Greetings From Asia

Dear Praying Family & Friends,

We arrived here at Amy & Jon's on Friday evening March 23rd and after a good nights rest we spent Saturday just kicking back and enjoying some relaxed time with Jon, Amy and the kids. In the late afternoon we all took a good walk, including Amy who was able to take the brace off of her mending broken leg a few days ago. After a good meal at a nearby restaurant we settled in for the night. At midnight that Sunday evening Amy started having contractions and by 3:00 AM she felt it was time to go to the hospital so she, Jon and Joan left for the 30 minute drive. I stayed at home to watch the older kids. Upon arriving the examining nurse told Amy she was 5 cm dilated, so she was thinking that she was in for a few more hours of labour. However, things progressed very rapidly and after about 5 really hard contractions little Madeleine Leigh was born at 4:00 AM March 25th Asia time. She weighed in at 2925 grams and is 48.5 cm long. She is beautiful with lots of light brown hair. Both she and Mom are doing great, they came home from the hospital at noon today March 27th. She is adored and loved by all especially Jeremiah, Alenna and Sydney.


Barb started her 3rd round of chemo Monday March 26th. The doctor is a bit concerned that her white blood cell count is down some, so she is going to need to be extra careful to avoid being around anyone with an infection as her immune system is not as well equipped to fight off any potential infection and it would take her longer to recover should she catch something. Thanks for praying that she will be free of infection and that her white blood cell count will build back up. We are very grateful that Naomi and Renatah will be able to go and be with Barb for two weeks starting on March 28. Renatah looks forward to meeting her cousins for the first time as well.


Several days ago she got the results of the blood work back after her first round of chemo. We are praising the Lord that after that first treatment the cancer count dropped from nearly 700 to just 90. The doctor and all of us are so grateful for the effectiveness of the chemo that first round and for the part that her strict diet is having on fighting the cancer in her body. Above all we believe strongly that this is a direct answer to all the prayers of God's people who have been asking the Lord to bring healing to Barb's body. Thank you for being such a great part of the faithful who are remembering Barb before the throne of grace on a daily basis.

We are enjoying being with Jon, Amy and kids and getting a first hand look at their lives and work here. Their use of the language is impressive after nearly two years of full time study. This language is one of the more difficult languages to learn. The weather has been great since arriving with beautiful warm sunny spring days. Once Amy has fully recovered from the birthing process we will likely do some tourist kinds of things. I will leave April 9th for Singapore to attend the Asia-Pacific Area Meetings of Wycliffe International and then go on to the Philippines for a visit. Joan will remain here to help with the new baby along with Jon, Amy and family. You know how grandmas love to be with the grand kids :) especially a brand new one.

Thanks so much for your ongoing prayers for the whole family and most especially for Barb's healing. God is good and we give him all the glory for what He is doing in all of our lives.

March 14, 2007 Update

Dear Praying Family & Friends,

It hardly seems possible that it's been over a week since we last updated the blog. Thanks for your ongoing prayers for Barb. She is 10 days into her second round of chemo. Side effects this time around were a more severe rash which was very uncomfortable for a few days and the nerve sensation associated with anything cold. Both have improved over the last few days. Her energy level has been higher than expected and she has had virtually no nausea which is a direct answer to all of your prayers. This enables her to eat and drink well thus helping her to maintain her present level of strength. As of this posting we don't yet know the results of the blood work that will give some indication of the effectiveness of the first round of chemo. Hopefully we will have an update on that the next time we post. We are absolutely confident that your prayers are what sustains all of us during this trial and will be a major factor in Barb's long term healing. Joan and I were so encouraged during our week in Orlando when so many friends and colleagues came up to us and shared that they,their families,their home groups, their churches and friends were all praying. The Body of Christ is such an incredible blessing and source of encouragement during this time.

Amy is doing better each day in regards to her broken leg. In a recent e-mail she said she felt the baby has dropped and at a recent OB check the doctor feels the baby is doing fine and could potentially come at any time. We are hoping that the baby waits to make its appearance until after grandma and grandpa arrive on the 23rd but as you know babies come when they want to :)

We had a really good week in Orlando but the days were especially busy with meetings and fellowshiping with old friends and colleagues. We had a wonderful day on Saturday with Jon's parents Jim and Jan Holsclaw. Jan has finished her six of six scheduled rounds of chemo for ovarian cancer. They are anxiously awaiting the results of the most recent CT scan that will help the doctors to determine if any further treatment is required. We know they would appreciate you prayers during this time of waiting.

Strategic Planning Meetings have taken up most of our time since returning here to Calgary. Over the next few days I need to get the results of these meetings into a coherent strategic plan to present to the Board in May. Pray for clarity of mind as I and others distill our thoughts into a comprehensive and understandable plan that meets with Board approval.

We are adding a picture this time of our oldest daughter Ruth who is a school teacher in Norwalk, CA. She recently was chosen as the teacher of the year for her school. Way to go Ruth :) We are so proud of you.

March 4, 2007 update

Dear Praying Family and Friends,

Joan and I leave for the airport at 4:30 AM tomorrow to fly down to Orlando, FL. We will be there for the week attending meetings of the four largest Wycliffe organizations in our family of 50 entities around the world. The big four are USA, Canada, England, and Australia.
This is something that we do annually. This particular set of meetings will be especially important because of the changes going on in Wycliffe International, so you prayers are much appreciated. We will also be meeting with folks from New Tribes Mission with whom we hope to forge a partnership regarding the translation projects that they are doing around the world. In addition we will have some time with Jim and Jan Holsclaw, Jon's parents. As most of you are aware Jan has been undergoing chemo treatment for the last few months for ovarian cancer. She is finishing up her last of six treatments at the present time. It will be wonderful to see them. We return to Calgary on the 11th and will be here for 9 days before heading to various parts of Asia. We are really looking forward to time with Jon and Amy and being there to welcome a new grand child into the world.

Thank you so much for your ongoing prayers for Barb. She finished her first round of chemo a week ago and has had a good week without any drugs. She starts round two tomorrow. Pray that she will be able to tolerate this second round as well, if not better than the first. Pray especially for Erik as he and the many friends and colleagues who have offered to help will be able to come up with a schedule that will enable Barb to best cope with the treatment and its side effects, especially during the first few days. Ruth is planning on giving some help tomorrow after Barb gets back from the cancer center. Barb met with her oncologist recently and he said that the blood work done before the start of the first treatment showed a cancer count of 700. This is high and expected in stage four cancer but not as high as some which is often over 1000. We will have some indication of the effectiveness of the first round of chemo and the other things that Barb is doing once the lab reports are in. Your prayers in regards to the effectiveness of treatment is critical as we know that while medicine and diet are critical they can only do so much because it is only the Lord who enables the body to heal.

We are grateful that Amy's broken leg is healing and the doctor feels that she can now take the brace off at night to sleep. She saw her OB doctor and he said the baby is doing fine and has not been effected by the trauma to Amy's body. Do pray for a safe delivery coming up in the next three + weeks. Also continue to remember Jon as he keeps on with language studies and also picks up a lot of other duties that Amy normally does but is not able to do being on crutches.

I don't think that we have told you in the midst of all of the above the Lord impressed upon us that it was time to sell our house in Idyllwild, CA and reinvest in Portland, OR. We are actually in the process of purchasing a duplex. Tim and Naomi and family will live in one side and once we finish up our assignment here in Canada we will occupy the other side. Pray for the sale of the Idyllwild house, the rental of the one side until we are ready to return to the Northwest and for Tim and Naomi as they get settled into their side.

Joan's Mom, Margaret, continues to make good progress in healing from her fall after the New Year. She now has her cast off and the wrist has healed well and she has 90% mobiity. In a few days, March 16th she will celebrate her 93rd birthday.

Joan's broken wrist is also healing but because she had the cast on for so long it's taking time to regain complete mobility and use.

Update on Barb & Amy

Dear Praying Family & Friends

It's been several days since I have added a new posting to the blog so thought I should do that before I leave early in the morning for two days in Langley, BC. Joan and I both return to Calgary late Tuesday night, Joan from LA and me from BC. Thought you might enjoy a picture of "the old folks" here in the wilds of Canada.


Barb continues to tolerate this first round of chemo well. It has been two weeks since she started. She is taking a 3 chemo "cocktail" two of which are taken intraveinously at the hospital and the other orally starting the night before and then morning and night for the next two weeks. She will have a week of no chemo until the next treatment starts on March 5th. Your prayers have made a tremendous difference in her ability to deal with the side effects, when compared with some patients, hers have been minimal. She is of course tired and requires more rest but she is up and about doing many of the normal things a mom needs to do. We are so grateful for all the ongoing prayers and for the really encouraging support that she is getting from church, school(s) friends and family. She really enjoyed having her friend of 22 years from Faith Academy, Barb Cox, spend 4 days with her, her sister Ruth has been over several times and for the last two day her brother Tim as been with her and the family. Tim works for Kodak and was in LA for training. And as you know Joan has been there the last two weeks. Do pray that Barb will regain stamina over this next week in preparation for the next round of Chemo and that she will be able to tolerate the second round as well as she has on this first round. Above all continue to pray that the chemo in combination with the diet she is on will result in the eradication of all cancer cell from her body.



Amy is adjusting to a 24 hour a day brace on her leg and getting around on crutches. Not an easy task when you are 8 months pregnant and have a very active 2 year old (Sydney Grace) to chase after as well as the two older children Jeremiah and Alenna. We had a three way Skype call on Friday evening with Barb's family and Amy's family and me here in Calgary. Modern technology makes staying connected a lot easier these days. Not like the old days when we relied on "snail mail" that took 3 weeks or more. And with video cameras connected with Skype you can even see the the others you are talking to. Now that is a plus, especially for grand parents :) Do continue to pray for Amy as she shared on the Skype call that her leg is still swollen and sore. Pray for Jon as well as he picks up extra duties around the house, keeps up with language studies and carry on with work.
Pray for Joan and I over the next couple of weeks in regards to travel. We both return to Calgary Tuesday night, late. We are here for a few days and then on March 5th we travel to Orlando for meetings. We return to Calgary on March 11th and go directly into another set of meetings here with senior leadership staff. During our time in Orlando we will be seeing Jim and Jan Holsclaw, Jon's parents. We are so grateful for all your prayers for Jan who is just now finishing up her 6th round of chemo for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Treatment results have been very encouraging. It will be wonderful to see them.

We are so blessed by you our brothers and sisters in Christ who have made this difficult journey to date easier than we would have imagined it could be.

Love & Prayers

Dave & Joan and for the whole family

Dear Praying Friends, February 19, 2007

I will be posting a new update on Barb in a couple of days but wanted to put one on for one of our other daughters. Barb's younger sister Amy and her husband (Jon Holsclaw) and three children are with another agency serving in Asia.


Over the weekend they went with friends to usher in the New Year. The festivities were complete with fireworks. One of the rockets that was designed to go straight up went side ways and struck Amy in the leg and broke the tibia. She is nearly eight months pregnant so the next few weeks will be challenging ones for her and the family as Amy will be on crutches for around eight weeks.

As you know the last few months have been a season of challenge for us. The most serious of course being Barb's cancer battle. In addition we have been dealing with Joan's broken wrist. The cast is now off but it is taking time to get it fully functional again after nine weeks of being imobilized. We have also been concerned for Joan's 92 year old Mom who fell and also broke her wrist. I may have also mentioned in our December prayer letter that I was experiencing a medical problem with my kidneys and the doctor was asking me to get more tests. With all that has been going on I have not yet gone in for those tests. :( Pray that I'll be able to get in soon for the tests and that the results will be of a positive nature.

In all of this we are asking the Lord to give us a good balance between the fact that we are quite possibly under attack by the enemy of our souls and what the Book of James says in chapter one verses 2-4. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance and perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." We certainly do not want to miss anything that God has for us during this time. Your prayers have been a great sustaining factor in our lives and we are so grateful for your ongoing commitment to continue to bring all of us and most especially Barb before the throne of grace. Because of all that Jesus has done on our behalf and because of your many prayers we feel confident in claiming the promises of Hebrews 4:16 "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." God's grace truly is wonderful especially during times like these.

Dave for the whole family

Update on Barb February 16th

Dear Praying Friends,

Here is the latest on Barb. It's five days now since she started her first chemo. Overall she seems to be tolerating the chemo meds pretty well. The nerve sensations and reaction to cold seem to be decreasing some each day. She has had virtually no nausea which is a real blessing. This allows her to eat and drink and keep hydrated. She has experienced some mild headaches but they are manageable. She is of course fatigued but is still taking walks and trying to exercise and keep her body toned and in shape as much as possible. She is sticking to her alkaline diet of natural organic foods including the Goji juice from Nepal and the mangosteen juice from the Philippines. Last night she started experiencing pain in the liver/lung regions and called the doctor, as this is one of the things she needs to report on, any new pain. He said this is somewhat normal as the chemo begins to work on the lesions in those areas. Things to pray about would include: 1) The chemo meds will be effective. 2) The pain in the areas of affected lesions will be manageable 3) That she will be able to manage the dizziness/lightheadness that she sometimes has. 4) That she will be wise and not try and do more than she should, and listen to her mother :) 5) Pray that in the midst of all of this she can actually gain a bit of weight. 6)Pray for Erik and the children as they adjust to a wife and Mom who is not able to do all that she did in the past. 7) Continue to pray for Barb and all of us that we will continue to stay close to the Lord and in tune with all that He has for each one of us as we journey this road together. Your prayers are our greatest resource. Thanks for standing with us, James 5:13-15. We know your prayers are offered in faith.