At the beginning of March it was discovered that Mike’s mom has cancer. Upon learning of her illness, he quickly traveled to the States to be with her and support her. She is being treated for cancer (stage 4 lymphoma) and is responding well to the first round of chemotherapy , but has a long period of treatment ahead of her. There is also a complicating factor of a mass in her brain that has yet to be identified, but does not appear to be growing. We are praying that this will not prove to be related to the cancer and the doctors are monitoring it for changes. This has been a difficult time not only for his mom, but also for the family as they have gradually realized the seriousness of her condition and the implications for her ongoing care.
Now that she is at the point of being discharged from the hospital and is not currently able to live independently (she lives on her own), Mike and his siblings have decided that best possible option for her is to return to her home and receive in-home help rather than go to a nursing facility. After much consideration and time before the Father, Mike and I have decided to return back to the U.S. (Maryland) to see mom through the next four months of cancer treatment. We are hopeful that she will respond positively to this treatment and to having her family around her during this difficult time. Please lift her up before the Father for healing and strength to get through this illness. Also, please pray that the mass in her head would be determined to be benign. We would also ask that you pray for our kids as they are uprooted from their friends and routines of life in Changchun.
Although we were taken by surprise by these circumstances, the Father was not. We are thankful that we can come alongside my mom and care for her while encouraging her to look to the Name Above Names as she faces this illness. While it is also our intention (the Father willing) to return to Changchun in August, we will greatly miss our friends and those we serve during our time away. We further hope that will have the opportunity to reconnect with our stateside friends.
{ 0 comments }
Our annual conference in Thailand is about to end. We are very thankful for the opportunity to get away from the grind of language study to reflect on experiences of the past year and relax a little. We were truly blessed to have gifted speakers at the the conference who fed us from the Book and encouraged our large group (350+) in the work to which they have been called in various Asian countries. I particularly enjoyed the teaching of 
Also teaching at our conference was the president of Cornerstone University 
Changchun
77°