Sunday, May 25, 2008
Dear Praying Family,
It's hard to believe that we have not posted anything since February :( First we want to ask you to pray for our daughter Barbara who has been fighting cancer for a year and a half now. About six weeks ago her doctor was thinking of taking her off of chemo as she has in his words been in remission for nearly 9 months. Before he did that he ran a in-depth CAT/PET scan and one small lesion was "glowing" meaning there was some kind of activity. He had been wanting to refer her to a surgeon for several months so after this report he sent her to the surgeon who said that 14 of the 20 previous lesions had completely disappeared and of the six remaining, including the one glowing, were located in one section of the liver and he was recommending surgery to totally remove those lesions. Her oncologist agreed. She is scheduled for this surgery at Ceder Sinai in Hollywood this coming Wednesday May 28th. Joan leaves Calgary tomorrow to be with Barb for nearly three weeks. I (Dave) go down on the 29th for six days. In her pre-op check up for the surgery she asked her primary care Dr. to go ahead and run her normal blood cancer count test, which they did, and the good news is that even though she has been off all chemo for over five weeks the test came back that she was in the normal range. Do pray for her during this operation which is scheduled to take 4 hours and has a recovery time of 4+ weeks. Also pray for Erik Barb's husband and for their five kids, Kiayah, Clare, Elise, Robert and Vivianne who is 1 1/2 years old.You can learn more by going on Barb's personal site www.caringbridge.org go to visit and type in 4barbararouth.
Joan & I were gone from April 13-May 12 to Asia where we spent 10 days with our daughter and family who are in a large Asian country with an agency that teaches English as a second language. 8 days were on our way to 2 1/2 weeks of meetings in another Asian country for our Wycliffe triennial Convention and 2+days on our way back through Jon and Amy's country of service. It was wonderful being with them and getting to see our 4 grand kids Jeremiah, Alenna, Sydney and Maddie who just turned 1 on March 25th. Joan was delighted that she got to spend Mother's Day with Amy in Asia.
We were back in the office here in Calgary on the 14th just in time to do final preparation for the Wycliffe Canada Board Meetings. Those meetings ended yesterday May 23rd. They were good meetings and we got to share with the Board lots of good things that are happening in Wycliffe Canada and around the world as reported on during the International Convention.
Tim and his wife Naomi who live in Portland, OR are expecting their third child in October and we are all excited about that. This little one will make grand child # 12. Their two girls Shalom and Renatah are excited about being joined by another new brother or sister. Tim travels a lot with Noritsu a Japanese photo-chemical company that he works for. He has made several trips to Alaska over the last few months as well as to several states in the Pacific Northwest.
Daughter Ruth is teaching Jr. High math, ESL and ceramics in Norwalk, CA. She has just completed a calculus course and has one more math course to finish which will complete her needed courses and update/upgrade her teaching credential for math.
After my return to Calgary on the 3rd of June I will hold director's meetings on the 4th and then on the 9th of June I'll fly to Toronto for 2 1/2 days of meetings and then on to Nova Scotia for the official dedication of our Atlantic Canada Training Center. This property of 62 acres and training facility was donated to us a number of months ago. Joan returns to Calgary on June 13th and I return on the 16th. On the 15 th of June our dear friends David & Muriel Standing who we shared an apartment with for three years in Manila will come from England for a month long visit and we are really looking forward to time with them.
Well I think that covers most of the major events in our lives over the past two months and on into the future for 6 weeks. We are grateful for all of your prayers, especially for Barb. God is good and has done good things for us as a family and for Wycliffe Canada and the whole of Wycliffe around the world. Your prayers are a vital part of our lives and ministry and we thank God for each of you.
It's hard to believe that we have not posted anything since February :( First we want to ask you to pray for our daughter Barbara who has been fighting cancer for a year and a half now. About six weeks ago her doctor was thinking of taking her off of chemo as she has in his words been in remission for nearly 9 months. Before he did that he ran a in-depth CAT/PET scan and one small lesion was "glowing" meaning there was some kind of activity. He had been wanting to refer her to a surgeon for several months so after this report he sent her to the surgeon who said that 14 of the 20 previous lesions had completely disappeared and of the six remaining, including the one glowing, were located in one section of the liver and he was recommending surgery to totally remove those lesions. Her oncologist agreed. She is scheduled for this surgery at Ceder Sinai in Hollywood this coming Wednesday May 28th. Joan leaves Calgary tomorrow to be with Barb for nearly three weeks. I (Dave) go down on the 29th for six days. In her pre-op check up for the surgery she asked her primary care Dr. to go ahead and run her normal blood cancer count test, which they did, and the good news is that even though she has been off all chemo for over five weeks the test came back that she was in the normal range. Do pray for her during this operation which is scheduled to take 4 hours and has a recovery time of 4+ weeks. Also pray for Erik Barb's husband and for their five kids, Kiayah, Clare, Elise, Robert and Vivianne who is 1 1/2 years old.You can learn more by going on Barb's personal site www.caringbridge.org go to visit and type in 4barbararouth.
Joan & I were gone from April 13-May 12 to Asia where we spent 10 days with our daughter and family who are in a large Asian country with an agency that teaches English as a second language. 8 days were on our way to 2 1/2 weeks of meetings in another Asian country for our Wycliffe triennial Convention and 2+days on our way back through Jon and Amy's country of service. It was wonderful being with them and getting to see our 4 grand kids Jeremiah, Alenna, Sydney and Maddie who just turned 1 on March 25th. Joan was delighted that she got to spend Mother's Day with Amy in Asia.
We were back in the office here in Calgary on the 14th just in time to do final preparation for the Wycliffe Canada Board Meetings. Those meetings ended yesterday May 23rd. They were good meetings and we got to share with the Board lots of good things that are happening in Wycliffe Canada and around the world as reported on during the International Convention.
Tim and his wife Naomi who live in Portland, OR are expecting their third child in October and we are all excited about that. This little one will make grand child # 12. Their two girls Shalom and Renatah are excited about being joined by another new brother or sister. Tim travels a lot with Noritsu a Japanese photo-chemical company that he works for. He has made several trips to Alaska over the last few months as well as to several states in the Pacific Northwest.
Daughter Ruth is teaching Jr. High math, ESL and ceramics in Norwalk, CA. She has just completed a calculus course and has one more math course to finish which will complete her needed courses and update/upgrade her teaching credential for math.
After my return to Calgary on the 3rd of June I will hold director's meetings on the 4th and then on the 9th of June I'll fly to Toronto for 2 1/2 days of meetings and then on to Nova Scotia for the official dedication of our Atlantic Canada Training Center. This property of 62 acres and training facility was donated to us a number of months ago. Joan returns to Calgary on June 13th and I return on the 16th. On the 15 th of June our dear friends David & Muriel Standing who we shared an apartment with for three years in Manila will come from England for a month long visit and we are really looking forward to time with them.
Well I think that covers most of the major events in our lives over the past two months and on into the future for 6 weeks. We are grateful for all of your prayers, especially for Barb. God is good and has done good things for us as a family and for Wycliffe Canada and the whole of Wycliffe around the world. Your prayers are a vital part of our lives and ministry and we thank God for each of you.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Dear Praying Friends,
Wanted to do a brief update specifically on our daughter Barbara. She continues under treatment and continues to do well as she battles colon cancer. The Dr. says she is in remission and always reminds her she is a miracle, not normal terminology for a Dr. especially one like him who is so convinced that the only treatment for illness is chemicals. He does not seem to have any kind of definite plan for Barb other than to keep treating her with the two chemos that she is currently taking and possibly further surgery at some point in time. You can check Barb's blog at www.caringbridge.org
Just type in 4barbararouth in the space indicating whose site you want to visit.
She and Erik need lots of wisdom from the Lord as they seek His perfect will in the days ahead as they personally manage Barb's ongoing treatment that includes more than just chemicals, such as diet, faith and all of your prayers.
I am attaching some pictures from Christmas
12 1/2 month Renatah at Christmas 07
Ruth enjoying her complete set of Calvin and Hobbes
Kaiyah, Claire and Elise looking pretty in matching outfits!
Barb and her Mom enjoying a wonderful Christmas morning!
Barb and the kids enjoying another Christmas!
Love & Prayers
Dave & Joan
Wanted to do a brief update specifically on our daughter Barbara. She continues under treatment and continues to do well as she battles colon cancer. The Dr. says she is in remission and always reminds her she is a miracle, not normal terminology for a Dr. especially one like him who is so convinced that the only treatment for illness is chemicals. He does not seem to have any kind of definite plan for Barb other than to keep treating her with the two chemos that she is currently taking and possibly further surgery at some point in time. You can check Barb's blog at www.caringbridge.org
Just type in 4barbararouth in the space indicating whose site you want to visit.
She and Erik need lots of wisdom from the Lord as they seek His perfect will in the days ahead as they personally manage Barb's ongoing treatment that includes more than just chemicals, such as diet, faith and all of your prayers.
I am attaching some pictures from Christmas
12 1/2 month Renatah at Christmas 07
Ruth enjoying her complete set of Calvin and Hobbes
Kaiyah, Claire and Elise looking pretty in matching outfits!
Barb and her Mom enjoying a wonderful Christmas morning!
Barb and the kids enjoying another Christmas!Love & Prayers
Dave & Joan
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
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