Bryan & Leslie are 121ers serving in South Asia. Ministering in another culture brings various challenges, and they are experiencing a most challenging time right now. Recently, they had to go to Thailand for medical care and now they are back in DFW for a few weeks to deal with the medical issues and fully recuperate before heading back. As you read through their recent update below, pray for their specific requests and their situation in general. Pray for their adjustment back to U.S. culture, their faith, and their continued passion to reach students in South Asia, who are among the least reached in the entire world…

“I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall, I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.” ...Lamentations 3:19-25

It’s been quite a month! Our tears have increased. The unknown has left us confused and scared. Yet these things remain: God is ever faithful. He’s the great teacher, the great comforter, the great counselor. Our hope is in Him.

Struggles and Lessons
When we followed the Lord’s prompting and moved to South Asia, we knew that committing to this journey did not mean that God was going to provide for us blue skies and sunshine the rest of our lives. We knew there would be storms and probably more than ever before in our lives. It’s true, we may have imagined the storms to be outright persecution for sharing the gospel or watching the people we share with suffer. Yet, our health is what has us struggling. We don’t understand why God’s allowing what’s going on with us now, but we do walk with faith in Him and in His ways and in confidence in His calling for us in South Asia and choose to trust that His plan is the absolute best.

We’re learning a lot. We’ve learned a lot about timing this year and about living day to day without a glimpse at even what will come tomorrow. We’re still learning what it looks like to walk blindly. You know how sometimes it seems we have a choice whether to take a leap of faith or move in faith cautiously? We feel like in 2008, God’s taken that choice from us. It’s either give up on Him and us, or blindly leap into every day altogether trusting in Him alone. We’re learning that this forced lesson leaves us in brokenness where our strength is gone and His is made perfect.

Health Update
We’re so happy that God’s provided the answer for Bryan’s weight loss. Bryan has gained around 25 pounds. He’s gone from a really, really scary health state to a stable one and we continue to praise the Lord!! Yet, he’s having an adverse reaction to some of his medications and still needs continued monitoring. He still has another 10-15 pounds to gain to be the weight he was when we moved to the other side of the world.

Leslie, who was pretty well when arriving in Thailand, continues to stump doctors with fluctuating blood levels, rapid heart rate, on and off fever, off and on rash, pain, water retention, etc. She’s in need of more medical investigation to find the cause of the multiple symptoms. She did have her heart checked to make sure there was no fluid around her heart and it checked out okay.

What Now
We are a part of a great sending agency and can’t say enough good things about how well they take care of their personnel. We’ve had people with us every step of the way doing their best to make sure we’re taken care of to the utmost. They flew us to Thailand when the doctors in South Asia couldn’t figure out the cause of Bryan’s illness. When the doctors in Thailand couldn't figure out the cause of Leslie’s illness and Bryan needs further follow-up, they went one step further and have sent us to the States for medical care.

What does this mean? It means that we will spend at least 30 days in the Dallas / Fort Worth area seeking medical care. While coming to America was definitely not our first choice, we know our company has been dealing with illness for years and knows the best process to follow. Leslie’s parents, who were supposed to be visiting us in South Asia right now, met us here and we have our home church for support as well.

What does this NOT mean? It does not mean that we’re moving back to America! The goal remains to get us healthy so we can return to South Asia and continue the work there. Our desire has not changed -- to join the Lord’s work reaching university students in our city! While we know that you love us and through the eyes of that love sometimes it looks like the best thing would be for us to move back, we ask you to join us in trusting that this is just a step in the journey the Lord has to refine us to be greater vessels for him in South Asia.

It’s an overwhelming time for us. We just found out last week that this was a possibility and flew out the next day. Other than the current shock that we’re actually in America, we know that there will be cultural stress being back in the US after being gone for a year and a half. That on top of addressing our medical concerns may keep us from being social with those of you in Dallas for at least the first week.

Pray

• Continue to pray for both of our bodies to be fully healed.
• Pray for continued trust in the Lord throughout this storm.
• Pray for the details of our housing in South Asia. We never did get the paperwork completed or our things moved in to the new house. Since it took us 3 months to find a home, we’d hate to lose it. Pray the landlord will have a change of heart and allow our friends to move our things into the house for us.
• Pray for the American students that were to join us this summer. We’re so sad that we won’t be able to be there and work with this team. Pray for them as they will be placed on other teams in our country.
• Pray for our friend and fellow-worker, Oni, as she’s been helping us so much and anticipating our return. Pray for her to continue the work and trust the Lord with all the changes.
• Pray that God would provide a way for students not only in our city but throughout South Asia to hear the Good News.

We love and appreciate you! And look forward to seeing some of you very soon!

::Bryan and Leslie