In this update we want to especially ask you to pray for DJ as he will be going to Malaysia on Thursday (Oct. 7) to have his gallbladder removed. He’s been having trouble with gall stones for the past couple of years, and they have finally gotten to the point where we have no other choice but to schedule this surgery. And, since we don’t think it would be a good idea to try to handle all three kids in a hospital room, the kids and I will be going back interior and staying with DJ’s parents while DJ goes to Malaysia. One of our fellow missionaries has graciously agreed to go with DJ. Please pray for our family as we’re apart for the next week or so, and especially for DJ that the surgery will go well and he’ll have a quick recovery.
Please pray for our finances also since the cost of the trip to Malaysia and back and the surgery will be a pretty big strain on our budget. During the next two years we have a couple of big expense items that we need to be saving toward (paying for our 5-year visas next year, and paying for plane tickets back to the USA for our home assignment two years from now.) If any of you would like more details on either of those things or the state of our support level in general, ask and we’ll be happy to provide the details. We have seen the Lord provide before, and we know that He’ll do so again in His time and way.
The past month has kind of been a blur for us. Rachel spent the first two weeks of September checking the book of Mark and the rest of Genesis with a translation consultant and several Hobongan believers. Praise the Lord for a successful check! We spent those two weeks working hard to finish correcting, expanding, and formatting the Hobongan language primers and a Hobongan recipe book. Then we went down to DJ’s parents’ house where we all had some team meetings with some other fellow missionaries.
The last part of September and the first part of this month we have been out in town signing our yearly visas, trying to take care of doctor and dentist appointments, buying our groceries and other supplies for the next 4 months or so, getting the primers and the cookbook printed, etc. Since we only come out to town about 3 times a year, I’m sure you can imagine that the to-do list gets pretty long.
Thank you for praying. Some days we need those prayers more than you can imagine!
God bless all of you.