Newsletter reformatted... Thanks for the praying...

What is going on now?

But God...
ll so she can be closer to us here in Texas. Please pray for a good transition from Canada to Texas!

But God.... Depending on the inflection with which you say these two words changes everything. Throughout this journey that the Lord has led us on we have said it whining to Him and we have said it in awe of Him. There is actually a new book with that title. IT is a book that shows how when things seem to be at the worst possible scenario and the then Scriptures say “but God...” and it shows how God showed His glory and His wonder in the midst of a horrible time (humanly speaking).
We, too, have such amazing “but God” moments. David has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Kidney Cancer with metastases to the bone (knee) and to his lungs and lymph nodes. He had surgery on his knee to remove the cancer and later had radiation to kill of cancer cells that grew back post surgery. He had surgery

to remove the kidney that contained the tumor. He was in so much pain. But God, showed His glory in giving both of us wisdom and peace to take each next step rationally. We have been told that the average life expectancy with treatment for this cancer is 2-3 years. But God, has given us His peace to take one day at a time. We had to leave our home and our ministry and return to the USA. We were scared because we loved our home and ministry in Indonesia. But God, showed up big and showed us that we have a wonderful family of supporters here in the USA and lots and lots of ministry opportunities with TCKs here! There are many more “but God” moments in our journey...
We are so blessed to serve a Sovereign and good God!! Jehovah Jireh has been our provider.

We are still with NICS
Folks have asked and yes, we are still with NICS. We continue to love and support this mission organization and all they are doing to minister to and educate Third Culture Kids and International Students. They are an organization that strives to glorify the Lord in all they do through their work with students!
Our school in Bandung has graciously offered to continue our insurance coverage in full until the end of

June 2012 and at 50% of the premium until June 2013. July 2012, they will pay 50% of our yearly premium and we will pay the other 50%. NICS has kept our support account open to help us with the part of the premium and for paying some of our medical expenses. If you would like to continue with your support of this purpose our account remains open for donations. We have been so blessed by all of you for all these years. We are unbelievably grateful for all the prayers and support, financially and otherwise!

Update on David...

Amazing! ... That’s really the only way I can describe how we’ve seen God work in and amongst this road on which He is leading us. God led us to Singapore to have my knee pain examined. He knew that was exactly where I needed to be when I was diagnosed with cancer. In every step we took, we could see that He had prepared us for exactly what was happening.
When I was in Singapore, my oncologist started me on a medicine for my cancer. It is called ‘targeted therapy’ because it does two specific things: it stops cells that are dividing and it prevents new blood vessels from being produced. So, the tumors have a difficult time growing if their cells can’t divide and if they can’t build new blood vessels to expand their size. When I was in Houston in late January, I had another CT scan; this scan revealed that the tumors in my lungs and lymph nodes in my chest had gotten smaller. We consider this a miracle because the medicine is only supposed to stop the growth of the tumors! We’re praising God for His provision and graciousness! I recently went to see an oncologist here in Longview at the Texas Oncology Center. It was a great appointment; she was glad to get all of my medical records from Singapore. She has continued the treatment that I started in Singapore. Please pray that God will continue to reduce the size of my tumors, that the medicine will continue to work, and that I’ll be able to endure the side effects of the medicine. 

Kim’s New Job
Kim is loving her new position as secretary/receptionist at LeTourneau University. It is an amazing workplace filled with encouragement, humour, and godly character. What a blessing! We are also grateful for the income and tuition benefits. God has been so gracious to supply a job that Kim very much enjoys!


MORE NEWS
Grace is coming back to Texas towards the end of April. She is hoping to attend LeTourneau majoring in Psychology or Counseling. We are so excited about having the whole family in Texas! Please pray for her admittance to LeTourneau and her transition back “home”. 


Thanks so much for all the prayers you have been praying.  Please keep praying for David and for the kids as the transition to life here in the US.  They are all processing at different levels leaving Indonesia and David's cancer diagnosis.  We are so humbled by them and their hearts for the Lord through all this.  They have each drawn closer to their Father.  Please pray for them to continue in this.  Also, pray for wisdom for us as Abi asks questions that are so hard. She is our one who is still crying daily over her sadness of leaving her home and friends in Indonesia and her daddy. 


On a brighter side...

Hope you enjoy the photos of Daddy and his kids :-) 

Hello Precious friends and supporters,

We say precious because we believe you are. You have all been so incredibly faithful and supportive of us throughout these many years. You have buoyed us in so many ways. We were able to stay on the field all these many years because of each of you. Your financial gifts were a great part of our ministry. We were able to do much with international students and Third Culture Kids because of each of you. But, more than the finances, your prayers have been the sustenance that we have needed to hold close to God for all these years. We cannot even begin to tell you all the times that we were feeling defeated, down or discouraged and we would receive a note from one of you telling us of how you were praying for us! It was amazing the peace that would come in knowing we were not alone.


We would like to apologize to those of you who have not heard from us. Over the years we have lost contact due to dropped email addresses and problems with mail in Indonesia. Many times letters were never arrived to the states and many times letters never arrived to us. We are so glad to be back in the US so that we can communicate more easily.


We have been overwhelmed by the love our church, Fellowship Bible Church of Longview, has shown to us. They have been so generous. Supporters have provided a home for us, and many supporters and church members furnished and decorated the home as well. We literally walked in and went to bed our first night. So overwhelming. We were led to our knees in thanksgiving to the Lord for the way He allowed us to feel His love through the words and actions of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Letters like these are hard to write. Whether we are saying thank you to all of you who have prayed for these 10-12 years, or to those who have also joined with us financially, or those of you who have also had a part in providing this new home for us, we are virtually speechless. There are truly no words to express the gratitude we are feeling. Every time we begin a letter to tell all of you how much we love and appreciate you, it just seems to not be enough. So, please know that from the depth of all we know regarding gratefulness, we are grateful.


We have also included a newsletter with lots of updates. We will email these and also send it out through the postal service. We cannot wait to hear from you and hopefully spend time with you!




Blessings
David and Kim and Grace, Emma, Jeff and Abi