Our little pup

This little pup is sure a blessing! Not quite a lapdog ( but don’t tell him that!) He is such a happy part of our family and we will sure miss him.

Clouds

Cale and his 8th grade banquet that didn't happen

Look at this kid! He put on the outfit he would’ve worn for his 8th grade banquet so we could take pictures. He is so tall and grown up!! I can’t believe he is almost a high schooler!

The Graduates of 2020

Sophie's class wanted to get a class picture before everyone starts leaving to go back to their home country. They needed to maintain their social distance which made it a bit more tricky. These kids are close, really close. The friendships are so tight. In the last week they have had so many ups and downs. No class trip. Possibly no Junior/Senior banquet, among so many other things they had planned. School is canceled. Kids are being evacuated. Fast goodbyes are awful. Please pray for them as they transition.

 Sophie and all the wonderful Seniors out there- my heart is so sad for you and all you are missing but I know with confidence that you are part of God’s story that He is still writing. Your lives are making a difference. You are destined for great things and I am so thankful you are in this world!!!

 

April 19 Embassy Flight

The following is from Garth

Hi,

Well, today has been quite the roller coaster of a day. 

Three weeks ago, our province of Papua shut its doors to any passenger traffic.  The airport and seaport were only functional for cargo.  Two weeks ago, the local authorities put a 9:00pm curfew in place and only allowed businesses to be open from 6:00am until 2:00pm.  Just yesterday, the government has announced that starting tomorrow (Monday), there will be a strict 2:00pm curfew.  NOBODY is allowed on the streets between 2:00pm and 4:30am.  Word on the street is, people will be caned for any infraction of this curfew.

During all of this, the US State Department has reached out to Expats living in Papua to see if there was any interest in getting back to the US.  Many families responded affirmatively and that got the ball rolling to send a plane to get them.  This coming Thursday (April 23) is the departure date for that flight.  The State Department has told people that the flight will only get them to Jakarta since there are still several flights leaving from Jakarta that can reach the US.  They will be on their own to get to the US from Jakarta.

Early on in the development of this plan, we were asked if we would like to be on the flight.  All four of us agreed that we would like to stay and take our chances that things would open up by the end of May and we would leave Papua then.  Our original plan, before Covid-19 broke out, was for Emma and Wyatt to fly back here in the middle of May, attend Sophie's graduation, and then all 6 of us would have said good-bye to our Papuan home for a final time together as we returned to our other home in Williams Bay, WI.  Well, with all the travel restrictions, those plans have gone out the window.  We still held out hope to return at the end of May, but that plan took a twist this morning.

Up until this morning, I didn't think it was that urgent to leave Papua earlier than our date of May 29.  But our field leadership called me this morning and said that they "strongly recommend" we be on that flight.  That call changed our outlook drastically.  With leadership urging us to go, we decided that we would follow their recommendation.  That meant that we had to pack everything up in 3 days.  And, we had to tell the kids.

We had already planned a zoom call with Emma and Wyatt to "celebrate" Emma's birthday.  But this news really put a damper on things.  This news sounded the death knell to any possibility of them coming back to say good-bye.

As we started thinking through everything ahead of us, Rachel mentioned that she hadn't been feeling good lately and wondered if that might impede our travel.  So she called one of our Expat nurses here in Sentani and talked with her about it.  After talking with Rachel, the nurse said that she had six of the seven symptoms that are asked about at international airports.  The nurse then came over to examine Rachel and said that we weren't' going anywhere.  We needed to quarantine for the next two weeks.  Whoa!  I'm getting whiplash here.  One minute we're staying until the end of May, the next minute we're packing up to leave in four days, the next minute we're quarantined for two weeks. 

So, all that to say...we're here for a while.  We've heard rumors that travel won't open up from here until maybe November.  We are hoping that that's not true.  I'm pretty sure that no one knows for sure exactly what's going to happen and when.

All I do know at this point, is that we are exactly where God wants us right now.  There is nothing that can happen to us that He doesn't allow.  And I'm good with that.  I've put my trust in Him for my salvation, is my trusting in Him to take care of me and my family during this time harder than that?  My trust is not based on my circumstances, my situation, or my location.  It's based on the fact that He is my refuge and my fortress.  He will save me from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.  He will cover me with his feathers, and under his wings I will find refuge; his faithfulness will be my shield and rampart.  I will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.  He is my rock and my redeemer.

You are our friends and family and we want to thank your for caring for us.  We covet your prayers and we know that He answers. 

We love you,

Garth

I am getting caught up Post from Feb. 20-22

Hey you guys. It is 4:15 on Thursday afternoon and I have guests coming for dinner at 6 but I had to stop and catch my breath and give you an update. Yesterday and today have been a bit crazy.

Yesterday I took Garth to a local hospital for an x-ray on his chest. He has been sick for several weeks and the nurse suggested we do that. Here are some pictures of that adventure.

We got the x-rays right away, one of our nurses scanned it and sent it to some American doctors. They all agreed that he had a collapsed lung. We didn't know about that until this morning. We got a call at 7:00 am telling us that Garth should go to the hospital and have the lung reinflated. So we drove to the "good" hospital that is an hour away  thinking that we will try and have that procedure done. We got there and spent several hours waiting and doing tests. They did an EKG, and blood work and took his blood pressure and weight and height and blood pressure again and again etc. and then they finally said that we needed another x-ray before we could do anything. At this point it was about 2:00. After the x-ray they told us that we could meet with the doctor on Tuesday after the results of the blood work, and the x-ray were in. Tuesday! What? Inside I am thinking a hundred thoughts-what if it is a collapsed lung? Shouldn't it be taken care of sooner rather than later? I am supposed to leave for OE on Monday! Do I still go? On and on as the inside of my head was screaming. SO, we asked if we could come and get the x-rays tomorrow to show to our doctor and they said yes. SO, tomorrow morning Garth and I will go back and get the x-ray and scan them for the doctors to look at again. IDK what will happen after that. I can't think that far. We have guests staying here that need me, Cale still has his fever, I still need to pack for OE.... one thing at a time. Breathe and trust. Breathe and trust.

Garth is not in pain. He has no fever. So that is all good. He has a bad, persistent cough, and very low energy and his oxygen level is down. The doctor can hear some rails when he listens to his lungs but they don't think it is pneumonia. This could be so much worse, I am well aware. And thankful that we have a hospital here that we can go to. This hospital was just built last year. Anyways, keep praying please. Also, one of our OE leaders just found out that his Dad is dying so he has to fly home to Malaysia and will not be able to go. That means we need to find a new leader that will be ready to go on Monday. Breathe, and trust. O.k. here are some pictures from the hospital we went to today. Quite different from the one we went to yesterday.

O.k. I have to go make dinner.

Bye.

Rachel

 

Feb 21

So... I finally have a bit of news regarding Garth. We got the second x-ray today, scanned them and sent them off to two American doctors and one Dutch doctor. Only two responded and they both had the same thought. Mainly, "This is not good and we need to do something about it." 

So if you look at the x-ray  I will explain what I have learned so far. Do you see below the R there is like a line down where it is lighter on the left of that line and darker on the right? Well, the thought is that the light part is air that has filled up the pleural cavity because of a hole in the lung. See on the other side the lung is all dark. That one is healthy and full of air. An American doctor is coming here on Sunday and wants to listen to Garth's lungs and check his pulse/oxygen level and then (probably) aspirate his lung-that means putting a needle in the top part of that air pocket to extract the air. They are hoping that once the air is gone, the lung with fill up the cavity and the hole will repair itself.

 Feb. 22

Hi guys. So I have some news about Garth. The American doctor seems to think that it is not a hole in the lungs. She wants  him to be on a steroid and see if it helps. We are trusting her judgement and he started the steroid today. Thank you for praying. That would be wonderful if he didn't need any procedures done while I am gone, and if I came back to a healthy husband. WOOHOO. Thanks you guys for caring so much!

 

 

Trust

Many of you are stressing and fearful of what is going on in the world. That’s understandable. I want to give you an opportunity to take a moment away from all that. Watch this. Listen to the water and the wind. Take a deep breath.

The God that created all this is a God that can be trusted.