Dear Friends and Family,
We missed writing a note in September to say, Happy Autumn, so there it is now. This has been a light hurricane season, so far. We did have a wicked storm last week, and there was a Tornado Alert issued just north of here, but I guess it straightened itself out and kept going northeast. There was a 5-minute power blackout while Heather was hiding her grandma in the bathroom for safety, and some of us felt our way around looking for a flashlight. That sure reminded us that this is the season to keep handy some sort of light. I’m certain that some of you prayed for us when you heard about Hurricane Idalia when it came rushing through our area, I think as a tropical storm. Thank you!

We have all backed up text from the latest Bible translation, back from Jim Jora. Now I need to get busy.
Felina claims the chair, whether Corinne is there or not.
Her desire is to write again, answer notes from friends
Judy and Heather care for her during the day when they are here. Tom is on the night shift and whenever needed.
Our home now, with Jim and Judy, who are buying this house on the circle. Our car is the tan one.

We are doing okay. I showed Corinne how to write following a straight horizontal direction (she can’t see the line) and she wrote a decent short note to someone. Our doctor called and said her blood work report showed there was no change in the high level of her blood sugar. He didn’t seem to encourage testing the level each day. But we should continue the dosages given to her when she was in hospital a few months ago. The same goes for her blood pressure as well. Monitored by Judy & Heather.

The dermatologists found that Corinne has 5 spots, one of which was treated and refuses to heal as it should. We think it was not stitched too well.  Both of us are being treated for skin cancer. I have two big ones on my scalp. One is doing well with a skin graft.

I had good news from my gastroenterologists. They performed the Endoscopy and found no sign of cancer. However, a couple of the biopsies taken revealed Barrett’s Esophagus, which is caused by years of exposure to stomach acid. At my follow-up appointment with another of their doctors yesterday, she explained that this condition increases the risk of esophageal cancer. So, she prescribed a medicine for treatment for 3 months, and then they will check it again.

My Father is rich and He has many children to look after. We are amazed and humbled always, and thankful, that many of those faithful brothers and sisters still help us out regularly, meeting our daily needs. Recently, there have been some things somewhat over our budget, but his month we received some special gifts which helped me finish paying for the computer and hospital bill.

We are looking forward to a time away, starting today, on one of those 5-day, 4-nite promotional travel deals. It will be our first real vacation in at least 6 years. Please pray we will have a good time, and for safety as well as I care for my wife’s special needs.  We will miss the care of our caretaker family – Jim, Judy and Heather, but this will give them a little break too.

Still no word has come from Hamtai church elders as to what they think of my proposal for Jim Jora. Surely, he should be reinstated into fellowship by now. His local church where he lives down near Lae has reinstated him into fellowship and elders of many other Hamtai churches agree, but some do not. Though restricted from the more public ministry of Bible teaching, we feel he should be allowed to resume the more isolated ministry of Bible translation. We need to keep praying for him, his family needs, for unity among all the scattered Hamtai local churches, and that translation of the Living Word of God will go forward in Hamtai land!

In His Love,

Tom and Corinne Palmer