News from Jessica

Jessica was just able to email us so here are some excerpts from emails that she wrote on Oct. 6th and 13th:

Valerie and I went to the Market a week ago Sunday. The market here runs every 6 days (the old African Calendar) so it is always a different day of the week. On Market Sundays there are always a lot more people in church as they come from all the surrounding villages and the evangelists that usually go out to preach at those villages don't go because they expect everyone to come in to Gbintiri for the market. The market was lots of fun. Pretty hot though. We both got sunburned. They have very low grass woven roofs on sticks that they sit under. So low that I would bump my head on them. Everyone just walks between them or bends under them. The market has a lot less variety than there is in most other countries I have been in. There just isn't a whole lot that they can grow here. They grow peanuts and yams similar to yucca, okra, and peppers, and tomatoes and we did find a few oranges. They also sell a few different grains and flowers, besides salt and soaps and other dry goods. There are some food items you can buy to eat at stands a fried bean dough and yams fried and they did have plantains deep fried that tasted just like Ecuador. There is some bread but I guess it is just one town that makes the bread so it just comes in on market day.

We actually have electricity here... it is solar powered but we don't have to conserve much. We will start having to conserve on water more when it stops raining here which will be any day now. It has been really hot and humid probably about 90-100F. Today we had a storm roll through about 5 pm which was sooo so nice. It cooled down and brought a breeze and it is very comfortable right now.

A girl comes and washes laundry and does a lot of the housework so I don't have to do too much of that. She also makes most lunches (she makes Ghanaian food). It is good but fairly different from other stuff I have eaten. Twice we have had a peanut soup poured over cornmeal mush that has been let sit until it sets. We also had kind of a yam stew thing. The yams that they have here are actually yucca or something very similar. They seem to be a bit less strong and less stringy than yucca was but have the same look. We eat more American food at supper so we have had tacos, pasta salad and sandwiches for supper

Mom's Heart -Update

First of all I want to thank each and every one for their prayers. We really appreciate your concern!

Mom mainly had a consultation today with Dr. Schreiter. Thankfully Dad was able to fit it into his busy schedule as well, so both were there. First Dr. Schreiter determined that most likely, since it appears the heart has been slowly and insidiously deteriorating for some time, it wouldn't affect treatment to know whether the atrial fibrillation is causing or the result of the cardiomyopathy.

Also for the same reasons, most likely it wouldn't be possible to shock the heart back into normal rhythm, so the course of action is to treat the symptoms.

She will be on aspirin to keep the blood thin, and will continue on the beta blocker. She will also be put on an ACE inhibitor to slow the heart rate. Hopefully this second drug will allow her heart to get some rest, and also allow some healing. The ACE inhibitor will lower her heart rate and also lower her blood pressure. Hopefully this will help the heart to start pumping more efficiently.

Basically she has to limit her activity, as she has already been doing. Hopefully resting her heart can allow her to start doing more activity. Right now she is limited from walking any inclines, except at a very slow pace, and is pretty much unable to lift more than 20 or 30 pounds. Walking while carrying any weight is pretty much out of the question.

Pray for Mom that she can know how much she can do, and to know how much is too much.

Pray for all of us as we adjust to this new development, that we can know how to best help her out! Also to know how to adjust our schedule to accommodate her.

Justo in Ecuador

As most of you should know, Justo is in Ecuador for 9 months. So far he has done a good job keeping his blog updated, so be sure to keep up with him there!

Jessica in Ghana

Yes, you read it right, Jessica is in Ghana Africa at this time. No, I can't hold her down. She has now spent extended periods of time in five continents (only Australia and Antarctica left!), but that isn't her main focus. Her main focus has been to be what the Lord wants her to be, and to follow his guidance wherever that may taker her.

In the past year she has spent a lot of her time helping out mothers with young children, particularly those without older children to help. Now that calling has taken her to Africa where she is helping out the David Federwitz family for 3 months. As you can see (if you checked out their page) the Lord has blessed them with 4 small children of their own. Now this may seem like a busy household in civilized America, but realize this family is called to primitive Africa. Where they serve, there is no running water, no electricity (unless you count the power gathered off their small solar panels), and no indoor plumbing. We are so glad that she was available and willing to go and spend this time to cheer and encourage them in their ministry.

Due to how far she is out in the booneys in Africa, communication is limited, so we will not have any regular updates on how she is doing. We have received word that she arrived safely in Ghana, and is now with the Federwitz family. At this time she is living with them in a guest room that they have in their house. We will try and keep you posted with any updates we can, and we would still appreciate your prayers for her as well.