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January 27, 2008
Travels and surprises
I will thank you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. (Psalm 9:1)
It is our friend Ed who puts up the verses you find at the top of the website each day, but this one for Sunday the 26th is so perfect that I want to start with it as I do this update. There is a lot to tell you about our week of missions’ conferences and the OMF Mobilization Conference in Denver, but I’ll save that for our February prayer bulletin and tell you about the other bits now.
Thanks to cell phones we were able to meet up with Wil in the airport in Denver last Sunday and hear about his snowboarding exploits before his flight left for Portland. Doing double black diamonds (i.e. some pretty difficult runs) and gaining confidence on unfamiliar slopes was a treat for him. Hansel Lee who took him up encouraged him to try new things and he found he could do them. He also was able to spend two evenings with MK friends who live in the same subdivision as the Lees. For Wil, early to rise doesn’t necessitate early to bed!
We got home on Thursday evening, not in time for Wil’s indoor soccer game, but in time to hear he made two goals! On Friday I had a Bible study in the morning, then a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon. Dr. P wasn’t there so I saw another oncologist who suggested I wait until March for another CT scan. My counts are doing OK on the Xeloda and I’ve not been bothered by side effects. We saw Dr. P the Thursday before we left for Denver as he was waiting to be released from the hospital. I talked to him this evening and learned that his brother and mother are arriving in Chicago tonight and fly on to Portland tomorrow. He sounds good and has been able to go up and down stairs using a cane. That’s great improvement in mobility, and an ex-ray showed that new bone is growing where one of the breaks had been. But his counts have been low all week, so though he was prepared to go to work on Monday and Wednesday, his oncologist wasn’t ready to let him! Pray the counts come up without his needing another blood transfusion and that the time with his family, welcome as it is, will not be too exhausting. Pray too that they will be able to find out quickly whether there is a possibility of his brother being a close enough match to donate bone marrow.
Now to news of yesterday. My dear husband, in collusion with my friend Nancy and a number of others that she pulled in on the planning, arranged a surprise 60th birthday party for me that lasted for about twelve hours!! Nancy whisked me away blindfolded on three different occasions during the day, first to her house for a brunch with ladies from my two Bible studies, then home for a lovely salmon dinner Dave had prepared that we shared with his sister JoAnn and her husband Pat, then to the church for an open house for friends. So many people helped with the planning and no one whispered a word to me. The biggest surprise was having Dave’s cousin Curtis walk in with his wife Karen (another Karen Lampinen!), their four children, and Curtis’ mother Aunt Ruth. That was a surprise to Dave as well since we didn’t know that Aunt Ruth was visiting out here from Michigan. I think the only thing that could have been a bigger surprise would have been to see my brother walk in. It was a very special day, planned by very special people, and shared with even more special people. I am so rich in friends, and that includes all of you reading this who are scattered around the globe. Thank you for being a part of my life.
Posted by David at 8:53 PM
January 16, 2008
Our time in Hawaii
It’s hard to choose the right superlative adjectives to describe our week in Maui. Everything about the trip and time there was positive: warm, sunny days; a fantastic place to stay (on the ninth floor of a very attractive 12-storey building) right on the beach and near shops and public transport; good company; new experiences like a whale-watching boat trip, a luau, a marvelous church service on the beach with turtles swimming nearby listening to the music; familiar experiences like being awakened by birds singing, enjoying fresh papaya, pineapple, and avocado, and excellent fish; doing lots of walking. More than anything the week was restful and relaxing. We walked a lot, read a lot, swam a lot, slept a lot, and thoroughly enjoyed being together. It was even more special than our honeymoon and we’d love to visit Hawaii again sometime, health permitting. We’ve got some wonderful sunset photos, but probably won’t have time to put them on the website until the end of the month.
The one down side of being away was not being here when Wil was selected to be in the honor court for his class at the homecoming game. He was selected during Spirit Week and the game was on Friday, so there was no way we could attend. Apparently the event was videoed and hopefully we’ll get to see it. He had his youth pastor and our friend John stand in as his parents for the occasion! Now he is packing for a special trip to Denver. OMF friends have offered to take him snowboarding, and since Dave and I need to be here for the Mission Connexion meetings on Friday and Saturday, Wil is going ahead of us on Thursday. We’ll see him in the airport in Denver on Sunday as we arrive and he leaves to return to Portland.
We got home late Sunday night and on Monday I learned from his wife that Dr. P had been hospitalized and wasn’t doing well. Over the weekend one of his doctors thought that all efforts at treating his multiple myeloma should be stopped, basically leaving him to die. As I’ve said before, he is a fighter, and insisted on receiving a heavy round of chemo (non-stop for four days) to see whether the cancer could be brought under control. We saw him Monday evening and he was looking amazingly well. He’s needed quite a few units of blood and platelets, and with that has been able to tolerate the chemo. He is hoping to be well enough to go home in a few days. Other doctors are less optimistic. His brother is planning to come to the US at the end of the month. There is just a chance that his brother’s bone marrow would be a close enough match for him to be a stem cell donor. If he is a match, please pray that Dr. P will be strong enough to survive another stem cell transplant. He and his family really need our prayers. Dave’s comment last night was that probably the best birthday present I could have had was being able to see him, and see for myself that he was doing better.
We will be in Denver for the OMF Mobilization Conference from Sunday until Thursday of next week. Our friend John will be staying with Wil again that week.
Posted by David at 7:57 PM
January 5, 2008
Off To Hawaii
Greetings from wet and windy Oregon! We may wake up to snow in the morning, pray not. Wil spent the day on Mt. Hood, came home exhausted, but very positive about all the new powdery snow. The sun was shining there this morning and he had a great time. We spent the evening with Filipino pastors. As several are facing difficult situations in their churches, it was particularly good to be able to pray with and for them.
In the morning we leave for Maui! We’re packed and excited, and very much looking forward to dry, sunny days and temperature nearer 80 than 40 degrees Farenheit. Our friends Roger and Linda have already been there three weeks, and they, plus neighbors here who have been to Maui often, have been giving us advice on what to bring. We will be staying in a condo next to our friends Fred and Nancy (from Massachusetts and friends since we were together in London) and are also looking forward to time with them. Since this is our first visit to Maui, or anywhere else in Hawaii, everything will be new and novel, but hopefully will be a lot like some of the beautiful parts of the Philippines. Wednesday is our anniversary.
Our friend John Graham has agreed to stay at our house with Wil. This coming week is Spirit Week and Wil is excited about the outfits he will be able to wear to school and all the special events that are part of the week. As social chairman for the Student Council, he feels it’s his responsibility to get everyone to participate!
It wasn’t until the end of my first week on Xeloda that I began to experience side effects, and now I’m off it until next Friday, so I don’t think it will hinder our enjoyment of this trip. Thanks so much for your love and prayers.
Posted by David at 10:47 PM
January 2, 2008
January Prayer Bulletin
Lampinen Prayer Bulletin
Dave & Karen Lampinen, 14300 SE Wiese Rd, Damascus, OR 97089 H:503-563-1146 Cell:971-322-8517
Dear Team, 1 January 2008
Since we were with friends welcoming in the New Year, and consequently got to bed in the wee hours of the morning, we’re glad to have today to rest and get organized. Piles of papers seem to mushroom in our bedroom/office and our goal is to be able to see the desk and know where papers are filed by the end of the day. But greeting and updating you is also high on our priority list.
The Campus Crusade conference caught us by surprise. When we arrived to set up a display we learned that the exhibits would only be open from 9:30 pm to 1:00 am daily, except for New Year’s Eve when they would open from 1:00-3:00 am!! Those may be good hours for students, but were pretty taxing for us. I wasn’t feeling well the first night, so Wil went with Dave. I think it was good for him to see firsthand what it’s like to initiate contact and answer questions at an exhibit. The conference wasn’t specifically a missions event, so a fairly small percentage of the students were interested in missions, but we had about ten really good conversations.
Scan results for me were mixed. The Muga was clear (no sign of trouble with my heart) but the CT showed the tumors are growing again, so I’m back on Xeloda, the medicine I had trouble tolerating some months ago. I’m at about 25% of the original dose and so far am not experiencing the difficult side effects. Time will tell whether this lower dose is effective. Since the medication is oral, it won’t interfere with our 20th Anniversary trip to Hawaii or the OMF Mobilization Team Conference Denver later this month.
Cornerstone Bible Christian Fellowship in Manila celebrates its anniversary in January and we asked Reinard Manahan, son of one of the founding members and now the pastor, to tell us what’s happening and how to pray for Cornerstone. He wrote:
We have been praying for 2 things we want to see in CBCF in the next 3-5 years - a Christian school & a sustainable income-generating livelihood program to impact the community. I believe this is a breakthrough from God. We just need to be sensitive to His leading & do a good job out of what He entrusts to us in CBCF. During our church camp Nov. 1-4, 11 people were baptized. We finished a Basic Christian Doctrine study that ran for 4 months, and a membership & bible-leading seminar that ran for another 4 months, for a new batch of regular members. They're a mix of young professionals, blue-collared workers, students & out-of school youth from Delta, 12 in all. They are our new CBCF team. God has transformed them & is using them in their community through CBCF. Some of parents of these young people are now attending Sunday service & bible study. We only have 3 bible studies at the moment but our target for 2008 is at least 12 new bible study groups.
Reinard’s daughter Audrey recently had heart surgery. Doctors were unable to do all of the repair work needed, so we pray God will continue the healing process.
Thank you for your prayers, Dave and Karen
Posted by David at 9:34 AM