Second Update on my niece

Friends, one more update on Liz's kidney situation. Turns out the positive update from earlier has turned out to be somewhat less so. The definitive results from the biopsy shows severe rejection indicators, likely from being under immunosuppressed for some time. She is at this moment receiving a treatment to "zero out" her immune system (a type of chemotherapy) which she hopefully will tolerate. If that works well then she and Jane will fly home tomorrow night where she will spend the next seven days in the hospital for the remaining doses of immune system therapy. So, we would appreciate continued prayers for her situation to improve. The prognosis is good if the doctors are correct in their diagnosis and treatment option. Our greatest worry is the amount of damage, if any, caused by this episode. Thanks again for your care and concern

Update on Prayer Request

Update from my brother about my niece, Liz:

Friends, I wanted give an update on Liz since so many have been interceding in her behalf. We are forever indebted. Good news- no signs of rejection! Likely some sort of infection which caused an acute reaction. Clearly, prayers work. She will be in the hospital in Denver until Tuesday while they confirm the type of infection and start treatment.

Praise the Lord for this great news. Will update again if anything changes!

Prayer Request

Around midnight last night I heard from my brother, Ron, that my niece, Liz, was transported by ambulance from Colorado Springs to a Denver hospital with a transplant center.  She had a kidney transplant 4 years ago.  Her blood pressure and creatinine levels were high; her hemoglobin count was low.  Please pray for Liz, my brother (who is at a conference in Chicago) and his wife (who is at home in Kansas City.)  

Please pray for the three of them, especially that the doctors there will be able to get her counts under control and that there will not be any damage to her kidney.  I'll update as I have more information.

Celebrating 25 Years in Turlock

La Familia De Dios, the Spanish speaking congregation of Turlock Covenant Church, celebrated it's 25th anniversary on Sunday, March 5.  We made the one hour, 40 minute trip to arrive in time for the 11:00 a.m. service.  William, Gilma and Amy Flores were there for the celebration, as well.  Her brother, Samuel, is the pastor.  

The service had everything--contemporary worship songs, at least one hymn (How Great Thou Art with William on the guitar and Stephen on the piano), singing and dancing children, recognizing one of the "founders" of the church, video memories and a guest pastor.  If that sounds like a lot, it was--the service was nearly three hours long!  

After the service we had lunch with William, Gilma and Amy and then returned to the church to help with the celebration dinner.  Former staff members and others were recognized at the dinner.  It was a great way to end the celebration.  We left about 9:30 p.m. and made it back to Sunnyvale before midnight.   

"New" Eyes One Week Later

Stephen is really, really happy with his "new" eyes!  Here are a couple of observations he's made since both eyes are done.

• He could read the words on the screen at church yesterday even though we were sitting 2/3 of the way back
• He could follow his golf ball after hitting it today
• He can read the highway signs so much better now

He has been looking for frames for his new glasses although he won't be getting them before we return to El Salvador.  The doctor said he should not be measured for a new prescription for at least a month after the second surgery.  

Second Time Around

Stephen had a checkup on his left eye today and we're praising God for the amazing change in his vision.  The doctor said it's healing nicely and his vision tested at 20-40 today.  Before the surgery, notwithstanding the cataracts his vision without glasses or contacts was 20-400.  

The surgery on his right eye is tomorrow morning so please pray that it is successful, without complications and his recovery is normal.  We are scheduled to fly back to El Salvador on March 16, so his final appointment with Dr. Lee is on Wednesday, March 15.    

A Trip to Hayward

One of the amazing things about cataract surgery is that the recovery period doesn't come with a lot of restrictions.  It's pretty much limited to don't press or rub your eyes and don't let shower water hit you directly in the eye.  Otherwise, he's free to do whatever he wants, including playing golf and running.  

We knew before we came to California that Pastor Julio and Patty were going to be in the area while we were here.  They are presenting a family conference in a Hispanic church in Hayward; so we told them we would come to one of the evening services.

Because the rush-hour traffic across the Dumbarton Bridge between Sunnyvale and Hayward can be crazy, we left about 3:00 p.m. and arrived with no major delays.  We were able to explore the city and walk through the rather quaint, but almost empty (more shops were out of business than were open) stores.  The city hall and other government buildings were quite impressive, though.

We also had time to drive to Garin Regional Park and do a bit of walking.  We weren't dressed for hiking, so we didn't wander far from the parking lot.  These two pictures don't do justice to the scenery--the rolling hills were much greener than they appear.  

Iglesia Bautista La Roca wasn't too far from the park so we were one of the first to arrive.  Pastor Julio and Patty are in the area all week talking about how to have strong marriages and families.

We felt right at home in the Hispanic service!  Pastor Julio even played the piano for one of the hymns we sang.

After the service we went out to eat with Pastor Carlos, his daughter, Rebeca, (his wife, Isa, is battling cancer and her counts were too low for her to come to the service), Pastor Julio and Patty.  Carlos and his wife are both Salvadorans who worshipped at our church in San Salvador before moving to California to plant their current church. 

Surgery and In-n-Out

Surgery was a success; Dr. Lee said it went as expected.  He had to fast since dinner last night so we stopped at In-n-Out on the way home.  He's now napping off the anesthesia.

He has a post-op appointment tomorrow morning, but afterwards he'll be free to resume his regular activities, minus swimming and weightlifting.  Our plans for an afternoon of playing with the grandkids.

Thanks for praying for him; please continue to pray for his recovery and the surgery on his right eye which will be next Tuesday, March 7.

Today is the day

Trusting God for a procedure without complications, a great outcome and a speedy recovery.  I'll update later this afternoon or tomorrow after his post-op appointment.  Thanks for praying for Stephen.

Time in California

Over the past several months, Stephen has been progressively having more difficulty with his vision, including double vision, blurriness and seeing halos around lights, especially at night.  He would ask me, "how many tail lights does that car have?"  My answer would be two or four, depending and he would then tell me he saw 12 to 16.  So, we decided to take advantage of the time between Judgment House and our March campaign to come to California to get his eyes examined.

The results of the exam with the opthamologist and the retinologist are that he has cataracts and they need to be removed.  He will be having surgery on his left eye next Tuesday, February 28; the date for surgery on the right eye has not been confirmed, but will probably be Tuesday, March 7.  

This will be his very first surgery (except for oral surgery for wisdom teeth removal) so, as you can imagine, he's a bit nervous about it all.  Please pray for a good result and a quick recovery.  We are scheduled to fly back to El Salvador on March 15.

Judgment House Wrap-up

Judgment House is over for 2017.  The final weekend was held at our Lourdes campus which meant that everything at our main church was taken down, loaded up and then set up at our church there.  Of course, the layout and configuration of the rooms is completely different so the set up isn't easy.  

Once again Pastors Steve and Julio were thrilled with the attendance and number of decisions across the seven days of performances (5 at the Miralvalle Campus and 2 at the Lourdes Campus.  Praise the Lord for the final results:

Attendance:  3,624

Professions of Faith:  387

Rededications:  283

Please continue to pray for the campus pastors as they start the follow-up process.  The first step is to invite those who made decisions to a breakfast or a dinner at the campus where they would be attending.  Here is a picture of the group that came for the first dinner at our Lourdes Campus.  

Judgment House, 2017

The last minute prep finished up on Wednesday afternoon and the work of "presenting" Judgment House began about 6:30 p.m.  Stephen's is playing the piano in the sanctuary where the groups await their turn to enter the presentation--he's at the very beginning.  I'm working at the very end--in counseling.  We see only those people who are ready to make a decision for Christ as a result of the presentation.  I'm on the computer, keeping track of all the names and compiling the results for Pastor Julio and Pastor Steve.

God has provided miraculous results over the past three nights (Wednesday through Friday.)  Here are some of the stats so far:

ATTENDANCE:  1,369

PROFESSIONS OF FAITH:  155

REDEDICATIONS:  124

 Praise the Lord for the lives that are being changed!

Judgment House Prep--2017

Stephen and I spent all day Monday and Tuesday at the church helping with construction and setup for Judgment House.  As last year, we spent most of our time turning the big room on the third floor into Heaven.  Here are some pictures of the process.

Getting started by blocking off the light from the windows

Covering the blue walls so everything will look white

Adding the celestial window and curtains to the room

Looking back at the entrance (in the middle of the two sets of gold curtains

Finished view looking into the room (Jesus in the back)

Another view of the back of the room (white floors and hanging branches with flowers and candles

Jesus with one one of the young girls in heaven

February isn't just for Valentines

Valentine's Day is celebrated here in El Salvador, but it's known here as the "Day of Love and Friendship."  As a result, the celebrations don't just focus on husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, but on all types of friendship.  To that end, the celebration is too big to fit on one single day; instead, friendship is celebrated throughout the month of February.

Our traditional to have a women's ministry "friendship breakfast" was held yesterday and more than 120 women attended.  Dr. Marta Colato shared the awesome friendship story between Jesus and Lazarus.  

Continuing computer issues

We are in the states and have the new hard drive for our laptop; however, we don't have anyone to repair it here.  So until we get back to El Salvador at the end of the year, I'm borrowing a laptop to do essential tasks and using my phone for everything else.

I sent out a simple email update in lieu of our regular newsletter.  If you didn't see it, you can find it on the blog homepage.

We finished two weeks in Kansas City and then flew to California on December 2.  We've enjoyed a piano recital, Christmas caroling, Sunday church and several other outings with Daniel and his family.  There's still plenty to look forward to as we prepare to celebrate our Lord's birth.  

I promise to catch up (or maybe just start over) in January when my laptop is up and running.