Tammuz - Av 5763
INTERESTING TIMES !?
We're reminded of a Chinese (?) saying--or perhaps it was a curse--that
goes something like this: "May you live in interesting times!"
Looking back over the last couple of months, we have certainly had
interesting times.
As some of you already know, near the beginning of May, Patrice
suffered a mini-stroke while John was out of town teaching. It affected
her speech and her hand coordination (typing, handwriting, etc.).
Apparently this was the result of very high blood pressure that
had risen significantly over the space of a couple months. She was
hospitalized for almost a week while the doctors got her blood pressure
under control. Her blood tests also showed marginally high readings
on a couple of other indicators. Because she is now taking several
medications, we would ask you to pray that these medications can
be reduced over the span of a short period of time. She has recovered
almost all of her speech and most of her hand coordination, and
the doctors expect a complete recovery. As you might imagine, she
occasionally feels overwhelmed and is periodically discouraged.
We would ask your prayers concerning this as well.
Just several weeks before all this, John was sitting in his car
at an intersection, minding his own business (?), waiting for the
light to change. Suddenly, he was rear-ended by a truck that had
been hit from behind by another vehicle. Fortunately, there was
not extensive damage either to the car or to John [ :-) ]. The car
has been repaired, and John is in the process of being repaired--he's
still seeing a chiropractor.
Add to this, a leaky roof over the house and a seriously leaking
shower in the house, and you can see we've truly had some interesting
times these past couple of months.
Through this all, Patrice continued to teach Hebrew at the seminary--the
mini-stroke occurred the last day of classes--and John continued
teaching and speaking. He had a wonderful class in Messianic apologetics--answering
questions about, and providing reasons for, our faith--for 50 plus
people in Columbus, Ohio. He also preached at the Messianic synagogue's
Sabbath service while there. Afterward, a Lithuanian Jewish woman,
who was visiting for the first time, accepted Yeshua as her own
Messiah!
Adding to the international flavor with which we began this letter,
we are thrilled to share the following two items with you. Through
Menorah Ministries we have begun to help a small, struggling Messianic
literature ministry in the Ukraine. One of the people involved is
a Holocaust survivor. Pray for Vladik and the ministry there.
Then, we just received an email from Cape Town, South Africa. That's
where John taught a yeshiva class in the fall on the Jewish nature
of the gospels. The message was from one of the students in that
class; it read: "Celia and I get together every Monday to study
your tapes--the Jewish Gospels! Thank you." Apparently the
impact of that class continues in the lives of the students.
Thanks for enabling us--through your prayers and giving--to touch
people's lives; thanks for being a vital part of all this!
One final thing, in July the ministry is facing over $3000 in out-of-the-ordinary
bills. Please consider how God may want you to be a part of helping
us with this as well.
Many thanks for your prayers and your involvement!
Love,
John and Patrice
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