NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

Please continue to pray for Kaylee’s eye situation.  We saw the specialist and thought that would be the end of the problem, but it is still there.  After 2 weeks of expensive anti-allergy drops, her eyes are still the same – no better, no worse.  We are probably going to have to have a biopsy or culture of the eye.  We go back to the corneal specialist on Thurs.  Please pray that the specialist would decide on a specific course of action and would be open to some ideas that we have from our missionary doctor in Indonesia.  We were able to get some ideas of possibilities of eye "diseases" so pray that somehow we would be able to get to the bottom of this whole problem.  Thank you for standing by us in prayer.

The following is an excerpt from a missionary friend’s update.  The damage is right in the town that we live in and the road is the only road through town. 

"Last night there was a huge rainstorm that caused massive landslides and flooded our town. The floods took out two bridges that made it impossible to go across town. School was cancelled so we went down to look at the damage around 7:30. It’s amazing to see a big bridge crumpled up, but when you see halves of houses teetering on the river bank with the other half missing, the devastation turns grim instantly. We know of no lost lives but lots of gardens were lost, livestock swept away, water mains and electric lines were taken out, and who knows how many houses might have been ruined.

One of the school workers who lives by one of the three rivers coming down from the mountain told us an amazing story. He had to evacuate last night and came up to school to sleep in the gym. The river had overflowed its banks, forked on both sides of his house eating away the land but leaving his house standing and his possessions in tack. He’s been sharing his faith with his neighbors today as they ask him how it’s possible that his house escaped destruction. On the other hand, another worker reported that the houses in his neighborhood are filled with sand a meter deep. We’ve loaned him all our jerry-cans because they’ll be without water for several months until the water reservoirs can be rebuilt (thankfully we’re on a well and can provide water for many). "

"We got 16 inches of rain Tuesday night. At least three or four visible massive landslides came ripping off of the mountain in the middle of the night. Those brought not only massive flooding, but silt, mud, and rocks like you’ve never seen.

There are one or two bridges on the upper road out,
two on the main road, and the only bridge on the lower road is out. So, cars and motorcycles can’t pass through town at all… Lots and lots and lots of houses flooded and filled with silt. Whole new rivers were formed.
Some houses were washed away. " 

Please pray for all those involved – those who have lost homes and their few meager possessions – and praise the Lord that no lives were lost as far as we know right now.

We just wanted to thank you for praying with us for Kaylee’s eye appointment. We took her to the specialist yesterday and after hearing the history and taking all the information, the Doctor spent a lot of time looking in her eyes. She determined that Kaylee’s problem is some type of severe allergic reaction. Kaylee has always had allergies, but we never realized they could display themselves like they did in her eyes. Anyway, we got an expensive allergy eye drop prescription and her eyes are already looking better. We will probably get her tested for allergies some time soon, but are so thankful to know that this "situation" with her eyes was not something more serious. Thank you so much for praying with us. We appreciate you so much.

**Kaylee has been "battling" some type of "weird" eye condition – bacterial, fungal, not really sure – if it doesn’t look better by Saturday, we will have to take her to a corneal specialist for an eye culture.  Please pray that the antibiotics would take care of it by Saturday.  If she does need to see the corneal specialist, pray that they would be able to find out exactly what this is and pray for the finances for the doctor visits and tests.

**Alec has been having some "foot" problems and we found out that it is related to his bone growth.  He needs to have orthotics made to correct some bone growth in his feet and ankles (as well as I know how to explain it).  The orthotics he must have are expensive and not covered by insurance so please pray for that whole situation.

Thank you for standing in prayer with us in regard to Krista’s scoliosis appointment on the 22nd.  We are thrilled to be able to tell you that God has been doing a miracle in Krista’s body over these last few months while she has been wearing her brace.  In August, when they put her in the scolie brace for 10 hours a night, you may recall that her curvature was at 26 degrees.  Today when we went into the clinic, the doctor told us that her curve is down to 21 degrees.  PTL!!!  God is so good.  How exciting it was for us to be able to share with Krista how God used her faithfulness in wearing her brace and helped her back to straighten up some.  Thank you so much for your prayers.  As we contemplated our return to Indonesia, we were able to ask questions about her continued treatments and how we might be able to get x-rays taken and sent back to the states digitally.  The doctors were extremely helpful and more than willing to work with us even when we are overseas.  Please continue to pray for us as we contemplate our future plans.  Please continue to pray for Krista as well.  She will be wearing her brace for about the next four years, so it is a long process.  We praise the Lord for His fatihfulness in our lives

**Pray for safety as we travel to Texas on Monday the 19th and return to MO on Friday the 23rd

**Pray for the many appointments that we have scheduled, that all would go well

**Pray that the kids would be able to get their schoolwork that they are taking with them finished quickly

**Pray that Keith would be able to rest for a few days since the last couple of weeks have been really busy with the kids basketball schedules

**Pray for Krista’s scoliosis appointment on Feb 22 at 2:00 pm. Pray that the brace is working like it is supposed to and that it is halting her curve or even correcting it. We will find out immediately and will let you all know as soon as we know something

This past week Kaylee’s gymnastics troupe performed at the half time show of the Camdenton Laker’s Varsity basketball game.  It was a lot of fun and there were a lot of people there to watch.  The group showed off all that they had learned from cartwheels and backbends to handsprings and front limbers.  Kaylee has learned so much in gymnastics this year and is really excelling in it.  The teacher has asked her to be on the team because she does so well.  She is excited about each new thing she learns such as finally getting her back handspring all by herself.  She does a great job.  Pray that Kaylee would learn that she can accomplish great things if she sets her mind to it and God is in it. 

Krista is enjoying basketball again this year.  She is on a fairly good team and is already showing her "natural" athletic ability.  She is very competitive and works very hard out there on the court.  This year her daddy is helping coach her team and he is enjoying it very much.  Her team won their first game very convincingly and lost their second game by 2 points from a last second shot.  It was a hard loss because they had come back from a 7 point deficit in the last quarter.  They did a great job and we had a lot of fun watching them battle for that game.  Please pray for Krista as she plays basketball this year.  Pray that God would teach her about working together with others.  Pray also that she would recognize that she needs the others on her team in order to play most effectively

This past week started basketball season for the elementary kids.  Alec and Krista are both playing with kids from their school.  Alec has 9 boys on his team.  They have practice once a week and then play one or two games each Saturday.  This is the second year that Alec has played and he does a great job.  He is learning a lot of great moves and the important things about basketball from his daddy.  They even won their first two games that they played this past week.  Alec is coming home from school each day and heading to the gym here on our NTM campus to improve his shooting ability.  He is a great little ball player and he even dribbled behind his back the other night at practice.  Please pray for Alec as he plays with his team.  Pray that he would learn some good lessons about working together and also that he would learn about how much we need our teammates in order to come out a winner!!

On Feb 21 we will be traveling to Texas for Krista’s 4 month scoliosis appointment. Her actual appointment is at 2:00 on Thursday, Feb 22nd. This is the appointment where they will xray her spine out of her brace to see if the 10 hour scolie brace that she wears each night is working. If it is working like it is supposed to, then the curvature of her spine should not have changed in severity in these last 4 months. That is our prayer!!! BUT, we serve an awesome God and we have been praying believing that He can even correct the curvature because of her wearing the brace!!! This is a huge appointment for us. She has been so faithful to wear this uncomfortable brace and she has done it with such a great attitude. So please pray with us that this appointment would result in good news!! We will let you all know the results as soon as we know. Thank you so much for joining us in prayer for Krista’s back.