Hey friends,
Katherine is still in the hospital this evening. I am sitting here next to her bed wishing there was more I could do for her. She came through the emergency appendectomy on Monday, and has been doing okay in the hospital. Today our surgeon came in and told us some disheartening news. Her white cell blood count has gone up to 17,000. It should be below 10,000. From what I understand, that means she is fighting infection in her body. She is on a very strong antibiotic as well. If her count does not go down, it will probably mean another surgery for her. We know that God has a plan, and we believe Him for her healing! Please pray with us. Thanks for your prayers.
Chad
Cairo 2014
Friday, February 8, 2008
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Katherine's Appendectomy
Hello friends around the world!
I just wanted to give you all an update on Katherine. Friday night she came home from a friends house with a tummy ache and not feeling well. Throughout the night she was throwing up and running a fever. None of us slept too well! I called our family doctor on Saturday, but she seemed to be getting better - no more throwing up. He recommended that we go ahead and take her in to the urgent care anyway. Saturday afternoon we went to urgent care and saw a doctor. His diagnosis was a urinary tract infection. We took her home and started giving her the medication. On Sunday she was not throwing up, and her fever was being kept under control with tylenol/ibuprofin. We had a superbowl party at our house Sunday night... she stayed on the couch in our room, still not feeling up to par. Sunday night she just kept complaining of a stomach ache, and her fever still kept coming back.
On Monday morning we took her back to Urgent Care. After spending all day at urgent care they decided to do a CT scan on her. She had issues drinking the liquid, and opted for a tube to be placed in/through her nose - to put the liquid in her tummy through the tube! Immediately after the scan, she threw up everything! Thank God she was able to keep it in for the duration of the test!
They immediately sent her over to the ER for an appendectomy. When we arrived in the OR, the surgeon and operating staff were waiting for her. I was amazed at how quickly everything was proceeding. They were waiting, the OR was ready for her, and we didn't have to wait at all for her to go into surgery. I guess the hardest time for us was when she looked up and asked us if she was going to die. It was a difficult day all the way around, but sending her into surgery was tough!
About 2 hours after she went into surgery, the doctor came out and gave us the good news that everything went well. She definitely had a ruptured appendix, and had a really large absess growing in her abdomen. They cleaned her out, and sewed her back up! She is now recovering at the Cox South Hospital in SGF. The doc said she will be in the hospital "the better part of a week."
It has been neat to see how God has worked in all of this. We have had people offer to pray with us (that we have never met before); our doctor at the Urgent Care happened to be someone that Chad plays basketball with at James River AG. Didn't know he was a doctor! The hospital staff were very attentive to everything! It has just been obvious that God's hand is in all of this. Why do bad things happen? We don't know why (we could get in a long talk about that one) - but we do know positively that God is in the midst of it all! When we suffer, He is with us, and He is helping us. It is a growing experience to go through trials - and hopefully we all learn to lean more on Him through these challenging times!
I have often thought of a young MK out in the Pacific, on a small island, who had an emergency appendectomy just a couple of months ago - i think in December. He did not have access to a hospital, and had to fly to Australia (8 hours I think) to a medical facility, with a ruptured appendix. When we have difficult times, we can only look at all the circumstances and realize how blessed we truly are!
Thanks for continuing to pray for our little princess!
Chad
I just wanted to give you all an update on Katherine. Friday night she came home from a friends house with a tummy ache and not feeling well. Throughout the night she was throwing up and running a fever. None of us slept too well! I called our family doctor on Saturday, but she seemed to be getting better - no more throwing up. He recommended that we go ahead and take her in to the urgent care anyway. Saturday afternoon we went to urgent care and saw a doctor. His diagnosis was a urinary tract infection. We took her home and started giving her the medication. On Sunday she was not throwing up, and her fever was being kept under control with tylenol/ibuprofin. We had a superbowl party at our house Sunday night... she stayed on the couch in our room, still not feeling up to par. Sunday night she just kept complaining of a stomach ache, and her fever still kept coming back.
On Monday morning we took her back to Urgent Care. After spending all day at urgent care they decided to do a CT scan on her. She had issues drinking the liquid, and opted for a tube to be placed in/through her nose - to put the liquid in her tummy through the tube! Immediately after the scan, she threw up everything! Thank God she was able to keep it in for the duration of the test!
They immediately sent her over to the ER for an appendectomy. When we arrived in the OR, the surgeon and operating staff were waiting for her. I was amazed at how quickly everything was proceeding. They were waiting, the OR was ready for her, and we didn't have to wait at all for her to go into surgery. I guess the hardest time for us was when she looked up and asked us if she was going to die. It was a difficult day all the way around, but sending her into surgery was tough!
About 2 hours after she went into surgery, the doctor came out and gave us the good news that everything went well. She definitely had a ruptured appendix, and had a really large absess growing in her abdomen. They cleaned her out, and sewed her back up! She is now recovering at the Cox South Hospital in SGF. The doc said she will be in the hospital "the better part of a week."
It has been neat to see how God has worked in all of this. We have had people offer to pray with us (that we have never met before); our doctor at the Urgent Care happened to be someone that Chad plays basketball with at James River AG. Didn't know he was a doctor! The hospital staff were very attentive to everything! It has just been obvious that God's hand is in all of this. Why do bad things happen? We don't know why (we could get in a long talk about that one) - but we do know positively that God is in the midst of it all! When we suffer, He is with us, and He is helping us. It is a growing experience to go through trials - and hopefully we all learn to lean more on Him through these challenging times!
I have often thought of a young MK out in the Pacific, on a small island, who had an emergency appendectomy just a couple of months ago - i think in December. He did not have access to a hospital, and had to fly to Australia (8 hours I think) to a medical facility, with a ruptured appendix. When we have difficult times, we can only look at all the circumstances and realize how blessed we truly are!
Thanks for continuing to pray for our little princess!
Chad
Friday, January 25, 2008
Parental Update, January 25, 2008
Greetings from the wonderful world of MKs!
The ISMK office is in the process of setting the schedules and hiring the staff for the summer programs of ’08! It is always a fun time. It is a challenge with all the time changes this summer. We want to keep the same quality, but with less time. We are challenged to have powerful services, meaningful small group times, and plenty of social interaction opportunities. I know it will be good, but challenging. We appreciate your prayers as we go through this process.
I would like to encourage you to register for Reentry! If you are returning this summer for SOM (Missionary Renewal) and you have children – I believe they will benefit greatly from the Reentry Program. We will have some quality time talking about the cultural changes. It will also provide your children with more time to develop their meaningful relationships with other MKs. I believe that is a critical element of the MK experience.
In just a few weeks I will be travelling to Eurasia. I am looking forward to connecting with some of you and your kids! It is my first trip into this region, and I believe it will be meaningful. For those of you that will be at the Graduation in Bangalore – make sure you bring your kids with you! Register your kids for that TCK weekend.
I am currently doing a course online about education consulting for MKs/TCKs. The course is the first one of the kind, and is fun to see what other organizations do for their MKs. Bethanie and I are both going through it to see how we can better our help for the missionary families. I would love to include you in some of the questions we are being asked.
The first thing I am looking at is a specific role for an education consultant. We have an education consultant in the ISMK office - Brenda Dickey. She is certainly qualified, and ready to assist at any moment. However, what I would like to know is the missionaries’ perspective. How do you see an education consultant functioning within our system? Would they be involved in the interview process? Do you see us doing more, educationally, than we are right now? I would love to know your thoughts. How can we be better at what we provide? By the way, if you are interested in learning more about being an education consultant for your region/area, let me know!
We are praying for you and your families. Please let us know of any concerns or areas that we need to address. Our goal is to serve you and your families!
The ISMK office is in the process of setting the schedules and hiring the staff for the summer programs of ’08! It is always a fun time. It is a challenge with all the time changes this summer. We want to keep the same quality, but with less time. We are challenged to have powerful services, meaningful small group times, and plenty of social interaction opportunities. I know it will be good, but challenging. We appreciate your prayers as we go through this process.
I would like to encourage you to register for Reentry! If you are returning this summer for SOM (Missionary Renewal) and you have children – I believe they will benefit greatly from the Reentry Program. We will have some quality time talking about the cultural changes. It will also provide your children with more time to develop their meaningful relationships with other MKs. I believe that is a critical element of the MK experience.
In just a few weeks I will be travelling to Eurasia. I am looking forward to connecting with some of you and your kids! It is my first trip into this region, and I believe it will be meaningful. For those of you that will be at the Graduation in Bangalore – make sure you bring your kids with you! Register your kids for that TCK weekend.
I am currently doing a course online about education consulting for MKs/TCKs. The course is the first one of the kind, and is fun to see what other organizations do for their MKs. Bethanie and I are both going through it to see how we can better our help for the missionary families. I would love to include you in some of the questions we are being asked.
The first thing I am looking at is a specific role for an education consultant. We have an education consultant in the ISMK office - Brenda Dickey. She is certainly qualified, and ready to assist at any moment. However, what I would like to know is the missionaries’ perspective. How do you see an education consultant functioning within our system? Would they be involved in the interview process? Do you see us doing more, educationally, than we are right now? I would love to know your thoughts. How can we be better at what we provide? By the way, if you are interested in learning more about being an education consultant for your region/area, let me know!
We are praying for you and your families. Please let us know of any concerns or areas that we need to address. Our goal is to serve you and your families!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Email sent to MKs on January 5th RE: SOM
Happy New Year MKs!
I remember growing up in the Netherlands, where New Years’ Eve was the big celebration of the year – filled with lots of fireworks! It was the only night of the year that you could legally do fireworks. It always seems kind of quiet to me celebrating the New Year in the United States. I don’t hear the far off fireworks (or the ones that I am setting off). I miss that about Holland! You will find that when you move back to the States, there will be certain things about where you are that you will miss.
I wanted to write all of you about the upcoming changes to School of Missions. At the bottom, I ask for feedback, so READ ALL THE WAY! As you know, there are some drastic changes to SOM. The main change is the amount of days. SOM has been from a Tuesday night the first week, ending on a Thursday night the next. We had Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of full MK activities. The actual program was only in session for seven days. This has been the schedule for quite a few years. The Executive Committee (EC) has changed the length of SOM to be from Sunday night to Thursday night – that gives us Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of full time MK activities – four days.
Obviously, with the change in schedule, the MK program will have to change to reflect those dates. You need to know that the MK program is going to be awesome once again next summer. I do not believe that these changes will be too drastic on the program. We will still have a day at Silver Dollar City, and we will still have at least three evening services together (even though the parents don’t have evening services). We will still have our daily fun activities as well. The biggest challenge will be that we simply have less time together as friends, bonding. While we used to have the weekend to “hang out” with each other, we don’t have that anymore. What that means is that we will have to maximize our time together that we do have.
One other area that is changing is the Reentry program. Reentry is a VOLUNTARY program. Your family can choose to attend or not. Reentry will run from Friday evening through Monday evening. That gives us another three full days of MK activities with you! I believe that the days we are losing for SOM, we are regaining during Reentry. Some of the things that we typically did during SOM, we will now be doing during Reentry. We would LOVE for all of our MKs that come for SOM to stay for Reentry. That is something you will need to talk to your parents about. If you believe that you need more time with MKs, and the MK program – have you parents register for Reentry. Believe me that it will be well worth your time! I am already excited about it!
While change is never easy or fun, sometimes it is necessary. The EC has made these changes to help your families with itineration and the whole financial aspect of it. They are also changing the focus (which is why they are changing the name from SOM to Missionary Renewal). Instead of looking at this as a negative thing, I am challenged to see how we can be more effective in what we do! If you look at a youth camp in the States, they also run four days and five nights. In that amount of time, they are very effective in building relationships and powerful altar services. Those of you that were in Costa Rica at the youth retreat this year will remember how awesome one week together can be!
What will make ours unique will be that everything is focused on MKs and MK isssues. Can we be effective in that amount of time? I believe we can! Can we build meaningful relationships in that amount of time? I believe we can! Are we going to take out critical parts of the ISMK program? NO WAY! We believe in you, and we want what is best for you! We will work with the time that we have to make it an awesome time.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this. I believe that discussion is great! We all have ideas, and this would be a great time to throw them out there. What would you like to see happen with SOM (Missionary Renewal)? How would you like to see the MK program change within this time frame? What events would you change? I will see if I can set up some kind of a discussion room on the website. If you want to write on my wall on Facebook – that would work as well!
We love you all and we are praying for you!
I remember growing up in the Netherlands, where New Years’ Eve was the big celebration of the year – filled with lots of fireworks! It was the only night of the year that you could legally do fireworks. It always seems kind of quiet to me celebrating the New Year in the United States. I don’t hear the far off fireworks (or the ones that I am setting off). I miss that about Holland! You will find that when you move back to the States, there will be certain things about where you are that you will miss.
I wanted to write all of you about the upcoming changes to School of Missions. At the bottom, I ask for feedback, so READ ALL THE WAY! As you know, there are some drastic changes to SOM. The main change is the amount of days. SOM has been from a Tuesday night the first week, ending on a Thursday night the next. We had Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of full MK activities. The actual program was only in session for seven days. This has been the schedule for quite a few years. The Executive Committee (EC) has changed the length of SOM to be from Sunday night to Thursday night – that gives us Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of full time MK activities – four days.
Obviously, with the change in schedule, the MK program will have to change to reflect those dates. You need to know that the MK program is going to be awesome once again next summer. I do not believe that these changes will be too drastic on the program. We will still have a day at Silver Dollar City, and we will still have at least three evening services together (even though the parents don’t have evening services). We will still have our daily fun activities as well. The biggest challenge will be that we simply have less time together as friends, bonding. While we used to have the weekend to “hang out” with each other, we don’t have that anymore. What that means is that we will have to maximize our time together that we do have.
One other area that is changing is the Reentry program. Reentry is a VOLUNTARY program. Your family can choose to attend or not. Reentry will run from Friday evening through Monday evening. That gives us another three full days of MK activities with you! I believe that the days we are losing for SOM, we are regaining during Reentry. Some of the things that we typically did during SOM, we will now be doing during Reentry. We would LOVE for all of our MKs that come for SOM to stay for Reentry. That is something you will need to talk to your parents about. If you believe that you need more time with MKs, and the MK program – have you parents register for Reentry. Believe me that it will be well worth your time! I am already excited about it!
While change is never easy or fun, sometimes it is necessary. The EC has made these changes to help your families with itineration and the whole financial aspect of it. They are also changing the focus (which is why they are changing the name from SOM to Missionary Renewal). Instead of looking at this as a negative thing, I am challenged to see how we can be more effective in what we do! If you look at a youth camp in the States, they also run four days and five nights. In that amount of time, they are very effective in building relationships and powerful altar services. Those of you that were in Costa Rica at the youth retreat this year will remember how awesome one week together can be!
What will make ours unique will be that everything is focused on MKs and MK isssues. Can we be effective in that amount of time? I believe we can! Can we build meaningful relationships in that amount of time? I believe we can! Are we going to take out critical parts of the ISMK program? NO WAY! We believe in you, and we want what is best for you! We will work with the time that we have to make it an awesome time.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this. I believe that discussion is great! We all have ideas, and this would be a great time to throw them out there. What would you like to see happen with SOM (Missionary Renewal)? How would you like to see the MK program change within this time frame? What events would you change? I will see if I can set up some kind of a discussion room on the website. If you want to write on my wall on Facebook – that would work as well!
We love you all and we are praying for you!
Friday, December 14, 2007
Missionary Renewal
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
As we enter 2008, we are all looking forward to the new things that God has in store for the this year! So many changes are happening in world missions. We are truly excited to see what God has in store.
I am sure that you have already heard of many of the changes that are happening with the summer programs. Candidate School (CS) is being reduced from three weeks to two weeks, and School of Missions is being renamed to Missionary Renewal and is being shortened from 7 full days to 4 full days.
I want to let you know that the MK department is excited about the changes that are happening, and we are looking forward to these new challenges. I believe that the changes being made are truly with the missionaries best interest at heart!
ISMK was a part of a committee looking at the summer schedules. During CS our Missionary Associate (MA) MKs were on campus only for the first two weeks and the Candidate MKs stayed on for the third. It was always a let down for the Candidate MKs to say goodbye to their friends, and then have only half the number of MKs for the last week of CS. I have always felt that the MA kids walked away with just as much of a passion as the Candidate MKs! The bulk of the MK identity training was done in the first two weeks, to make sure that all of the MKs had the same training. The third week was always fun, but not as much instruction. I believe that we will still be able to have a quality Pre-Field preparation for our MKs in two weeks. We will continue to have MuKappa. Candidates coming through the summer programs can expect to have the same level of quality that ISMK has always given our missionaries!
Missionary Renewal (MR) certainly will have a new look for the MK program as well! However, I believe that the changes in the schedule are a positive thing for the MK program as well. While we are losing three days of ministry, we are able to adjust some of our activities so that we minimize the effect of that. We are adjusting some of the schedule, and will have a very powerful week. I believe that the changes in schedule force us as a ministry to be more effective, and more purposeful in everything we do. That is definitely a great thing for us! We will still have a day at Silver Dollar City with all the programs, as well as four evenings of powerful services. Pray with us that God will continue to touch lives and baptize MKs in the Holy Spirit during MR! I know that God has great things in store for next summer, and I am excited about the positive changes that are happening! We will still have a great, fun time with the MKs - and God will move in the services.
I am also very excited about REENTRY. Because of the change is schedule, we are able to be much more focused on the entire reentry program. Immediately following MRW, Caring Connection will lead the annual Reentry program. ISMK will be doing a bulk of our cultural adjustment sessions during Reentry! Some of those sessions were during SOM last year. I would encourage you to make sure you REGISTER for Reentry!!! Our program for those about to enter college is continually getting better, and these changes will help us even more!
Thanks for taking the time to read this letter. Needless to say, I am looking forward to next summer. The ISMK program is a part of World Missions, and I believe we need to morph and make ISMK what it needs to be for this generation of missionaries and MKs! We will not accept anything but the best possible program for our MKs. We pray that you have a great winter/spring (summer/fall depending on where you are)!
As we enter 2008, we are all looking forward to the new things that God has in store for the this year! So many changes are happening in world missions. We are truly excited to see what God has in store.
I am sure that you have already heard of many of the changes that are happening with the summer programs. Candidate School (CS) is being reduced from three weeks to two weeks, and School of Missions is being renamed to Missionary Renewal and is being shortened from 7 full days to 4 full days.
I want to let you know that the MK department is excited about the changes that are happening, and we are looking forward to these new challenges. I believe that the changes being made are truly with the missionaries best interest at heart!
ISMK was a part of a committee looking at the summer schedules. During CS our Missionary Associate (MA) MKs were on campus only for the first two weeks and the Candidate MKs stayed on for the third. It was always a let down for the Candidate MKs to say goodbye to their friends, and then have only half the number of MKs for the last week of CS. I have always felt that the MA kids walked away with just as much of a passion as the Candidate MKs! The bulk of the MK identity training was done in the first two weeks, to make sure that all of the MKs had the same training. The third week was always fun, but not as much instruction. I believe that we will still be able to have a quality Pre-Field preparation for our MKs in two weeks. We will continue to have MuKappa. Candidates coming through the summer programs can expect to have the same level of quality that ISMK has always given our missionaries!
Missionary Renewal (MR) certainly will have a new look for the MK program as well! However, I believe that the changes in the schedule are a positive thing for the MK program as well. While we are losing three days of ministry, we are able to adjust some of our activities so that we minimize the effect of that. We are adjusting some of the schedule, and will have a very powerful week. I believe that the changes in schedule force us as a ministry to be more effective, and more purposeful in everything we do. That is definitely a great thing for us! We will still have a day at Silver Dollar City with all the programs, as well as four evenings of powerful services. Pray with us that God will continue to touch lives and baptize MKs in the Holy Spirit during MR! I know that God has great things in store for next summer, and I am excited about the positive changes that are happening! We will still have a great, fun time with the MKs - and God will move in the services.
I am also very excited about REENTRY. Because of the change is schedule, we are able to be much more focused on the entire reentry program. Immediately following MRW, Caring Connection will lead the annual Reentry program. ISMK will be doing a bulk of our cultural adjustment sessions during Reentry! Some of those sessions were during SOM last year. I would encourage you to make sure you REGISTER for Reentry!!! Our program for those about to enter college is continually getting better, and these changes will help us even more!
Thanks for taking the time to read this letter. Needless to say, I am looking forward to next summer. The ISMK program is a part of World Missions, and I believe we need to morph and make ISMK what it needs to be for this generation of missionaries and MKs! We will not accept anything but the best possible program for our MKs. We pray that you have a great winter/spring (summer/fall depending on where you are)!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)