|
|
|
|
Greetings, Friends and Ministry Partners!
The busy and fruitful time since our last update has left us with much to share and a few prayer requests as well so let's dive right in:
|
|
Medical Concerns
We are writing this update from the cool, breezy highlands of PNG where we traveled to this past week to see the physician at the NTM Medical Clinic. As Chris has been quite sick for the past 10 days with what we suspect is malaria, we are thankful for the expert medical advice close at hand. He completed the malaria treatment last week and believes he's on the mend now but is still experiencing some lingering side effects and fatigue so your prayers are much appreciated.
Although we're grateful for the cool place to rest and recuperate, we made the trip to the medical clinic for an entirely different purpose. Last month Chris performed routine TB testing on the Samaritan Aviation families living here in PNG and his own test came back positive. Not wishing to alarm anyone unnecessarily, we kept this mostly to ourselves until we could confirm that his case was latent and not active. Chris had a chest x-ray yesterday which confirmed that he does not have active TB and received the 3-month treatment course to eradicate any dormant tuberculosis. A huge praise, for sure!
|
|
|
Considering the nature of our ministry, this test result probably shouldn't have surprised us but it most certainly did! After reviewing our current practices while ministering in the Haus Sik we don't believe we would do anything differently. If anything, this experience has given us an even greater compassion for the thousands of people in remote tribes that don't have access to any medical care and have no hope or comfort in their illness. Often times, those that we are able to help are frightened having left their village, the only world they have ever known, to fly for the very first time on a small plane that floats on water, flies in the clouds, and lands on the road. On board, one of the two strange white men seems to be talking to himself in a foreign tongue while driving the plane and the other is stabbing their arm with a tiny metal spear connected to a bag of water. Arriving at the hospital sick and exhausted, they are given a cot in a room full of strangers and are flooded with instructions about things such as what a toilet is and how to use it (and how NOT to use it). When we visit them, our goal is to be personal, showing them love and telling them about the One who comforts, offering a warm smile and soothing words. No, we wouldn't change a thing.
|
|
|
Pictured above from Top to Bottom: Chris making visits in the TB ward at Boram Hospital; Sarah visiting with 15-year-old Vanilla (recovering from TB) and her mother; Chris with Baby Steven who is being treated for TB after his mother died of the same illness shortly after his birth.
|
|
Adoption
Charlotte's adoption in Papua New Guinea is moving along! Please be in prayer for the final steps in this process as we appear before a national judge. When this is complete, we will then begin the process of adopting her in the United States. We are estimating a total cost of $25,000 to complete her adoption both in PNG and in the US. So far we have raised $3,000 toward these costs. Would you help us make this precious little one part of the Cooke tribe?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
