July update

Dear Friends,
Last year we threw a typical German 60th birthday party bash for Jason, inviting friends, neighbors, colleagues, our church family and volunteers who help us teach German to the refugees. Instead of gifts he asked everyone to donate toward a special outing with the refugees. Having postponed because of bad weather, we finally were able to take them all to the zoo for the day. We had a wonderful day admiring God’s creation, meeting new people and deepening relationships with our refugees.

Baaaaaah! The sound of bleating sheep was heard many times over the course of our annual church retreat where our theme was SHEEP! There are hundreds of references to sheep and shepherds in the Bible, so that we had plenty to talk about. We played sheep games, made little sheep out of clothespins, cardboard and yarn, sang sheep songs and dug into the scriptures to learn more about how we are like sheep and what a great shepherd we have in Jesus.

We are indeed sheep in need of our Shepherd  Our church family recently went through two difficult challenges as two of our members were considering ending their lives. C has been in poor health for a long time as a result of decades of smoking. Her lungs were already in bad shape when she came down with a bad case of pneumonia - leaving her gasping for every breath. It finally got so bad that she called us, and we immediately called for an ambulance. After days in intensive care - with little improvement - she decided she wanted to end her life and refused all further medical care, food and water. She removed the tubes, monitors and oxygen mask. She didn’t want anyone to visit her - including her own daughter. She finally agreed to let Jason see her. It was one of the most difficult hospital visits he has ever made. While he was there the church family was praying for the Lord to intervene. He pleaded with her to not end her life this way (without medical care). As he was leaving, he thought it would be the last time he would see her and that she probably had just hours to live. Our time is truly in God’s hands, so that we are now rejoicing that God did intervene and C turned the corner. We are thankful to the Lord for his mercy and grace.

Discipling E has been a roller coaster. He has many problems that are a challenge and easily drag him down.  When we see him, we know immediately by his face and demeanor if he is up or down.  He was extremely down a few weeks ago and started to talk about taking his own life. We spent hours counseling and praying with him, trying to persuade him to check into a local hospital for professional help. He refused but finally agreed to see a psychologist that he has met with before and is now in an out-patient therapy close to his home. In the meantime, he is doing much better.

We are thankful for how the Lord in His mercy intervened in these two lives. It was also gratifying to see our little church family rally together in prayer for their sister and brother. We are reminded of Paul’s encouragement for the believers in Ephesus: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Peace,

Jason and Sue