Whatever Lord : Monday night prayers 4 December 2017

I had to make a quick dash to Phnom Penh to get our visas. Praise the Lord we are good again for a year. It was a beautiful time, visiting with my friends from Water of Life and I will always treasure the moments. It was not the only reason I went to PP. I went also to get my best friend Grahame, Katy and the children. We were waiting for this moment now for a long time and it finally arrived. They are staying with us here in Siem Reap and we are visiting like no tomorrow.

Good news is that Heang that went to the new village we reached out to and could talk to people and start building relationships with them .We are planning to build a small building in order to start a small school/church.

I am adding some news from our dear friends, Carmen and Jacob in Tanzania. Continue to pray for them as they serve God.

#1 One of our Tanzanian friends wife was due with her first and Carmen has been able to befriend her and help her through the end of her pregnancy. Earlier this week Bernadetta went into early labour in the middle of the night. Carmen drove her to the hospital but labour was not progressing. The next morning they gave her a caesarean.

Right now she is very sick and is in surgery from complications from the operation which was 5 days ago. The hospital she was receiving care from before Carmen convinced them to transfer to another hospital had the baby on an antibiotic IV for blood sugar problems and said the baby had Malaria (which is impossible as the incubation period of malaria is 2 weeks). They also said the Bernadetta was just fine but the doctors (who are reputable) at the new hospital are very concerned. Unfortunately, medical care here is very poor and Tanzanians know very little. It took most of the day at the hospital to finally a transfer as they were very reluctant.

Please be praying for this family. Bernedetta's condition is very serious. In addition, if she is not able to nurse the baby, formula is very expensive. One can of formula, which would last just less than a week, will cost the equivalent of 10% of their monthly salary. We have baby Esta for tonight as Bernedetta will be in surgery and will not be able to take care of her.

#2 Thank all of you for praying! We just received word that she has come out of surgery. They removed a lot of dead tissue and 3 quarts of dark stinky fluid from the abdominal cavity. She is still in critical condition and may need a second surgery. We will know more tomorrow.

#3 Thank you all for your continued prayers for Bernadetta and baby Esta. Esta is now in the NICU since she was not eating and was showing minor signs of infection. She was dehydrated and had lost a lot of weight before she came to us and since she was not eating she was going downhill. She has a feeding tube and is getting better.

#4 Bernadetta is stable, though her condition could easily worsen. She was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis which is bacteria which kills the tissues and shuts organs down. Her organs are fine but it infected all of her abdominal wall. They are hoping she will be able to move out of the ICU in a few days. She will likely be in the hospital for a few weeks.

Again, thank you for your prayers for this family. The doctor said she and baby Esta would have died if they had not been transferred to a better hospital. We have told them that our friends (you guys) are praying for them and they are grateful as they both profess Christianity.

We had The Mighty Kids Christmas Party this morning. A lot of children came and we had a lot of fun. There was also a team from Malaysia who did a drama and some games. The children loved the puppet show about the story of Christmas. Please pray for these little ones, that they would learn more about Jesus and come to know Him. It is really encouraging to see the older students, who have come to know Jesus as their personal Saviour, being there, helping and sharing with the little ones. It is God who let the seed grow, who started the good work in them and continue to strengthen their walk with Him. Praise