May 2011 Update

Hello Friends!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter celebration and rejoice in the new life that we all receive through Christ resurrection!

In our last update 2 months ago, I mentioned to you about my father’s illness. His transition to Hospice has gone well and he has continued to gain strength and a renewed spirit during his time there. The nurses and staff at Beacon Place are wonderful and we could not ask for a nicer place for my Dad.

However, they are kicking him out. It is a good thing though. They are kicking him out because he has improved so much. In my last update I told you that the Oncologist prognosis was for weeks to months remaining. The hospice doctor told us yesterday that even though he still has lymphoma, his overall health is so good that they need to free up the bed for someone who is terminal. He said the average stay for someone at Hospice is about a week. My father has been there almost 10 weeks now and amazes the nurses every day with his improvement. A definite answer to prayer!

The plan is to move him and my Mom into an assisted living facility where they can be together and they can also get the care that they need. What a blessing for them to be able to be together again! We are truly thankful for the Lord’s provision in this situation.

I have been spending more time with my father and mother during the past 10 weeks. Given the prognosis in January we felt like our time with him was very limited. I didn’t want to spend all of my time with preparations with Angola and regret time lost with my Dad after he passed. However, with his latest diagnosis and with a special one-on-one conversation I had with my Dad this past Sunday, we are back into preparing to move.

Sunday afternoon, my father and I were watching an NBA game on TV and the topic of Angola came up. He wanted to know how our board meeting had gone on Sunday. I told him a bit about it and how things were moving forward with the different ministries there. He then looked me in the eye and said, “If God has called you to go to Angola, and I believe He has, then you need to keep going. Don’t let what is going on with me keep you from following what He has called you to do.” WOW! What a HUGE affirmation. Both my heavenly father and my earthly father are telling me that I need to move forward!

Please pray for us over the next couple of weeks as we get my parents settled into their new lifestyle. This is not one that they would have chosen but they are accepting it and making the best of this change all the while giving thanks for my Dad’s new lease on life. We still don’t know how long he has but none of us know the timeframe that we have. James 4:14 says, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” None of us have the promise of tomorrow and we are learning that we must move forward.

In Him,

Danny & April

Support address

AGA Inc.

25 Maple St

Addison, NY 14801

Account: 01016 or “Danny & April”

Heading to Angola!

It's hard to believe that it's been almost a year and half since my last post. So much has happened!

There are experiences in your life that leave you forever changed....nothing will ever be the same again. Our trip to Angola was just that......a pivotal, life-altering event!! We had a wonderful God-filled trip. We saw things that were heart-breaking. We came home with a better appreciation for little things, like clean water and electricity 24/7. But most importantly, we saw God's hand in EVERYTHING!!

As we were flying over the Atlantic returning home, we were eagerly planning another mission trip to Angola for 2010. The Lord had put a love for Angola and it's people in our hearts. After we'd been home for about a month, Riley approached me and told me she wanted to go back to Angola. I said, "Really?!! Do you want to do another mission trip?" and she quickly responded (while shaking her head) with "No. I want to move." My response was, "You're 11 and you want to move to Africa?" Her answer was, "Mom, you know I want to be a medical missionary." WOW!!!! She had no idea that Danny and I were trying to discern God's call for us. Whether we were supposed to stay here and raise awareness of the good work taking place in Angola, or whether we were supposed to go and serve there. This made me quickly realize that God just might be calling us to the mission field. After seeking Godly council, much prayer and discernment, we have said "YES" to God!! We are pulling up roots, selling most of our belongings, and taking a huge leap of faith and moving to Lubango, Angola. I will be working at CEML, the hospital in Lubango, and Danny will be working with the Seminary to help develop a Youth Ministry program and helping with fund-raising and grant writing. The girls will be attending the International School that has just been reopened by Helena Foster-Fabiano, a dear friend of ours. We are very excited about this chapter in our lives!! While we are also a bit nervous about this new way of life, there is great peace and we trust the Lord to provide for our needs.

We are working diligently to get our house ready to place on the market and fundraising. We have been truly blessed with wonderful friends that are very supportive of the ministry God has called us to. Any time we've needed help, they have been right by our sides to do whatever they can. They've truly been gifts from God.

We are hoping to leave by the first part of January. Just around the corner!!!! We are at about 1/3 of our support and our home isn't on the market yet. God is certainly teaching us that it is all in His time and not ours. We continue to be diligent and we're moving forward so that we are ready to go when He's ready for us to move. We will move to Portugal for 6 months for language training and then we'll travel to Lubango from there. We must be somewhat fluent in Portuguese before arriving in Angola.

If you are already supporters, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. If you're not, would you prayerfully consider joining our ministry team? We are being sponsored by AGA, Inc. (Advancing the Gospel in Angola) www.hopeforangola.org. As we prepare, we covet your prayers! Our specific prayer requests are for ease of language, provisions, peace, and safety.

Giving Him all the glory!!!

Heading to Angola!

We were in Cavango from Monday until Thursday. I was in the clinic with Dr. Steve Foster (there are 3 Dr. Steve's here). I saw several pts. with problems ranging from general aches and pains, leperosy, epilepsy, to problems with alcohol abuse. These are very stoic people and I'm continually amazed at their daily lives and how they handle it. At the Wednesday morning church service (it started at 6:30) a pastor from Brazil, Pastor Justino, preached and about 40-50 people accepted Christ that morning!! It was so moving and several of us had tears in our eyes. After the service, Pastor asked me why I was crying...I told him it was because I was so happy....they were happy tears. He gave me a huge smile!

After leaving Cavango, we made the drive back to Lubango. We're so thankful it only took 10.5 hours as compared to the 12.5 hours it took to get there. Shelley said that's the shortest amount of time it's ever taken to make the drive.

We returned to Lubango on Thursday evening and Friday I was in the OR with Dr. Foster. It was endoscopy day....and the patients were awake!! They gargle with Lidocaine and handle the entire procedure amazingly well. I'm so thankful for propafol and pain medicines in the US!!
We left the OR around 1PM and Shelley took us to the market. Now, that's an experience. People were everywhere!!!! We stopped at a dress shop, hoping to purchase a "real african dress". He told us we had to bring fabric and they would make me one. We said thank you, but I was leaving tomorrow. He smiled and said "I'll have it ready by 7 o'clock in the morning". So off we went and purchased material and took it back to him. He called at 6:30 the following morning and my dress had been completed! He was sewing all night! How's that for service?!!

We drove to Tchincumbe Ranch and Donna had a wonderful lunch ready for us! We had circumcision clinic today and performed 15 circs on boys ages approx. 4-14. Again, I was amazed at the strength and toughness of these people. All went well, but not free of several screams from a few boys. We used Ketamine and local anesthesia. I wish I'd had a gas machine....and so do the boys!! There's one case for tomorrow morning and then we'll be working on the ranch. The girls are having a blast with the new 8 horses that arrived 3 days ago. They're still wild and Amy is training them. She's done amazing things with these animals. I do believe she's a horse whisperer.

We head out on Wednesday, so please pray for an easy border crossing. We must pay exit tax and that can be time consuming. We will drive to Namibia and will stay there until Sat morning when we fly out.

God has done amazing things here and we are the better for it! There is still so much that needs to be done. The only way things will change here is with God's help and people willing to be God's hands and feet. Please continue to pray for the missionaries here. They are an incredible group of people!

Again, as always, thanks for your prayers and support!

Grace and Peace,

April

We have been in Lubango since Thursday night. I was in the OR at CEML on Friday with Dr. Steve Foster and Dr. Steve Duncan (from Cape Cod). I did 4 spinals: 2 gentlemen for left ankle skin grafts, melanoma excisions from a lady's heel and left groin, and a fistula repair (which turned out to be 2 fistulas and the second was with an abdominal approach). She required additional sedation and I was able to use some of the propafol that was donated. PRAISE GOD that all the medications arrived safely. She did quite well and is in the hospital recovering. Fistulas are a major problem here but we don't really see them in the US. I was called to the ward to intubate a gentleman who had apparently had a pulmonary embolus a few days earlier and was quite ill. I was able to intubate with ease, but he didn't survive. Oh, the little things we take for granted at the hospitals at home......masks, suction, personnel that know how the equipment works....did I mention suction?

It is amazing to see God's hand in everything. From the trials to the joy, He is ever present and He always provides. We are reminded daily, or should I say hourly, that we must always depend on Him. Nothing is too big or small for Him to take care of. We are thankful for this time in Africa and our passion for the ministry here is greatly increasing!

We leave tomorrow morning for Cavango, which is where Shelley and Peter will be building their home. I will be in the clinic there with Dr. Steve Foster on Tues. and Wed. We will return to Lubango on Thursday and I will be with Dr. Foster in the OR at CEML again on Friday.

Thank you, everyone, for your support and your prayers. We feel them everyday. I will try to post some photos soon so you all can appreciate the beauty and the needs. Blessings to you all!!

Grace and Peace,

April

We're here

We have been in Africa for a week now and it has been great! We have seen so many wonderful things and God’s beauty is everywhere. From the mountains to the animals to the beautiful sunsets and the amazing people we see God in everything. Unfortunately, internet access is not one of the most available things. We have spotty access at best here in Lubango and are hopeful for better service in the bush actually. We will send a longer update with pictures hopefully from there this week.

Thanks for your prayers!

Today is the day!

The day the Lord has chosen for our travel has arrived!

We fly out of Greensboro at 4:07 PM and arrive in Joburg at 9:30 PM local time Sunday (3:30 PM Eastern). It will be a long journey just getting there but the Lord and your prayers will see us through. Please continue to pray as you have while we prepared for this trip. The Lord is with us and you too are an important part. We need your prayers for the challenges we face. Pray for strength for my family as we will all be tired from travel.

We hope to be posting more with some pictures by the middle to end of next week. Remember, internet is not as readily available in Africa!

Grace and Peace,
Danny

Getting closer

We completed our second yard sale yesterday to raise funds for our trip. Hard to believe we leave in less than 4 weeks! The sale was a success and we are now just $1400 away from being fully funded. Praise God! He has been truly faithful throughout this whole process.

This past week, Rosemary Plybon asked if they could do a story on us before we head to Angola. They want to talk to us as we prepare and pack for the trip and run it on News 2. She also wants us to try to Skype in with them live from Africa! I told her this would be cool and that I wanted them to include Dr Bob in the pre-trip interviews so they could see the history behind the work in Angola and know that there are more people right here in our community that have been involved. What great exposure this will continue to be for AGA and God's work there! We plan to continue this when we return from Angola by giving a presentation with slides and so forth and hopefully grow the interest with others.

We will blog when possible in Angola. I hope to be able to share with you our experience, especially how our children experience Angola.

Please continue to pray for our visas. God has been faithful and will continue to be!

Grace and Peace,
Danny