Pray for Our Wee Man

Had a really good weekend. Went down to Bagabag (only 1 hr from here) to stay overnight at the SIL base (used to be called Wycliffe). Mary went on a Women's retreat in Banaue and so I drove down so that Mary could leave from Bagabad early next morning. We stayed in the guesthouse there and met some old friends.

Sometimes the enemy attacks come suddenly. On Friday night wee Josiah started coughing and it turned into a terrible croupy (is that a word??) cough where he struggled to get breath. He also took a very high fever. He had LBM (Diarrhea) for a few days, but this was out of the blue.

Mary felt that she could not go, but I knew that this was an attack of the enemy to stop her from going and being encouraged. We prayed for Josiah, committed him to the Lord and waved goodbye to mummy. GULP! I was all on my own.

I stopped by a Doctor friend in Santiago and he gave a quick check and said that Josiah was fine. He was fevered quite badly but I trusted the Doctor. The youth groups from the Cornerstone churches had a inter-church celebration at the Fire Centre and I was meant to be the speaker, but I had to step aside and keep my eye on Josiah.

Through the night Josiah had a high fever and coughed a lot, though not as bad as the previous night. I rubbed him down and eventually he slept at 2am. Phew. We had to rise early as I was speaking at our first service at Cornerstone Santiago - the Tagalog service. Miraculously, we arrived at 7:40 .. kids on tow! We had a really good service and we felt the presence of the Lord. Two of our members gave quite amazing testimonies .. I will share them soon so you can also be encouraged.

The English Service at 10am was also very good. Pastor Winston was the speaker and I was so challenged. What an amazing word he brought. He spoke about being Privileged in order to find Purpose. He was truly anointed. I am working on finding a way where I can record things to put on my blog. Any tecky people out there with any answers?



Went to MacDonalds for lunch (as usual!) and it is so funny because every week we find missionaries from SIL there. It's like getting our weekly fix of western junk! We take around 15 of our staff, so it's like a Christian meeting point. At last, at 5pm Mary arrived home. She is brave - she travelled an almost two hours in her friends van, then took a local bus (pigs on the roof etc!) and finally caught a tricycle to Sefton. What a woman! She had a great weekend and was really encouraged.

But through the night Josiah still had a fever .. three days now. So we took him to see the Doctor this afternoon, and he diagnosed an infection. We were a bit upset. For 7 months Josiah has been great, especially in Scotland. He put on weight and really developed in so many ways. In the last week he hasn't eaten much and has lost more than a kilo. He is still coughing and has on and off fever. he just doesn't look himself and is so tired.


Anyway, the Doctor prescribed six, yes 6, medicines. There they are in the above beautiful, yet depressing picture. Please pray for Josiah. Pray that he makes a good and fast recovery. Pray for Mary. She has been so much in the first 2 years of Josiah's life with illness and she is so anxious that it's starting all over again. She is worried that wee Josiah somehow cannot cope with this tropical climate, as none of the kids in the Home is sick and Lydia is fighting fit. Our Kids' health is always a weak point where the enemy seems to try and bring us down. We know that Josiah is now over his TB and that this is not life threatening. But sometimes these small battles seem huge so far from home, especially for a mum. Stand with us for Josiah, please.

Tonight, I read out God's Word from Psalm 37 (selected verses):

Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.

For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked; for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.

The days of the blameless are known to the LORD, and their inheritance will endure forever.

In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.

The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously; those the LORD blesses will inherit the land, but those he curses will be cut off.

If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.

I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.

They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed.

For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones.

LORD, WE TRUST YOUR WORD.