We're Here!

Just a short note to let you all know that we made it safely! Lots of rain, some minor car problems, a little fussiness from the boys, but an awesome welcome from our friends and teammates here at New Tribes Bible Institute. We're in the midst of settling in to our house, which we love. Bethany's mom is up visiting/helping for the week as well.

 

Please keep us in your prayers. Moving in is a tiring task and we need energy, patience, good time with the boys, finances for the transition. So, lots to pray for. And a special prayer item is for the shipment of things from Indonesia. We shipped some things back to the USA from Indonesia and as I write this, it's on a boat somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. It's ETA is May 23^rd and I'm planning to fly out to Los Angeles on the 28^th and arrange to have it shipped to Jackson. Would you pray that the Lord would let it arrive timely and provide the funds needed to ship it to Jackson MI?

 

We're anxiuosly awaiting our silverware, and a lot of other useful things that are in those three crates -J

 

Ok, thanks for your interest in our lives and ministry. We're so excited to be doing what we're doing!

 

Joel for the Potters

 

Hit the Road Jack

That's what my mom is saying this morning to us as we head out the door for Michigan.  Not really but it sounded good!  I'm sure though, that she is glad to get her house back from our two little monkeys! 

 

Our trailer is loaded and we are planning to leave in an hour or so.  We'd appreciate your prayers for us, especially on this first leg (the first 4 hours or so) as we will be going up and down many hills, pulling a trailer. We plan to arrive on Sunday in Jackson.  We'll keep you posted.

 

Joel and Bethany

Jack and Owen

 

And the word is...

Michigan it is!  Yes, we got word while in Michigan last week but were waiting to "announce" it till we got a letter together to send out via snail mail.  Well, it was a nice idea but alas we ran out of time and after about the 20^th person asking us today at church, we decided to let the cat out of the bag! 

 

Here's the scoop.  We have all our stuff packed up and it's awaiting the big load up tomorrow.  A good friend who lives in Michigan offered to drive down in his van and bring his 12 foot trailer with him to transport all our stuff up to Michigan!  Can you say, "WOW"?!!  He is literally on the road somewhere between St. Louis and Springfield as I type this and should arrive around midnight tonight!  Did I mention what a good friend he is?  Thank you Adam! Oh and I might add, he also got the award for driving the farthest to attend our wedding – all the way from Portland, Oregon.  Ok back to the business at hand. 

 

Tomorrow morning we'll load up the trailer and his van and send our stuff up north.  We'll be here in Springfield another week or two and then we'll head up there ourselves to begin the next phase of our journey in our lives.  We will definitely move up there by the 18^th but we're hoping to do so next weekend, if all the details work out.  In the mean time, we have every evening this week booked solid, spending time with friends and family here in Springfield and the days are filling up too.

 

The next question to answer then is "what will be our ministries up there?"  Answer:  Joel will be wearing several hats as he organizes and plans the chapels that happen three mornings a week, leads and disciples the student worship team, and teaches a class called Hold the Ropes.  This class involves introducing the students to what is happening in NTM worldwide by way of research, praying and communicating with missionaries and the works they are involved in.  There is also regular Day of Prayer where the whole school focuses on praying for the various regions of ministry around the world for an entire morning.  Joel will be in charge of planning out this day.  Bethany will be working as an administrative assistant to the head of the Academic Development Team.

 

We are super excited about this opportunity as it's so much more than just "jobs" to do.  Yes, these things need to be done to have a functioning Bible School but the best part about where we'll be is that we get to be a part of shaping hundreds of students' lives each semester as they study God's Word, get to know Him better and seek His direction for their lives.  DISCIPLESHIP is the thing that will motivate us.  That God would use us is an honor and we are thrilled to be a part of training those who will take the Gospel to those who've never heard! 

 

We are confident of God's leading in this new step in ministry.  Many have asked us how long we plan to be there.  Our answer is, "The mind of man plans his way,but the LORD directs his steps". (Proverbs 16:9)  If we have learned anything at all in the past few years, it's this truth from Scripture (I think we finally got it, Lord!).  So for now, for however long God sees fit to allow us to be there, we're going to be in Michigan.  Should God have other plans for us down the road, we will follow where He leads, when He leads.  We're just going to take it one day at a time!

 

So thanks for taking an interest in our lives, for investing in us with prayer.  Never a dull moment in the lives of the Potter 4!

NTBI JACKSON

This is a shot of the Bible Institute from the front of the building

Heading North

I write this from our van somewhere in central Illinois. We're on our way to Michigan!  We got a call on Friday from the leadership at our Bible Institute/Training Center asking if we would be able to come up there to meet with them about us possibly serving there!  We were very excited and more than happy to make the trip.  Some of you may recall that this NTM training center is were I, Bethany served with New Tribes for 5 years and also where Joel and I met.  We are excited to see what will happen, how God will lead us.  We'd love your prayers that God will reveal His will to us and the Bible Institute regarding our future ministry. 

 

We will stop tonight in Bloomington, Il and then head on up to Michigan tomorrow, arriving around 1pm.  We plan to stay there till Thursday morning when we will drive south to Indiana, where Joel's brother and sister in law live.  It just so happens that Joel's sister had already planned to spend several days there in Indiana and so we'll all be together again; all the Potter children and grandchildren!  We are super excited to see them all again and for the boys to see them too!

 

Thanks for praying for safe and enjoyable travels for us!  We'll let you know if we get any concrete answers from our visit this week!

 

Bethany for Joel, Jack and Owen too!

ALMOST home

Well, as I said Joel made it to US soil but he's not home yet. His flight that should have left Minneapolis last night at 9:15 got cancelled due to a mechanical problem on the plane and was rescheduled for this morning with one stop along the way getting in around 11am. I just checked email and got a notification that the flight out of Minn. is delayed an hour, causing him to miss his connecting flight and now is re-booked to get here this afternoon around 4pm. We are anxious to see him again and after flying for 4 days, Joel is more than ready to be home.

Like I said yesterday, waiting is not easy but we know God will encourage us as we do. Thanks for praying!

Bethany

On His Way Home

Joel landed in Portland about an hour ago and has made it safely back to US soil. I'm sure he's exhausted by now. He said he had just finally adjusted to Indo time and then it was time to come home again.

Thanks for your prayers for us this week. Joel was able to do everything he needed to there. He sold much of our stuff with just a few items left that a friend will try to sell later. The rest of our belongings are waiting at a port in Indo for the ship to bring them across the Pacific to LA. The cost for shipping the crate once it arrives in the US was so costly that it looks like Joel will likely fly there to get it and drive it home in a rental truck. Anyone interested in a 3 day road trip?

Jack, Owen and I have held up well here. There were a few days that the Mommy in me had had enough but God... the boys are still alive and I think they still love me and I am alive and still love them. I guess we could say then that it was a success and we survived. My hat definitely goes off to those mom's who parent alone every day!

We still haven't gotten any word on our next "assignment", if you will. Waiting is one of the hardest things to do, but we are convinced that waiting on God's timing is so much more peaceful than trying to push ahead of Him and then landing in something that is outside of His will. So, we wait. Please pray for those involved in making the decisions. There are many variables to consider and we know they are also waiting on God and His direction.

Thanks for waiting with us and we'll keep you posted!

Bethany

Safely in Singapore

Joel just wrote - 1:30pm our time - and he made it safely to Singapore. He'll be there till about 10 pm tonight and then he'll fly on to Indonesia. Thanks for praying for him as he travels - so far so good!

Bethany

April update

Joel left this morning for Indonesia. He will arrive there sometime in the middle of the night tomorrow night but since he's flying alone this time, hopefully he won't be too worn out when he arrives. He'll be on a different island than we lived on for a few days taking care of some paperwork so he can leave the country again without having problems if we should ever want to return again. Then he'll fly to java where our stuff will be waiting for him. A good friend in Papua shipped what we had left there to Java. Joel will sort through some of it, sell what we can't bring back and then ship home what we would like to have with us here again.

This will be a bitter sweet trip for all of us. We didn't see this coming, but I suppose that is true of all of our lives. We can't see around the next corner but we as believers have HOPE because we know the One who created us and we know for SURE that He knows what awaits us. We still don't completely understand all that happened to bring us to this point in our lives but we trust that God will never leave us or forsake us and we are holding tight to His promises to provide for our every need.

The boys and I and my Mom will hold down the fort for the 10 days Joel will be gone. We told Jack this morning that he is now the man of the house while Daddy is gone. His response was, "I'm a man!"

If you feel led to pray for us in the next week or so, we'd love that. Joel will be traveling a lot in a short amount of time and then still has to choose a shipping company, have a "yard sale", sort, pack and head home again. Here at home, I have 2 little ones that will need a bit of extra love and attention while Daddy is gone and I'll need extra doses of God's grace to handle being a single parent for a while. Please also pray for me as I strive to live according to what is true and not what my mind sometimes wanders toward; feelings of guilt or insufficiency are always lurking around trying to discourage me.

Things are continuing to move forward for our future ministry. We have met with some folks from one of our training centers here in the states and hopefully will get some word on whether or not that will work out some time this week. Please be praying for that too!

We are blessed beyond measure by God's love for us and your love for us. Thanks for all the encouragement and love!

Bethany for us all

Update after St. Louis

We were on the road over the weekend, leaving Sunday afternoon for St. Louis for Jack's appointment with the specialist. The trip went well. The Dr. was really nice guy who actually has been in the part of the world we were living in, doing some research with vaccines, he even knew where the capital city of Papua was and stuff like that.

 

His initial suspect is some kind of a parasite, so he started Jack on a funky, expensive drug as a trial, to see if it works to kill the parasite. He's not positive yet, but he is doing some tests to be sure. Beyond that, he does agree that Jack is underweight and he's doing some blood work to see if Jack has any deficiencies at all. He felt like, if the medicine didn't work, we couldn't find a parasite or if the blood tests came back clear, that jack would likely then have what's called Toddlers Diarrhea, which is bascially iritable bowel syndrome for kids. It's somehting that Jack would hopefully grow out of, but it's also an 'umbrella' diagnosis, being something that isn't really conclusive as to what is causing the problem. The Dr. wants to see Jack again in early summer to see how his growth is going.

 

So, we were pretty happy, but obviously hoping for a more conclusive diagnosis or idea. We may still have some more checking to do. We'll see.

 

For us as a family, as of right now, we still have no big plans as to what comes next. We have moved things around a  bit more in Bethany's mom's house so that we can stay sane a few more months here if need be. We were all living in one room, the four of us Potters and we were sleeping terribly, all hearing each other in the night.  Thanks to our ultraflexible mom for being willing to have her home overtaken!  We are talking with various folks in our mission who work in the states at our training centers to see what might be available for us for the next few years.  Once we know something concrete, we'll let you all know. 

 

Thanks for all your prayers lately, especially as we have fought sickness after sickness.  It seems we are all healthy again and are enjoying the first days of spring.  Soon the dogwoods in mom's front yard will burst forth with blossoms, the grass will turn green, the tulips will pop out of the ground in vibrant color and the world will look new again.  Praise God for the creativity he had in creating seasons!

 

 

 

Some News

Hi Guys,

 

In case you don’t here too much from us these next couple of days I wanted to update you on some news.

 

The not so nice news is that Bethany spent most of last night/this morning (Thursday/Friday) in the ER with a really bad case of stomach problems. We’re not sure where she got the illness but it hit her as hard as when she was sick in Papua. She’s stable now and has slept the entire day. Be praying that she really recovers and that no one else gets it. It’s been easy to take care of the boys but I’m still feeling worn down myself after last weeks illnesses. We head to St. Louis on Sunday afternoon so please be praying that we’re all feeling well enough for that.

 

Second piece of news is much better. We bought a used 2000 Ford Windstar van on Wednesday. It’s really nice and has some really fun/helpful details. It was just in the right price range and we’re thankful that the Lord led us to a great vehicle in time for our trip to see the Dr. in St Louis! Thank you to Mom Stroud for being so flexible in letting us borrow her car till know, but man does it feel good to have our own vehicle again!

 

Ok, that’s the news for now.

 

Joel for the Potter 4

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