Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Lessons from Jacob

In Hebrews, the author mentions the faith of Isaac as he blessed Esau and Jacob. What I say? He was duped, Jacob tricked him! How is that faith? So I went back and read the account in Gen 27. Sure enough Isaac was duped. He wasn't pretending to be. Jacob received the blessing Isaac was going to give Esau (v28,29) and he gave Esau a muted version of the same (v39,40). However when I read further into Gen 28 and Isaac is saying his good bye to Jacob (because Esau was looking to kill him) he gives him another very different blessing (28:3,4). A blessing that encompassed the covenant God had made with Abraham. Maybe this was the blessing the Isaac really had for Jacob from the start. The lesson I see in Jacob's life this is just one of several instances where he took it upon himself to do God's job, and I reflect that I often try to do that as well.

With that as a backdrop some updates:
We are looking to stay busy while back in MT.
Our visit in Cody was short but pleasant, & this past Sunday I visited Chester to meet with the C&MA district superintendent. That was useful and I will be speaking there later in Feb.
Anna is working on getting some unpacking done, and trying to finish her counseiling exam

We are also looking into some French tutorial options this spring as well.
In the meantime I am back at work and we are otherwise trying to get the kids back to a routine.

The adoption is proceeding as well as can be expected. This Friday we have a visit from a social worker who will check out our house and interview us. If we pass that then we give the report to the lawyer who sends the report to both biological parents. The father will sign voluntarily and then one of several things will happen with the mom. One; the address we have is not the right one and we will publish a notice in her local paper for 3 wks then he rights can be terminated. Two; she is at the address and she agrees, signs, and we are home free. Three, she is at the address and she is not amendable to the adoption and then we have a big fight on our hands.

Anyway all of this is a matter of prayer and we appreciate that for us.

Thanks,

Stephen

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Back in Town

Well the Wegners are coming back into MT tomorrow and I will begin work again at the Blackfeet Community Hospital.

We had a good time with our family and friends and I even had a couple of opportunities to share about our vision God gave us for the Republic of Congo.

I will confess that as we got closer to MT I struggled with some disappointment of not making it to Language school this winter, but I know God is good and I am excited for the opportunity to build some more relationships with churches in the area and also to do some more work with the IHS in Browning.

Tomorrow I have an opportunity to speak at the CMA church in Cody for another 10min slot.

We also received another email from the Harveys and some snippets follow of what God is doing at the Pioneer Christian Hospital.
  • a 3-year old boy named Moses who spent two weeks in respiratory distress due to a pleural effusion from pneumonia, started getting better and now he's ready to go home.
  • we were able to start our first 2 AIDS patients on anti-retroviral therapy.
Last week 4 year-old Roselyn's mother carried her to the hospital. Her right leg was tender and swollen and she couldn't stand or walk. Her father cancelled his business trip when, after 24 hours, there was little improvement. We discovered that Roselyn has sickle cell anemia, and started her on appropriate treatment. The next 24 hours brought remarkable improvement, and in 3 days she was running around the pediatric ward, ready to go home.
Lobilo is a young Aka (pygmy) man who fell out of a palm tree and broke his back several years ago, resulting in partial paralysis. Because of this, he developed sores on one foot that smelled so bad, no one wanted to touch him, like a modern day leper. Dr. Fuka operated on his foot, removing some dead and infected bone. His feet are now clean, and his room has been cleansed.
21-year-old Mireille couldn't hear. Her family found her lying on the street near her village after her husband had gone to Impfondo to sell her manioc leaves. They thought she was having a temper tantrum, but our thermometer showed she had a fever. Cerebral malaria was the culprit. After 24 hours on IV malaria medicine, she woke up, could hear and talk again, and was able to go home on oral medicine.
56-year old Lucien started breathing funny after an all night vigil at a "church" that worships waves on the river. About 20 extended family members brought him to the hospital in a profound coma. Several times during his first week in the hospital, the women in his family started wailing. He was so close to death, they started measuring him for a casket. A careful history finally revealed that he was suffering from alcohol withdrawl with delirium tremens. Thiamine injections did the trick, and he has been coming to our chapel services every Sunday since, on his own power.


Praise God.