Blog Archive

Friday, February 27, 2009

So Many Trips, So Little Travel

Ruben with Mark and Alex (far left)

Here are a few of the guys at one of our many pot-luck occassions. This was a super bowl party, however, I confess - we just went for the food. True to our Christian heritage, we enjoy many community pot-lucks. I think we have all gained weight since we came. I (Deb) was counting on the Papua New Guinea trip to help me with dropping of few pounds since they all say that the rigors of hiking, airport walking and "different" food will take some weight off a person. We were confident that God was working out the arrangements for me to go to Papua in Rubne's place - but alas, He is not doing that. Now I wish I had not had so many desserts and chips.

So this has been quite an interesting beginning for us. Ruben says maybe God is getting us ready to just go anywhere. Gotta love Ruben's sense of humor - he would be happy to just go to Walmart about now. To learn so much in this short time and yet to not be able to join the others on the trips has been, we know, God's training that he has for us. We know we will benefit and that He will get us where He wants us to be in His way and in His time. We do not at all feel that any of this has been in vain. We are more and more convinced of Jesus' tender care than ever before and we are relishing the company and love we share with the other students and staff and teachers here.

On the medical front:
Ruben's Dr has continued to be concerned over his leg; not happy with the slowness of the healing. He referred him to an ortho Dr. who just happens to be the guy who invented the knee replacement. As impressive as this is - we were both hoping Ruben would not need those services. This Dr ordered two MRI's which were OK. He saw Ruben a couple days later and things seemed to look better as far as the swelling so he said to continue on the meds he has and see him next week. Just as an aside - a gal here took her son for an MRI accross the border and it cost them $100.00. Very easy, she said and they gave her the results before she left. We did not do that though because this Dr was arranging his schedule to see Ruben and it was a rush. So Ruben is still in the healing process - not out of the woods yet. This is serious stuff, so the Dr's keep telling us. We sure do appreciate them but they act as if he were just ignoring the problem.

Trips:

Because Ruben is limited to elevating his leg 90% of the time and still has infection and swelling to combat, we have declined trip 1 & 2 to Mexico. The airlines refused to transfer the air tickets to Papua New Guinea from Ruben's name to Deb's so that trip is out also. We are working with the travel agent to get them to refund the ticket funds, which they are very relunctant to do. There is a trip coming up to LaBarra (very south Mex, coastal) Mar 23 that we have been invited to join and are really hoping to get to go there. This is not a trip that was scheduled for training but is being led by a former student who is hoping to work there full time. We are seriously looking at joining him in planting a church there. We feel this is an awesome opportunity for us that we would not have had if one of us were to go to PaPua. Certainly, God will reveal His will for us.

Community:

I will post more on the other students here later - when I get more pictures. Please pray for them all. Sisson, Faulkner, Wilkesons - hoping for PNG full time. Caleb, Michelle, & Ronyaks - not sure yet. Chris J and us - hoping for Mexico. The Ronyaks just had there second baby and the Sisson just found out they are having a third. Ruben and I are the old ones in this group. We are so encouraged by these young people (I know that sounds so old!) - but some are under thirty. Caleb is 19 and Michelle is 21. It is just awesome to see their love for God and their desire to follow Jesus and seek out His calling on their lives.

Please Pray:

PNG trip Mar 2 - for those going and for open hearts and ears
Labarra Trip Mar 23 - ditto and that we would be able to go
Full restoration for Ruben's leg with no further problems
God's direction concerning long term plans and language school options
Direction, protection and growth for all of us here.
For the release of airline money

We love you all and pray for you often


No comments:


About Me

I met Jesus in March 1997 and soon after I began the practice of writing things down that were happening in my life with the Lord. Over the years, in the rare times that I have looked back into older journals, I have found that the things the Lord was showing me then are the same things He is showing me now. This does not make them less helpful, on the contrary, it makes them more helpful. God is exactly who He says He is and is doing all that He said He would. We need to be reminded of God and His faithfulness. The intention of this blog is to encourage God's people to continue and to grow in their confidence in Jesus Christ. The things posted here are from my journal and are meant to be an example of God's love and help as He loves and helps me. I would expect that you would have reason to trust Jesus Christ with your life (and death) if you haven't heard about Him so I invite you to go to my page "About Jesus" to see why you can and should have every confidence in Jesus and Jesus only for all things.