NTM

MARCH - March found us in the emergency room twice.  Once with Marie who had a false alarm.  She was sent home from school because they thought she had appendicitis.  It turned out to be fine.  One week later Drew started complaining about pain in his stomach.  We let it go for a few days thinking it was gas…he is a teenage boy, but when he was crawling to his bed because of the pain we decided we had better get him to the emergency room.  The entire ordeal is a story in itself.  He did end up having appendicitis.  It had perforated and he was in the hospital for the better part of a week.  He lost 25 pounds during the whole thing and it was very scary for all of us.  Thankfully, he has fully recovered.

APRILJessie was home the first week of April for her Spring break from Bible school.  Ben had his first major band performance in which he was able to be the band conductor for one of the songs as "Bugs Bunny".  Tim traveled to Canada for a long weekend, and then took and overseas trip for NTMA for two weeks.

MAY-  The first week of May was our annual NTMA evaluation week for any perspective pilots/mechanics and their families that are wanting to  be a pilot or mechanic with NTMA.  We have multiple interviews in our home during that week as well as time together with the new families.  PTL that all of the pilots/mechanics passed the evaluation and are heading in the direction of missionary aviation with NTMA.  May was also the end of school for all four of our kids.  Jessie came home for the summer.  Drew finished up his 11th grade year and Ben finished 5th grade.  Marie graduated valedictorian of the 8th grade.   They had a nice ceremony at school and then we came home for a party. 

JUNE- Because of Micah’s brain injury at the end of May, (see prayer page) I (Sue) flew to MI for a week to help my sister in Lansing.  The Lord was so good to allow me to be with her and the family during that time.  It is very hard not living near where I can be of help.  Upon my return, we left for MO to attend NTM’s refresher course.  We were gone ten days and were so thankful for the Spiritual, emotional and physical refreshment.  The day we returned from refresher course, my nephew Nate, who is 8 years old, came to stay with us and his brother Luke followed a few days later.  We loved having them here to be able to help them and Sher and Dale during this difficult time for them. 

JULY- July brought my brother Joe and his wife Jackie and their family here for a visit.  They were able to stay for two weeks so we enjoyed getting caught up with them since their return from Venezuela.  Tim is leaving on a trip to Sanford FL in July for meetings at NTM’s headquarters and we also have one of Jessie’s friend’s from NTBI visiting with us right now. 

NTMA  During these last few months here in McNeal, we have still been working on getting the pool installed for NTMA.  We have $26,000.00 that has been donated towards this project.  Since it is considered a "semi-public" pool, we have run into a few complications.  One thing we know is that we cannot do the work ourselves, it has to be done under a commercial swimming pool contractor.   We found one in Douglas that is willing to let us do some of the work.  We would be purchasing a fiberglass  swimming pool through him and he would oversee the project.  We are having a bit of trouble getting the proposed cost from him.  Please pray that if this is the avenue that the Lord would have us use, that we could get the proposal ASAP.  We need to know that we have enough funds to cover the project before we begin.  We are also looking to the Lord to build a Gymnasium.  These are both large needs here at NTMA McNeal.  More on NTMA in the next article….  

Micah has been breathing on his own at home for two days now.  That is a huge answer to prayer. 

Dale and Sher would like to take him to a place in CO that specializes in brain and spinal injuries for rehabilitation.  They are praying that Micah will start voluntarily responding so that the therapy would be more profitable if they take him there.

Thanks for your continued prayer for Micah and the family too.  You can read more about Micah at the following link, www.ntm.org/tim_sanford/pray.php

Micah rode his bike home from school on May 29th just like any other day he may have wanted to eat lunch at home.  But this day would be different from any other.   It was the day of his graduation open house!  My sister had the entire house decorated like a "Taco Bell" restaurant and he walked in the door all smiles greeting everyone as Nan and Pop, Gramma Magnusson and some of his Aunts had come for the special day.

But God knew that this day would be different from any other because of another reason.  In His infinite Grace and Mercy, He had just the right people in place to use to help my sister Sherrie and her husband Dale as they watched their 18 year old son suffer from a sudden brain bleed or "AVM". 

God led them every step of the way, through miraculous circumstances, and Micah was able to make it to the hospital.  His complete story can be found at www.carepages.com.  His carepage name is MicahMag.

We continue to ask the Lord for his recovery and leave it in His hands.  We know that God sees the "big picture" of all we can’t see and He does all things well. 

Please pray with us that:

1. Micah will wake up out of his coma.
2. Continued strength and wisdom for Sherrie and Dale and their family as they now care for Micah at home.