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... His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness.   Lamentations 3:22-23

July 21, 2006

 Dear Friends and Family,

We will never forget the morning of Monday, June 19^th.  Linda had just phoned her parents, Ralph and Toini (Gertrude) Hansen, only to find that her Dad was in the middle of a crisis; Mom had just suffered a stroke.  Linda encouraged Dad to call 911 and summons an ambulance.  Little did we know when we woke up that morning that our entire family was at the beginning an “uncharted journey.”   Each morning we realize afresh that our God is faithful and that His compassions fail not.

Mom spent the first five days in the hospital in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, with Dad constantly at her side.  Saturday morning, June 24^th, Mom was to be transferred to a nearby nursing home/rehabilitation center to begin physical therapy.  Mom’s doctor had just given Dad a rather discouraging report on Mom’s progress.  Dad’s phone call early that morning said it all:  “Please come as soon as possible.  I need you.”  Dad was completely exhausted, both emotionally and physically.  He had only “slept” part of one night out of the last five.  We flew to Rhinelander the following day, June 25^th.

We all sat in the therapy rooms when Mom first began her three therapy sessions: physical, speech and occupational, Monday morning.  The stroke had greatly affected her speech, right arm and right leg.  Her memory was still good, which was a good sign.  In many ways, Mom has made a remarkably progress the past 3+ weeks.  She can now be understood more of the time as her speech is slowly coming back.  She is beginning to walk a little, with the help of a walker.  Just today she had a swallowing test at the hospital.  She is now able to eat minced food but must still drink thickened beverages.

We are happy to report that Dad is now doing much better.  Just having us with him at home each night and spending time with him and Mom each day has been a wonderful blessing.  We could see Dad getting stronger each day.  It was difficult leaving them on Tues. 7/18.

We were able to purchase dial-up internet service through Mom and Dad’s local phone company when we were in Wisconsin.  This allowed us to work on our NTM Medical Plan, Life Insurance, and Medical Emergency Evacuation Insurance ministries each evening when we came home after visiting Mom.  In some ways, it was like being at our office in Sanford, as we could log on to the NTM Headquarters computer as well as to receive and send e-mails.  We also kept in touch with our office by telephone.  We are thankful to our son, David, for lending us his laptop computer.

Thank you for praying for Mom, that she would continue to get stronger, especially in her right leg and arm.  It is very important that she will be able to get around herself, when she goes home.  Please pray that her speech will improve as well.  Thank you for praying for Dad, that he will continue to be strong in every way.  Dad just celebrated his 88^th birthday in June.  He would dearly love to have Mom come home.  Both Mom and Dad are relying on God’s faithfulness and grace each day.  Thank you for praying for us all.

Thank you for your support of our ministry with New Tribes Mission.  We appreciate your partnership with us, as together we are part of the team of those who are reaching tribal people with the Gospel around the world.

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