray together. It is even better to spend an entire week with them and get to know them on a 24-hour basis. It was especially good to spend more time with the three teenagers who were on our team.

This was also the first time we went to Jamaica on a mission trip. Charlie visited there years ago when he was serving with the Navy, but I had never been there. It was good to get to know the Jamaican people and to experience a little of what it means to be a Jamaican Christian. We were invited by the pastor to return, so maybe we will go back.

Street evangelism

Only once before (in Guatemala) were we invited to speak in a public school. We were given our assignments: the teens would lead in singing and I would give a devotional. I had 12 minutes. That is not enough time to develop a story, so I decided to teach from a verse in Isaiah. Then the day before we found out that we would be divided into four teams. Charlie and I were one team. So I taught and he played along, driving home the various points. Afterward, the lead teacher asked me for the reference so that she could go home and teach it to her children.

There were other firsts:

• We passed out candy packages with tracts in them. The children eagerly grabbed them, but some of the teenagers refused.  
• We approached some men sitting outside a bar playing dominoes to give them tracts and they turned down the music so they could hear what we said. As soon as we walked away, the music blared again.
• We took shelter under a tree, hoping that the rain would pass. It didn't, so we returned soaking wet to the compound after passing out tracts on the street.
• Charlie spent more time resting. His stamina has not yet returned since his stroke, and he needed more time between activities.
• We invited a person who was smoking weed to church.

Every trip has firsts. This was no different. A major difference, however, was that this was the first trip we took after Charlie's stroke. How grateful we are that God still has work for him to do.

A-Z Thanks for this Year's Thanksgiving

Lord, 

I come, amazed at Your blessings that overflow into our lives. I could spend hours just praising You, but to keep my list relatively short, I’ll walk through the alphabet. 

Thank You, Lord, for

• Answered prayer.
• Beautiful days. The beauty around me always points me to Your creative genius. Thank You for giving me eyes to see and appreciate the beauty around me.
• Charlie. He could so easily have died this month, but You gave Him back to me. Thank you.
• Doctors and nurses who made Charlie’s stay in the hospital so much easier. Thank You for the training and wisdom they have to help sick and injured people get well again.
• Electronic devices. Thank You that we were able to reach an ambulance quickly with my cell phone. Thank You that I was able to call family as I drove to the hospital with the blue tooth connection to my phone.
• Friends. Thank You for the way they rallied around us with their support.
• Grace. You have given us Your grace to meet this trial. Every day we need it, and every day it’s there.
• House. It keeps us warm in the winter and cool in the summer and gives us a place to call home.
• Internet. It was so easy to get online and let everyone know what was happening.
• Jogging. Thank You that Charlie has been physically active. We keep hearing that his recovery will be quicker because he paid attention to his health.
• Kia. Thank You for a reliable car that gets us where we need to go for all the appointments Charlie has these days.
• Linwood Baptist Church and the other churches that have prayed for us throughout our ministry, especially in these past few days.
• Mornings. Thank You that Charlie’s energy is pretty good in the morning and that most of his therapy sessions are happening in the morning.
• Nieces, nephews and the rest of our extended family who have been so supportive of us during this time.
• Opportunities. Thank You for every opportunity that comes our way. Help us to make the most of them.
• Peace. Thank You for the peace You give. It has carried me through many uncertain hours and days in the past and especially in recent days.
• Quiet. These days Charlie needs a lot of it. Thank you for quiet days between therapy days.
• Rest and recovery. Thank You that Charlie is able to rest and recover.
• Speech. We don’t think that much of our ability to talk until it’s taken away. Thank You that You are restoring Charlie’s speech.
• Therapists and therapy. What an amazing time in the history of our world that we have people who specialize in helping injured people heal. Thank You for this blessing. The therapists Charlie is seeing have been kind and helpful. Thank You for their attempts to understand what he is experiencing.
• Unknown. Thank You that I didn’t know Charlie’s stroke was coming. I would have been a nervous wreck all day and even the days, weeks and months leading up to it. Thank You that I don’t know the future, but that I trust You, the One who does. Thank You that You hold all my tomorrows in Your hand.
• Vascular doctors. Thank You, Lord, for doctors who are trained in the diagnosis of strokes and the prevention of it happening again. Yet we recognize that You are the One that gave him life, and You are the One that knows how long his life will be. Thank You that the doctors were there, but even more, thank You that You were there.
• Wellness. Thank You for keeping me well while we work through Charlie’s recovery.
• X-rays and other medical tests. Thank You that these medical devices enabled the doctors to see, understand, and treat his stroke relatively quickly.
• Your vast love for us.
• Zest for life. Thank You that even though Charlie could be enjoying heaven instead of being here on this earth, You have given him a zest for life and a desire to use his days for eternity. 

Lord, this list doesn't come close to all the things I have been considering in my list of praises to You for all You have done. With almost every letter, I could have listed multiple other things. But I give You thanks because Your blessings are innumerable.

Amen.


Photo: Charlie has always loved being physically active. 

November News

On Thursday, November 13, confusing questions battled for my attention as I drove to the hospital. Would Charlie survive the stroke, or would it kill him as it killed my grandfather? Would I arrive at the hospital only to be told, “I’m so sorry. We did all we could, but we couldn’t save him.” Would it handicap him so that our ministry would end? 

Swatting at the tears and determined to stay focused on my driving, I kept going. I told the Lord once again, as I have many times throughout our years of marriage, that Charlie is a gift that He gave to me, and He has the right to take him home whenever He chooses. (He doesn’t need my permission, but it helps my heart to say it.) I reaffirmed my trust in the Almighty who knows what the future holds.

Charlie not only survived, but we arrived at the hospital in time for them to give him an injection of tPA, a “miracle drug” for stroke patients. He was released from the hospital four days later. He has now recovered almost all of his physical ability and strength, but his brain is still healing. Speaking, reading, and writing are still difficult.

The day he was released from the hospital, we were supposed to fly to Bolivia. Once again our ministry in Bolivia was put on hold, though the political situation in that country may have meant that our hosts would have asked us to stay home anyway. We are looking at trying again in July or August of next year.

Today we thank God.

• I was with Charlie when the stroke happened.
• The ambulance arrived quickly and the doctors expect Charlie to fully recover.
• Charlie was home for my birthday. He brought me the card he intended to give to me in Bolivia and said, “I’m so glad I get to give this to you today.”

Thank you for your prayers for us. Please keep them coming. Pray that:

• Peace would return to Bolivia and that the Christians there would shine as lights for God during this difficult time.
• Charlie would heal completely from the stroke and be able to return to a full schedule.
• Charlie's project for his doctoral studies would not be postponed too much because of this incident.
• We would be able to accompany the mission’s team from our church when they go to Jamaica in January. Charlie may not be ready to teach yet, but it looks like he will be able to go.
• Charlie would be ready to teach a module in the Philippines in March.
• Pray that future years would be even more fruitful than the past years have been.

Evidently, God still has work for us to do. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Photo: Charlie in the hospital

August - October

My dad passed away on August 8. If we had gone to Bolivia, we would have been out of the country when it happened. Instead, I had the privilege of sitting with him on his last night here on earth. His plans are always better than our own.

In September, Charlie took a trip to Belarus and Luxembourg, this time as a working vacation since these are not IPM ministries. Since we had to book the trip in June, I felt I should not go so that I could be near my dad. As it turned out, Dad was already in heaven by then, but our bank account agreed that it was better for me to stay home. Once again it was clear to both of us how much we prefer to travel and minister together.

Belarus is an atheistic country whose churches suffered greatly during the previous Soviet rule. Although they have relative freedom now, there is still much resistance to the gospel. The majority of the older pastors that Charlie met had stories to tell of being in prison. They are miles ahead of us in standing for the faith, but they desire to learn more. So Charlie taught them about stewardship and then preached on Sunday to an audience of over 700. He also taught college students at a secular university. He taught hermeneutics to a group of philology students, marriage to a group of sociology students, and the benefits of exercise and religion in fighting depression to a group of medical students. One student approached him saying, “I can’t believe in a god who allows evil in our world.” Charlie was able to spend quite a bit of time with him and poke some holes in his logic that will, hopefully, bring him closer to the Gospel. All in all, Charlie felt it was a beneficial trip.

From Belarus, he flew to Luxembourg to spend time with missionary friends there. He preached and taught there as well. The international church that Tim Heijermans pastored for many years is continuing to grow under the leadership of a European pastor. We were encouraged when they invited us to return to be part of their family retreat next year.

In addition to these countries, God is beginning to show us what is ahead in 2020. We are planning on several different countries, and we are hoping to spend more time visiting churches. Please let us know if you want us to come to your church.

Praise God with us for:

• ·         Orchestrating events so that we would be home when Dad went home to heaven.
• ·         Safety for Charlie in his trip to Europe.
• ·         Rescheduling our trip to Bolivia.

Please pray that God would:

• ·         Work in the Belarusian student’s life to bring him to saving faith.
• ·         Give us wisdom as we prepare for our trip to Bolivia in November.
• ·         Show us all the places where we should go in the coming year.

We are so thankful for the prayers of God's people for us. We would not want to do this work without those prayers.