Dear Team Members,
We thank and praise the Lord for you! Together, we are Team Members reaching out to others!
LOTS TO PRAY ABOUT, so this Update is mainly Prayer Requests:
NEWS FROM TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: “Weekly Average is 35 Volunteers, 90 students, 125 total attendance (Hallelujah!) There are students registered from 30 countries who speak 15 different languages! Wow! Attendance has been in the 120’s and 130’s compared to 80 to 90 at this time last year. Woo hoo! Did you know that 50% of the churches in America average less than 100 in weekly attendance? Think about the mission field that we’re on! WOW! Please pray for the leaders, teachers, and students as they share Christ’s love with this international family through teaching English as a Second Language.” At present we are not able to cope being involved with this program, but our hearts are!!!
From our daughter Esther and her husband Ricky:
In December, you will remember we shared an urgent prayer request: “Our grandson DiMaggio, who will be 3 in May, has had chest problems since he was only a few months old. The last three winters and even when it is not winter, he has problems. He was in the hospital with pneumonia and high fever last weekend. They call it RSV – Respiratory Syncytial Virus – scary when your little one (any one) cannot breath properly. Please be praying for his body to heal completely and the medical team caring for him, and for our daughter Esther and husband Ricky during this time, and ongoing times!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Well, the following is from Esther on February 12th:
“Update on Majh… his doctor two days ago called me and Majh needs to go get tested for tuberculosis next week. He is showing signs of having had an infection that is similar to tuberculosis. I do not believe he had tuberculosis though. His scans from the x-rays Wednesday came back with no change. He still has a collapsed lung and spots in different areas behind his heart and lung. It could be lack of development in the Lung. He believes he has had this since birth and also the reason he gets sick so easily. He has to go in for a bronchoscopy which means he has to go under Anesthesia. It is one thing for us as adults to go under anesthesia it is another for a child to go under Anesthesia so I am very uneasy about this. I do understand that it is the best way to find out what is going on with his lungs. If anything is found during the scope he will be able to fix it and also fix scar tissue from the pneumonia. With the collapsed lung, if this is not addressed, he will continue to have pneumonia and lung problems for the rest of his life. He also has to go under for a cat scan. It is so important for him to not be around sick people. We are hoping that family and friends understand that this is very serious. We also know that God has Majh in His hands!!! We so covet your prayers and have loved all of your love during this scary time!”
All four of Majh’s doctors are in agreement with the course of action. Esther was relieved to hear that they are on the same page! God is good! DiMaggio tested negative to TB! He is scheduled for a bronchoscopy on March 31st “ Esther says “THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR LOVE AND PRAYERS DURING THIS TOUGH TIME!!!”
Our daughter-in-law Stephanie – Ben’s wife: Our daughter-in-law Stephanie, in Australia, on Monday February 20th started Uni (Australian for University)!!! She is doing ‘Foundations in Nursing’ this year. She has had a heart’s desire to become a midwife for 20 years, so now she is giving it a go and seeing if she is cut out for it! On FaceBook she wrote – “It’s still a bit scary but I’m ready to see if this brain of mine works. Lol. I’m sure there is a section in there that is waiting to burst forth with a capacity to learn lots.” Ben and Steph’s children are Jayden 17, Ashton 15, Llahna 13, and Kyan 10. Cherrie’s Mom went back to school at age 40 to become a nurse! Cherrie and her sisters Bonnie and Lynda all helped her with her homework and work around the house. They worked together and she accomplished her goal! We know Ben and their children, as well as the Lord will be there for Steph each step of this journey – challenge – dream! She also says – “It’s pretty daunting the amount of info I have to learn in such a short amount of time! One day at a time!!!” WE KNOW SHE WILL ALSO APPRECIATE YOUR PRAYERS!!!
Regarding Cherrie’s upcoming surgery: Cherrie continues to improve health wise, except her back is really bothering her. She has decided to have another mastectomy, not because of cancer, but to help her unbalanced back. That operation is this coming Thursday, March 2nd at 10am. I KNOW SHE WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR PRAYERS!!! We expect she will heal well and gain strength back more quickly that the one done last May.
On a lighter side:
We had SUCH A FUN TIME this past weekend with our friends Fred and Donna. They live near Atlanta and came down to visit us and to take us to a concert that Tommy Emmanuel put on. He is Australian and an ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC GUITARIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We met him before the concert and requested that he play Waltzing Matilda and right then he started singing it with us! He then played it during the concert! We thought we would be able to send the video of us singing with Tommy before the performance, BUT are having difficulty doing that. We scheduled Cherrie’s operation AFTER this concert 
You have all encouraged us soooo much! WE ARE SO THANKFUL FOR GOD’S PROMISES and YOUR LOVE and PRAYERS MEAN SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May our Lord Encourage you day by day,
Charlie & Cherrie
Cherrie’s Ramblings: Soooo many of you have sent personal emails or notes on Face Book and I sooo want to personally answer each one, but am finding it hard to sit at the computer with my back bothering me. Just remember we love and appreciate each of you who are receiving this email. You have a SPECIAL place in our hearts and always will!!!!!!!!!!!!!!