Catherine H

Our sister in Christ, Catherine went home to be with her Savior yesterday afternoon.  Her mom and sisters were with her as she entered her eternal home.

You would be blessed to read her mom's post about their last moments with Catherine.

Catherine H

Our dear friends the Huttons are in the process of watching their sweet daughter Catherine die.  Though I'm sure they take great comfort in knowing that she loves her Lord and Saviour, I cannot imagine the pain that they are experiencing.

We are praying for grace and strength.

Deanna R

One of our good friends in St. P, Deanna, teaches at the Christian school with Thomas.  She's recently finished her first year here, with another one scheduled if everything can be worked out with the visas.

Her grandfather has recently been in the hospital, and is doing better now, but he is in poor health.  Deanna is going home this summer and is praying for some special time with her grandfather.

Silas S

Silas was scheduled to have a swallow test done on Thursday that was cancelled at the last minute.  The therapist doing the test decided that she wanted Silas to have the advantage of doing some more therapy before running the test.  The results of this test will let Silas' parents know if he can begin eating food by mouth rather than continuing to use his feeding tube.

Catherine

Our last year in the States before moving to Russia, Thomas had the privilege of working with Laine Hutton teaching the 6th grade at Covenant Christian School.

Laine had been teaching for many years.  She and her husband Sam have 4 grown children of their own.  One of their daughters is Catherine.  We did not have the pleasure of getting to know Catherine very well before we moved, but in some ways we have been able to get to know her through her website.  Catherine has a Caring Bridge site.  Last summer she was diagnosed with an aggressive and rare form of liver cancer.  Please click on the link above to read more about Catherine!

Usually Laine keeps the blog updated, but occasionally Catherine or her sister Emily will write.  Lately Catherine has been very week and facing many side effects of cancer or the medicine that she must take.  Catherine is 27 years old, and she exhibits the amazing grace of God.  Please pray for her and her family as the watch and wait on the Lord.

Raina M

Sweet Raina and her parents are home after a week in the hospital.  From what I know, Raina is doing fine now, and everyone is adjusting to life at home again with a newborn.

Nelson Family

Ann's father went home Thursday night.  He family was with him.  Now he is at rest.

Please pray for the family this weekend as there will be visitation on Saturday and a memorial service on Sunday.

Nelson Family

This afternoon (Thursday morning, in the States) I received a group email from Anna asking prayer for her dad.  He has had some increased difficulties and has been put on oxygen support.  She asked prayer for the family as things do not look very encouraging right now.

The Nelson Family

On my regular blog, I've already mentioned my friend Anna.  She has a little girl a year older than Isaiah who also has spina bifida.  I've learned tons from Anna in many ways, but right now I'm learning from her as she is watching her father have ups and downs in the hospital.

In November Anna's dad had surgery to remove cancer.  He's been in care ever since.  He recently had to have surgery to deal with an abscess.  He is struggling with eating properly.  He hopes to be in a rehab facility soon where he can have more intensive recovery treatment.

I just read a notice from Anna that the doctor's suspect that there's an infection in her dad's blood.  She requests wisdom for the doctors and nurses and for her family.

Silas S

Silas had a great visit with the neurodevelopmentalist.  He has just turned 5 months old, and after an intensive examination, the doctor said that he is on schedule for a 4 month-old!  For a premature baby with the many obstacles that Silas had, this is incredible!

Thank you Lord for granting this progress in this little one.  Please continue to encourage his parents and to work in his heart.

The Davis Family

This post is a mix of prayer and praise.  A few months ago I had the privilege of receiving an email from a lady in a church that supports us in CA.  We have never been to this church nor met anyone in the church face-to-face.  The elders became interested in Thomas' satire blog, and that's how the relationship got started.

Anyway.  Heather emailed me introducing herself and opening the door for us to get to know each other.  She directed me to her blog, which I enjoyed reading very much.  I learned about her family, about her husband and their 6 children.  I appreciated her honesty about herself and her relationship with her family and with God.

More recently I've had the opportunity to know her in a different way, still on her blog, but to see her heart in a new way.  Heather's husband of 20 years died rather unexpectedly several weeks ago.  Now on her blog, Heather shares the struggles of her heart.

We pray for Heather and her family every day, morning and evening.  We pray for Heather as she has to figure out the best way to financially care for the family, to keep on going when her heart is breaking, to grow and change.  We pray for the kids who have lost their daddy, the girls who will not have him to walk them down the aisle; the boys who will not have him to teach them how to fix things.

We know that God will take care of this family.  We look forward to watching Him provide and rejoicing with them, but we also know that this new direction He has given them will not be easy.  Their blog is listed on the left where I plan on putting more "long-term" prayer requests.  Please feel free to visit Heather online.  I know that you will learn from her as I have.

Silas S

Some fellow missionaries were blessed with the birth of their second child, Silas.  He came a little early and had some problems after birth that kept him in the hospital for quite a while.  He still has some difficulty with breathing and becoming easily congested, which then requires his parents to "suction" out all the gunk.

Today (Monday) he is going to a neurologist for an in-depth evaluation.  His parents have (I think) incorrectly been given an opinion about their son that really seems untrue considering what Silas is able to do now.  I am praying for this appointment to be an encouragement to them in several ways.  I hope that the doctor gives a very positive report of Silas' current abilities and prognosis.  I hope that his parents are encouraged that they are doing well for their son, providing learning opportunities and helping him develop well (because I'm sure that they are!).  I'm praying that their love for Silas will be a testimony to doctors and nurses and therapists who I'm sure have seen plenty of parents who aren't as careful or concerned or loving.  I pray that those professionals will then be open to listening to Silas' parents explain why they love their son so much!  And before he can even speak, Silas can be a missionary.

Raina M

I had the pleasure of talking to Cathy to check on her and her sweet little girl before they were going to try to get some rest for the night.  Just as we were hanging up another family was coming in to share their room.  Cathy asked for prayer for rest and strength.

Thankfully her mom has been with them for almost 2 weeks.   She is able to stay with them until Tuesday, so right now she is staying with Raina's older brother Silas, which is quite a help to Cathy and David.

Please pray that Raina will get better soon (not getting worse first, which Cathy said they were told could happen), that Silas will feel secure and not have undue stress, and for rest for all the family!

Raina M

This morning I talked with David Morris in California.  He and Cathy just celebrated the birth of their baby girl Raina.  While Raina is beautiful and big, she was born early, which can sometimes lend itself to future difficulties.

Right now Raina is in the hospital with RSV.  David said that she is on oxygen and doing some better but now they are just waiting for her to get completely better to be able to go home.  "Maybe tomorrow," he said.

I hope to talk to Cathy soon and see how she is doing as well.