The Amoeba’s Ugly Cousin Strikes Again!

I’ve had an upset stomach since Thursday and, so I thought it was time to see a doctor and get things sorted. The whole going to the doctor and getting some medicine is not an easy process here. This is the part of the life of a missionary that most people never hear about, but I’ll give you the inside story. First off, a trip has to be made to the lab. It is about 20 minutes away if the traffic isn’t too bad. The tricky part is you have to take the sample to the lab within 30 minutes of collection, other wise it’s no good any you have to throw it out and try again. Thankfully, Chris was able to take it in for me on time.
Next comes the trip to pick up the lab results and see the doctor. I picked up the results, no problem, but then had to wade through both cars and sea of human traffic in an attempt to find a parking space. After about 30 minutes, I thought I’d finally found a good one, sure it was about a 10 minute walk from the doctors’ office, but it was some place to put the car. Therefore, I parked and started trekking up the torn up side walk, grasping my daughters hand a mid a swarm of other people tying not to sprain an ankle as we pick our way through the rubble. Eventually I gave up and joined the other people who opted to doge cars on the busy road. I was feeling rather weak, so I stopped for a Gatorade from 7-11 on the way.
We get to the doctors office building and climb up to the 3rd floor. Thankfully, the wait was not as long as most doctors’ offices are in the States. This was especially good as the building I was waiting in was very stuffy and smelled like leaking gas.
The doctor informed me that I had a blastocystist (at least I think that’s what he called it). He explained it as a bug that burrows into your intestine causing bleeding, diarrhea and other symptoms. It also feeds on iron and folic acid, which would explain why I’ve been so exhausted lately. Because this is the second time I’ve gotten this lovely bug, he recommended that I stick to eating only cooked produce for awhile. He also gave me a prescription for some really nasty medicine, Flagentyl. It does the trick, but you feel really awful while taking it. In fact, I had to get a prescription for anti nausea pills to take with it.
Now that I had a diagnosis and appropriate prescriptions, I was off to the pharmacy. Well, the first pharmacy only had 2 pill for one of the medications I needed. The next pharmacy had my regular heartburn medication, but none of the others. After waiting in line at two pharmacies, and feeling rather sick, I was ready to call in the reinforcements.
So, I headed back to my car, only to discover a parking ticket! I drove home and called Chris in his office to ask him to continue the hunt for my meds. We decided to load up the whole family and drive back into town to look for them. This way, one of us could double park and be on hand to move the car if the cops complained. I didn’t need two tickets in one day!
The near by pharmacy was “out of stock.” The next pharmacy at the hospital had the nausea medicine but said that the manufacturers weren’t supplying the Flagentyl anymore and to call our doctor for a new prescription. So, we called him. He called yet another pharmacy, and they said they had it. Finally, after 4 hours from when I left to go to the doctors and 5 pharmacies later we were home with all the medicine I need.
When retelling this story to my Mom I told her that the next time she was at a drive through Walgreen’s she should thank God for it!
So, how do I cope with all this frustration and with being sick yet again? My answer is worship music. Thinking about how great God is and how important his plans are, puts my small frustrations and problems into perspective. As I listen to words like, “present suffering may pass, Lord your mercy will last, as I open my eyes to the works of your hand. Hope will rise, glory shone, in my life your will be done” on my Hillsongs, "Mighty to Save" CD (thanks to a Christmas gift from a church in Florida) I make it my prayer. After all what’s a little sickness and hassle in the light of eternity?

A preview for the grandparents

Sending mail is a bit tricky from the Philippines. For those of you who just got our newsletter, we mailed it out about a month ago. Some people, like my parents, still haven't gotten it yet. So, when we get the chance we try to send out mail with people who are going back to the States. This week the Cagels are going back for School of Missions, so we are going to send back some pictures on CD for our parents. Still, it so hard for Grandparents who are so far away from their grand kids to wait. So, please allow me do indulge them with some recent cute pictures of their grand kids.

Here are some pictures of the kids at home, including Hudson with his latest fascination, "trash". The other little girl with Wesley and Addie in the picture above is their friend Isabel. Her parents are also on the faculty here.

These next two pictures are from our trip to the beach.

The final two pictures show Wesley playing "Go Fish" in our hotel room in Malaka and Addie at "Edmond's" (her bike) birthday party that Wesley and Addie arranged and invited the family to attend!

We hope these new pictures will tide the grandparents over for another week or two. We love you!

Welcome Student Banquet

This Saturday the whole family attended the President's Welcome banquet. We got to talk with different students and enjoyed a meal together. We also had a good time singing "God is So Good" in the 13 different languages of APTS (French, Thai, Japanese, Indonesian, Fijian, Samoan, Pidgin, Afrikaans, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog, Ilocano,& English)! The kids and I (Lindsey) helped out the Thai students as there is only one couple from Thailand represented and Chris and I had learned the song when we ministered in Thailand one summer. The kids had learned the song at Bible club. Check out the picture of us singing bellow and the picture of Wesley and Addie with "Pim" and "Oh" the Thai students.

New Student Dinner

Last week was orientation week for all the new students. Many of them started to arrive the previous weekend. The first day on campus for many of the new students was a holiday and the cafeteria was closed. So, we decided to invite all the new students over for dinner.

We had 9 students from 6 different countries attend. We enjoyed the opportunity to get to know them. We also helped answer some of their questions and gave them some tips on getting settled in.

This week classes have begun. Chris is teaching Greek I and Hermeneutics. He has a large Hermeneutics class with 20 students. So, he'll be pretty busy this trimester.

Lindsey has been busy home schooling Wesley and running the usual errands. She also helped with the beginning of the year Ladies chapel.

The kids on campus are all getting very excited. Young Kids Bible Club starts up again tonight after our summer break. They will be learning about the story of the woman who anointed Jesus with perfume. It should be a lot of fun!

This weekend is going to be jam packed for us. It is our spiritual emphasis weekend. Please pray that this will be a meaningful time for our students. Lindsey is also helping out with the Welcome banquet on Saturday night.

Malaka Trip

Thank you to everyone who prayed! We were all well enough to travel and enjoyed our week in Malaysia. The week flew by so quickly. We enjoyed getting to visit with some of the other missionaries from South East Asia. Lindsey had the chance to do a little bit of shopping. She got some great deals on clothes for herself and our growing kids. Wesley and Addie had a great time playing with other missionary kids and enjoyed their first ever trip to the zoo. All the kids loved the pool.

Chris was also blessed with the opportunity to witness on the airplane to a Muslim lady who was sitting next to him and Wesley. She was very curious about the good news of Jesus. Chris recommended that she read the book of John when she got home. Please keep her in your prayers. We know that this was a divine appointment. Chris needed to be on that flight.

We also were asked, and would like to ask all of you to pray for God to send out more missionaries to some of the other less reached countries in Asia (like Japan) where there is currently a short supply of missionaries.

One other prayer request, keep praying for our health. Chris, Wesley and I (Lindsey) now have colds. Addie and Hudson both have ear infections. So, we are all sick again!

Upon returning home, we had a renewed energy and excitement for the new school year. Classes start up again next week! In our next blog, I'll write about the dinner we hosted for all the new students.