Merry Christmas

Silas wanted us to make sure that we wished everyone a very Merry Christmas this year. May you be filled with the joy of our Father as you enjoy family and as you w*rship the King of kings.

Settling Into Our New House and City

Me overlooking the ocean on the coast of Ireland.
Lena at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.
Lena snapped this picture after Silas spotted the Loch Ness Monster.
Lena and Silas enjoying a boat ride at Loch Ness.
Here I am overlooking a battle field where William Wallace defeated the English. The castle that was overlooking this battle field is where King James VI grew up (the same King who authorized the King James Version of the Bible).

We are finally settled again. We are so thankful that we once again have a permanent place to call home. In the past two years we have moved nine times. These have not been small moves. Many of these moves have been from one country to another or from one continent to another. These moves do not include the multiple trips we have had to take to secure things like visas and to close up former residences. Needless to say, we are very happy to be settled once more. We are very happy with our new house. It took us about four weeks to obtain everything we needed for our new home. We were also able to take a two weeks vacation. We spent one week in Scotland and one week in Ireland. Since arriving in Europe, several doors have opened up for us to talk to people about our Father. Most of these people have been M*slims. We were invited to one home this past week where we had a three hour conversation with two men about our F*ther. Please continue to lift us up as we reach out to people. The soil here is very hard. The M*slims that we speak to are strict adherents to Isl*m and become very argumentative when we share with them. Silas continues to do well. He weighs 17.5 pounds now.


Pr@yer Requests:

1. That we would have a burden for the M*slims here in Europe.
2. That we would learn how to approach and love M*slims.
3. That our Father would lead us to people who have been prepared by Him to hear the message.

Our Time in America

Our five and a half weeks in the States came and went very quickly. We spent the first week applying for our Europe visas. In the four and a half weeks that were remaining we spoke in five different ch*rches and at a public school about what our Father has been doing overseas. We were also able to meet with a number of p@stors and missi*naries. It was so wonderful getting to see everyone. We enjoyed every second of the time spent with each of you. We only wish that our time with you could have been longer. Thank you for making our trip to the States a time of blessings.

A Short Visit in the USA

We are coming home! We found out last month that we cannot apply for visas to stay long term in Europe from our current location. In order to obtain new visas, we must return to the USA. We will be flying home next week. We should be arriving in the States on September 22. We are very excited to be able to come home and see friends and family. We will be in the States for 5 to 8 weeks. We will be applying for our new visas in Atlanta, GA. Beyond our visa applications, we are not sure how we are going to spend our time in the States. Our supervisors have asked us not to plan anything at this point because they may ask us to attend some trainings. We are hoping to be able to take some time to refresh ourselves before we head back out to establish ourselves again in a foreign country.

My head has been spinning this past month with everything that has developed. I returned to South Asia in August to close up our apartment and to manage our belongings. Our Father was good to me during this trip. It was a huge task, but I was able to return to our city of assignment and manage all of our belongings quickly. I packed up a lot of our belongings in SA and sent them ahead of us to Europe. While I was in SA, I got the opportunity to see our old friends. They really enjoyed seeing the pictures of Silas that I showed them. It was a difficult experience saying good bye to all of our SA friends knowing that we may not ever see them again. In addition to packing up all our stuff and saying goodbye to our friends, I took the opportunity to take a language assessment. I was shocked by how much my ability to comprehend the local language had improved since I had left SA. I received my language assessment report back and I have reached the advanced level in Hindi. Reaching the advanced level in my Hindi studies was the language goal of our first term. I am now being told that I have learned enough Hindi to be able to continue to learn it for the rest of my life.

Silas continues to do well. He has had some problems gaining weight. He had a doctor's appointment today and he was able to gain 200 grams this past week. Lena is going to start feeding him solid foods soon. We are so thankful for how our father has blessed us this past month.

Pr@yer Requests:
1. Silas' health
a. That he would continue to grow and be happy
b. That he would be able to gain the weight he needs
c. That he would make a strong transition from eating only formula and breast milk to eating solid foods
2. Safety in travel
3. That we would be able to obtain our new visas
4. That we would be able to have a blessed time with our family and friends while we are in the States
5. That we would be able to make a smooth transition to Europe

Baby Silas Laughing

Shifting to Europe

Hello everyone. I am going to have to keep it short and simple this month. We are piled under a mountain of work and we feel like we are working 24/7. I will be returning to SA this upcoming week to close out our apartment, sell our stuff, and pack up the things we want to keep. I will also be applying for an extended visa to return to South East Asia with. While I am in SA, Lena will be traveling with Silas to the country South of where we are now. While she is there she will be applying for an extended visa to return to South East Asia with. We are trying to plan it where we will both arrive in South East Asia at the same time. Then we will apply for our Europe visas. It will take 2-6 weeks to get our Europe visas back. Are you confused yet? Don't worry, we are confused as well. We are pr@ying that it will all work out in the end.

Silas continues to grow stronger. We are so blessed to be the parents of this little guy.

Pr@yer Requests:

1. Traveling mercy for all of us as we part ways for a short time.

2. For grace as Lena and Silas will be separated from me for one week.

3. That I would be able to close up our apartment without incident

4. That Lena and I would be able to obtain extended visas without incident.

5. That we would be able to obtain Europe visas quickly

6. That Silas would remain healthy during the trip

Pictures of Silas

A New Direction

This past year and a half has been a wild ride. When we first left the United States to go to South Asia we had a picture in our minds of how our first term overseas would go. We pictured moving into a new city, making new friends, learning a new language, learning a different culture, and striving to make an impact in the lives of others. We were expecting to serve our entire first term in South Asia. Our first term has not quite worked out like we expected it to and it seems that our Father has other plans for us. Instead of returning to South Asia we will be moving to Europe. Once we decided that our Father was not leading us to return to South Asia, we had to decide which direction our Father wanted us to go in. We still felt called to serve overseas, so going back to the United States was out of the question. We started to look at our options. We considered the possibility of working in several different countries. While looking at all these different options, we still felt that our Father was calling us to work with SA people. We started looking at assignments where we could live outside SA and still work with SA people. Two doors opened up for us. After several weeks of agonizing in yarper and research, we felt led to accept a position in Europe. Within Europe there is a large population of SA people. Many of these people leave SA and move to the Europe in the hope of expanding a business or providing a better life for their family. We will be moving to Europe to tell these people about the hope that is found in the g*spel. We never thought in a million years that we would end up moving to Europe in the middle of our first term. I am still not sure if I understand why our Father has allowed these circumstances to enter into our lives, but I do know that He knows what is best for us. He has been faithful to bless us and to teach us. Many of the lessons that He has taught us this first term have been extremely difficult. I can better understand the words of Paul now when he said, "We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself." He goes on to say, "He delivered us from such a deadly peril...On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again." Lena and I can boldly testify that our Father has delivered our family from a deadly peril. Not only has He delivered us but He has taught us lessons that we will kept with us the rest of our lives. He has taught us about love and compassion. He has taught us what it means to depend on Him. Our Father has truly blessed us and we are so very thankful. Silas continues to grow and become healthier every week. Last time he went to the doctor he weighed 12 pounds. He still has to take supplements to help him grow, but overall he is doing great. We are really enjoying being the parents of this little boy.

Yarper Requests

1. Silas' Health

a. That he would continue to gain weight and develop properly

b. That his intestines would continue to absorb the nutrition that his body needs

c. That the scar tissue in his stomach would not develop fibrosis and block his intestines

d. That he would be protected from sickness

2. Our Transition to the Europe

a. For access to a good pediatrician for Silas

b. That our Father would begin preparing peoples' hearts to hear the good news

c. That we would develop healthy relationships with our future co-workers

d. That we would be able to return to SA, pack up our possessions, and ship them to Europe without incident

e. That we would be able to find proper housing quickly in Europe so that we can hit the ground running

f. That we find ourselves in a healthy environment for learning Hindi

Seeking our Father's Direction.

As you all can imagine, we have been going through some major transitions. Silas is at home with us now and we are learning how to take care of this little guy. We are also living in a different city with different people who speak a different language. The transitions have been challenging. It looks like we will be facing some more of these changes in our future. After carefully considering our Father's direction for us, we have decided to not go back to South Asia. We have received permission from our superiors to seek a transfer. We will still be working overseas, but we will not be returning to South Asia. We are currently seeking our Father's direction for our lives. We are yarperfully considering our options as there are several places around the world where we could work.

Please yarp for us as we make some very important decisions. Yarp that our Father would lead and guide our steps.

We will send out more updates as things develop.

Silas' Homecoming

Hello everyone. It has been quite some time since our last update. We are trying to become more efficient at updating you all on the events in our lives. We know that you all care for us and like to yarp for us. We are desperate for your yarpers. We would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of love you have shown our way as we went through the terrible experience of Necrotising Entrocolities with Silas. The support has been truly overwhelming. As you all know, when Lena was pregnant she developed Pregnancy Induced Hypertension. The doctors in South Asia (SA) performed an emergency c-section on February 3, 2011. Silas Luther was born 10 weeks premature. Silas seemed to be doing well at first, but then he developed Necrotising Entrocolities (NEC) a few days after birth. We had never even heard of NEC before. I am not sure we understood the severity of his condition until a few days after he developed it. The doctors in SA were not very forthcoming about his condition. It is cultural in SA to tell people what they want to hear rather than the reality of the situation. While we knew nothing about NEC, we had to learn about it really fast. NEC is a disease that has a 50% mortality rate. It has no known cause and no known cure. Most cases of NEC develops in premature babies. NEC attacks the intestines and gangrene develops. Some children become so infected by it that there is nothing that can be done to save the child's life. Silas had to undergo surgery to have 1/3 of his intestines removed. Silas was also given an ileostomy during the surgery. Our DADDY placed some friends in our lives that really helped us to make good decisions regarding Silas' healthcare. The doctors in SA have a completely different protocol for treating NEC than doctors in the United States. The SA hospitals also did not have access to high quality Total Parental Nutrition (TPN) for Silas. TPN is nutrition that is given through IV therapy. Silas could not eat food by mouth. If Silas would have been fed by mouth before he was ready for it he could have developed more gangrene. Because he could not be fed by mouth, the TPN was Silas' only source of nutrition. We had to end up having Silas air evacuated out of SA to South East Asia for better medical care. It was not an easy decision to have Silas evacuated. We had several people telling us that we should not do it. The air transport was dangerous because Silas was so young. The altitude could have caused his lungs to burst like a balloon. We also had to fight the SA government to get their permission to take Silas to South East Asia. It was a nightmare. There was a team brought in from Luxembourg who transported Silas on a private medical jet to South East Asia. Silas made the trip with no problems. After the transport, Lena and I felt like a million pounds had been lifted off our shoulders. The healthcare here in South East Asia has been outstanding. The doctors have been great and the nurses are some of the best in the world. Upon arriving in South East Asia, Silas immediately began to grow and flourish. His ileostomy was reversed several weeks ago and he has been tolerating his food well. Silas has been home with us for almost three weeks now. It has been great having him home. His doctor check ups have been going well. During his last appointment he was weighed at 9.34 pounds. We are so thankful for how this whole ordeal turned out. We have nothing but praise for our DADDY. We know that many of you have remained diligent in yarping for Silas. We will be eternally grateful to those of you who cried out on our behalf. It has been awesome to see how our DADDY uses his chur[h to meet the needs of those who are going through trials.

The majority of our time over the past few months has been spent processing through everything that has happened. The post traumatic stress has been heavy. We were having a difficult time sleeping at night. I had to be taken to the ER one night because I was suffering from vertigo. I have been to several doctors getting check ups on problems that I was having even when I was in SA. We have been able to attend counseling sessions. We have had friends and family come and visit us from the United States. We have been able to spend a great deal of time in yarper and in His Word. Through these things and our DAD's help, we have been able to return to a place of normalcy once again.

Various Pictures of Silas

He is one handsome little feller, just like his daddy. But he sure is a momma's boy.

Silas Meets the Grandparents

Baby Silas' Struggle with NEC

This video documents Silas' struggle with Necrotising Entrocolities.