More of Kelly's Thoughts

As I walk through this cancer and the multiple
chemo treatments, God has given me great peace
in surrender to His will. I rest in His capable
hands and I marvel at how something I dreaded so
much has been virtually easy. The understanding
is that each treatment will bring on harder and
more difficult side effects. Yet, this has not
been the case with me.

Psalm 138:1-3

"I will give Thee thanks with all my heart; I
will sing praises to Thee before the gods. I
will bow down toward Thy holy temple, and give
thanks to Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and
Thy truth; For Thou hast magnified Thy word
according to all Thy name. On the day I called
Thou didst answer me; Thou didst make me bold
with strength in my soul."

Thank you all for your prayers.

Kelly

Kelly's Thoughts

For a time, I'm going to use this space to let
Kelly personally share with you what the Lord is
showing her though this time of dealing with
cancer.

As I face this new challenge of cancer and the
ongoing treatments of Chemotherapy I have one
desire: that I might respond to all of it in a
way that is pleasing to God and brings glory to
His name.

My last few months in Paraguay God led me to
pray a prayer of surrender. I prayed and told
Him--"You choose everything, Lord, who I will or
won't work with, where I will or won't live, what
type of ministry I will or won't have. You
choose, Lord. I no longer want to decide what is
best for me, You choose."

Now upon arriving in the U.S. I am hit with
cancer. I feel as though I am being tested.
Are you sure you want God to choose? And my
answer is yes! I will take whatever He brings me
and I will embrace it. The only thing I ask is
that I might be faithful to Him in the midst of
this trial. This is my heart.

Thank you all for your wonderful support.
I know that God is sustaining me through
your prayers.

Newspaper

My mind feels like a newspaper printing press, with the words and pictures rolling by so quickily they are unintelligible.  So I don't think I can give you a story this month. 

God's Provision

It has been over two months here and no rain.
It is a hard time for the subsistent farmer, for
my friends down in Ita Angu'a. The cotton's
growth stunted by lack of water forced bolls to
open too soon and too small. Soy beans dried in
the fields before they could even bloom, let
alone bear fruit. A tired despair of sweat and
dust marks the faces of the men who wait... and
wait.

This is the season for what would have been the
cash crops, the crops that would have put a
little money in the pockets of the poor. Money
to buy paint, fencing posts and wire, money to
buy a new pig or something special for the kids
and the wife. Money that would pay for needed
medicines and funerals in the comming year. But
now nothing.

Our Wednesday Bible study was subdued. Only
stars in the early morning sky, no sign of rain
and another day to wait. As I prayed with the
couples and they shared with me the way things
were, I said sometimes it's hard to understand
what God is doing, how a growing season that
seemed so hopeful could end so miserably.

They said, "Not at all!. God allowed our corn
and manioc root to survive and we will have
plenty to eat until the next harvest. And the
money for taking care of the family...God will
just have to provide some other way." Tired
smiles and nods of agreement that express both
faith and hardship were passed among us.

Rain has come, but it came too late. Pray for
these hard times.

Ernesto's Baptism

Ernesto Mesa is a 65 year old man with Rheumatoid
Arthritis who suffers from internal bleeding
from a stomach operation that never healed
properly. He has a hunched back and now is
unable to walk. He was nearly killed by a
severe bout with the flu.

He also loves the Lord and has rejoiced daily
for many years in knowing his Saviour. Up until a
few months ago, before the flu, he would hobble
around Ita Angu'a with his cane in hand, telling
anyone who would listen about the love of Jesus
and their need to repent and come to Him.

One day before we moved to Villarrica Ernesto
was baptised.

Carried in his bed down a foot trail that his
boys had widened with machetes for this very
trip, lifted over a barbed wire fence and
maneuvered through a small forest, and finally
placed by a small stream where his friends and
family were waiting, Ernesto, half grimacing
from the pain of his arthritis and half smiling
for joy, sat as two Paraguayan pastors and
myself sang songs and preached on baptism.

After one more song we lifted him from his bed
and carried him into the water where, in a
whisper of weakness and pain, he gave his
confession of faith and was baptised.

We returned him to his bed where he sat with
dignity, knowing that in this too, he had obeyed
the Lord.