Urgent Personal Prayer Request

-

This isn't the update I planned to send this month. It was supposed to be 2022 highlights of the great things God did in and through VOH last year. Suffice to say, lots of great stuff happened, children's lives were impacted and God is good!

But instead, I have an unexpected personal update and need for prayer.

Long story short..... I had a chest x-ray in August, before I left for Tanzania, and they found something. For those who don't know, I came home just before Christmas, due to my 90 day business visa limit, to see my aging mom and to follow up on this with a CT scan. Turns out I have an 11 cm mass tissue "draping" over my heart. It had shown up in a CT scan several years earlier and they didn't think anything of it then, but now that it's grown (albeit slowly) and is near my heart, the surgeon told me it's best thing to just get rid of it, do a biopsy and make sure it's nothing, and then I can "get on with my life." (aka missions)

I found out today my surgery is booked for this Friday, Jan 14. As all surgeries for benign cases are cancelled, the surgeon said it opened an opportunity for me to get operated on sooner than later.

So, I wanted to update this blog so those who are partnering with me on my mission journey can keep me in your prayers - for peace, that the surgery will go well, that I recover quickly and that they find out it's nothing (or if it is something, that God turns it into nothing!)

I was booked to return to Tanzania today. Wish I was on the plane, but after alot of prayer and seeking advice, I feel it's wise to deal with this now and then I can move on! I've spent the last 12 hrs, since I heard surgery was happening in 2 days, tying up things that can't wait, working with my boss to hand stuff over and determining what can wait until after my expected 2 wk recovery. We are in good shape, and God willing, it will all go well and I'll be back in Africa sooner than later (I'm hoping March!)

But for today, and the days ahead, I need your prayers, and am so thankful I can reach out to this great network of family, friends and church partners to stand with me. 

Thanks for your prayers!
Many blessings,

Jeanette

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jambo (Hello) from Africa!

-
Image
My first week in Africa has been crazy! A rollercoaster of the finest kind. Power outages, water shortages, thunderstorms, isolation, questioning … making new friends, excitement, learning, laughing … and more. All packed into 7 days! It’s been an adjustment that's for sure. I’ve been to Africa many times but never stayed in a place for $15/night, waking up most mornings with no water for a shower , and sitting most evenings in the pitch dark except for the small flame of a candlelight so I can reach out to family and friends on data (at least I got that figured out)! But it’s also been amazing. I’ve met new friends at Villages of Hope Kitwe. I’m humbled by their passion, competency and laser focus on putting the children first. I've seen the joy in the children's faces and heard it in their robust singing. And I’m learning much - not just about the programs (which have consistently impressed me) but about the motivations...
Read more

No more waiting!

-
Image
Have you ever had to wait for over 50 years for something? I have. As a young girl, I wanted be a missionary when I grow up … I wanted to help people less fortunate than me have a chance in life, grow up and know about God. I even knew I didn't want it to be Africa, because it seemed there were already enough missionaries there so I'd go somewhere else, maybe India. They had lots of people. Or maybe even Kuwait. Not sure of the location, but was confident of the calling. In my teens, I have a couple of great short-term mission experiences. I went to Bible college, and seminary, all to get ready. But, God had different plans for me. Doors to go to missions closed. Doors with not-for-profit organizations opened. So, I went in a new direction. I've been working in NFP and NGO marketing for the last 35 years. It's been great. And much of this was related to helping the poor overseas. But it's not the same as being on the ground, working directly wit...
Read more

My Tanzania work permit was rejected. What do I do now?

-
Image
New Years Eve  morning... instead of getting ready for a hot New Years Eve date (ok, stop laughing), I got an email from the person in Tanzania who has been working on my work permit that read: "I really wish I had better news to report, but I did want to keep my promise to let you know as soon as we heard anything. You will see the attached document from the Labour website - rejected permits. This came out yesterday.  Unfortunately your name appears on page two. It seems our trying to follow up and write to the commissioner didn't make a difference. I'm so sorry, what a journey this has been - and one which we didn't expect.  Things are changing quickly in Tanzania these days when it comes to anything with the government, but especially anything to do with foreigners in the country. They are becoming increasingly strict and rules seem to be changing every week. We did our best to keep up and submit everything they asked for, but apparently they do ...
Read more