Dear Friends and Family,
We hope this finds you well. In our last update we alluded to the fact we were in town, but without explanation. We are still in town and would like to share what’s been going on with us.
After eight months without a break and facing many health issues among the Moi in the last months we felt we needed to get some rest as a family. The past couple of months interior Karen had been showing signs of stress in the form of exhaustion and frequent headaches. Despite this we kept moving ahead with our ministry among the Moi.
Starting in late November a sickness was sweeping through the Moi people. We couldn’t figure out what it was. People would be very sick for a week and then finally recover on their own. Medicine had no seeming effect and some of the people were relapsing. It was a very stressful time because it seemed so many were sick and some close to dying.
When the Panambunans returned from their month and a half away and our coworkers in town ministry, Bert and Diane, were coming in to work on our airstrip we felt we could go out a get a break.
After being out in town for less than a week Atalee and Ashlynn came down with the same sickness that the Moi were getting. After six days we were advised by a missionary doctor to have their blood checked. After doing so they showed positive for second stage cerebral malaria. We treated them right away and within 24 hours they were playing happily outside.
This was the "break through" that we needed in order to figure out what was going on with the Moi. We called our coworkers interior and let them know that the Moi had been suffering from a malaria epidemic only recently brought in. They immediately treated those who were sick, including three of the believers. They have recovered and are now doing well.
Because the Moi have previously been secluded they have had little to no malaria though the elevations are low enough for the malaria carrying anopheles mosquito. Now some people are beginning to travel to malaria infested areas and are bringing it back to Moi land. We believe this is the reason for the sudden rash of malaria throughout their land. The missionary doctor here in town believes more Moi will die until they begin to build up immunities in their systems to malaria. Please be praying for them and for our coworkers as they continue to treat new cases.
As for us, we are still in town as Karen is not yet normal. She continues to feel tired first thing in the morning and has to push herself to make it through the day. Because of this we decided it would be best to take more time in town, so that she can recover fully and we can return interior as soon as possible. Right now we are planning on a month. We have housing provided by the missionary community here, which is such a blessing. Our Helimission pilot Tom’s wife, Rosa, has even offered to home school our girls in the meantime. This will be a huge blessing. The missionary doctor will be testing Karen’s blood and later do a thyroid test in order to help rule out other possibilities.
Please be praying for us during this difficult time. We are seeking much counsel and praying hard. We believe wholeheartedly that God’s loving hand is in this all and that He has a wonderful plan. Pray that we don’t forget that or lose sight of what He’s doing. I can assure you that we do at times, but He’s faithful!
I want to close with this thought. After Elijah’s victory on Mt. Carmel he flees from Jezebel and loses sight of what God was doing and believes he’s the only follower of God left in Israel saying, "I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." In His ’still small voice’ God encourages Elijah and tells him, "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." 1Kings 19:18 God was doing so much more than Elijah realized. Today is no different!
From what I shared above, you too can see God’s hand at work. Through us going out, our girls getting sick and taking a blood test we were finally able to figure out the mysterious sickness that is sweeping through the Moi people. If we were still interior we would probably still be wondering.
Again, thank you for your prayers and for faithfully standing with us to see God glorified. God is good, all the time.
In His Care,
Rich and Karen Brown
Atalee, Alyssa and Ashlynn
Dear Friends and Family,
We hope this finds you well. In our last update we alluded to the fact we were in town, but without explanation. We are still in town and would like to share what’s been going on with us.
After eight months without a break and facing many health issues among the Moi in the last months we felt we needed to get some rest as a family. The past couple of months interior Karen had been showing signs of stress in the form of exhaustion and frequent headaches. Despite this we kept moving ahead with our ministry among the Moi.
Starting in late November a sickness was sweeping through the Moi people. We couldn’t figure out what it was. People would be very sick for a week and then finally recover on their own. Medicine had no seeming effect and some of the people were relapsing. It was a very stressful time because it seemed so many were sick and some close to dying.
When the Panambunans returned from their month and a half away and our coworkers in town ministry, Bert and Diane, were coming in to work on our airstrip we felt we could go out a get a break.
After being out in town for less than a week Atalee and Ashlynn came down with the same sickness that the Moi were getting. After six days we were advised by a missionary doctor to have their blood checked. After doing so they showed positive for second stage cerebral malaria. We treated them right away and within 24 hours they were playing happily outside.
This was the "break through" that we needed in order to figure out what was going on with the Moi. We called our coworkers interior and let them know that the Moi had been suffering from a malaria epidemic only recently brought in. They immediately treated those who were sick, including three of the believers. They have recovered and are now doing well.
Because the Moi have previously been secluded they have had little to no malaria though the elevations are low enough for the malaria carrying anopheles mosquito. Now some people are beginning to travel to malaria infested areas and are bringing it back to Moi land. We believe this is the reason for the sudden rash of malaria throughout their land. The missionary doctor here in town believes more Moi will die until they begin to build up immunities in their systems to malaria. Please be praying for them and for our coworkers as they continue to treat new cases.
As for us, we are still in town as Karen is not yet normal. She continues to feel tired first thing in the morning and has to push herself to make it through the day. Because of this we decided it would be best to take more time in town, so that she can recover fully and we can return interior as soon as possible. Right now we are planning on a month. We have housing provided by the missionary community here, which is such a blessing. Our Helimission pilot Tom’s wife, Rosa, has even offered to home school our girls in the meantime. This will be a huge blessing. The missionary doctor will be testing Karen’s blood and later do a thyroid test in order to help rule out other possibilities.
Please be praying for us during this difficult time. We are seeking much counsel and praying hard. We believe wholeheartedly that God’s loving hand is in this all and that He has a wonderful plan. Pray that we don’t forget that or lose sight of what He’s doing. I can assure you that we do at times, but He’s faithful!
I want to close with this thought. After Elijah’s victory on Mt. Carmel he flees from Jezebel and loses sight of what God was doing and believes he’s the only follower of God left in Israel saying, "I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." In His ’still small voice’ God encourages Elijah and tells him, "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." 1Kings 19:18 God was doing so much more than Elijah realized. Today is no different!
From what I shared above, you too can see God’s hand at work. Through us going out, our girls getting sick and taking a blood test we were finally able to figure out the mysterious sickness that is sweeping through the Moi people. If we were still interior we would probably still be wondering.
Again, thank you for your prayers and for faithfully standing with us to see God glorified. God is good, all the time.
In His Care,
Rich and Karen Brown
Atalee, Alyssa and Ashlynn
Richard and Karen Brown Just another weblog 