NTM

A beautiful visual of how God changes the lives of those fearing the spirits.

The newest info on “the hand” surgery is: “delayed, for now”. We have decided to wait before starting surgeries and physical therapy that will result in a prolonged and expensive stay in Manila which equates to a long time away from our ministry here on Mindanao.  The doctors have assured us that constant exercise will keep the corrective surgery an option in the future. We so appreciate your prayers for us! Please continue to pray for healing as it is not functioning at this time but we are trusting the Lord to keep us wise regarding these decisions.

Thank you for praying for our visits to the surgeon. While we expected him to schedule a surgery sometime this year, we did not expect the‘rest of the story.’

The surgeon examined the hand and confirmed the new surgery has to be done on his hand this year as the tendons are held fast by scar tissue. The hand will never function properly without the surgery. The big surprise was when he described the surgical procedure to us because he said something new this time – it takes TWO surgeries to get it all done.

He must do the first surgery with phsyical therapy following and three months later do the second surgery with an additional six weeks therapy. He also gave us great news – we are informed the double surgery should completely clear the scar issue that holds the tendons tight (and prevent it from recurring) and the finger should be fully functioning again after therapy.

We will get a second opinion before we travel back to our island and into our little village, but we wanted to quickly share that we have a tentative dates in the month of July for the first surgery and the next will be scheduled sometime in October… we can expect at least 6 weeks of therapy following each surgery.

This whole procedure involves leaving our village and island to stay on the island and big city where the hospital is located for the surgeries and the 12 weeks of physical therapy that follow. As you can imagine, this much time away from our home and ministry is difficult and the logistics of ‘living’ in two places is stressful. Lynne will travel back and forth after the surgeries and once the therapies begin.

We are so thankful to God for the ministry of the missionaries at the mission guest home. The stress of all those weeks in a hotel situation would be multiplied with higher expenses and reduced comfort. At the mission guest house, once the stay exceeds a month, the costs for room, board and meals are reduced to help those in medical situations. This was a blessing last year that we didn’t know about but makes this latest news much softer!

We were not expecting this news of double surgery and it is still sinking in. God is certainly giving lots of grace as the impact ripples through ‘our’ plans as the extended therapy times for two surgeries is difficult to factor into the year.

Thank you in advance for the prayers. We certainly appreciate you praying for us and the many emails letting us know!

Your prayers for the Banwaon Church are appreciated and coveted. This growing young body of believers in the middle of the Philippine jungle is a beautiful testimony of God’s faithfulness to build His Church among the Banwaon.

PLEASE PRAY:

• for the church leadership as they begin the process of ordaining elders
• for the body to increase in faith and knowledge
• for faithful stewardship of time and resources
• for the next generation that has grown up with Christ in the home instead of spirits and fear
• for their faithful witness to the surrounding groups in the jungle
• for strong relationships with believers in neighboring tribes
• for those that have refused to hear the Gospel – they are family members and loved by the believers
• for those teaching and attending the many outreaches; that fertile gound is prepared for each truth to take root and grow 
• for those that are faltering in their faith and slow to grow; that they might one day be restored to a strong relationship with the Lord
• for those that will go out – not as traveling teachers, but missionaries that resettle in a place in order to establish a church
• for the growing young families to bring up the new little ones to know and love the Lord
• for the ongoing translation of the Banwaon Bible that has a consultant check July 09

We cherish those who commit themselves to pray for these brothers and sisters that we have come to love very much. We thank the Lord for you and your desire to share in this work through prayer. God bless as you wait for the time when you will meet those for which you are praying.

For His Glory,

Chris and Lynne

We’ve shared often of the great privilege that is ours serving among our Banwaon brothers and sisters in the Lord. They have an acute sensitivity to His guidance as they wait upon the Bible in their language. We are two of the few outsiders that are granted the opportunity to witness their growth as we live side by side these Christians that have only met our Lord within the last twenty years. One of the areas that brings glory to God our Father, is a testimony to the work of Jesus Christ our Savior and the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit is their willingness to learn of Him and quickly respond.

One such instance began just outside our window. I was in the office when I saw a large group of men gathered in a circle. I heard the group count off in sets of four – “sabuwa – daduwa – tatulu – haupat” – until twelve men had a number. That finished, there was a scramble to borrow hats and boots as it was the middle of our rainy season. By this time I was outside with my camera to capture this new “event.” Quickly I learned the purpose of this unusual activity.

Two nights before, a good friend came to the house to tell me of a young woman, Mahi, that had given birth several hours ago to her fifth child, but she was not passing the afterbirth. Her family carried her five kilometers down the mountain, through the jungle to our village. As we met her immediate need of food and rehydration drink to strengthen her, we prayed.

Our pilot was not available to fly her to a hospital so the ladies that work the clinic in the village attended to her for three days but there was no change. Mahi could not endure the long and dangerous trip on a motorbike. Prayerfully they met together and planned. Volunteers counted out as teams of four to carry her the forty-four kilometers (that’s 44K – or 27½ MILES!) through the jungle and crossing 3 rushing, swollen rivers on a stretcher made of trees and rice sacks . The teams continually switched off to a fresh set of four when they could bear the weight no more. We were told that when they approached a village 11 kilometers down the way, Banwaon believers ran out to take over and give the human “ambulance” some rest.   (check out the PHOTOS tab to see the pictures in "Jungle Ambulance" album)

Once out of the jungle, there was an additional 40 kilometers to travel by jeepney! Mahi arrived at the hospital the next evening where she was given medicine and soon delivered the afterbirth without further complication. We rejoiced over her safety and thanked God for the answer to our prayers.

Please pray that this witness of His love, literally borne on the shoulders of men, will awaken the groups of Banwaon that have refused to listen to the Gospel. Pray for this young family to grow in the Lord and for the two outreaches where the Gospel is being shared for the first time by faithful Banwaon Bible teachers. Pray for these men and their families that willingly demonstrated God’s love through the miles with sacrifice and effort. Praise God for His work here among the Banwaon and that their willing and obedient spirit will be used of God to help draw many to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Thank you as you partner with us for the Banwaon.

Because of Christ,

Chris and Lynne
But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. 1Thess 4:9

Tribal News:
Our village is bustling with activity as most have returned from their farms after the harvest. Women and girls are brandishing stick brooms, washing brushes and gardening knives against the dirt and weeds that have encroached the little meeting house. The men and boys are hunting, gathering wood for cooking and getting homes ready for the swell of visitors! It’s almost time for the Pogpasalamat!

Christians from neighboring villages (some traveling as long as 2 days) descend upon our little village to celebrate the harvest and thank the Lord for all that He has provided from their labor in the fields. There will be songs and chanting praises and thanksgiving to the Lord entangled with 36 or more hours praising, praying, eating, dancing, and games celebrating the joy of being altogether as His children.

It’s easy to imagine this is a tiny taste of the time to come! We’ve learned a young Christian couple will also have their wedding around this time. While it saddens us that we are far away and will miss this joyous time, we are so happy for our brothers and sisters as they anticipate this time of the year.

Partner News:
Our partners have been out of the village as well. Albert traveled down to Papua New Guinea for some translation training in the Epistles. He has reported that the time was profitable and can see that the Banwaon translation will benefit from all he learned.

Lynne and the children spent the time in the city visiting friends and just getting refreshed away from the village ‘routine’. The kids assured me that school continued but they had great times with the missionary kids that live in town.

Medical Report:
Chris had the second surgery on his hand on October 1. We are praising the Lord for the incredible mercies found once the hand was opened. Our surgeon explained that usually scar tissue is considered ‘unfriendly’ tissue. He had prepared Chris’ arm to harvest a tendon to make the repairs but God had other plans! The tendons had indeed pulled apart from the first surgery which is why the finger would not respond to the physical therapy. The surgeon anticipated the ends of the tendon to have retracted beyond use but scar tissueheld all four ends in place right there in the palm. Our surgeon said he had never seen this in all his experience. He “just” freed the tendons from the scar tissue and reattached the original tendons together again!

After this surgery and the required three weeks of immobility for healing, Chris now endures three – four hour physical therapy sessions daily at the hospital. The hand is stubbornly swelling. The same scar tissue that helped before is now causing expected problems as it adheres to the tendons and prevents the hand and fingers from functioning properly. Chris’ left arm is also dwindling due the inactivity since his accident late July.

Our plan at this time is to remain in Manila continuing the therapy sessions and for assessment by his surgeon. This was a difficult decision as we long to go home.

We have praised the Lord for so many acts of Love during this time. Please see the related praise link in the "PRAY for real needs" tab as we “counted our blessings” from this accident.

Gratitude! What a blessing to be a part of the Body of Christ!

Occasionally we hear of churches that will not support missionaries that are not located in the tribe. We wanted to share our experience of how God uses all of us on the field and at home in His important work.

Gratitude and love fuel our hearts these days. So many of you have been used of the Lord to support us that we just had to let others know just how far and wide our Father has given strength and encouragement through the Body of Christ to pour out His love to us during this trying time. We have included names where we could for those of you who like to pray for folk by name.

Settle back and enjoy praising the Lord with us for all He has done as we count our blessings to give God all the glory!

1. The pilot, Ken, fueled the plane the night before and was prepared for a quick take off for a different emergency at another location. That emergency never happened.

2. The next morning, a gorgeous Sunday, Chris accidentally cut his hand, severing two tendons completely, and the often temperamental weather was beautiful and clear; perhaps a little windy, but manageable for our skilled pilot.

3. A dear young friend, Pasin, ran all the way from our house down to our partners’ house to ask them to turn on their walkie talkie radio.

4. As soon as our partner, Albert, heard the news, he was answering us all the while walking up to our house to help.

5. Once Albert saw the injury, he was able to immediately radio our partner, Lynne (his dear wife), and she quickly fired up the computer to call in the emergency to the pilot, Ken. He later informed us that the internet, which is very temperamental these days here, was only working for 20 minutes the whole day – just the amount of time he needed to hear of the emergency in our location, and change the plans for our flight out of the jungle.

6. Our precious Banwaon brothers and sisters, Amay and Inay Binaldu, Jelna and Tilma, Inay Elsa, Inay Gadya, and Amay Isil rushed to the house to pray and help us prepare for our hurried departure and to take care of the house and animals after we left. (They are continuing to do so during this long recovery time! Pets need food and care, tropical house keeping presents it’s own unique demands, grass continues to grow, plants need watering; the list is extensive! All during their very busy weeding and harvest seasons).

7. As soon as we landed at the airstrip, our co-workers and friends, David and daughter Rachel, pulled an ambulance-style sprint the 45 minutes to the hospital – flashers going and horn blowing the whole way! I’ve never seen such a flurry of chickens, dogs, cows, and people moving out of the way of our fray! (Our pilot Ken made it to church on time!) David’s wife, Helen, joined us at the hospital where another David and Abigail jumped into support roles to run around gathering medicines, food, and supplies for our hospital stay.

8. No orthopedic surgeon was on staff at the little hospital and none available in the larger town two hours away. The medical friends all stressed that it is best to repair the tendons within 24 hours. We still looked to His mercy – AND GOD had one located 20 minutes away and willing to come into the hospital as a guest surgeon, Doctor Cui – on a Sunday – to operate without benefit of microscopic equipment. Our Christian doctor friends, Doctora Ruthie and Doctora Hope, scrubbed up to stay close by Chris during the long procedure.

9. God provided a Christian therapist, Jenny, to come to the mission’s guest house for treatment after the stitches were removed to work with the now frozen hand. Good friends and co-workers there in town and the world over prayed and encouraged us the whole time. One couple from New Zealand, Trevor and Judy, even followed us around from city to city and doctor to doctor with their own medical issues and kept us laughing and looking to the Lord.

10. Meetings at our NTM home office in Manila required us to travel and so we arrived for what we thought would be a week of meetings. God had other plans to bless and heal! Other co-workers, Tim, Peggy and Cherith, called orthopedic surgeons here in Manila (the official sports surgeon to the Philippine Olympic team, no less!) and arranged for him to examine Chris to schedule physical therapy while we were in the big city.

11. God permitted two situations to occur on another island to allow Chris to help with evacuations from their locations and assist our missionaries with follow-up and re-entry into their tribal locations.

12. Meanwhile the surgeon here, Dr. Canlas, was concerned that no measurable improvement could be recorded on his hand so he arranged for another surgeon – a hand specialist, Dr. Carillo, for a second surgery on Chris’ hand October 1. He prepared Chris’ arm in order to harvest a tendon from the arm to repair the two in his hand, but when he opened the hand he saw the tendons had completely ripped apart from the first repair BUT strong adhesions and scarring held the four severed ends of those tendons and had not allowed the tendon pieces to retract in areas of his wrist! Even the doctor said he had never seen this in all his years of hand surgery.

13. Friends and churches mobilized to send encouraging notes and emails as well as practical support to meet our overwhelming needs in housing, travel and medical expenses. One dear family asked what the second surgery would cost and completely covered the expense. Other special gifts came through our sending church, Calvary Baptist, and sacrificing individuals to encourage us and help whittle the debt down bit by bit. Expenses continue for housing and travel beyond our normal support but we are confident our God will provide.

14. Our co-workers from Mindanao sent cards and flowers to cheer us along (forgive me for not mentioning each and every name!). Manila office co-workers along with Anja and her guest house crew keep us housed and fed as cheaply as possible and as comfortable as pampered guests. Our Palawan co-workers, Danny and Pip, spent hours encouraging and supporting us with Skype and in person.

15. Brent, Tonia and PR along with our amazing family and friends from home have been abundant in their love and support shared across to this side of the world! Our co-grandparents, Don and Sara, even emailed current pictures of our precious shared grand daughter, Jaiden, to brighten our day like little else can!

16. The time for immobility is over and he has begun his second stint of physical therapy with Tessa, the faithful therapist that works daily in the rehabilitation of Chris’ hand. Another wonderful doctor, Dr. Magpantay, a rehabilitation specialist, is prescribing the new therapy for the once again, frozen hand.

Undoubtedly there are invisible ways that God has protected and helped us that we won’t realize until eternity, but we gratefully praise Him for all He has allowed us to know and for the many ways that He plans to love us and use us to bless others. To God be the Glory!

We are so aware of your prayers! God has been using them to open our eyes and keep us clinging to His Hand during this time.

At this point we are in the concrete jungle called Manila. We flew up for field meetings held in this busy city. It became apparent the city time would extend due to unexpected reasons, so friends encouraged us to check on getting physical therapy to continue while here. Chris has little use of the hand and it wasn’t responding too well with him working it on his own. His therapist on Mindanao assured us that it would be the best course of action. We are positive God cleared the way immediately for therapy to resume in a very good hospital here and so are ½ way through that program. He is to have an evaluation of the progress at the end of that time with a surgeon here (as he needed the surgeon’s order to be permitted into therapy).

We are humbled to admit our faith is weak and at moments we face real discouragement. The injured finger is not progressing well. Expenses mount each day: surgical and medical fees, hotel/guest house expenses and added expenses of citified life – travel by plane, taxis, jeepney and bus, city food of restaurants and supermarkets and just life away from home. At last report, we were told of the prospect of more surgery and a longer stay in the city which in turn means being away from home even longer.

We found ourselves discouraged as we turned our gaze from Jesus and looked toward our circumstances with weakened spirits and weary hearts. God answered your prayers for us through a letter from our field chairman, Ross Ginn, where he shared about attitudes found in Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10; Colossians 1:11-12; Romans 8; Philippians 3:3 and 4:8; and 1 Thessalonians. 5:18.

We read: 2 Corinthians 4:15 “as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

In his letter he quoted Newell:“Until we are carried quite out of our depth, to the point of drowning, beyond all of our own wisdom and resources, we will not cast ourselves completely upon the Lord’s Mercy and Grace. Only as everything and everyone fails us and we fail ourselves, do we draw upon abiding strength. ‘Blessed is the man whose strength is in You Lord’; not partly in the Lord and partly in himself. The Lord makes His servant weak, puts him in circumstances that will show him his nothingness that he may rest upon the Strength that is unfailing. It is a long lesson for all of us, but it cannot be passed over until learned.”

We have been challenged to realize that our discouragements are signals that we were not casting ourselves completely on His Mercy and Grace and in fact were not resting on His strength! Ross’ letter helped us see through several attitudes as they really are and this one hit home: “To be discouraged is unbelief — as to the Father’s purpose and plan of blessing for you.” We confess this to you, our partners, so you may better pray for us and hold us accountable. We pray for others who face greater physical and financial challenges – maybe even some of you reading this update. We trust you will also draw encouragement from Scripture as He reveals His purpose and plan of blessing for you and through you. We endeavor to allow Him to help us in our unbelief and allow Him to fulfill His purpose and blessing for His Glory. Our desire is not to follow at a distance but to be in the "dust of His feet."

God fills our hearts with gratitude in multifaceted ways. Our partners shared with us the Banwaon teachers are teaching through Galatians and showing great insight from God the Holy Spirit as they bring His Word to their people, our brothers and sisters. Family and friends have been a great blessing to us. Humor has been interwoven in the tough times. Most of you will chuckle out loud at this photo that we just couldn’t resist taking! We love you and we praise God for you and thank Him for the part you play in our lives. He is at work to bring Himself glory on this earth and His Word to the Banwaon people.

LATEST NEWS Sept 15th: Chris will have to have another surgery grafting a tendon from his arm to repair his hand. We so appreciate your prayers as it means at least three more months away from home.

Just last week our doctor announced as he unwrapped the bandages; “We are taking this arm board off today and we want to start moving those fingers again.” Chris’ excited expression revealed a hint of anticipation mingled with the prospect of wiggling a few fingers. Nothing much happened. However, the doctor was happy with what he saw and gave us the name of the physical therapist in town.

Four days of physical therapy (PT) resulted with Chris having significant movement in the healthy fingers and wrist. Everything had frozen from the inactivity and swelling. Now he can do the “OK” sign with his thumb and index finger and touch the thumb with the ring finger with a bit of outside force. It might be next week that the pinkie responds. The middle finger was the most damaged and is the stiffest. If Chris holds the finger at each joint, there is some movement. This produces two notable reactions: grimace on Chris’ face and elation on the therapist’s face.

His therapist begins each session using infrared light to penetrate heat to the tissues of his hand and draw blood to the site. Next, she uses a machine to send electrical impulses to force muscular movement without exerting any strain on the repaired tendons. Lastly, she and Chris perform exercises designed to increase movement of the fingers without damaging the new repair.

The nerve damage has caused some concern. This is not unusual for that type of injury and the manipulation of tissue for the repair, but strange sensations and lack of feeling revealed that time will tell to what extent that damage will reverse. The surgeon wanted Chris awake for the surgery so the best scenario for a pain free surgery was a nerve block in the wrist during the operation. Some of the pain is the result from the nerve block at his wrist. We have some pictures to share but they are not available in time for this update. Sorry.

If you remember us this week, please:

• pray for the outreaches as the Bible is taught every week around the jungle 
• pray that God’s Word will penetrate the hearts of the Banwaon and affect their lives daily
• pray for the continuing translation and revisions that bring the Word to the Banwaon
• pray also for our brothers and sisters and neighbors as they prepare for their rice harvest next month 
• pray for our families (we have just missed Jaiden’s fifth birthday party) that we all draw strength from Him during the lonely times
• pray for healing in Chris’ hand and for encouraging results from therapy 
• pray that we grow closer to Him and give our all for His glory in our service here