School

This Friday and Saturday is Field Days at Bingham which is basically Bingham's version of the Olympics. During the week, homeschools students are allowed to attend classes. Ermias was a tad nervous heading to school this morning, but we know he will have a great time meeting new people. This picture is from this morning, 7:15 am. Jackson is very excited to have Ermias nearby

 All week. :)

Update from Addis...

Amanda and I are now back in Addis, we arrived late Friday night. Some people probably noticed the smell of pizza coming from our luggage and for good reason. We brought back seven Dominoes pizzas for some of our missionary friends. Here is Addis we do not have any kind of chain restaurants so we were excited to bring them and our friends were excited to eat them!

Amanda is doing well, some days she feels better than others. If the adoption was finished I would probably just have her go back to America for a few weeks of R&R. Please pray for the adoption, we desperately need this thing to start chugging along. The longer we have to wait the more difficult it could become.

Amanda has to go three times a week to a local clinic to get an IV of Iron. Yesterday was the first day, and we went down the road to the American Medical Clinic. It went well, but it takes about 2 hours to complete the IV. She has to go for six weeks, which will be a challenge, especially considering she doesn't feel that well afterwards.

We are trying to get back in the swing of things as much as possible. Jackson started back to school yesterday, and we finally were able to get the Christmas stuff down as well. Mornings comes early as JZ has to wake up at 6 and we leave at 6:45 to beat traffic. Eric and I rotate driving throughout the week.

God is good.

Amanda Update #9 - January 9

It is 11 am here in Kenya, our flight leaves at 5:30 this evening. Amanda is slowly gaining strength although it has been a slow process and will continue to take time. The flight is only two hours, pray it goes smooth and Amanda will rest well.

God is good

Update #8 - January 8

11 am here in Kenya on Thursday morning. Yesterday was Amanda's first full day out of the hospital. We were able to get out and get some lunch and walk around a little bit, but it did wear her out. That was actually the first day in over a week she had walked around much. We are planning on flying back to Addis tomorrow evening around 5:30 and will arrive at 7:30. We were going to try to go today, but feel another day of rest would do well for Amanda. She feels much better and continues to gain strength each day. Please continue to pray for her in the days ahead. Everyone has been such a blessing to us!

This is a picture of Amanda with Renee Konnerup and Sybil Eberhard, fellow missionaries here in Kenya. Renee and Sybil along with their husbands have really helped us out during these last few days and we could never thank them enough. If anyone ever needs to be air evaced to Ethiopia we would do the same, but I doubt anyone will ever need to be evaced to Addis :)

As they say in Swahili "Asante Kwa" (thank you)

Will try to updated again soon.

God is good.

Update #7 - January 6

10:36 here in Kenya and we are sitting in the house of missionaries Jim and Sybil Eberhard. Amanda was released from the hospital around 7 pm this evening. All praise to Jesus for this! She is now asleep and I am on my way to bed as well. I have piles of insurance stuff to go through, tickets to purchase to get back to Addis, but tonight I am just too tired. Amanda is still pretty wiped out, but she is continuing to improve daily. She is supposed to have a follow up appointment in a month here in Kenya, so we will see what we will do. I am planning on sending her paperwork back to her doctor in Raleigh to see what he thinks.

We are excited that Amanda is out of the hospital, but at the same time it is just very overwhelming. It just seems like the last few years have just been hard, and while there have been amazing moments, it just often seems to be one challenge after another. Sometimes you get tired of fighting, sometimes you just want to throw in the towel.

Please pray for Amanda's continued recovery and also for her spirit as well. It has been discouraging for her, but I know that God has a great purpose through this. I have seen Amanda's faith grow so much in the last few years, more than she can realize.

I will try to update again tomorrow. If you are reading our updates for the first time and haven't signed up to receive our updates, just go over to the right and type in your email. You will get a verification email sent to you and from there every time we post something you will automatically receive an email.

I just try to be honest and give some insight on life here in Africa. Thanking the Lord tonight for his protection.

God is good.

Amanda Update #6 - January 6

9:51 on a Monday evening here in Kenya. I have been meaning to write an update today but this is the first time I have been able to do it. Amanda is doing much better today, in fact today is the really the first day we have seen a great deal of progress. Tonight she had an IV hooked up to her to try to get her iron levels up. Her sugar levels have been good today as well as her blood pressure. We know that she had some kind of infection in her chest but really don't know much more than that. Being a diabetic she will have issue with her kidneys as well being anemic and therefore she is more susceptible to have situations like this. We are grateful that God has protected her and we will continue to trust that God will watch over her.

"Feelings don't dictate truth" is something I have thought about often. Sometimes, even as I sit here and try not to be overwhelmed, the truths of God's word don't always make me "feel" better. Praise the Lord though that my feelings don't determine what is correct and I am thankful that God has showed grace in my life. So many times we determine the actions we take by how we feel at the moment but that thinking puts you on such shaky ground. Feelings change but God does not. Even when I don't "feel" the truths of God's word, the Holy Spirit gives me the confidence to move forward knowing that I am always in the safe arms of my Father.

God is good.

Amanda Update #5 - January 4

11:18 here in Kenya, as Sunday winds down.  Amanda continues to progress and they moved her into a private room tonight. The room is much better than where she was, there is a couch and I will be sleeping on it. The section of the hospital we are in is called the Princess Zahra Pavilion, and while it is better than HDU it is not necessarily a magic kingdom. Amanda's blood count is still low so they are try to give her boosters to increase it. She is doing better, but just still very weak.

Special thanks goes out to the two families that have been a big help to us while here. Ole and Renee Konnerup have served here in Kenya for over 35 years. If the name sounds familiar, it should. Ole grew up in Ethiopia as his family served there as missionaries in the early days. His dad still holds a special place among the Ethiopian pastors. Ole is also the brother of Jon Konnerup, who is the missions director of the BBFI. Ole and Renee have done a great job here in Kenya, they have faithfully stayed the course for so many years.

Jim and Sybil Eberhard have lived here for over 5 years and have also been a big help to us. Jim and Sybil crossed paths with us back in College, and they have been in ministry for over 30 years. They work extremely hard here pouring their lives into the people here.

It is really exciting and humbling when you are able to see the body of Christ in action. So many people  around the world praying and sending amazing emails and comments to us. Those in Ethiopia who put aside their own plans to work around the clock to help us, and those here in Kenya who have sat with us, allowed me to stay with them, washed our clothes and helped feed us. Pretty amazing stuff how the Bible comes to action through His people.

Almost midnight here, will update again tomorrow. Amanda is asleep right now, pray for rest and continued strength.

God is good.

Amanda Update #4 - January 4

11:15 here in the morning. Sitting in the hospital with Amanda waiting to be transferred to a private room. Everything is going well, just slow. Waiting to talk with the doctor this morning. Her sugar levels have been good and her blood pressure is doing good as well. Not sure what the process will be today, hopefully we will know more soon. Once we talk with the kidney doctor we should know more. Amanda is slowly feeling better, which is a big praise.

Under better circumstances I am going to bring the family back to Kenya. The weather is beautiful and they have several things we don't have in Ethiopia. They have a few American restaurants, better internet, etc. The missionaries we know here have told us we need to travel here to the Indian Ocean. They said it is beautiful.

Will update soon, hope everyone has a blessed day at church. Our church in Ethiopia prayed for us this morning, they are precious people we love dearly.

God is good.

Craig

Amanda Update 3 - January 3

It is 10:35 here in Kenya, I just left Amanda for the evening. That has been incredibly hard leaving her, but they won't let me stay. She is resting well, continuing to slowly recover. They are trying to get her creatinine levels down to where they need to be, but at this time they don't think she will need kidney dialysis. 

Amanda just wants to go home and it is incredibly hard being in a country you don't know. The missionaries here have been a big help, but it is just hard. She doesn't remember much of the last few days and just wants to go home. I will be going to the hospital in the morning, hopefully she will be able to get transferred to her own room tomorrow. 

Life is hard and this is hard. It is incredibly discouraging watching Amanda have to do this. I have said to myself that "God is good" but it can be hard sometimes to live out. One of my wonderful professors in grad school, Dr Stephen Schrader once said “It is not knowing the truth that is difficult, it is applying the truth to the situation”. That is such a true statement that I have had to remember so many times. It can be easy in our own weakness to not apply the truth, but that does not change the truth. As the Christian artist Mercyme says in one of their songs Bring the Rain: 

"I can count a million times
People asking me how I 
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You. 

The Bible is chalked full of situation where we see God there in the bleakest of situations. The same God of the Bible is still the same God today. I am grateful for God's grace, grateful for all the encouraging words and prayers that have been said to us and on behalf of us. Grateful that God is good. 

Always. 

Amanda Update 2 - January 3

Med Vac did a really good job getting us to Kenya. I took this pic in Addis as I was waiting for Amanda to arrive via Ambulance. There were two pilots and two medical attendants. We arrived in Kenya on Friday afternoon and an Ambulance was there waiting for us. I had to fill out paperwork, and purchase visas to stay in Kenya. I also had to have my temperature taken because of Ebola. We arrived at the local hospital that afternoon, two missionary families were there waiting for us as well. Amanda was taken in and I filled out proper paper work for admission and insurance. For the majority of Friday evening she was in the ER. I was not happy with the care in the ER, they didn't seem to have much personal touch with the patients, it was hot and just didn't seem very good.  However, that evening they moved her to HDU which is similar to ICU. She is in a large room with several other people as well although each bed has a privacy curtain. The girl across from her is 17 and she is dealing with kidney issues. Her name is Michelle and her dad's name is Jackson. I was able to share with him the gospel as we waiting, praying for him and his family.

The care in HDU has been better, her nurses have done a good job keeping her comfortable. I was unable to stay the night so I stayed with our friends. Amanda does not remember anything happening from Wednesday evening on. She is still a bit fuzzy but slowly talking more. Last night and this morning (Saturday) they have done a great deal of tests. Right now they seem this started with in infection in her chest (possibly pneumonia) which caused her to have issues from her diabetes and in turn effecting her kidneys and a variety of other things. The kidney doctor was in earlier and is looking at some results, although at this time he does not think she will need dialysis.

Praise God that she is continuing to improve slowly. The situation was very serious and we are thankful God provide a way for us to get to Kenya. Regardless though, God is good. His plan is perfect.

The hospitals in Addis and in Kenya are doing a good job, grateful for those who are willing to work in the medical field.

Not sure how long we will be here, Amanda just wants to go home, so pray for continued recovery and understand.

Amanda Update #1 - January 1

Many of you know that Amanda is in the hospital, wanted to give you more details as well. This is an email I sent out. 
For the last week or so Amanda has been dealing with a cold/sinus infection which has been going around. She has slowly been getting better, tired though but started to feel better. On New Years Eve we were planning on going to Dwayne and Tammy's to celebrate for lunch (Wednesday afternoon here, 8 hours ahead of EST). That morning she decided to stay home just to rest, although she was feeling a bit better. I took the boys down and Amanda stayed home. I called her at 12:45 pm and she was feeling fine, in fact she told me not to keep worrying about her. When we arrived home later that afternoon, she was just tired since she just woke up. She seemed ok but a bit more weaker than before. She went to bed though and her sugar was high, so we gave her some insulin to bring it down. She went to sleep for a while but woke up throwing up, and then went back to sleep. As the night progressed, she woke up more and was sick to her stomach although she had not been eating much. She had been drinking plenty of fluids, pedialyte, etc to keep hydrated. We though maybe that helped cause her sugar to go up. Around 4 am when she woke up sick I decided we needed to go to the hospital, although she didn't want to go. At this point she just seemed to be out of it a bit, so I called Eric and Amanda and they came over to help get her to the hospital. She really didn't know what was going on, so she was very much opposed to going and tried to not leave. We were able to get her her on a stretcher because she refused to walk downstairs with us to the car (Again, she didn't know what was going on). We arrived at the hospital (Korean Hospital) and they started her on an IV. Her sugar was high still and because she is a diabetic she was having issues as a result.

We were able to admit her yesterday afternoon to ICU and they have been monitoring her. Her sugar started to go down, last night it was around 140 and today it was a bit over 200 (because some of the other medication they have been given her caused it to go up). She did have a temperature but it has went back down. One thing that is different here is the fact that if the doctor needs a certain medication and the hospital does not have it, then we have to run to the pharmacy to get it. Thankfully several people have been able to make runs to local pharmacies to get the medicine or to replace the medicine the Doctors used. 

The hospital here has down a good job with the care for here, and she had a good night sleeping. She is more responsive (Friday morning) and is doing better. Because of the lack of proper medical equipment, we have felt it best to head to Kenya to a better hospital there. Right now test results show that she has some form of pneumonia which has been causing issues for her kidneys and has also caused her to be confused as well. Her Keytone levels were really good this morning which is a huge praise. We are in the process of waiting for confirmation of when we will be leaving for Kenya, I will be going with Amanda and the boys will be staying with Dwayne and Tammy and Eric & Amanda as well as Mark & Katie will be helping with the boys. We when arrive at Kenya that will be doing some more tests and also most likely a kidney dialysis. The hospital in Kenya will be a better place to help Amanda and we have two missionary families in Kenya that Eric and Dwayne have been in contact with that will be helping us with the process. 

Amanda is showing improvements which is a big praise. It will help with the flight to Kenya, which will only be a couple of hours. 

Words cannot begin to express my gratitude to everyone who has helped throughout this. The BBFI missions office has been a huge help in preparation for the med vac, they have been in constant communication with myself and Eric and Dwayne. One of the associate mission directors, Tim Long has been helping us out greatly getting everything set up. So very grateful for all  help of the missions office, it has been a huge encouragement and we are incredible blessed to have them on our side. 

Also, so many people here have been a huge blessing to us. Dawit and Wudeya has helped a great deal in working on this end with the med vac and getting all the red tape taken care of. They have made countless phone calls to help get everything organized. Because of Dawit work in the medical field he and Wudeya have been able to explain everything to us in great deal as well.  Eric & Amanda has been a big help with phone calls and medicine, Amanda and Wudeya stayed at the hospital last night as well. Dwayne and Tammy have also been a big help with medicine and contacting a variety of people in the States and in Kenya, and for helping out with the boys last night.  It is very humbling for these families to be willing to help us in our time of need. They have went above and beyond to make this as easy of a transition as possible. They have been with us at the hospital throughout this difficult time and have really been a big blessing to me personally. 

There have also been many people who have stopped by the hospital to check on her and pray with her. Ray Hoover, who has been here for several years stopped by yesterday and spent a great deal of time sitting with us and sitting with Amanda. Many people from our church have come to sat with us, many friends outside of our church stopped by as well.  Hennock, who is one of our church members helped get the ambulance set up at 4 am and has made several trips for us to and from the hospital. 

I will never be able to thank them enough. 

Please continue to pray for Amanda, I know there are so many people around the world who have been lifting her up in prayer. The events that caused us to take her to the hospital came on very quickly, but we are grateful for God's guidance and strength. 

I will do my best to continue to update you. Once we arrive in Kenya I will do my best to get internet and update everyone. 

So very grateful for all of you, thank you for your support, encouragement and prayers. This is not how we wanted to start 2015, but we are praying God gives us the continued grace and trust moving forward. 

Love each one of you greatly, thankful for the family of God. 

God is good. 

Craig