Update on Caleb
Currently Caleb and Pam are in Singapore staying with another NTM family. We arrived last Sunday night and were taken straight to the hospital where our AMAZING doctor, a Pediatric Hematologist. was waiting (at 8 o’clock on a Sunday night) to see him. Caleb has been in the hospital since then and we were finally discharged yesterday. He had 1 more transfusion here and CT scan. The official diagnosis is malaria with severe anemia. His spleen and liver are both enlarged, the liver only slightly but the spleen is the size of an adult spleen. So far his HGB (Hemoglobin) has dropped after each transfusion and that is what we are watching now, he will go back into the hospital as an inpatient next Wednesday and we will see what his body does between then and now before deciding what the next course of action should be. He is feeling like himself again except that he tires easily and the enlarged spleen is putting pressure on other organs making him want to eat more frequent, smaller meals, use the bathroom more often, etc. He is still pretty emotional and swings from uncontrollable giggles to desperate tears pretty quickly. (but then again so does his mommy:-)
Big change of course ahead
Each of the Doctors on his case have strongly recommended we don’t return to Asia Pacific in the next year, Caleb has A- blood which is very rare in Asia Pacific and his enlarged spleen puts him at risk of rupturing it as it not protected by the rib cage. He needs to be in a place where he can be monitored and has access to A- blood.
We were due for our regular furlough in just 9 months so it has been decided that we will just take our regular furlough early, giving him time to recover. So our current plan is that Greg and the kids will join us in Singapore before the middle of next month when our Visa’s were due for renewal. Then we will all head to the states from here.
Prayer Points
We were not expecting our home assignment to come up for several months and have no money set aside for tickets or setting up a household in the states, This is high travel season and we have not been able to find one way tickets for less than $1000/person. Please pray that we will find reasonable tickets and that this need will be met.
We need housing in the states. We would like to settle in either Sacramento or Bozeman Mt. and then make trips from there to our supporting churches. If you know of something that is reasonable and available (and possibly furnished) please let us know. We would also be open to renting, buying, or borrowing a travel trailer that we could live in and travel in as well. We already have an Astro van in the states that can pull a lightweight travel trailer. Another possibility is that often different Churches or individuals offer housing to missionaries on home assignment. If you know of someone that does this in these areas please let us know.
Either Greg or I will need to get a job. I could take in additional students to homeschool or children to babysit and Greg has worked construction, is great with computers, has installed solar panels in California, and catches on to anything pretty quickly. It would need to be flexible enough that we could travel to visit our prayer partners and supporting churches when necessary. If you know of someone that is hiring or looking for someone to help in one of these areas please let us know
We also need to start setting up a schedule to share our ministry and a vision for missions with churches, if your church would like us to share please let us know what time frame works for you! We also love having the opportunities to share at schools, Sunday school and AWANA classes, life groups, missions conferences etc.
To be honest we are a little overwhelmed to go so quickly from our little house in the jungle to all of the sudden heading home with out any planning. We have shed many tears, but we are also very clearly seeing God’s hand through every step of this journey. These needs we have seem so impossibly overwhelming to us but we know that with God all things are possible and we have clearly seen his guidance in this direction up to this point. Please pray!
We appreciate each one of you and the outpouring of love we have received from you at this difficult time!
In His grace;
Greg and Pam Berglund
Nate (12) Hannah (10) Grace (9) Katie (6) Caleb (3)