An Important Update

Good Morning from cool and somewhat snowy Missouri,

 

As I sit here this morning, I find it hard to grasp the fact that we're back in Missouri and even just had 8" of late winter snow that's slowly melting outside. This is a setting that I never imagined myself being in, at least not for several years until a furlough, but none the less, here we are.

 

By now, you surely know the reasons for our unexpected return to the US. Jack's health concerns had boggled our minds and exhausted our resources both financially and emotionally, as we tried to find answers as to what his problem is. In fellowship with our field and church leadership, we decided to come home for a medical furlough to be able to seek help for Jack in a much less stressful and far more familiar environment. Along with that purpose, our field leadership also recognized the critical need for Bethany especially to have some rest and recovery from what had turned out to be an incredibly stressful and painful 6 months on the field. She was at a place where she genuinely was needing time away and so this was also a factor in our medical furlough.

 

It's been almost three weeks since we returned and so far things have been productive on the end of getting more answers regarding Jack's health; we've established a new family practitioner (because of an insurance change to a new medical network) as well as set appointments with a pediatric gastroenterologist and an allergist for future dates. And while we're pleased to have been able to set up appointments so quickly, we at the same time have no idea how long the process of really having understanding as to what the problem is, will take. At this point the appointment with the gastro. Dr is set for the 24^th of this month. We anticipate that it will lead to more appointments.

 

But another critical factor determining the length of our stay here in the US has also become even more of determiner. As I said earlier, Bethany was extremely exhausted and worn out when we returned home and has not been able to work through, on her own, the struggles we had in Indonesia these past months. And at the same time, I also realize that I have some personal struggles to reconcile all that has happened in these last 6 months, in my own thinking. So much of what we experienced just doesn't make sense. Our whole family needs time to recover and heal and then a time of stability. And with all things that are part of emotional and spiritual wounds, knowing the time it takes to healthily recover is not something that can be quickly or easily determined.

 

I realize though through all of this, the fact that what I am becoming as a believer in Christ, is far more important than what I am doing or have done for Him. And so, while I can't totally reconcile all those happenings, I can understand how the Father is using it to shape me. But, even with that understanding, not a day goes by that I don't often experience sadness or frustration or confusion.

 

Another and a final factor that is determining how long we will be here is our current financial status. In short, we are in a place where we have been forced, due to many circumstances totally beyond our control, to be in a state of debt, significant debt. Bethany and I from 1 month into our marriage, have always lived according to a tight pre-determined budget and have been able to live debt free since then. But during the last year, from very unexpected taxes to unexpected moving and setup costs and then another unexpected move in Indonesia as well as an expensive medical trip to Singapore and finally our return home, we are now in a place where we must consider every financial decsion with so much care and evaluate what we do so that we can pay off this debt to both our credit card, as well as an equal amount to the very gracious field of Indonesia and also to our family.

 

So, to keep this email from becoming any longer, we have made the decision, the very hard decision, to step off of the field of Indonesia. We feel that at this point in time, it would not be wise for us to return under these circumstances. Our family needs to recover from actual sickness, as well as from emotional struggles and exhaustion, and we don't feel it would be wise to accumulate more debt to return to Indonesia at this time.  Returning represents tremendous stress on our family as a whole. Please understand that this decision was made with the complete aggreement and counsel of both our church and field leadership as well as many other wise people who we've sought counsel from.

 

But, let me make it abundantly clear, WE ARE NOT IN ANY WAY RESIGNING FROM FULL TIME MINISTRY OR NEW TRIBES MISSION. We still are confident that the Lord will use us in a role here in the United States. New Tribes has three training centers that have a whole host of personnel needs and each one of those positions fills a role that is vital for our purpose of seeing unreached people groups, reached. We have always talked about how we believe that this ministry that we seek to be a part of, looks like a wheel on a bike, there is a hub in the middle (we would call that, the church), vital and absolutely necessary spokes that support the rim (the support roles both here in the US as well as on the field), and finally the tire, the part of the wheel that touches the ground (which we see as the tribal teams reaching the unreached where they live). When we were in Indonesia, we were part of those 'spokes' and now as we seek to serve here in the US, we'll again be spokes, absolutely necessary parts of this work!

 

We are at this time seeking where and when the Lord would have us step into this new role as a family. Not an hour goes by that we don't shake our heads in amazement that this is where we really are, but we have to tenaciuosly believe that our God will work all of these things out for His good! And again, let me retstate, we are still serving with NTM, only now, it will be in a different location.

 

Please Pray with and for us! We have so many unknowns on our plate right now. We'll obviously continue to constantly keep you updated on what's happening and how you can specifically pray with us.

 

We love you and can't do this easily without your support.

 

Joel for the Potters

 

update after the first doctor's apt.

We had the first doctors visit since coming home this past Friday.  It went well and we feel confident that this doctor will be a good one for us as a family.  She listened through Jack's history, agreed with the doctor from Singapore that her first thought was Celiac Disease, and then gave us some things to do for him in the meantime between now and his specialists appointment later this month.  She also let us know that she thinks the specialist may want to re-do some of the tests we had done in Singapore so we'll be prepared for that, should it come up. 

 

Some friends in St. Louis have opened up their home for us to stay with them while we are in St. Louis, so that is a praise!  We may have use of a church van for that trip as well, but we aren't sure quite yet.  God has also provided some bonus gifts financially right now to help with the extra expenses we have.

 

So overall we have had good news regarding Jack and  his medical care here.  Please continue praying for us though as we try to be patient for the specialists appointment. 

Photos from the birthday party

Here are some pictures from Jack's birthday party yesterday. We all had a great time, especially Jack, as this was really the first year he "got" that it was his birthday and all that entails!

 

 

It's been one week since we got home and it's been a pretty good week.  We are actually now into week two.  Other than getting over some serious jet-lag, we have gotten an appointment for Jack at the St. Louis Children's Hospital.  He will see the chief gastroenterologist there on March 24^th.  We wish he could get in sooner than that but we're thankful that we got in that soon and not in 3 months time.  We also got an application in to an organization that loans vehicles to missionaries home on furlough.  We will call them today, actually, to see if they will be able to help us in this way. We'd appreciate your prayers that we can get a vehicle soon, whether through them or another avenue. 

 

Jack celebrated his 3^rd birthday last Wednesday.  Due to being in the thick of jet-lag still, we only celebrated with pancakes for breakfast (candles included) but this Saturday will be the big party!  We don't have much planned till the appointment.  This is difficult for us in some ways; sitting still is not easy.  We will be having some meetings with folks from our member care department and will get together with our Pastor and his wife.  We aren't sure what God has for us during this time home except for getting Jack's health cared for.  Please pray that if God has things for us to do while we are home, that we would be sensitive to His leading and that we can perhaps be a blessing to others.

 

We'll check in again soon! 

Finally Photos

Finally we are posting photos again to make things a bit more interesting.  Our camera has been broken so we are now using Mom's. 

 

The photos are as follows:

 

Jack, the birthday boy – He's 3!!!

Owen, under the table, trying to get Chloe the cat!

Jack and Poppi, coloring together

Poppi, kissing Owen

 

An Update

Sorry, I forgot to send our last update to the blog. Sorry if you've been waiting to see what we decided!

 

Here is the news!

 

This has been a long road and thankfully, we are not alone in so many ways.  God is with us, we have great leadership both here in Indonesia and at our home church in Missouri and we all put our heads together these past few weeks.  I'll spare you the details of all the meetings together and chatting via the internet and sum it up with this.  With the support of our leadership, we believe the best thing to do is to take Jack home to the US to seek further medical help.  We believe we have exhausted all of our options here on this side of the world and we don't feel like we can wait any longer to pursue serious medical help for Jack.  His weight is not increasing as it should, his appetite has decreased significantly (his 9 month old brother eats twice what he does), and we fear that he will have growth problems later if we don't figure this out now. 

 

We have been researching children's hospitals at home and are in the process of communicating with them to see about seeing several doctors.  We will, at first, be in Springfield to get through jet-lag and as soon as possible begin seeing doctors.  We have no idea how long this will all take or what the future holds for us.  As we said in the last update, this year has held so much in it that we never expected.  We have faced huge dissapointments, realizing that our expectations were way too high, several very bigs moves, had many medical things to deal with and now are facing returning to the US once again.  One thing that has remained constant is our faith that God is still God, he IS in control, we want to be used of Him to glorify Him and He never changes! 

 

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for staying with us through this journey, for praying with us, encouraging us, supporting us.  Our hearts are still to see the unreached peoples of this world reached with the good news of God's saving grace.  And we want to make it clear that we are NOT leaving missions or NTM.

 

Some specific things you can be praying for:

·         To find the right doctors who will be willing to see this through and help us find the answers to why Jack is sick

·         If we have to go outside Springfield to see the doctors, that we would be able to find inexpensive lodging and transportation

·         Grace to keep enduring and not give up

·         Patience to wait when we need to wait

·         Our recommended support level was just raised a good bit. We find now that we are only at about 60% of that recommended level.

·         That with each day, we would focus on God and not the "problem" at hand – that He would be our source of strength

·         For clear direction about our future

 

We will keep you posted once we get home (February 17^th) and have recuperated from the trip.

 

1 down

We made it to Singapore this afternoon.  Our flight was great, no problems and we are resting as best we can in the hotel room.  We leave for the airport at 3:30am so it will be a short night of sleep but hopefully the boys will sleep on the plane.  Oh, our documents arrived mid day yesterday, literally minutes after we prayed that God would bring them to us in time.  A good reminder that His timing is perfect and He wants us to trust Him.

 

Jack's cold is still hanging on and he has a terrible cough.  He's pretty miserable with it so please pray for him to have some relief while we are flying. The air can be pretty dry in the airplane, which makes breathing all the harder.  We decided to start the antibiotic just in case so hopefully, if he does not have a bacterial infection, he can get some relief this way.  You should hear him!  His voice makes him sound so funny!

 

Well, we are looking forward to getting home soon – snow and all!  We have an apt with a family practice doctor Feb. 29^th (thank you Jolene!) so we at least have somewhere to begin for Jack.  We will post again after we get back to Springfield.

 

 

We're Here

We made it safely home to Springfield MO yesterday afternoon. Thanks for praying as you did. While the reality is it was a long and tiring flight, the boys did sleep well, better than previous trips. Thanks for specifically praying for that.
We're incredibly tired and this week won't do much besides rest and adjust. We're staying with Bethany's mom and have the whole upstairs as our own 'suite' and it's nice to have something more than the 12 square feet that we occupied for over 20 hours of flying...
Jack's first scheduled appointment is Feb 29th which allows for some goo adjustment time. We'll have some more news soon I'm sure. But for now, we're back in the US and looking to our God for what each day holds.

last minute update

We thought perhaps we were at a point where we would be able to decrease the amount of posts asking for prayer but we find ourselves again in need of it.  Yesterday, Jack, Bethany and Owen all came down with a viral infection (cough, fever, congestion).  Today we're not much better and Owen actually got really sick this afternoon and had a very high fever. 

 

Please pray that this subsides before we fly on Saturday morning.  We do have an 18 hour layover in Singapore before we have to fly again so that gives us a bit more time.  Being that it's a virus, we can't do much to help it except take over the counter cold medicine. 

 

We've got antibiotics just in case things get worse, but we really need your prayers for some better health by Saturday morning. We're also waiting on a critical document that we have to use to get out of the country, pray that it arrives on time Friday so that we won't have to change any flights.

 

We're so thankful for such a body of people to be praying for us!

 

 

Phones Are Working Again

Just wanted to let you know that our phone service has seemingly been restored. Though if there's another absense of communication for several days, it could still be phone problems. Be praying that it'll stay on, our ability to communicate is so critical right now!

 

Joel

Heidie

On our last post, someone left an anonymous comment that was so encouraging but we don't know who you are.  Please email us and make yourself known!  We'd love to thank you personally!

 

Bethany

 

P.S.  For the rest of you. We still don't know what we're going to do in all this.  Please keep praying.  There are many things to consider and it seems there is no clear cut answer.  God has not chosen to make His will known yet so we are still waiting.  PLEASE PRAY with us!

Internet/Phone problems

Just to let you all know, we are having phone problems here and so have had a hard time getting on line.  Please be patient with us.  We still have not made a final decision re: what to do with Jack's health issues so keep praying. Maybe tomorrow, we'll know!

 

Bethany

Test Results

We haven't forgotten all you out there wondering how things have ended up for us here with Jack.  We did get back from Singapore and have just today gotten all the results back from the tests.  We wanted to wait till they were all in before we wrote. 

We have good news and not so good news.  The good news is that Jack does not have Celiac's Disease.  The bad news is, we have no idea what's wrong.  All the tests came back negative, including parasite tests, allergy tests and the CD test.  That puts us back to square one with no concrete direction for figuring out what is causing Jack to have diarreah and loose weight.  We are baffled to say the least and frustrated too.

We have been talking with our field leadership, praying a ton, reading the Word, asking God for His clear direction and have just tonight asked our Pastor and leadership at our home church to give us counsel.  We have asked the doctor in Singapore if there is any more she can do to help us and her answers have been very vague, giving us the impression this is where she has to stop.  We are now wondering what is next.  Please pray with us as we seek God and His will in this. 

Again, we'll keep you posted!

Bethany

No results yet

It's Friday morning, January 25, my 33^rd birthday and I am so happy to be home with Joel and Owen again.  It was a long 9 days but amazingly restful too! 

 

Jack had his endoscopy and biopsy on Wednesday morning and all went well with the procedure.  He was a champ!  The doctor said that it didn't look like any damage has been done to the lining of his intestines yet so that is good news.  The results of the tests, both blood tests and the biopsy won't be back till next week so now we wait, once again.  In the meantime, Jack is on a no cows milk, no gluten diet.  Already the diarreah is less than it was a few days ago. 

 

Our minds are desperate to jump ahead and figure out the outcome of all this. What if he has celiacs, what if he doesn't?  Where does that leave us?  So many questions and no answers yet.  The only thing we know to do is rest in the sovereignty of God.  That is so hard as a human being.  Every hour I change my mind about it all, questioning myself, my resolve to rest.  Joel is the same, we've had to just let go and that's not easy.

 

Jack and Joel both have colds right now and aren't feeling at their best so please pray that they can get the rest they need and recover quickly. 

 

Again, and again, and again, we are so thankful for your prayers and encouragment in all this. 

 

Bethany

Entering into His Rest

My mom reminded me today that we haven't posted in a few days so here's an update from us...

Jack and I, Bethany are still in Singapore, staying with some other NTM Reps here. We feel a bit like we're on vacation or something as we're just waiting around for the endoscopy that is scheduled for Wednesday this week. The place we are staying at has a really really nice pool and playground so we're roughing it by hanging out at the pool everyday. Rough, I know! Since we have put Jack back on a regular food diet, his diarreah has returned with a vengence. I'm more and more sure it's something to do with food and the more I read on celiac's disease, the more I think we're on to something there. Today we went to IKEA and had fun window shopping. I love that place. For those of you who know it, don't be too green with envy. I didn't get much that was too exciting. A stuffed animal for Owen, a plastic bag holder thingy, and a surprise for Joel! He'd have drooled his way through the store if he were here. Made me miss him so much more.

We are both, Jack and I, saying several times a day, "I miss Daddy and Owen". It's been a week now and with 4 more days away, it's feeling too long.

Joel and Owen are doing well at home. Joel says Owen goes into Jack's room each day and just sits there looking around like he knows something is missing. Did I mention yet that he's pulling to standing on anythign he can? Watch out world, this little guy is on the move - at 8 months!!! Joel is keeping up best he can with language study while we are gone, having friends over for coffee and being fed well at other friends' homes.

God is really taking good care of us through this whole process. I had a great talk with the lady I am staying with the other night. And I've come to the conclusion that even though I don't know what tomorrow holds for us and everything doesn't fit in to nice little compartments, I can rest in the Lord and his grace and take each day as it comes. I am done looking ahead and trying to plan. I get no where doing that. I am entering in to His rest and enjoying the comfort he gives there. His yoke is easy and His burden is much lighter than mine! It's a good trade, I think. Thanks for praying still.

Bethany

The First 4 Steps

I don't have much time this morning to write but wanted to fill you all in on what we found out yesterday at the Doctor's office.  Doctor Aw is a wonderful sweet gal, my age (mid 30's), I'm guessing, who was eager to figure this out with us!  Praise the Lord!  She has ordered some tests to be done starting with a stool sample test for a parasite (again - #5), then today a skin prick allergy test.  We go in at 9am here to have it done.  Then I am to feed Jack whatever he likes this week till next Wednesday so that we are reinserting the possible offending foods into his system again and this will allow her to see if injury is being done to his intestines by them.  This test is called an endoscopy (8:30 am Wednesday 23 January). She'll be looking for several things in this biopsy, one of which is to see if Jack has celiac disease.  She is not 100% sure it's that but she wants to be sure.  Celiac disease, as i understand it now is an "allergy" to gluten in wheat. She will also be checking to see if there are signs of other irritation to the gut by other food allergens and also to see if there is a parasite there.  Please pray that she can see what she needs to see in this procedure and that the answers are clear.  At the same time as the endoscopy, she'll take a blood sample to run a smattering of tests. 

 

We decided to have this all done at reletively one time as our time here in Singapore is limited.  We hope we have covered our bases well and that one of these tests will reveal something.  It is actually a bit complicated how all the tests work together in this and if you want more details, please write me. 

 

I do have access to email here.  Your prayers and words of encouragement to us are overwhelming.  Thank you!

 

Bethany 

 

On To Singapore

We got the email we were hoping for last night!  There is a gastroenterologist in Singapore that will see Jack on Tuesday morning.  She will do some tests of her own and examine him and then we'll go from there with allergy testing.  Thank you again for your prayers up till now, and please pray that we can figure this out once and for all. 

 

bethany

Walk on in Faith

We have been contacted by a doctor there in Singapore today that he is in touch with a gastroenterologist who will see Jack.  She will examine him and then go from there if he needs to see an allergist or tropical medicine specialist.  I will still ask that he see both once we get there.  It seems things are underway but we just lack dates.  I have checked on tickets for Monday so we'll see.

 

Owen is still fighting a fever and is obviously not feeling well again today.  The fever is lower than yesterday so that is good and the medicine seems to be helping the fungal infection.  Thanks for praying. 

 

I must give praise to the Lord for the house helpers He has given us.  They are a big help to me and I feel that even though I am leaving Owen behind with Joel, they will do a great job loving and caring for him so that Joel can continue to study while I'm gone.  That was a prayer request on our hearts before we came back here and God has given us our hearts desire. 

 

I will share with you a poem I read today in a book I've been going through.  There is no title and the author is unknown.  It was a huge encouragement to me today.

 

 

Child of My love, fear not the unknown morrow.

Dread not the new demand life makes of thee;

Thine ignorance doth hold no cause for sorrow,

For what thou knowest not is known to Me.

 

Thou canst not see today the hidden meaning

Of My command, but thou the light shall gain.

Walk on in faith, upon My promise leaning,

And as thou goest, all shall be made plain.

 

One step thou seest: Then go forward boldly;

One step is far enough for faith to see.

Take that, and thy next duty shall be told thee,

For step by step thy God is leading thee.

 

Stand not in fear, thine adversaries counting;

Dare every peril, save to disobey.

Thou shalt march on, each obstacle surmounting,

For I, the Strong, shall open up the way.

 

Therefore go gladly to the task assigned thee,

Having My promise; needing nothing more

Than just to know where'er the future find thee,

In all thy journeying –I GO BEFORE.

 

 

So in the second half of today, I see the step before me and I'll walk in it till He reveals the next.  FFFHeeeewwww, this faith thing sure is easier said than done!

 

Bethany

another prayer request

I know it is beginning to seem like all we do in this blog is write about the health of our boys but right now that is what is in the fore front of our minds.  Today Owen has been running a fairly high fever, it got up to 104.2 an hour ago.  Thankfully there is an American doctor who lives here in town and so I was able to take him there to make sure he's ok.  The doctor said it is a virus and to just keep him on tylenol but the tylenol is only taking it down about a degree for an hour or so and then it goes back up.  So again, from this mother's heart, I ask you all to pray for our little guy.  Add to that a fungal infection in his diapered area and the poor guy is miserable!

 

It looks like Jack and I will be going to Singapore on Monday if all goes as planned and then he'll see some doctors beginning on Tuesday.  I am hopeful that Owen will be through whatever this virus is by then so I can go with peace of mind that he and Joel will be ok here by themselves.  Thank you once again for your prayers. 

 

I have been spending my mornings reading about what James has to say about going through trials in James chapter 1.  Endurance, perseverance and faith are the words I've that have been standing out to me.  HE is faithful and we will endure in faith.

 

Bethany

Jack's Allergy test

Well, I took Jack in yesterday to the local allergy clinic and lets just say it was an all around experience.  The long and short of it is this:

 

The doctor thinks Jack is allergic to fish, cow's milk, eggs, wheat, soy beans, coffee (that can't be right – he's a Potter), tomato, peanut, house dust, dust mites, and pollen.  

 

WOW is all we can say right now. We are in a bit of shock.  But, the planners that we are discussed what we would do if either the tests came back that he wasn't allergic to anything or that he was allergic to everything or we felt the doctor was not as compotent as we'd like, and since the last two were true, we are heading to Singapore.  At least Jack and I.  I am awaiting word that the NTM missionaries there have contacted doctors who can help us and then we'll head there to hopefully see an allergist and a tropical medicine specialist to rule out that there is a parasite messing with him too, which is still very possible. 

 

Honestly, if these results are valid, this means a huge lifestyle change for our whole family.  Peanuts and soy are a huge part of life here and you can't avoid dust when everyone lives with dirt floors and yards (we have tile, thankfully).  Oh and the trees are constantly pollenating because we don't have seasons like at home.  Basically Jack can eat rice, fruit, vegetables, chicken, beef and pork.  Poor kid, no pasta?, no bread?  no cheese? no peanut butter? AHHHHHHHHKKKKKK!!!!!! 

 

Yet again, we are reminded that God IS IN CONTROL – I tell myself that hourly.  He does know what is happening and He controls what is happening and He is TRUSTWORTHY.  Whether this seems good or not we know he will work it out for His glory and that's why we exist.  We appreciate your prayers for us as we hunt for answers to our questions. Trusting is easier said than done as you all know.  

 

We'll keep you posted.

 

Bethany

Update in the new year

Today finds us fairly well settled into our house and ready for Joel to begin language study this afternoon.  Our house helpers are working out well and will a little bit of time and further instruction will be able to keep us going when I begin language study next month.  We are really enjoying getting to know the newer families who are here learning language and have had several opportunities already to have meals with them.  I have gotten together with our language consultant several times just talking through what our next few months will look like and she feels like we will definitely be ready to move on in 6 months or so. 

 

The housing coordinator here in Salatiga let us know the other day that we will have to move into another house in late March/early April.  It's actually his house we will be moving into as he and his family are going on furlough and someone needs to live in it while they are gone.  And since we will be here a shorter amount of time than the other language families who are just starting out, the timing will be just right for us to live there while they are gone.  As much as we don't want to move again, we also realize that by doing this, we are helping out the team here.  Again, we know God has things for us to learn with each bend in the road and right now, if we aren't learning anything else, we are learning flexibility and to find our comfort in Christ not in our surroundings!

 

Owen seems to be doing better these days.  He is cutting teeth still and so he has good days and bad days but it seems the malaria has passed with all its side effects – Praise the Lord and thank you for praying for him.

 

Jack's health issues have worsened and continue to baffle us.  We did find out great news this week.  There is an allergy clinic here in town that does the food testing we want to have done and it's VERY reasonably priced.  I'll try to get him in there this week and hopefully we can get some answers to whether the diarreah is caused from foods or not. If not, we feel like we'll be at a cross roads and will need to take more serious measures to find out what's wrong.  There is the possibility that we would need to go to Singapore to have him tested more in depth.  Please continue to pray for us in this area.   It's so hard to see this happening and not know how to stop it. 

 

As we continue on each day here in Indonesia, we are more and more aware of God's power in our lives.  Knowing He left His heavenly home to come live here on earth encourages us when we feel so far from home and what we know.  He can relate to us in our struggles because He became a man and walked in our shoes.  To have Him as our strength day in and day out is what enables us to continue on.   

 

Thanks for continuing to keep up with us and all that is going on in our lives.  We are so blessed to have friends and family like you!

 

Bethany for Joel, Jack and Owen too

We're here

Hello from a familiar place!

 

We made it back to our 'old' town. After an early flight on Thursday morning, we arrived safe and sound along with all our baggage, always excess baggage in our case. We arrived to a very pleasant 3 bedroom house that has a really nice and enclosed yard with super soft grass. It'll be a great place to spend the next 6 months or so in langauge study.

 

We're really blessed to have lived in two very nice houses here while we're been studying language. We don't take that for granted when you live this far away.

 

It's been fun to connect with some old friends and some new ones, families who are new here and studying langauge as well. Who knows, some of them could be partners one day with us. We've also had great chances to use our Indonesian in a place that's very familiar. I, Joel, already see an improvement in my language.

 

This won't be a long update, you've had enough of those lately. We'll be spending the next week settling into our house and unpacking and then, I, Joel will start formal langauge study at the language school on Monday the 7^th of January.

 

Please keep praying for us, we're gonna be settling in and transitioning back to students again. Our support is also needing to increase as we've got quite a few new needs here.

 

Thank You for standing by us during such an up and down time in our lives! Keep us before the Lord!

 

Joel for the Potters

A Week Till Christmas

What's it look like outside where you are, a week till Christmas.

 

We longingly hear tales about snow from several of you lately…

 

Outside here in Jakarta, it's often times rainy, but we've got our share of holiday ambiance. A tree decorated with ornaments that we've collected for the last four Christmas', yummy smelling candles, plenty of Frank Sinatra Christmas songs and some fun packages under our tree. Surprisingly so, for the worlds largest Muslim nation, there are still plenty of signs of Christmas' impending arrival. We've had the chacne to visit the local malls, (read monstrosities, gigantic modern malls) and they're totally decked out. We can even walk into one of the few Gap stores in the country and totally forget that we're on the other side of the workd from where the Gap was started. The stores even only sell the same winter weather clothes that you can find in your mall. Surprisingly enough. But the real kicker and 'helper' is the Peppermint Mocha's from our Starbucks!!!

 

So, besides all that how are we?

 

I had a productive trip to Papua and back and was able to close up our house there and sort through and then pack things to both ship to Java and also to store there in Papua till we really know what we're doing next. It was a lonely couple of days given our current circumstances, but I was able to get things done som much quicker than if our whole family had returned.

 

While I was gone, Bethany went to the Dr. twice concerning the boys. The good news is that Owen isn't showing any more signs of malaria or it's residual effects. He's till having some stomach issues. Jack's stomach really seems to have calmed down. His persistant several times a day problem with diarrhea seems to really have lessoned. But we're still going to have the boys see a Pediatric GI (Gastroenterologist) next Saturday to get their opinion of what might be causing the symptoms.

 

I think that Bethany and I have both been able to get some much needed rest as well and that helps things as well.

 

So, what's next for us. Our team in Salatiga, the town where we intitally studied langauge has already found a house that will be ready for us to move into with minimal preparation. So on the 29^th of December we'll tentatively plan on flying to Salatiga. We'll have several days to move in and then I'll start language study on the 7^th. At the stage of language study that we'll be at, I'll be in class for 2 hours a day followed by several hours of homework and talking with neighbors and friends in Indonesian. That will allow some flexibility during our initial time of settling in again. Bethany is planning on waiting a month to start.

 

We anticipate 6-8 more months of study to really get to the recommended proficiency but we hope to be in a place at the end of that time, where we can really evaluate where the Lord would lead us to serve. There are quite a few options that will most likely need filling and having some 'un-pressured' time to explore, ask questions, perhaps visit areas in person, and dialogue with our leadership will be really healthy for us. in hindsight, we really feel like we should of have done much more of those fore-mentioned activities prior to arriving in Papua.

 

That's us right now, and we're so grateful for your prayers and support right now. Honestly, if it weren't for your petitioning before our God on our behalf, there's a really high chance that we might have given up by now.

 

Please keep us in prayer as we make another transition to another area in Indonesia, for the boys and Bethany especially as they've had the most stress lately.

 

We also need prayer for the ability to stepback into the language student role. We're getting to the age where we're ready to kiss the classroom goodbye, but we'll be needng diligence!

 

We're also anticipating the need for increased financial support as we transition and hopefully begin to look towards the future. Please ask the Lord to provide what we need.

 

That's it for now, enjoy this week before Christmas to the fullest possible!!!

 

Joel for the Potters

 

 

 

 

A plan for now

We got word that there is a house available for us in Salatiga to move into the first few days of January. Classes will begin on the 7^th for Joel and Bethany will wait till the next month to begin language study again.  So for now, we'll stay in Jakarta, celebrate Christmas here (the guest house keepers will be on another island celebrating Christmas interior with the tribal group they used to work in so we'll have the house to ourselves), and then either fly or take the train to Salatiga a week or so later. 

 

Joel is making progress packing up our house in Papua.  It's a big job for him to do alone so keep praying he'll be able to get it done by Wednesday.  Thursday the GH keepers leave and that would leave me here alone with the boys till Joel got back. 

News on Owen

Wow is all I can think to say.  Thank you for praying for our little guy.  In the three days since his last appointment, his liver and spleen have both returned to normal size.  When the doctor examined him she said she thought they were not enlarged at all but we had an ultrasound done just to be sure as it is more objective.  And yes, they were truly both back to normal.  We went ahead and had some more blood work done to make sure his levels returned to normal, especially for the anemia and we'll know on Wednesday about those tests.  She also tested liver function and we'll know that too on Wednesday.  Although this is good news, we are still baffled as to why he is still throwing up so much.  He never really spat up before he got malaria and since then it hasn't stopped.  So continue to pray that we can either see the vomitting stop all together or that we can figure out what is causing it. 

 

The next step now is to get Jack into see a doctor to see if we can figure out what's going on with him.  Joel will be back by Wednesday so maybe we can get Jack in to see the doctor when we take Owen back to see the doctor.  The hospital we went to was very nice and the doctors we spoke with both seemed to know their stuff so that was an answer to prayer! 

 

Joel hasn't called yet from Papua, but I expect a call soon letting me know he arrived there safely.  Please pray for him as he packs everything up and decides what stays there to store, what comes here to Jakarta for the time being, what goes to Salatiga for the next 6 months or so and what to sell.  Lots of decisions to make and only a short time to do it all in!

 

Thanks for upholding our family in your prayers.  We can physically see the results of your prayers and we certainly are feeling them.  Thanks too for those who have written to encourage us.  We know we are not alone and that is so comforting!

 

Bethany

Joel left for Papua early this morning and will arrive there later this afternoon.  Rosie, the lady who runs the guest house here is going with me and Owen this morning to see the next doctor.  Please pray that he will be a comptent doctor and that we can get some possible diagnosis and what tests need to be done to find out what's wrong.  Please pray that he will have a good command of English and if not, that we will be able understand his Indonesian well.  Jack will be staying home with "Uncle Bill" so also pray that he'll be a good boy and have a good time!  We were also able to consult a pediatrician back in Joel's home area of Florida and he gave us some good direction as well.  One of the tests he recommended though, we would want to have done in Singapore, not here so please pray for wisdom for us to know if we should do that test or not.  We know God created our little guys and knows what we are facing.  I was so encouraged this morning in the Psalms that God will go before us in each thing.  That means that he is not only with us but he's not caught off guard by any of our circumstances because he got there before we did! 

 

We'll keep you posted.

 

Bethany

what's been encouraging lately

This morning, the 7^th of Dec. I wanted to add some of what has been encouraging from God's word to us lately. Two people in my family have shared some scripture with us these last few days and the Psams that they shared.

 

My dad pointed out Psalm 27:13,14

 

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD Be strong, and let your heart take courage, Yes wait for the LORD.

 

I was especially encouraged by the idea that the writer, I think was communicating that God wouldn't let him go for a indefinite period of time without showing His goodness. That doesn't necessarily mean that God worked everything out asap for him, but that God's goodness would still be seen. And because of that, the author had the ability to wait. Strangely or maybe not so strangely, I was reminded of an old classic Maranatha praise song from the Praise 3 album from back in 1976 called We Must Wait (On the Lord). Somewhere in those happy gliding flute notes and other classic goodness that I love so much, I'm encouraged to wait on the Lord.

 

The other Psalm that my sister, my incredible sister, pointed out was Psalm 143. I'm gonna just write what especially stuck out to me as a whole passage. Hopefully I won't be totally tearing the meaning out of context.

 

Hear my prayer, O Lord,

Give ear to my supplications!

Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!

For the enemy has persecuted my soul;

Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me;

I remember the days of old;

I meditate on all Your doings;

I muse on the work of Your hands.

I stretch out myhands to You;

My soul longs for You, as a parched land.

Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning

For I trust You;

Teach me the way in which I should walk;

Teach me to do Your will.

For You are my God;

Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

For the sake of Your name, O Lord, revive me.

In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.

 

These two parts of scripture are awesome and so encouraging right now. Thanks Pop and Rebekah for pointing me to these! They'll be pondered for quite a bit.

 

changes

Ok so we alluded to some things going on in our lives and we are now ready to share that here.

 

Bethany and I have, for the last four years, looked at living and ministering in the Guest House ministry in the region of Papua, Indonesia. That's quite a bit of time to look forward to something. In those 4 years though, we have recently realized, how little information we sought out ahead of time as to the area and what it would be like to both live and work there. We just assumed that support work was support work and looked the same and took the same as in any area or ministry. That was a wrong assumption. We never took the time to visit the region ahead of time either.

 

The last three months of our lives in Papua have been tough and thorugh it all, we've realized, along with leadership that right now in the present conditions, our family is not the right fit for that ministry. It's a tough admittance on our part, but we believe that we're making the right choice right now in stepping out of that ministry.

 

In the mean time, we'll be returning to Salatiga to complete our un-finished langauge study and to really evaluate where the Lord would open the doors for us to serve next. We're still convinced that the best place for us to serve is here in Indonesia and until we're convinced by Him otherwise, this is where we'll serve. We just want to make sober-minded and temperate choices taking into consideration all the valid factors when we get ready to move into the next place.

 

Guys, this is not an easy update to write. We often feel like we just "couldn't hack it" in Papua, but we know that's not the case. We believe that God can empower anyone to serve in any capacity anywhere for a time, and at the same time, we also believe that He wants us to make wise choices and use our gifts and abilities and even backgrounds in the best fit that He provides. Because of that, we know that there will be needs that we can fulfill here in Indonesia and we're going to be seeking out what those are.

 

In the mean time, we're resting here in Jakarta and awaiting further information on Owen's health. We REALLY need your prayers as we transition into and from such an enexpected situation.

 

Let's all keep intelligiently Serving our God!

 

Joel for the Potters

 

Today's (12/6/2007) Medical Update

We found out that Owen definitely does not have Malaria anymore, which is a good thing. But, he’s got anemia as well as the enlarged liver and spleen that we already mentioned. The blood testing did show some higher and lower than normal levels in some areas, so we’re gonna proceed by seeing a Pediatric Hematologist. There’s one at a hospital closer to our location here In Jakarta and Bethany will be seeing him on Saturday morning, the 8^th. We feel confident that we have enough direction to proceed to this next step with this new doctor and Lord-willing we’ll get some good information on what else could be wrong inside of Owen. We’ll be asking for a lot of information on several possible diagnosis and tests to confirm or negate those diagnosis and from there, we’ll take the next step, whatever that may be.

 

We’re so thankful for Bill and Rosie Cork, the guest house keepers here in Jakarta. They’ve been a big help and this Saturday when we have this next appt. I’ll actually be on my way to Papua for a few days. So Rosie is gonna go along and accompany Bethany for probably moral and language support and Bill will keep an eye on Jack here in guest house. It’s reassuring to me that we can do all of that while I’ll be gone!

 

Please be praying for us these next few days. For Owen, that we’ll be able to determine what to do next and get clear direction even here in a foreign country and langauge. For me as I’ll have a lot to do in the few days that I’ll be in Papua. I’ll be packing up our house and in general wrapping up a lot of details there. It’ll be hard to be away from the family but more productive as I can work a long longer by myself.

 

Please also be asking the Lord for some special provision financially right now. All of these un-expected travel plans and moving expenses will start to add up soon.

Update on the boys

We were able to get to see a pediatrician today for the boys and we are so glad we did.  So here's what we know…

 

Owen's spleen and liver are both enlarged.  This could be caused if malaria is still in his system.  He's been treated twice for it, but it is possible that the malaria is resistant to the medicines we tried.  So we had his blood retested today (5 different tests in all) to see if in fact he still has malaria.  If he does and it's the same as before, then the doctor we saw knows another doctor who specializes in malaria who can possibly help us know how to treat it.  Hopefully there is another medicine out there that can be tried.  If it's the other kind of malaria present in Papua, then we will need to test Owen to see if he can take the medicine used to treat it (he could have a disorder that prohibits his body from using that medicine) and if he can, we will go that route.  The other side of the coin is, if he does not have malaria then we have something else entirely wrong because something is causing his liver and spleen to be enlarged.  We will then return to the doctor we saw today and proceed to have Owen tested to see what is causing this.  Our American doctor in Papua feels like this hospital we were at and this doctor will be able to help us pursue the other tests if we need him to. The only glitch is that although he speaks pretty good English, communicating about medical things is a bit difficult.  If we don't feel like we can understand him, then we can go to Singapore where English is readily spoken and there is excellent medical care available with all kinds of specialists.

 

Now Jack.  The doctor also recommended that we see a nutritionist doctor friend who actually is close to where we are staying to see if he can help us figure out if Jack has an allergy or if we should see about getting some more in depth tests done to see if he has a fungal infection or parasite that is elluding us. 

 

we hope to have the results of Owen's blood test back today and when we know something, we'll post it here.  Please keep praying for us through all this.  We are spent in so many ways and feeling very much at our end.  There are several other things going on in the background that have drained us mentally and emotionally. Maybe we'll elaborate on that another time.  Please pray for our faith as it is certainly being tested and refined right now.  We are clinging to each other and God right now.

 

Bethany