We have been home now for just over three months. Praise be to God, within that time we have experienced much in the area of healing, though our bodies have not been completely freed from parasites or whatever continues to ail them. Two weeks after returning we were given a round of antibiotics which killed much of, if not all of the Giardia. As a result constant diarrhea, nausea, and weight loss are now behind us.
After the antibiotics we immediately took an herbal parasite cleanse, popular with missionaries and world travelers. We followed that up with a round of heavy probiotics. During the course of both of those we experienced times of much milder digestive issues, upset stomach, nausea, occasional headaches, random skin irritations, belching, and gas about every 7 days or so. You could almost put it on the calendar. Of course that also brings about emotional struggles, low energy levels, irritability, foggy headedness, and a whole other host of problems. I will say that we have at least learned to have fun with the with ridiculous amount of belching and farting that happens. Normally I would be on the leader board all by myself but these parasites have leveled the playing field. Haha… Sure the family appreciates my mentioning that!
After the probiotics a few times Alyssa’s nausea was a little more severe. She threw up on a couple of occasions. Poor girl, she takes after Daddy as she is our little overachiever. We ended up seeing the doctor again only to have another negative stool test and no answers. He was encouraged that we all have gained some of our weight back. His is also confident that we have killed off the Giardia but to be honest I’m not convinced. Thought it is possible that we may have some other kind of parasite that has not shown up in test yet. We have learned that avoiding certain foods keeps our symptom’s minimal.
Before even leaving Thailand I read thousands of posts on-line from those sharing frustration about not being able to detect parasites. Many of them sound like they are describing our lives. Those with the most success in ridding themselves of these invaders seem to do best through eating foods and supplements that make the body a hostile environment for them to live in. So unless we have a test come back positive, that’s the goal we are striving for.
As I have said before we have joyfully depended upon and served our Lord in health and now also in our sickness. After all, what kind of God would He be if the life and peace that we derive from Him was only sufficient in our good times.
Thailand:
We have all miss being and ministering in Thailand. We miss our new friends and family. We sacrificed so much to be there. We have accepted the Lord’s will in this matter even though it is puzzling to the mind.
We continued learning Thai via Skype for a couple of months. It got a bit difficult with the time difference and our health issues. TLS school in Bangkok is actually looking to hire a nighttime teacher so that we can learn during our daylight hours.
Moving again:
On May 1st we will be signing a one year lease at an apartment in Richardson. We are all excited about the up coming move, even though we have been moving a lot in recent years.
Ministry update:
Within a few weeks of being home we started receiving phone calls from those who were interested in getting counseling, discipleship, and Bible studies going once we were feeling better. We have slowly started meeting with people again over the past couple of months.
In the next couple of weeks things will really be picking up. We will be starting be a couple of Bible studies going through the books of Timothy and Hebrews. If you are interested in the study on Hebrews feel free to contact me for more information. We will be meeting Tuesdays at 9:30a. We will also be increasing the counseling and discipleship meetings. No Romans studies yet. We are trying to get one together so I’ll keep you posted.
Why are we so big on Romans? There is lots of talk these days about who we are in Christ and our freedom from the Law. Romans explains how we got our new identity in Christ that freed us from the Law. Understanding both of these truths and learning to appropriate them by faith is essential to experiencing the life of Christ on a daily basis.
Have ever wondered what it means to “walk by the Spirit” or to be “dead to the Law”? Or maybe you just would like to understand more about how our identity in Christ and being free from the Law applies to our daily Christian life. The Romans study would is a great place to start. Please let us know if we can facilitate your small group study through Romans. We will come to your office, house, church, or wherever you meet.
Nothing without Jesus,
Wes
214-952-2115
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