NTM

I wanted to send along the ANSWER to your prayers over the past few weeks.

THANKS

I\’ll get to the details in just a minute, but I first wanted to thank you for your prayers, thoughts, and gifts over the past few weeks.

Our whole family has been completely overwhelmed by your heartfelt love and friendship.

Thank you seems so shallow … just know that you have warmed our hearts and allowed tears to flow freely in gratitude to our great big Father. He is so good, and we love Him all the more for allowing each of you to work through Him to minister to us.

Now on to the GREAT NEWS!

I went to my heart doctor yesterday, and he said that almost ALL the fluid around my heart is gone! There is just a tiny bit left, and he expects that to go away soon.

That news, along with permission to go to the Philippines this summer for a short trip made my week.

What this all means is that I\’m well on the way to recovery from all this. I am taking it easy and slowly regaining my strength. I\’m impatient, but Jennifer is such a great help in reminding me to take things slowly.

THE KIDS

The kids have sometimes had a difficult time coming to terms with this. Rachel was afraid to go back to school because she was afraid I wouldn\’t be there when she got home. But she\’s over that now. There have been a decent amount of tears coupled with lots of hugs and kisses. All the kids have been resilient, and with the help of my Mom and Dad (who are staying with us for a few weeks) we are all doing ok now.

EXPLANATION

The final explanation is this: I have a condition called Right Ventricular Dysplasia.

The right side of my heart is enlarged, and some of the muscle has been replaced by fatty tissue (making it bigger). This caused the left side of my heart to work harder and beat faster and irregularly. If left unchecked, this would eventually lead to sudden cardiac death because the beats would get so irregular that there would be no blood actually getting pumped by my heart.

You\’ve heard of young football or basketball players who are in great shape but drop dead suddenly on the field or court because of an enlarged heart? That\’s what this is.

The GREAT news is that I have several measures firmly in place to prevent that.

First, I\’m taking medication that regulates my heartbeat. That alone should do the trick. However, my wonderful doctors don\’t want to rely solely on that.

So, second, I have what\’s called an ICD (Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator), surgically implanted just above my heart that does many amazing things. It keeps track of all my heartbeats … literally. If it detects any irregular heartbeats, it will give me one of three levels of shocks ranging from “slight rumbling in my chest” all the way up to “CLEAR!” (which feels like a strong kick in the chest).

Then, if those shocks cause additional irregular heartbeats, the ICD switches over to pacemaker mode to regulate the heartbeats again.

It\’s an amazing device and I thank our Father for allowing this technology to be around to help me.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Jennifer and I have been focusing on Isaiah 26:3 a lot these past couple of weeks:

“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You”

Notice there is no mention of circumstances in that verse. God has kept us in perfect peace. We are at perfect peace right now.

Although we know that my heart condition can be progressive … do I worry about that? No.

Although we know that there will be lots of medical bills in the future … do I worry about that? No.

Although we know that my time here in earth may be more limited than I think … do I worry about that? No.

“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You”

Thank you again for standing closely with us over the past few weeks. Your prayers have sustained us when we needed it so very much.

As we continue to serve with New Tribes Mission, I encourage you to consider what you can do to advance the cause of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Today. Right where you are.

Serving with you,

-Patrick (for the Hatcher tribe)

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