What on earth was that???

That's what we've been asking the past week as I, Bethany was down, flat on my back (or side or however I could finally get comfortable), with some sort of stomach bacteria.  WELCOME to Papua. 

It hit me sometime Monday night and gradually got worse and worse until Wednesday in the wee hours of the morning, I made it to the bathroom but couldn't get back to bed, and ended up yelling for Joel from the kitchen floor.  Sorry, for those of you who don't need details, but things were going right through me and I hadn't been able to keep anything in me for several days so by 4am when I had to go again, I began to pass out, right there in the bathroom, alone on the other side of the house.  Joel finally heard my weak calls for help and came running to find me pale and very very weak.  We called one of our co-workers who was over at the guest house to come and she thought maybe I had gotten some kind of bacteria.  Thankfully, although we may feel as far from civilization as we have ever gone, there are wonderful medical professionals here in our town and so one was called the next morning and she told us which antibiotic to get started on.  The whole day was a wash as far as getting much done around the house. Joel became Mr. Mom and my bedside nurse.  The co-worker who rescued us in the night also took Jack for a few hours sparing him from going insane here at the house for the next few days and I basically laid in and out of sleep all day Thursday and part of the day on Frida, running to the bathroom every half hour or so.  Finally on Friday afternoon, I was beginning to feel human again and now, on Sunday am back to normal.  Relatively speaking, it was a mild thing really but it sure felt like death was knocking on my door. 

We have struggled a bit more here with some weird version of culture shock.  Papua is very different than Java in so many ways.  It kind of feels like we left civilization a bit and were dropped on some remote island somewhere.  I think we had in mind that this would be an easier transition in that we'd already been to Indonesia and then would just have minor adjustments here.  That is not the case.  we need your prayers now more than ever as we trust God for every moment here.  We have been praying more together than ever before in our marriage and are simply asking God to get us through today.  One day at a time. 

I'm being pretty candid here with you all and so I hope you know that we are not giving up.  At times that seems the thing to do but we know that God has led us here and we are trusting Him to keep us here!  What's that phrase again, "God's will will not lead you where His grace cannot keep you!".  We're clinging to that. 

Thanks for standing with us. 

In His hands,

Bethany for us all