JIHAD....

An e-mail message came to me this week from Evangelist Jihad. WHAT? EVANGELIST JIHAD.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME. NEVER THOUGHT THOSE TWO WORDS WOULD BE USE TOGETHER LIKE THAT. If you have followed our blog and prayer letters you know that Jihad attended our coaches training in Ethiopia in Feb.. It was great to reconnect with him this week. He is a modern day Paul.

Please pray for him to remain faithful and courageous. Many Muslims are coming to Christ. POWERFUL!

Africans praying for me.....

"yesterday, we were 10 people, we have started around 9pm and finished about 4:30am. Since we were having a next day a work. We felt God's hand on the prayer time. The almighty and the Great God was encouraging us in his Holy Spirit. Brother, you are beloved by God and by us. God is working in your life as you do with all of us. We all are in His school, so far we have not graduated. I do not think we can graduated on this earth. What ever we are facing is not to kill us but to purify us. His hand is upon you. Just walk the faith walk. Be patient... listen to him....love him. There is no any one like him for you."

Powerful. Penetrating.

Then my sister called to share this verse with me and to say the Sisters were praying 4 me:

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord." Jeremiah 29:11

Verses 12 & 13 go on to say, "then you will call upon me, and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

What's Amazing about these prayers is that they reached me at time when my spirit was unsettled, frustrated, and tormented. These words from Africa and the Scriptures calmed my over active mind, my anxious heart and my weary spirit. God has stirred my heart with a message that I have been fighting and fighting. Certainly the enemy of God has seized upon this weakness to attempt to defeat, discourage, and distract me.The enemy is strong. The flesh is weak. The world has a different agenda. Yet His will, His Word and His Work will always end up victorious! Why? Because He is a omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God. He simply cannot be defeated. And we are His soldiers. And we have within us the power of God found in the Holy Spirit. We therefore serve with confidence and courage. I've got my marching orders how about you? March on brothers and sisters in Christ.

MY LIFE IS NOT MY OWN.

THE GLORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE.

STAY TUNED.....

PS. *Along with my African brothers in Christ I have a group of Sisters at the Community of Jesus who pray for me with the same depth of commitment. I am SO blessed to have people who love me enough to pray for me and my family with such intensity, urgency and perseverance.

Ghana....

Today I connected with Daniel, one of our SFN staff members. I absolutely love this guy and he has become a dear brother in the Lord to me. We have had some special "ministering" times together and some terrific heart to heart talks. He always at least one strategic ministry question to ask me when we are together. He's always thinking. I love that about him.

Daniel is currently in Ghana and is heading back to Nigeria with an exciting update about the ministry there. Together with John Kato we had a blessed opportunity to first go to this country to lay the foundation for the start of this ministry. To hear about the growth of this ministry is so exciting.

When he writes his report update on the church centered sports ministry in northern Ghana I will post the parts that I'm able to. For now, please continue to pray for Pastor Steven and his SF sports ministers in Ghana.

bd

No Cancer.....

I was informed by Dr Kamerer today that I do not have Lymphoma. The abnormal discolored cells in my neck are not sinister! YES! Cancer is now officially 0-2 with me. What do I have? That's the mystery. Castleman's disease was a suggested possibility but this is highly improbable according to my doctor. Is there an infection someone else in my body that is causing this significant swelling reaction in my neck and throat? Haven't been able to find it if it exists. So what's next? I will be going for further testing including a CT scan at the end of this month as well as a visit to a Cancer blood expert. We do not expect that anything cancerous will be discovered. Then a decision has to be made about pursuing an infectious disease diagnosis. Ugh! I will consult with my surgeon, primary doctor and a couple other experts to to determine if this is a road we will travel. Can I be in this exact same position next year with the need for another surgery? Unfortunately, the answer to that question is yes. It is actually more likely than not that this issue will one day become lymphoma if we do not discover any other reason for its cause. Weird right? That's what I say. Would be really nice to discover what is the root cause of the abnormal lymph nodes so we can deal with them and be done with this. This is our prayer. If no reason is discovered and we have to deal with this again in the next year then so be it. For the time being, I will choose to rejoice in the fact that I will not be going to chemo or radiation treatments next week. YES! And I will be traveling back to Ethiopia in mid May (I have a June trip planned as well but a decision on that is pending furthering doctors decisions) do lead our first 80 participant residential camping experience at Langano with 20 very excited Liberty University students. Can't wait! THANKS FOR PRAYING EVERYONE... it no doubt helped me stay peaceful throughout the process. bd ps my neck is continuing to heal well and I'm even hoping to be able to fish next week in Florida with my brothers!

BD's Surgery....

Thanks 4 Praying everyone, the surgery went very well. I'm currently at home and resting comfortably. Dr. Kamerer removed 2 new clusters of lymph nodes from the right side of my neck. We will know the results sometime next week. Cancer or no cancer! If they are benign again, which we hope for, than I will be headed for more extensive testing to find out what in the world is causing these swollen nodes. Must be something connected to my immune system. Probably would start right away with a visit to the "weird" disease doctor at Duke. Is it something I picked up in Africa ? Who knows! One step at a time. Healing from this surgery is priority along with receiving pathologist report.

BD

PS times like these bring me even closer to my ALMIGHTY HEAVENLY FATHER AND HIS SON JESUS CHRIST. THE SPIRITS PRESENCE IS ALSO SO PEACEFUL AND ENCOURAGING AT TIMES LIKE THIS. To God and God alone be the glory!