Dear Friends,
What a month it has been!! Less than 4 weeks ago, I was finishing up a translation check in Hoskins and was planning for the final check of the Mengen New Testament the following month. I never would have dreamed how things would turn out in just a matter of weeks.
At the time of my translation check, I experienced a major flare-up of MS symptoms where I had pain in my eyes and numbness in the entire right side of my body. At the same time my vision was getting worse and for a couple of days I was nearly blind from pain and blurred vision. After giving it a week or so to see if my vision would recover, I realized that things were not going to improve quickly. It was a very difficult and heartbreaking day when I finally decided to postpone the final translation check for the Mengen New Testament and return to Canada for medical care.
Thankfully most of my numbness went away after a couple of weeks which means that the MS has calmed down. Today I was able to visit the optometrist. I was very relieved to hear that I do no have permanent eye damage and that my optic nerves look normal. What an answer to prayer and I am thankful to the Lord for His mercy. Apparently, I just need glasses or contacts to help with eye strain and relieve the blurriness and pain. Next week I’ll give bifocal contacts a try and see if that works!! An easy solution if that’s all it takes!
So for now, I’ll be resting and settling back into life in Canada on a “permanent” basis. Because I am taking expensive MS medication every day, I need to remain in Canada for Blue Cross to cover the cost. To be clear, I will not be resigning New Tribes Mission at this time. I will be continuing to finish the Mengen New Testament throughout the coming months, formatting and proofreading and preparing the NT for the printers. Pray with me that Lord would not only provide for my concrete needs for housing etc, but would also be showing me exactly where I can next serve Him. My desire is to be used by Him no matter what country I live in!
In the days ahead, I will be seeing my doctor and neurologist and I’m looking forward to having an MRI in May, to see how the MS is doing and to see if the medication is actually working!! It has been over a year since my last MRI and it will be great to have a progress report.
Lord willing, I will be able to return to Papua New Guinea in September for a few weeks to finish off the Mengen New Testament translation. I have around 6-8 weeks of work left, so my time in PNG will be short, but I am really anxious to finish this task that the Lord gave to us 15+ years ago.
As for the Mengen church, things seem to be moving along quite well with many various opportunities and challenges. In just a few weeks, they will be finishing another ‘Creator to Christ’ class. That’s the one with 20+ young people, all unbelievers who are hearing God’s Word for the first time. I am eager to hear how the Lord is working in the hearts of these young people. Also, there are several other villages asking for the Bible teaching, so the Mengen church leaders are trying to figure out how they can reach these needs. The harvest is truly ripe, but the laborers are few!!
Thanks so much for your faithful prayers and support.
Because of His grace,
Becky Preheim