August 14th, 2006

We’re in the middle of our third girls’ camp and things seem to be going smoothly. Today we lost two girls, who said that they were unaccustomed to being in such a closed environment with so much religious activity. Their reason for leaving was a bit difficult to comprehend, but the girls must not have realized that this was a Church camp. Everyone else seems to be in high spirits, including me. This is the first summer that I have attended all three camps, but the time has been very precious. Nathan has had a lot of work to do in Tirana this week, but he has made the effort to be with us almost every night. This has necessitated doing a lot of driving late at night on a terrible road that winds through the mountains. Last night he left Tirana at midnight and ran into dreadful fog and couldn’t move faster than 20 mph. The road, with its many sharp turns, has few guard rails, and no lines painted on it. I couldn’t sleep until Nathan arrived, but thank God he made it safely.

Nathan’s work has involved overseeing an OCMC short term team from the States. Part of the team is focusing its efforts on the children’s home and helping with the orphans there. The other part of the team has organized and is now implementing a seven-day English camp in Tirana. The program, which is being attended by 40-45 children, is going well, and the team has taken to it with a great deal of zeal and energy. We thank God for their helpful and serving spirits.

My craft project of making hemp bracelets and necklaces with beads continues to be a hit with the girls. As the ages of the girls has increased with each camp, their skills have increased as well, and they are able to learn more complex designs as well as complete the projects faster. At the end of this camp, the girls will probably go home with their arms and necks dangling with numerous bracelets and necklaces.

Each summer we realize the importance of these camps in feeding the girls spiritually. They have so little Christian teaching, if any, in their homes, so we want to take advantage of the time to plant and water spiritual seeds in their hearts and minds. Nathan and I will both give talks at this camp as well as have discussions on various relational issues.

The third week of August will see the start of another series of children's camps in Kosovo. Nathan, for the most part will spend his time with me, but he may go up with the group and open the camps, then return after the first few days. If the camps start smoothly then our Albania staff can carry on by themselves without Nathan. These camps are extremely challenging and intense, as shown by the camps early this year, in which the press and government got involved, but our Albanian staff does a very good job of overseeing them. Despite this, it is still important for Nathan to be there if he can. For certain, George Russell will accompany the group to Kosovo, and his help will be much appreciated.

I had a CT scan made of my thorax and abdomen the day camp started. The results were startling. The liver had grown dramatically. We were all surprised because the blood counts from my previous tests three weeks ago had indicated very early stages of cancer activity in my liver. The only reason I went in for a scan last week was because I was beginning to feel swelling in my abdomen, which was accompanied by difficulties in breathing and eating, and I wanted to have these things checked out.

My blood tests yesterday indicated that the liver counts had more than quadrupled, indicating that the liver is failing rapidly. The doctor said it was likely that I had only weeks to live, not months. It was all very sobering.

I’m not sure how one copes with such bad news. I cried some, of course, thinking about leaving my husband and children, but the Lord also gave me a tremendous amount of grace to be joyful in a time of crisis.

As I have reflected back on the past three months—the duration of our stay here and the “incubation” period of my liver cancer—I am amazed that I have felt so well, that I have almost been unaware of anything going on in my liver, so I have felt no anxiety about it.  I have been able to prepare for the camps without any interruptions.  Camp ends this week and it will probably be the last formal ministry I will do on earth, but I’m so happy about it. I have loved doing these camps, knowing that it truly is important in the lives of these girls. Pray

I have had this overwhelming sense that God is allowing me to stay in the saddle until the end. It appears that I am being allowed to fall off my horse at the last minute and won’t have a long, drawn-out illness like my mother had. If this is truly the case, I’m so thankful for the opportunity to be active until the end, but we’ll see what God actually has for us.