Weekly prayer update

Welcome to 2009! We have had a quick start to the year. That is, usually this time of year is a little slower. Many people are in school, it is so cold outside that people like to stay inside, and people are busy preparing for the lunar new year celebrations.

However, this year is different. Bill Patterson who has been leading the English language church service is away from Mongolia organizing or attending multiple conferences in Mexico and Argentina. That means that I have been taking the primary responsibility for that ministry.

Then last week, Ganpurev had an emergency appendectomy. He has been such a blessing visiting people, training people, and helping with various aspects of the ministry here. I did not realize how much I would miss him until now when he is convalescing.  He still tries to help for which I am grateful. But he will have limited usefulness for the next several weeks.

Besides visiting Ganpurev, Kristie and I have also visited Byambaa several times in the hospital in the last week. She had most of her thyroid taken out. I do not understand all the reasons but know that the Mongolian doctors insisted that she had to have her thyroid removed. Her husband Mandaa still needs to be saved. I have been praying that God would use his wife's illness to lead him to our Savior. However, when I mentioned believing in Jesus to him again, he was rather amused, not at all the the response I would have liked.

Thank you for your prayers. Pray for me to have wisdom to prioritize my time.

A couple of people in the hospital

It has been quite a day. One member of our church Byambaa has a thyroid problem that the doctors are telling her can only be solved by having her thyroid completely removed. At the church service on Sunday she asked us to pray for her because she was planning to see the doctor today (Monday).

She sent me an SMS this morning telling me that the doctor had admitted her to the hospital. She is facing five days of treatment (exactly what kind of treatment I cannot say) followed by surgery to remove her thyroid. I know of the difficulties of associated with having one's thyroid removed. However, the Mongolians doctors are telling her that she has no other choice.

So Ganpurev helped her get her children to her father's place so he can watch his grandchildren for a few days.

When Ganpurev returned he told me that he was not feeling well: something in his abdomen was bothering him. We went to a prayer meeting together. Afterwards, he started to talk about seeing a doctor about his abdominal pain. Because he very rarely sees a doctor, I know that something serious must be bothering him. Ganpurev said that he thought it was his appendix. So I took him to the doctor.

The doctor looked at him, gave a couple of tests, and determined he had serious appendicitis. As of the writing of this blog entry, he has already had his appendectomy and seems to be recovering nicely. I'll probably visit him this coming week. Please remember both Ganpurev and Byambaa in your prayers as one recovers from surgery and the other prepares for it.

Aya update

Aya has been going through a course of ten radiation treatments for her cancer: one each day. It is an outpatient treatment. On Friday she went in for another treatment, but after the doctors checked a test that she had given, they decided that it was not wise to continue the radiation treatment at this time. From talking to Ulzee it is not clear what the hindrance is.

Ulzee is very concerned about her mother. She says that someone needs to be close to her at night when she is sleeping. Maybe I misunderstand her Mongolian, but I think she is concerned that Aya will slip away in her sleep. She talks about her breathing stopping.

Aya has not been eating well either. The radiation treatments make her vomit up whatever she has eaten, and even before the treatments she did not have much appetite.

She is also in between chemotherapy treatments. The chemotherapy doctor saw her this past week and said that he would need to wait until after her radiation treatments were over to decide when to treat her again with chemotherapy.

I am truly grateful to all of you who have been praying for Aya, Ulzee, and Ganpurev. Ulzee asks me yesterday to pray every day for them. I will continue to post updates as I know more.

Aya update

Aya had some chemotherapy treatment last week for her cancer that was discovered in her lymph nodes. Next week, she will go in for more tests followed by more chemotherapy treatment the following week.

For being 70 years old, she seems to be holding up well. She is tired of all the doctor visits and trips to the hospital for treatment. Her first trip to the oncology hospital was fairly traumatic. There were many patients there some in tears, many who had lost all their hair. The patients were discussing all the symptoms stemming from their treatments and encouraging Aya to cut off all her hair before she loses it.

I believe Aya to be saved but would ask you to pray for her to give a strong testimony of her faith in Jesus Christ alone to her relatives. As the oldest surviving member of a rather large, extended family she has much influence that she could use to glorify our Savior.

Health update

You have probably heard about the hand, foot, and mouth disease that is ravaging parts of China. Doctors here in Mongolia say that there are now cases in Mongolia too. It does not surprise me since much of our produce comes from China.

Kindergartens have been closed and many first and second grade students are staying home from school. Bayambaa who is at the National Infectious Disease Hospital with her son Ermune told us that 250 beds have been prepared there for hand, foot, and mouth cases. Ermune will probably be discharged this week, maybe sooner if they need more beds.

Ulzee was not doing well on Friday. We will see how many stay home tomorrow from church because of illness or the fear of illness.

News

Ermune, the little boy that we have watched a couple of times in the past, is in the hospital. The complaint seemed to be a particularly bad bloody nose. However, the the local government health clinic did not seem to be much concerned.

Bayambaa then took him to a private hospital. The private hospital diagnosed a liver problem and sent him on to the National Infectious Diseases Hospital which is near our apartment. He will be there for fourteen days.

Strangely enough to the American mind, his mother is required to be with him 24 hours a day every day until he is discharged from the hospital. So not only is Ermune in the hospital, his mother is as well for the next eleven days. She had a baby that she was nursing but had to give the baby over to her father to take care of because she could not bring the baby into the hospital with her.

Meanwhile, her husband Mandaa continues to work while they are in the hospital. His birthday was over the weekend, and he chose to go out and get drunk with his buddies while his wife and son were in the hospital and the baby is with grandpa. I'm still a little confused about the situation - not the facts of the situation which I know quite well, rather I remain confused about people's reasons for doing what they are doing.

It seems to me that because it is liver related, the doctors think that Ermune has hepatitis. The symptoms that have been described to me are the bloody nose, jaundice, and trouble with his liver. They think that he caught this disease from his environment because the disease is often spread in Mongolia by mice and cockroaches - both of which are very common.

Still, the doctors have not yet started a regimen of treatment. Ermune was admitted to the hospital on Friday, and some tests were taken. However, the pathology department does not work on the weekends so Bayambaa must wait until Monday to find out what the tests show. Then the doctors will prescribe a course of treatment. She has asked us to pray, and we'd ask you to join us in prayer as she and her son are in the hospital. I will give you more updates as I am aware of them.

Ulzee is out of the hospital

Ulzee was discharged from the hospital on Monday a little unexpectedly. She had just begun a five day regimen of treatment on Saturday which I thought would keep her in the hospital until Wednesday. So I was a little surprised when her husband Ganpurev told me that she was discharged Monday morning.

I asked him about the five day regimen of treatment. He told me that she was completing her treatment by visiting the hospital on Tuesday and Wednesday. He then went on to explain that they discharged her because she had been in the hospital ten days (the magic number in Mongolian medicine it seems) and they needed her bed for another patient.

So she is home now.

Prayer update

Some more notes on Bayambaa and her family. Bayambaa came to us several months ago. Another missionary who does not live in Ulan Bator anymore had led her to Christ. Later, she saw our sign advertising our Sunday meeting while it was in storage and asked if she could attend. So back in October she began to come on Sundays rather faithfully.

Not long after, Kristie and I went to visit her, her husband, and her one-year-old son. Her husband is not saved and works - you guessed it - seven days a week. Though her husband is quite introverted we had a good conversation and shared the Gospel with him.

The last few Sundays Bayambaa has been unable to come because she is pregnant and having some problems. This past Sunday morning early, she called us requesting that we pray for her during the service because she was experiencing some serious problems with her pregnancy. The long story is posted in my previous blog; the short story is that although we took her to the maternity hospital she was unable to be examined on Sunday. However, Monday upon her return to the hospital, the doctor told her that the baby was doing well but that she needed bed rest.

Kristie and Ulzee went on Tuesday to visit her, take her a meal, and provide some food. You see, while Bayambaa was gone to the hospital on Sunday, Ulzee had watched her young boy. Ulzee was looking around the house for something to give Bayambaa's son and discovered that they did not have much in their house. So Ulzee brought them some food and, I believe, also gave her some money of her own initiative.

To complicate matters, while Bayambaa was gone to the hospital on Sunday someone cut and stole the electrical power line that ran from their local power pole to their shack. So Mandaa had to replace that too.

We want to be a help to this young mother and would be grateful for your earnest prayers. Please pray that through difficulty, Mandaa her husband would be saved. Also pray for rest and peace for Bayambaa. We will do our part to provide for spiritual and physical needs. Please add your prayers to our work.