Karis operation date and USA trip

Friends! Thanks so much for praying for us,

We had a wonderful holiday in the north of Scotland with Simons parents. We had a week of great fun in the outdoors and even got to use someone’s garage to service the mark 1 Ford focus (now running like a dream). Annika and I even had a few dates and got to go out for the night! We thank God for the couple who let us have use of their lovely holiday cottage.

 This past weekend Simon was speaking away at Springbank evangelical church. It was a good day reporting on our work in PNG and was great to catch up with Ross, Miriam and the church. This next week Simon is away again speaking in Glasgow at Harper Memorial Baptist Church, (morning and evening) we would appreciate prayer for the day and that God would use us for His glory.

We have a lot to do in the coming week; we need to tie up some work in the church here (Carrubbers – Edinburgh) and prepare to take off to the USA on Wednesday of next week. We are going to the States for 2 months to spend time with family, visit 6 different churches and attend Annika’s youngest brother’s wedding.

On another note, we managed to get an appointment with our surgeon in Glasgow  today! Unfortunately when we got there he had been called away for an emergency operation. A colleague of his filled in for him though and thankfully we will still able to get the answers we were looking for. We have been told to expect a surgery date for Karis around Aug/Sept time, of this year! We visited dentists dieticians and cardiac nurses when we got there, all to prepare us for the road ahead (it was a long unexpected morning). That being said, after a long chat, we are very happy with the decision, if ever so slightly scared again to think of Karis going through open heart surgery once more. It will be much the same as before, she will go on a heart bypass machine, have her  heart stopped as they put in a baffle (wall) to redirect  blood to the proper atrium of the heart so it can be oxygenized. We are to expect 2-5 weeks recovery in hospital and 3 months of outpatient monitoring. The good news is that this should be Karis’s last surgery, if all goes well, after which she should function with a normal o2 saturation and be fit and healthy. There are a lot of steps however from here to there, so please pray with us!

 

Praise:

1)    Thanks that we have a date for surgery and this now allows us to make some necessary decisions for the immediate future. God did have it all in hand, but we are glad we know a little more J

2)    We had a good holiday with Simon’s parents in Aberdeenshire.

3)    That God has been a help to us at meetings and is giving us more opportunities to be used by Him.

4)    That we can make it to the USA for Annika’s brother wedding and that the grandparents get to spend time with the kiddos.

Pray:

1)    That Karis can put on some weight. The surgeon would like her to be between 8-9kg’s for the op. She is now 7.2kgs. Any super-food suggestions are welcome! J

2)    For final plans, insurance, travel etc. to the USA would all pan out and run smoothly.

3)    Pray for travel and meetings in the USA. Simon will be driving away lots (1 trip 15hrs one way) to speak and share about the work God is doing amongst the Mengen people.

4)    Please pray that Noah can get into the same school as Nya; right now he is on a waiting list and we are appealing the decision. It would be very difficult to have Noah at another school whilst we deal with Karis and all of her upcoming needs.

5)    Please pray that Karis will not need to go into hospital in the USA and that she will stay infection free!!!

Thanks for your partnership with us in the gospel and for your love and prayers,

Simon, Annika, Nya, Noah and Karis.