Ohhhhh what a crazy week!

Well this week has already been INSANE.

On Tuesday we finished our team meetings with our director Rich and wife JoAnn and they flew back to the US and then on to Peru.

On Wednesday, we welcomed a group of nine from Zina's home church in Chatanooga, TN. The four girls, ages 16-17 and their two teacher/leaders ages 26 and 28 are staying with us. We have had a good time with them in the limited time I have been with them.

I say limited because the past days have brought a lot of unexpected happenings! On Wednesday I woke up with some very severe pains in my left side. After Darlene just having the same symptoms and then needing her appendix out, I was a bit scared. I made it through the day in pain and decided I would go to the doctor for sure on Thursday. Thursday (yesterday) I awoke with more severe pains and no relief and went to the doctor. Yesterday they did blood work and took several tests. The results this morning (Friday) were: I still have two strands of Typhoid in my intestines and stomach, Typhoid O and Typhoid H. Apparently it didn't all get treated back in October and continued to reproduce. The levels now are higher than before. I also came back positive for Giardia and Amoebas, two intestinal parasites. In addition, from the blood tests, they found I am highly anemic which explains the all-the-time-tired feeling. The doctor was also highly concerned about sugar he found in my urine. I will go on Monday for more blood tests to determine if that was a fluke or if I have diabetes. Pray it was a fluke, even though my family has a great history of diabetes. All in all, almost all the tests came back positive. I didn't think I was that sick! The side pains I had were from the very inflamed large intestine which caused a nerve beside it to also inflame. Also, with typhoid, the spleen can become inflamed and cause pains as well.

Pray for me the next month as I'll be on medications for the next 25 days between treating all these problems!

The other unexpected event, which God greatly protected me in was that yesterday in route to the church Darlene and I were hit in my car. I have experienced my first mexican car accident. It was by God's protection we were spared from being T-boned by a car that came at me without looking before crossing the main street I went down. He would have hit me square on my door at a high speed (I also was going fast) but since we both swerved to avoid it at the last minute, we only hit the corners of our cars. My left corner is a bit damaged but thankfully, the second miracle happened in that he admited his fault right away, called his insurance, and had full insurance which will cover all the damage to my car. Not only that but the agency I need to take my car to is about 1/2 km from my house. Is God not good? He really protected me and for having an accident in Mexico City, this was about as convenient as it could be! Thank you Lord!

Well the good news is Darlene is nearly fully recovered from her Appendix operation. The team here this week is enjoying its time and things are going well. Tomorrow they will come with us to the La Guacamaya to ministry to the kids there. Pray for a fruitful day!

Thank you for your prayers. A good friend today told me she felt the need to lift me up in prayer yesterday afternoon. She had no idea we were in a car accident or the health issues I was facing. God is sooo in control, and for that I am secure and thankful that He has me right where he does.

Bethany