Dear family and friends... Our best news, as of August 19, 2002, Cassandra is legally ours under Honduras law. The national adoption agency strongly urged us to visit in the States soon and once we gave them a date they finalized the adoption in two weeks. We will be in the States November 25 - December 9. A week with each of our families for the holiday is what we have planned. We still need your prayers that the US. adoption proceedings will go well. Toby and I are taking parenting classes at the English church Monday afternoons. Growing Kids God's Way is the curriculum and Toby wants to then teach the principles to those in his discipleship group who will be attending the Bible Institute in January. Three baptisms have occurred in the last month. One is he teacher at the local school. Recent months have been a real struggle with the mission here and at La Union. We just ask you to pray for turn around in some lives without giving details of failures. Juan will move this Saturday to La Union to minister with the church there. The clinic there will be closed for a time to regroup. Pray that the necessary changes will come about smoothly. Our men who will attend the Institute have been going to help with construction. They poured four floors a few weeks ago. A group came from the States to work with the Hoffs who manage the Bible Institute, to keep the construction project moving. Some wonderful people came to work with us this summer. They came with encouragement, support and great attitudes. Four people came for a month. We now begin planning for next summer. Also Toby is planning with the guys a time of discipling and the locations for the new church plants next year. Clinic days are busy days. The rainy season started early and that brings chronic asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, etc. Cassandra's doctor specializes in lung problems too and with another doctor agrees to see my patients without fee. Such a blessing! Several patients three and under have been in and out of the hospital and we are needing to buy a nebulizer or two to add the two we have now. Ten patients need breathing treatments 3 or 4 times a day. Daniel, our wonder child, is doing well. His family lives next to us on the mountain now (they really don't like living in the "city") but it helps to monitor his health. A local pediatrician, Dr. Craniotis is on top of everything. Daniel had a severe urinary tract infection and he is happy to have had his last shot. His condition is remarkably improved. One of the difficulties is that catheterization is not culturally acceptable, and his family has been faithful to this duty. Dr. Sheldon, the pediatric urologist at Children's Hospital in Cincinnati, is very pleased that Daniel went so long without an infection. Thank you for your prayers and financial support. We couldn't be here without both. Here on the front-line there is always one problem after another and your prayers make a great difference. We need your prayers for our rearing Cassandra. It's difficult to start parenting with a fifteen month old. Wisdom and understanding are needed to keep a step ahead of her, especially since she will be bilingual and in a way living in two cultures. What a joy she has been to us and we enjoy being parents. God bless you,
|
|