Saturday, February 2, 2008
February 2008 post
Dear Friends,
It's hard to believe how long it has been since we have put a posting on this blog :(
The past few months have been extremely busy with work, travel and just keeping up with life.
First we want to give an update on Barbara who has and continues to battle cancer. The news is good. In December the Dr. took her off the strongest of the three chemo drugs that she was on. This has allowed her to recover nearly all the feeling in her hands because of the nerve damage this particular drug does. Her blood cancer counts continue to be in the normal range. A couple of weeks ago the Dr. ordered a more intensive CAT-PET scan. He was gone to Hawaii on vacation for a time and he called this last Tuesday and when Barbara asked him how is vacation was he replied: "It was terrific and so was you scan." He will give her more details when she sees him on Tuesday February 5th. She is still on the other two drugs, one is oral and the other by infusion but this infusion only takes about 30 minutes whereas the other stronger chemo infusion took up to five hours.
She has been working full time since the end of August and has had ample energy to handle a classroom of severely handicapped kids which she teaches as part of the LA Unified School District. She and Erik and 5 kids are enjoying living in Erik's family house where he grew up. Erik's dad, Bob, died in early December so that has been an adjustment for them as a family. Erik is in charge of handling his dad's will so that is a big added responsibility. He decided to take a semester off of school in order to do this, continue working, helping at the church and also helping Barbara more.
Barbara continues on a rigid alkaline diet which we believe is at least partially responsible for how well she is doing. Most of all we believe that the prayers of hundreds of folks like yourself have had and will continue to have a powerful effect in Barbara's life, physically, emotionally and spiritually. We are all deeply grateful to the Lord for what He has done. It really is miraculous.
Joan stopped making regular trips to LA to be with Barbara when she had her chemo treatments after the Dr. took her off the strongest drug. She is able to cope quite well with the two lesser drugs. Her older sister Ruth has been coming over most times for a day to help with the kids on Saturdays after Barbara gets home from the infusion treatment on Friday nights.
We spent Christmas in both Portland/Vancouver and LA. We drove from Calgary which is an 1800 mile trip each way. We stopped in Portland/Vancouver on the way down and on the way back. We were together in LA for Christmas with Ruth, Barb & family and Tim and family. We sure missed Amy, Jon and kids who remained in Asia ministering with their mission agency. We hope to visit them sometime in April as we will be in that part of the world.
Work in Wycliffe Canada is going well with lots of exciting things happening but we are never without challenges in today's complex world. We have two more years here and will then need to return to the US in December because of visa restrictions.
We are grateful for each of you and for the part you play in our lives and ministry.
It's hard to believe how long it has been since we have put a posting on this blog :(
The past few months have been extremely busy with work, travel and just keeping up with life.
First we want to give an update on Barbara who has and continues to battle cancer. The news is good. In December the Dr. took her off the strongest of the three chemo drugs that she was on. This has allowed her to recover nearly all the feeling in her hands because of the nerve damage this particular drug does. Her blood cancer counts continue to be in the normal range. A couple of weeks ago the Dr. ordered a more intensive CAT-PET scan. He was gone to Hawaii on vacation for a time and he called this last Tuesday and when Barbara asked him how is vacation was he replied: "It was terrific and so was you scan." He will give her more details when she sees him on Tuesday February 5th. She is still on the other two drugs, one is oral and the other by infusion but this infusion only takes about 30 minutes whereas the other stronger chemo infusion took up to five hours.
She has been working full time since the end of August and has had ample energy to handle a classroom of severely handicapped kids which she teaches as part of the LA Unified School District. She and Erik and 5 kids are enjoying living in Erik's family house where he grew up. Erik's dad, Bob, died in early December so that has been an adjustment for them as a family. Erik is in charge of handling his dad's will so that is a big added responsibility. He decided to take a semester off of school in order to do this, continue working, helping at the church and also helping Barbara more.
Barbara continues on a rigid alkaline diet which we believe is at least partially responsible for how well she is doing. Most of all we believe that the prayers of hundreds of folks like yourself have had and will continue to have a powerful effect in Barbara's life, physically, emotionally and spiritually. We are all deeply grateful to the Lord for what He has done. It really is miraculous.
Joan stopped making regular trips to LA to be with Barbara when she had her chemo treatments after the Dr. took her off the strongest drug. She is able to cope quite well with the two lesser drugs. Her older sister Ruth has been coming over most times for a day to help with the kids on Saturdays after Barbara gets home from the infusion treatment on Friday nights.
We spent Christmas in both Portland/Vancouver and LA. We drove from Calgary which is an 1800 mile trip each way. We stopped in Portland/Vancouver on the way down and on the way back. We were together in LA for Christmas with Ruth, Barb & family and Tim and family. We sure missed Amy, Jon and kids who remained in Asia ministering with their mission agency. We hope to visit them sometime in April as we will be in that part of the world.
Work in Wycliffe Canada is going well with lots of exciting things happening but we are never without challenges in today's complex world. We have two more years here and will then need to return to the US in December because of visa restrictions.
We are grateful for each of you and for the part you play in our lives and ministry.
Friday, September 7, 2007
September Update
Dear Praying and Supporting Family,
We have been pretty poor bloggers as of late. To much travel and to long of hours when we are here in the Calgary Office. It's hard to believe that our last update was the middle of July :(
First of all a recent update on Barbara.
Her latest blood work indicated a cancer count of 1.1 (one point one) which is considered in the normal range. Also her most recent CT-PET scan showed no visualization of any cancer sites anywhere in her body. She returned to work as a special-ed/severely handicapped teacher for the LA School District on August 29th. We continue to praise God for the miracle of healing that He has and continues to do in Barb's body. Your prayers have been a vital part of that process. She is still on the aggressive chemo-therapy requiem but the doctor will not give her many more of these kinds of treatments, perhaps only one more but possibly as many as three. When this is finished he will likely prescribe some kind of more mild maintenance chemo just to make sure, at least in his mind, that the cancer will not return. Barb also continues with her strict alkaline diet which we believe is also aiding in her healing. Thank you for praying and please do continue to pray because while huge progress has been made things are still far from "normal"
after a grueling 10 months of battling for her life. God is good and we all give Him praise for all that He has done. While we were were at Barb and Erik's on vacation
in late July we held a family praise time in which we sang, read Scripture, gave testimony and all placed rocks in a fountain as a visible reminder to Barb and to all of us that Jesus is our rock and our fortress and the one who freely gives us living water welling up to eternal life. Pray for Erik as he is now back in school for his final year of study leading to a degree in speech pathology
While in S. California it was wonderful seeing Jon, Amy and family as they were home for the summer touching bases with their partners.
They returned to Asia two days ago. Please pray for them as they settle back into life there and especially for Jeremiah as he starts starts school at an International school in another part of town. Alenna will return to her previous school and of course Sydney Grace and little Madelene will be at home. Amy will be taking one more semester of full time language study so she would appreciate you remembering her for that. Jon will once again take up his teaching responsibilities at the language school.
We visited with Tim, Naomi and kids, both on our way down to California and on our way back.
It was great being with them as well as with Joan's sister Judy and brother in law Jim and Joan's Mom. Tim has gone back to work for Noritsu, the Japanese company that he work for previously for a number of years. He started back with them just a few days ago.
We also saw Ruth while in S. California.
She spent a good part of her summer studying as she is working on a Master's Degree in math. She is now back to teaching Jr. High math as well as taking some courses for her MA degree. She teaches for the Norwalk/La Mirada School District.
We loved seeing our grandchildren and even had a chance to see 9 of the elven all together.
We especially enjoyed spending time with our youngest grandchild Madeleine.
Along with our responsibilities here in Wycliffe Canada we both have been traveling especially Joan as she has been doing down to LA to be with Barb the first few days after taking chemo-therapy. We both were also in Nebraska at the North American Forum of Bible Agencies in late August.
Please pray about the sale of our house in Idyllwild, California. We have officially put it on the market but residential house sales are slow in the US at this time so we need just the right buyer to come along.
We have been pretty poor bloggers as of late. To much travel and to long of hours when we are here in the Calgary Office. It's hard to believe that our last update was the middle of July :(
First of all a recent update on Barbara.
Her latest blood work indicated a cancer count of 1.1 (one point one) which is considered in the normal range. Also her most recent CT-PET scan showed no visualization of any cancer sites anywhere in her body. She returned to work as a special-ed/severely handicapped teacher for the LA School District on August 29th. We continue to praise God for the miracle of healing that He has and continues to do in Barb's body. Your prayers have been a vital part of that process. She is still on the aggressive chemo-therapy requiem but the doctor will not give her many more of these kinds of treatments, perhaps only one more but possibly as many as three. When this is finished he will likely prescribe some kind of more mild maintenance chemo just to make sure, at least in his mind, that the cancer will not return. Barb also continues with her strict alkaline diet which we believe is also aiding in her healing. Thank you for praying and please do continue to pray because while huge progress has been made things are still far from "normal"
after a grueling 10 months of battling for her life. God is good and we all give Him praise for all that He has done. While we were were at Barb and Erik's on vacation
in late July we held a family praise time in which we sang, read Scripture, gave testimony and all placed rocks in a fountain as a visible reminder to Barb and to all of us that Jesus is our rock and our fortress and the one who freely gives us living water welling up to eternal life. Pray for Erik as he is now back in school for his final year of study leading to a degree in speech pathology
While in S. California it was wonderful seeing Jon, Amy and family as they were home for the summer touching bases with their partners.
They returned to Asia two days ago. Please pray for them as they settle back into life there and especially for Jeremiah as he starts starts school at an International school in another part of town. Alenna will return to her previous school and of course Sydney Grace and little Madelene will be at home. Amy will be taking one more semester of full time language study so she would appreciate you remembering her for that. Jon will once again take up his teaching responsibilities at the language school.
We visited with Tim, Naomi and kids, both on our way down to California and on our way back.
It was great being with them as well as with Joan's sister Judy and brother in law Jim and Joan's Mom. Tim has gone back to work for Noritsu, the Japanese company that he work for previously for a number of years. He started back with them just a few days ago.
We also saw Ruth while in S. California.
She spent a good part of her summer studying as she is working on a Master's Degree in math. She is now back to teaching Jr. High math as well as taking some courses for her MA degree. She teaches for the Norwalk/La Mirada School District.
We loved seeing our grandchildren and even had a chance to see 9 of the elven all together.
We especially enjoyed spending time with our youngest grandchild Madeleine.
Along with our responsibilities here in Wycliffe Canada we both have been traveling especially Joan as she has been doing down to LA to be with Barb the first few days after taking chemo-therapy. We both were also in Nebraska at the North American Forum of Bible Agencies in late August.
Please pray about the sale of our house in Idyllwild, California. We have officially put it on the market but residential house sales are slow in the US at this time so we need just the right buyer to come along.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Barb's Mot Recent Update
Dear Family & Friends,
It;s been awhile since we updated the blog but we have been waiting for the results of Barb's most recent CT/PET scan. On Monday of this week she saw her oncologist and received more good news. These most recent scans when compared to the ones in April showed marked improvement. Actually they were negative for any active cancer which verifies what her blood cancer count of 2.3 also indicated. Does this mean she is cancer free? No, but it does mean that the cancer is not active. In fact the scans indicated no visualization of previously seen lesions on both the lungs and liver. The cancer cells are either dead or dormant and no new ones are appearing. We praise the Lord for this incredible good news and can only attribute it to your prayers and the prayers of others in the Body of Christ around the world. Her unsaved doctor even attributed it to both the chemo and to prayer. :) He has been absolutely amazed because in December he only gave her six months to live.
Regardless of this good report the doctor wanted her to continue to take her last two treatments of agressive chemo. She had # 8 yesterday. Joan and I are on two weeks vacation and arrived here in LA on Wednesday evening having driven straight through from Vancouver, WA. We were 4 days in the Vancouver/Portland area visiting Joan's Mom, Sister Judy and Brother-in-law Jim and our son Tim and his family who are now living in one side of the duplex that we bought in Portland. We also got to see Naomi's parents, Larry and Barbara Podmore, who were visiting from Manila. They work for Far East Broadcasting Corporation, a Christian broadcasting network sharing the Good News of Christ throughout Asia.
What is next for Barb? She will have her 9th and last seheduled agressive chemo on August 1st and then the doctor will evaluate if she needs additional lower levels of some kind of maintainance chemo. Barb and Erik need wisdom as to what they want to pursue after the last agressive chemo. In addition to the chemo Barb has been maintaining a very strict diet which includes taking Goji juice from Nepal, Mangosteen juice from the Philippines, a special kind of tea from Africa and also regular amounts of fresh wheat grass. All of these juices are extremely high in alkaline as are all the other foods that she is eating. Recent studies from John Hopkins clearly indicate that cancer cells do not live in an alkaline environment. At least one of the clinics that we looked into early on indicated that this is their primary mode of treatment. They simply alkaline the body and starve the cancer. So right now we are attributing Barb's incredible progress, first of all to prayer and God's power to heal and secondarily to Barb's diet and the chemo. The combination is working and we continue to covet your prayers until the day when Barb is declared totally cancer free. It has been and continues to be a journey in which God has taught Barb and all of us new things concerning His marvelous grace. There are so many things in life that we take for granted, including good health, and it is only through these kinds of experiences that the Lord takes us to new depths of understanding concerning His love, grace and mercy.
Our daughter Amy, husband Jon and four kids, Jeremiah, Alenna, Sydney Grace & Madeleine are home for a short break from Asia. They are in Idyllwild, CA so next week we will go up to Idyllwild and spend some time with them. We will also look into working with a real estate agent to sell our Idyllwild house. Please pray about this as we definitely need to sell it in the next few months in order to pay off the Portland duplex.
On Thursday of next week we are planning to have a family time of praise to the Lord for all that He has and continues to do for all of us. We are hoping that Tim and Naomi can join us by skype for this time of celebration.
Next Friday we will drive back to Portland and then on Saturday back to Calgary and back to work on Monday morning. Our daughter Ruth will accompany us to Portland and we are looking forward to that time with her. She will spend time visiting her brother and family, grandmother, and Aunt & Uncle in the Portland area.
Immediate prayer requests would include 1) Barb as she gets beyond these first few days of chemo, especially the nerve pain in her hands and feet which is one of the side effects of one of the chemo drugs. 2) Our visit with Jon, Amy and kids. 3) Our long drive back to Calgary over a two day period and 4) Giving attention to some of the pressing needs of Wycliffe Canada upon our return. We love you all and praise God for each one of you.
Love & Prayeers
Dave & Joan
It;s been awhile since we updated the blog but we have been waiting for the results of Barb's most recent CT/PET scan. On Monday of this week she saw her oncologist and received more good news. These most recent scans when compared to the ones in April showed marked improvement. Actually they were negative for any active cancer which verifies what her blood cancer count of 2.3 also indicated. Does this mean she is cancer free? No, but it does mean that the cancer is not active. In fact the scans indicated no visualization of previously seen lesions on both the lungs and liver. The cancer cells are either dead or dormant and no new ones are appearing. We praise the Lord for this incredible good news and can only attribute it to your prayers and the prayers of others in the Body of Christ around the world. Her unsaved doctor even attributed it to both the chemo and to prayer. :) He has been absolutely amazed because in December he only gave her six months to live.
Regardless of this good report the doctor wanted her to continue to take her last two treatments of agressive chemo. She had # 8 yesterday. Joan and I are on two weeks vacation and arrived here in LA on Wednesday evening having driven straight through from Vancouver, WA. We were 4 days in the Vancouver/Portland area visiting Joan's Mom, Sister Judy and Brother-in-law Jim and our son Tim and his family who are now living in one side of the duplex that we bought in Portland. We also got to see Naomi's parents, Larry and Barbara Podmore, who were visiting from Manila. They work for Far East Broadcasting Corporation, a Christian broadcasting network sharing the Good News of Christ throughout Asia.
What is next for Barb? She will have her 9th and last seheduled agressive chemo on August 1st and then the doctor will evaluate if she needs additional lower levels of some kind of maintainance chemo. Barb and Erik need wisdom as to what they want to pursue after the last agressive chemo. In addition to the chemo Barb has been maintaining a very strict diet which includes taking Goji juice from Nepal, Mangosteen juice from the Philippines, a special kind of tea from Africa and also regular amounts of fresh wheat grass. All of these juices are extremely high in alkaline as are all the other foods that she is eating. Recent studies from John Hopkins clearly indicate that cancer cells do not live in an alkaline environment. At least one of the clinics that we looked into early on indicated that this is their primary mode of treatment. They simply alkaline the body and starve the cancer. So right now we are attributing Barb's incredible progress, first of all to prayer and God's power to heal and secondarily to Barb's diet and the chemo. The combination is working and we continue to covet your prayers until the day when Barb is declared totally cancer free. It has been and continues to be a journey in which God has taught Barb and all of us new things concerning His marvelous grace. There are so many things in life that we take for granted, including good health, and it is only through these kinds of experiences that the Lord takes us to new depths of understanding concerning His love, grace and mercy.
Our daughter Amy, husband Jon and four kids, Jeremiah, Alenna, Sydney Grace & Madeleine are home for a short break from Asia. They are in Idyllwild, CA so next week we will go up to Idyllwild and spend some time with them. We will also look into working with a real estate agent to sell our Idyllwild house. Please pray about this as we definitely need to sell it in the next few months in order to pay off the Portland duplex.
On Thursday of next week we are planning to have a family time of praise to the Lord for all that He has and continues to do for all of us. We are hoping that Tim and Naomi can join us by skype for this time of celebration.
Next Friday we will drive back to Portland and then on Saturday back to Calgary and back to work on Monday morning. Our daughter Ruth will accompany us to Portland and we are looking forward to that time with her. She will spend time visiting her brother and family, grandmother, and Aunt & Uncle in the Portland area.
Immediate prayer requests would include 1) Barb as she gets beyond these first few days of chemo, especially the nerve pain in her hands and feet which is one of the side effects of one of the chemo drugs. 2) Our visit with Jon, Amy and kids. 3) Our long drive back to Calgary over a two day period and 4) Giving attention to some of the pressing needs of Wycliffe Canada upon our return. We love you all and praise God for each one of you.
Love & Prayeers
Dave & Joan
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Hi Everyone,
You are probably thinking that we forgot how to post on our blog seeing how it has been so long.
We have been so busy with ministry here in the Wycliffe office and with Joan traveling back and forth to LA to be with Barb that we have hardly had time to sit down at the computer after work hours. Also we have been waiting for the doctors to actually run some additional tests on Barb so that we had something more definite to report on her ongoing cancer treatment. As you may recall she had a very encouraging report after her 4th round of chemo.
She has now completed her sixth treatment and visited the doctor yesterday in preparation for the seventh treatment on Thursday of this week (June 21) After this last treatment the doctor did run a blood cancer count test and told Barb the results yesterday. We have more GREAT NEWS to report. When she started treatment the cancer count was nearly 700. After her first treatment it dropped to 90 and after her third treatment it had dropped to 59 and now after this sixth treatment it has dropped to 2.3 (not 23 but 2 point 3) which is in the normal range for all people because we all have some cancer cells running around in our bodies. Does that mean Barb is now considered cancer free? No, as more definitive tests are needed and the doctor plans to do another CAT/PET scan soon which will indicate more fully the effectiveness of the treatment. What this most recent test does show is that Barb has come a very long ways in her treatment and continues to show great improvement. Her doctor who is a non-believer even said to her yesterday "It really makes me happy when miracles happen." He has continually been amazed at the progress Barb has made as he was not optimistic at all when treatment was initiated. For Barb and all of us this is a testimony of God's healing power and the power of the prayers of the Body of Christ. You have been and continue to be a critical part of what God is doing in Barb's body, mind and spirit. She is scheduled to have an additional three treatments the last one being given on August 1st. Things to continue to pray about are.
1. Barb's ability to continue to handle these last three treatments
a. She is needing to get shots to build up her white blood count before each treatment.
There are some side effects from these shots. We thank the Lord for her medical
coverage which pays for the shots which are extremely expensive.
b. Her most serious side effect to date has been the neuropathy (extreme nerve pain) in
her hands and feet. It has been lasting longer after each treatment. Pray it will not
not cause any permanent damage to the nerves.
c. Pray that all other side effects will continue to be minimal as they have been
throughout all the treatments to date.
d. That Barb will be able to find the balance needed between a busy life with five
children and needed time for rest and refreshment. Summer vacation is now here
so the schedule is a bit more relaxed.
2. Pray for the whole family as they have now moved into Erik's childhood home and are
in the process of living in a house that is undergoing some major renovations.
3. Pray for Barb as she stays focused and disciplined in terms of her diet and other
things she is doing which we believe are aiding in the healing process.
4. Pray for all those who have been such a big help to Barb and family. The school where
the girls attend continues to bring the evening meal. They have been doing this for five
months now. For the LA school district that continues to show support and have Barb
scheduled to return to the classroom in the fall. For Joan as she goes down to be with
Barb and family for the first week after the chemo is administered.
Pray for our summer schedule as we plan to spend time with Tim and family and Joan's Mom and sister and brother-in-law in the Portland OR/Vancouver WA area. After that we will go to a be with Barb for that first week after the seventh treatment. Jon and Amy and family will also be home from Asia at that time and will be in S. California so we will be able to see them as well as daughter Ruth who lives in Santa Ana , CA. Our time is fairly short so we will drive long days and work in as many activities as possible
Pray also for the sale of our Idyllwild, CA house. We are anxious to get it sold.
Thank you for your love, prayers and encouragement to Joan and I and the entire family as we have and continue to walk this journey of faith. We love and appreciate each of you so very much.
Dave & Joan
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Great report on Barb
We are thrilled to update you on Barb's recent doctor visit and want to share this with you so that you too can praise our loving Lord for his healing in her body. This calls us to even more prayer for her and thanksgiving to our merciful God that has and will continue to answer all our prayers for Barb and family.
A personel note from Barbara Routh written yesterday, May 3/07
Hi My Dear Prayer Warriors,
I have great news to report! I had a PET/CT scan on Monday and today I visited my dr. for my regular pre-chemo checkup.
He had the results from Monday's scan. He said 'you couldn't ask for better news' and proceeded to read me the summary findings. Basically all the lesions have been reduced in size and number, many disappeared, and all have shrunk in size and density. I attribute this incredible reduction to your constant prayers!! We have shed tears of joy today, realizing how God is healing me.
Here are some quotes from the report. '...markedly improved in size and metabolic activity...non visualization of the previously seen multiple focal areas...marked reduction in the size and number of metastases. Previously there were too many to count with lesions measuring up to 2cm in the lungs. At present there are fewer than 20 lesions, less than 6mm diameter. ...marked interval improvement with tremendous dimiution in number and size of pulmonary and hepatic (liver) metastases...' My Dr. said he'd never seen the word tremendous in a report :)
So today I feel tremendous and in awe of God's grace. The Psalm for morning prayer today was Psalm 91 and that gave me much courage to go to the dr. appointment. To GOD be the glory!! Keep those prayers going please. They are the answer.
All my love and appreciation,
Barbara Routh
A personel note from Barbara Routh written yesterday, May 3/07
Hi My Dear Prayer Warriors,
I have great news to report! I had a PET/CT scan on Monday and today I visited my dr. for my regular pre-chemo checkup.
He had the results from Monday's scan. He said 'you couldn't ask for better news' and proceeded to read me the summary findings. Basically all the lesions have been reduced in size and number, many disappeared, and all have shrunk in size and density. I attribute this incredible reduction to your constant prayers!! We have shed tears of joy today, realizing how God is healing me.
Here are some quotes from the report. '...markedly improved in size and metabolic activity...non visualization of the previously seen multiple focal areas...marked reduction in the size and number of metastases. Previously there were too many to count with lesions measuring up to 2cm in the lungs. At present there are fewer than 20 lesions, less than 6mm diameter. ...marked interval improvement with tremendous dimiution in number and size of pulmonary and hepatic (liver) metastases...' My Dr. said he'd never seen the word tremendous in a report :)
So today I feel tremendous and in awe of God's grace. The Psalm for morning prayer today was Psalm 91 and that gave me much courage to go to the dr. appointment. To GOD be the glory!! Keep those prayers going please. They are the answer.
All my love and appreciation,
Barbara Routh
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Update from Afar
Dear Praying Family and Friends,
It's been awhile since I have updated this blog but life has been a bit on the wild side the last three weeks. Joan and I had wonderful days with Jon and Amy and family in Asia, especially getting to know the new grand daughter God brought into all of our lives. She is a real sweetheart and a very good baby. Jon, Amy and family are doing well and continue to grow and improve in their fluency of the language. I left them on the 9th of April and went to Singapore for Asia-Pacific Area Meetings of Wycliffe and SIL. It was wonderful to be back with old friends from throughout the region. Exciting things are happening and I am delighted that Wycliffe Canada gets to be a part both by sending personnel and through funding of projects. We are also deeply connected through our worldwide prayer ministry.
I am currently in the Philippines spending time with The Translators of the Philippines that we had the privilege of helping to establish back in the early 80's. I'll also spend time with the Area Office and the Philippine Branch of The Summer Institute of Linguistics which we were a part of for the 31 years we were in Asia. I am also getting to touch bases with some dear Filipino friends while here including former Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations, Sedfrey Ordonez.
Joan left Jon & Amy yesterday morning and flew directly to Los Angeles to be with Barb as she starts her 4th round of chemo today (LA time). Thank you so much for your many prayers on her behalf in regards to her white cell blood count. It did come up enough to where the doctors felt comfortable enough for to take this 4th round as scheduled. Barb and Erik are now also working more closely with a medical doctor nutritionist who wants to help Barb improve her current diet even more. This weekend Ruth and Barb and Ros are planning to attend a Women's Spiritual Retreat sponsored by the church denomination that they are all a part of. Pray that Barb will have recovered sufficiently well enough from the first few days of this round of chemo to be able to attend. Feeding the spirit and soul is even more important in the healing process than even chemo and diet. All things working together, a big part of which are your prayers, we are trusting the Lord to bring complete and total healing to Barb, body, mind and spirit. Thank you for standing with us through this journey.
Our daughter-in-law Naomi was able to spend two weeks with Erik and Barb and the kids. She was a great help and we are so very grateful that she was able to be there. This is the first time that Renatah was able to see her cousins.
It's been awhile since I have updated this blog but life has been a bit on the wild side the last three weeks. Joan and I had wonderful days with Jon and Amy and family in Asia, especially getting to know the new grand daughter God brought into all of our lives. She is a real sweetheart and a very good baby. Jon, Amy and family are doing well and continue to grow and improve in their fluency of the language. I left them on the 9th of April and went to Singapore for Asia-Pacific Area Meetings of Wycliffe and SIL. It was wonderful to be back with old friends from throughout the region. Exciting things are happening and I am delighted that Wycliffe Canada gets to be a part both by sending personnel and through funding of projects. We are also deeply connected through our worldwide prayer ministry.
I am currently in the Philippines spending time with The Translators of the Philippines that we had the privilege of helping to establish back in the early 80's. I'll also spend time with the Area Office and the Philippine Branch of The Summer Institute of Linguistics which we were a part of for the 31 years we were in Asia. I am also getting to touch bases with some dear Filipino friends while here including former Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations, Sedfrey Ordonez.
Joan left Jon & Amy yesterday morning and flew directly to Los Angeles to be with Barb as she starts her 4th round of chemo today (LA time). Thank you so much for your many prayers on her behalf in regards to her white cell blood count. It did come up enough to where the doctors felt comfortable enough for to take this 4th round as scheduled. Barb and Erik are now also working more closely with a medical doctor nutritionist who wants to help Barb improve her current diet even more. This weekend Ruth and Barb and Ros are planning to attend a Women's Spiritual Retreat sponsored by the church denomination that they are all a part of. Pray that Barb will have recovered sufficiently well enough from the first few days of this round of chemo to be able to attend. Feeding the spirit and soul is even more important in the healing process than even chemo and diet. All things working together, a big part of which are your prayers, we are trusting the Lord to bring complete and total healing to Barb, body, mind and spirit. Thank you for standing with us through this journey.
Our daughter-in-law Naomi was able to spend two weeks with Erik and Barb and the kids. She was a great help and we are so very grateful that she was able to be there. This is the first time that Renatah was able to see her cousins.
James 5:16 states "Pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man, (or woman) is powerful and effective." While the context is not specifically speaking to physical healing I believe the principle applies to physical, emotional and spiritual healing and as God's people unite in prayer the Lord hears and answers because He does delight in the prayers of His people. We are so grateful to be a part of God's worldwide body, the Church. God's grace is sufficient for our every need.
God Bless
Dave & Joan on behalf of Barb and the entire Ohlson Family
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