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Staff Reports
Reports of recent Trips and Work by Godspeed Missionary Care
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Staff Missionary Reports
Reports and Experiences of the Godspeed Staff
"But my God will supply all your need, according to His
riches in glory..."
Phil 4:19
"This isn't where we usually stay!", I say to Karen as
we arrive at the mission headquarters; we are in Indiana where
we are to present to a group of missionaries in training. The
organization has always supplied us a place to stay, each
previous time in one of the larger upstairs apartments. This
time we are assigned smaller lodgings, several rooms located
behind one of the bigger apartment buildings. Part of me
feels a bit underserved by being assigned to these humble,
ground level quarters.
"I think you better take a look at this.", Karen said
as we were getting ready for bed. I feel the tender swelling
in her lower abdomen, and we both know what this is. Four
years ago on another evening as we were awaiting a trip to
work with this very same mission agency, Karen had developed
a sudden femoral hernia which required emergency surgery.
That one was on her right side, repaired in the middle of
the night while we were visiting family in Texas prior to
an anticipated trip to Indonesia. This one is the twin
problem on the left side; apparently Karen only gets these
when we are away from home, working with this particular
mission organization, in the middle of the night. We have
trudged to the hospital, already knowing both from
professional training and personal experience that this trip
will also be altered by surgery in a place away from home.
Our prayer before we leave to drive to the hospital is that
God will arrange for competent care. In Texas four years
ago, the emergency room physician turned out to have been a
missionary doctor in Africa in his past, and we had mutual
friends. We could not hope to have that reassuring scenario
repeated, but perhaps God has something else in mind that
will give us both a sense of calm in this situation.
"It's the quietest night we have had here for weeks",
says the nurse who checks Karen into the emergency room. The
significance of that is that the "usual" three hour wait is
cut to only thirty minutes before actually being seen by a
series of nurses, a physician's assistant, and then the
doctor. He is pleasant, humorous, and quickly confirms our
diagnosis. I notice a large button on his white coat, with
pictures of five children and the words "God Keeps His
Promises". It is large enough to detract from initially
noticing the small, rustic, silver cross on his lapel with
the word "Y'shua" inscribed. He asks us a bit about what
we do and we soon find out this is his first night working
at this hospital. He has recently moved here from Kentucky
and is grieving leaving his church, one we know well from
having lectured at a medical missions conference there over
the past four years. The doctor then returns to his other
duties, relaying information about the status of lab work,
CT scans, and information from the surgeon consultant. He
tells us briefly that he is going home and Karen's emergency
care will be supervised by another doctor as they all try
to determine if surgery will be necessary tonight or at all.
Before he leaves, I ask him if we can pray, and I offer a
brief thanks to God that he has put us in the hands of a
Christian brother.
"Do you mind if I come back in?" Long after I would
have thought he had already gone home, he returns to the room
to talk to us. He tells us his story of how his wife, a
Messianic Jew, also a physician, had found him several months
ago unconscious on the floor of the kitchen. A trip to the
emergency room had quickly led to his diagnosis of brain
tumor, with all the radiological characteristics of the most
ominous type. While he was undergoing CT scans, MRI scans,
PET scans, hundreds of his friends were at his church praying
for him. Surgery was scheduled and a final imaging test was
done to determine the best approach; it unexpectedly revealed
a reduction in size of the mass. It has continued to shrink
from golf-ball size to the size of a pencil point. The
explanation given by his doctors is that it must not have been
a tumor since it has essentially disappeared; he has a more
theological explanation. He asks us to now pray for his
wife, who has just been diagnosed with lupus; he is headed
home to care for the children as she has her first
appointment with a rheumatologist this morning. He had taken
time to come back to see us to share about what an
incredible God we all serve.
As I write, Karen has come through surgery successfully
(her surgeon, "randomly" assigned by the hospital, is described
by several nurses and the anesthesiologist as the most skilled
surgeon in Indianapolis). Later this morning I will be able
to take her back to the mission organization where we will
stay for a few more days until she is comfortable enough to
travel back home. Although she is very sore from having just
had surgery several hours ago, it shouldn't be any problem
getting her back to our room...this humble, ground level
apartment is the only one around that doesn't have stairs
to surmount.
We thank God that He is in control of all details in every
situation. I am grateful for your prayers and look forward
to hearing from you.
Godspeed,
Barney, for Karen and the Godspeed team
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