In our last update a few weeks ago, we mentioned that the kids and I (Jennifer) had all been suffering from coughs, and that the kids had fevers. Shortly after we wrote that e-mail, Tyndale took a quick turn for the worse. His breathing was very rapid and labored, suggesting pneumonia, so we decided we needed to take him to the nearest town downriver. We wound up staying for a week at the mission home there, treating Tyndale with antibiotics for pneumonia and waiting until he was better before returning to our village far from medical help. Looking back at that scary time, we’re so thankful for how the Lord watched over our son and restored him to health. Please do keep praying for our health here, especially for the kids. The tropical climate is hard on immune systems, and this incident reminded us that emergency help is quite a ways away.
We’ve been pretty busy in the week and a half since we got back from our emergency trip. DJ and two of the elders from our church here are teaching chronological Bible lessons to a young unbelieving girl from a different village who just married an elder’s son here. They are teaching her twice a day, morning and evening. Please pray for her salvation. She has never been taught the truth from the Bible before. So far she seems receptive, but it’s important that she understands and chooses to believe for herself and not just in order to make her husband and in-laws happy. Also, please pray that teaching the chronological Bible lessons through this time will give the elders and others confidence that they can teach this way and the desire to do it again.
I’m still helping to teach a literacy class most evenings of the week. The 4 ladies in the class are doing well and we’re gradually moving through the second primer (of 5.) Please pray that the Hobongan ladies I’m co-teaching with will develop more confidence as teachers, and that they’ll be willing to commit to teaching others who want to learn to read.
Thank you to those of you who’ve been praying for Areli, Galilee, and I as we finish up their first grade year. Tomorrow is their last day of first grade! It has been a challenging year. We appreciate prayers for the upcoming school year too. The girls still struggle some with reading, so pray that we’ll have wisdom about how best to help them get more proficient. Teaching literacy seems to be my lot in life lately, in English and Hobongan both! 🙂
Thank you again for praying. Your prayers are more critical than any of us probably realize.