So far this home assignment has been like no other with so much time spent in hospitals, including our own medical exams and procedures to catch up on which seem a bit more numerous at our age. But even with all that has been happening we are still having some good opportunities to share about what God has been doing in the Simbari. We continue to hear good things about the Simbari church functioning well and “shining brightly” in our absence. Please pray for them.
What happened to David’s dad?
The day we arrived in the US for home assignment we heard the news that David’s dad had tripped in a campsite and broken his neck. The spinal cord wasn’t severed but some doctors didn’t expect him to make it due to complications from pneumonia etc. He made it through the surgery and pneumonia yet soon after they labeled him a permanent quadriplegic. But God had other plans and we have seen David’s dad, John, steadily improving. He was able to move to home care a few weeks ago and has been continuing physical therapy at home. He is now able to walk a couple hundred yards at time using a walker. He no longer has a tracheostomy or feeding tube. The neurologist saw him again and was surprised at his recovery and gave God the credit. David’s dad still has some challenges he is still facing. He has some numbness and lack of nerve sensitivity in his hands and his spine is still healing from the surgery. A few weeks ago an MRI showed that the bone was only 50-60% healed and there were some indications of stress around the screw in his C2 vertabrae. So he has tightened up the neck brace and has been trying extra hard not to turn his head from side to side. We are so thankful to be here right now to be with the family and to help David’s dad and mom. Thank you for praying for David’s dad and our family.
We continue to hear good things about the Simbari church functioning well and “shining brightly” in our absence. Please pray for them as well. In the weeks and months ahead we will continue taking opportunities to reconnect with friends and to share about our ministry. While at the same time catching up on medical and dental etc. Shari has some translation transcription work to do whenever she can and David will be starting to draft some Old Testament portions.
David & Shari
ps. Below are some photos of John’s recovery and a video taken while he was in the rehab facility.
