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October 29, 2008
Prayer needed in November
November Prayer Bulletin
Oct. 29 for Nov. 1, 2008
Dear Team,
I want to share this information in a prayer letter, but don’t want to delay until the 1st. We have seen my oncologist today. He saw me in the office and asked us to wait since he had the results of the CT scan done yesterday and the Muga scan I was there for this morning. The Muga was fine; my heart has stood up well to all the drugs I’ve needed to take, but the CT is not good. I had thought I was beginning to put on a bit of weight after losing steadily for some months. Then I realized the weight was all part of a very distended stomach. I feel about 7 months pregnant! But the cause is that the cancer is spreading much more rapidly in my liver and for the first time, I’m having side effects from the cancer, not the cancer treatment. Tomorrow they will do a procedure to try to suction out some of the excess fluid in my abdomen. This will give at least temporary relief, hopefully long enough for another type of chemo to attack the tumors. Part of me wants to say, ‘Enough is enough’ and just pray that death comes quickly. But part is fighting to be here to see Wil graduate from high school and make a decision on where to go to college. Please pray we will know God’s mind in this. I’ll have blood work done on Monday and if the counts are low, that could be God’s way of telling us we aren’t to go on to another chemo. I still have no doubt that God can heal me physically this side of heaven, but since March of 2005 the downs have outweighed the ups, and my body hasn’t much fight left.
I’m thankful that we were able to fly to San Francisco over the weekend and be sponsors at Craig and Tammy Beers wedding. It was wonderful to meet so many Filipinos (relatives and friends of Tammy’s) and enjoy so many Filipino foods and wedding customs. I think the only wedding I’ve enjoyed more was our own! We stayed with Dave’s cousin Ruth and husband Peter and had a great reunion with other cousins living in the area. While we were gone Wil was on a senior challenge course with other seniors in his youth group, so he and we were away from home on his birthday. When things settle down a bit we’ll need to do something to celebrate as a family since he has turned 18. His soccer team has done very well this year, ranking third in their district. When the coaches rated the different players on each team, Wil and two others came in form honorable mention. We’re proud of him, and not just for being good at soccer. Please pray as he seeks to know the Lord’s mind as to where he studies next year. He will be visiting two of the possibilities this month.
Dave keeps busy with OMF-related work, but I’m afraid that concern for me may become more of a distraction in the coming months. Thank you for praying so faithfully for so many years. Please continue as we seek to honor, obey and glorify our Heavenly Father in the coming months.
Held in His embrace, Dave and Karen
Posted by David at 7:26 PM
October 20, 2008
Busy times
It’s more than two weeks since you’ve heard from us. During that time we’ve had visitors, two soccer games a week, contact with the Prak family, Dr. P’s family, and Patty’s husband Denny. We’ve appreciated being able to continue to be involved in their lives. We’ve also had the three regular OMF prayer meetings, two weekly Bible studies, and been to the campuses of Multnomah University and Western Seminary, and Friday night outreach to international students from Portland State University. So the combination of a lot of activities, a lot of gardening, and not a lot of energy has been the reason I haven’t written. I had Doxil again on Oct. 6th and it seems as though it’s a bit harder to tolerate every month. Pain in my leg has often made walking harder.
We leave on Friday for San Francisco and the wedding of Dave’s nephew Craig. Craig is marrying a Filipina, Tammy Alcantara, and they have asked us to be sponsors for their wedding. This is a Filipino/ Spanish custom where you have godparents not only when dedicating a baby, but when you marry. We will be Ninong Dave and Ninang Karen to this couple. Their wedding is on October 25th, Wil’s 18th birthday. That would be more of a problem except that Wil is busy this weekend with a youth group activity so we wouldn’t see him anyway! We didn’t manage to celebrate early, so that will have to wait until after our return.
I have a CAT scan the day after we return, a Muga scan the following day, and see my oncologist on Nov. 2 to find out the results and whether I’ll have another round of Doxil. I asked not to have neupogen shots again since that had lead to so much discomfort. I’m finding that I can handle two activities a day, but if I try to do much more, I’m spent. The good news is that after several months of gradually losing weight, I’ve come up a few pounds. That is very encouraging since not taking in or keeping down enough calories leads to more lethargy. Often it’s nothing but God’s supernatural strength that keeps me going.
Posted by David at 8:08 PM
October 3, 2008
Harvest Time
Dear Team,
It’s HARVEST TIME in the US Northwest. Tomatoes are finally ripening, as are peppers and beans and potatoes and carrots. Thankfully zucchini is done for the season. Harvest necessitates dealing with the fruit and vegetables produced. So far we’ve processed 5 kilos of tomatoes with other vegetables added (I call it V-10 instead of V-8), 3 batches of salsa, and many quart bags of frozen peaches and more tomatoes. We have ever-bearing strawberries and raspberries, so have also made frozen jam and even some raspberry jelly. We have neighbors with apple trees, so will shift to enjoying those soon. It struck me the other day when I was reading John 15 that it says “our Father is the gardener.” I’ve been thinking about all the work that goes into gardening and dealing with the produce. He has been willing to do all of that work in our lives and wants us to be as fruitful as He has made us to be, caring about people as well as produce.
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” In another realm we are looking for people to help with the spiritual harvest. We are in contact with quite a few people who are seriously pursuing missions work in East Asia and considering joining OMF. Pray that God will guide, prepare and provide for them and use us in the process in any way He can. We were able to meet with a couple last week who met in Laos, were married, and are now going back there with OMF. On Sept. 20 we participated in a Next Mile Conference and talked to people about short-term opportunities with OMF. Time will tell whether there was real interest among those who participated, but we do have a short term team going out from the church that hosted the event.
Our prayers are very much with the Prak family as the Lord chose to take Andrew to heaven for his complete healing, rather than bringing him out of the coma. He did open his eyes and looked at peace just before he died. The funeral was here in Oregon last Tuesday and it was a privilege to be there with his immediate and extended family and many friends. The Praks plan to return to Cambodia in November. Please pray for them in all the adjustments they face. We won’t be able to attend the memorial service for our friend Patty in California tomorrow, but our thoughts and prayers are very much with her husband Denny, who wants the service to be as evangelistic as possible in line with Patty’s wishes.
Dave and I decided it is time to be more intentional in making contact with International Students here in Portland. On Friday we went to the first weekly meeting this school year of a group called FOCUS which meets near Portland State University. There were far more Korean, Chinese, and Taiwanese present than Filipinos, but we loved the chance to get acquainted with some who attended, most coming for the opportunity to get to know Americans and to practice their English.
May our lives be fruitful and lead to a rich HARVEST,
Dave and Karen
Posted by David at 9:58 AM