For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day. 2 Timothy 1:12

Three weeks ago I had a bilateral mastectomy because they discovered that I had breast cancer. We went last week for our appointment with the Oncologist and he confirmed that there was no cancer in the breast tissue or lymph nodes. Praise the Lord! HOWEVER, the cancer I had was a Triple Negative cancer. This is the most aggressive kind of cancer you can have and is extremely fast growing. It can reappear anywhere in the body. In light of this information, I will begin Chemotherapy treatments on July 9.

The Doctor is concerned that I may not be able to tolerate the Chemo because my blood platelets are so low; they are roughly half of what they should be. They will be monitoring my blood platelet count during my chemo treatments.

At this point in time, my last treatment is scheduled for November 21; so we are on personal (medical) leave until the end of this year.

It grieves us that we will not be able to return to Tanzania this year especially since we were able to raise our funds so quickly this itineration. However, we feel God’s peace and presence with us and know that He is in control of all aspects of our lives. We trust Him to work out His perfect will. It was a miracle that they found the cancer three days before we boarded the plane to return to Tanzania. We know that He is walking with us through this situation. 

TANZANIA 

We have received word that the Women’s Dorm at the Mwanza Bible College is almost finished; the floor tiles and the aluminum windows are all that remain.

Tim will be traveling to Tanzania for a month at the end of August to host a team that will be finishing the Church Planting School and do outreach ministry in the Kagera District.

We continue to monitor the Albino situation from here via our contacts and information from the group Under the Same Sun. Attacks against PWA (People with Albinism) have been on the increase in recent months but the United Nations has been monitoring the situation and has come out with several statements condemning the acts of violence against PWA and demanding that the Tanzanian government take steps to correct this atrocity.

We continue to hear encouraging reports that the Gospel is being spread throughout remote areas of the country. Many Districts in our region are in need of assistance with establishing churches and putting up permanent structures in villages across the region. We are attempting to raise funds for a container of 10 church roofs to be sent to the Mara region – a region that has been poorly evangelized and with few churches. However, the Holy Spirit is moving in that area and we are seeing small groups of believers being established in remote areas that have been resistant to the Gospel in the past.

Pray for the work in Tanzania. The National Church has a vision to see the Good News spread to every village and people group in Tanzania. There has been much prayer and fasting and the Holy Spirit is opening doors of opportunity across Tanzania that previously have been closed to the Church.

We have been given a supply of water filters to install at the Mwanza Bible School so that the students will have clean water to drink. This should cut down drastically on the water-born sicknesses at the school including the high frequency of Typhoid.

We will continue to keep you posted on Joyce’s health during her time of Chemo and also keep you posted on the events and ministry going on in Tanzania.

Thanks to each of you for your many prayers on our behalf; we have been overwhelmed with the numbers of cards, emails and other communications we have received since we learned of Joyce’s cancer at the end of May.