Out of Surgery

We've received word that Lynsey will be released from the hospital in a little while. The surgery went well for which we are thankful. Her two oldest sisters made it there to help her through the next couple of days. She would have had all of them there but Allison was knee deep in school and two sisters is enough! We had to tell Allison to stay put as they were all coming running. However, in all of this, it hits us deeply as we feel like we are the ones who should be running. It has especially crushed Ann as she knows that hospital, knows the medical stuff, and wants so badly to be there with the daughter she calls her "neat kid". (Each one has an endearing name!).

Sarah and Krista are handling all the details and I'm holding my breath on the bill. She is in the gap group - Since OMS is a non-profit, they don't have to offer COBRA and so when she came off our insurance, there were no realistic options for us other than to pray for a decent job with some benefits in an economy where bottom feeders are cruising around. It was a gamble and as in all my experiences with forms of gambling, it came out the way it normally does! Buy high and sell low - right? However, the sisters are checking into various options through the hospital and so we look forward to seeing how God will work in this. I think I have four of the most amazing daughters that they can deal with this as a united group and care for each other like they do.

I am so thankful number 3 daughter is recovering and it wasn't more serious (such as a burst appendix). I'm so thankful she received good care. I'm so thankful her old room-mate (Polly) was so attentive to her needs and insisted she go to the hospital. Lynsey didn't want to go because she didn't have health insurance! There is a cultural statement! Of course, it weighs very heavily on us - we made choices in response to God's Call on our lives and here is an emotional and human cost that makes what we do very difficult. We may have left our four precious pearls in the States but there was certainly no less love or concern for each of them. I really think there are very few who really understand how deep of a cost this is to us.

On another topic - we met with the Mozambique coordinator for Evangelism Explosion today. This Mozambican pastor is going to work with us introducing this program into our seminary classes and we hope into our churches as well. It is the same program that we are intimately familiar with from the States except that the program is in Portuguese and it doesn't include all the slick stuff (memory cards and the like) to help keep the costs down here. So, we purchased our first 40 books and will be introducting this into the curriculum right away. Ann is quite an expert on the program actually and really engaged the Pastor about the program and how it works in Mozambique.

What we worry about is something we've seen quite a bit here. You can go in and offer all sorts of training, and people love to come and participate and attend, but then no one seems to do anything with it. We've seen that with our Chronological Bible Story Telling for example. It's an excellent program and we've done lots of training on it and provided lots of books and pictures for people to share with their friends and churches, but very few seem to actually take it and use it. We don't want Evangelism Explosion to be the same thing - we train lots of people, but then they take the material home and put it on the shelf. That's where the Spirit of God is so important - to put the desire in the heart to share their faith. Without it, it is just another program. Another key seems to be lots of practical application - something we need to focus more energy on.

Blessings!

Dave & Ann