Going Home

Dear Faithful Family & Friends,

After much prayer, and having received confirmation from the scriptures and from several trusted friends who have prophetic gifts, God made it clear that I need to return home to Honduras at the end of this month. Hae Young was able to get us a flight on the 26th of July which is exactly three months to the day I arrived in New York. The airline allowed us to have a stopover in Houston, at no extra cost, so that I could rest between flights. After we made the reservations, we discovered that Benny Hinn will be holding a huge healing service the very day we arrive in Houston. We are very excited about attending the conference.

Elvia, Hae Young and I will spend Sunday with our dear friends who support us from the Korean church. God provided a whole mission team from the same church ( they were already scheduled to come down) to aid us in our final leg of the journey home which will be on Monday the 28th. We learned that the Tegucigalpa airport will reopen that very day after having been shut down due to a tragic airline crash.

I continue to believe that God Himself will heal me completely, and so I am taking this leap of faith.

One of the things that touched me deeply during this difficult time is the outpouring of God’s love for me through the body of Christ (YOU!) He has lavished love upon me through your diligent prayers, fasting, encouraging emails, cards full of hope, Bible verses, timely special gifts, calls, precious visits, tireless caretakers, financial provision, and an incredible place to stay… the list of blessings goes on and on. I wish there were more than mere words to express my gratitude and love for you all.

Please keep us in your prayers during this time of transition and know that you will be continually in mine.

In the Shepherd’s Loving Arms,
Betsy

NYC: Recuperation

Dear Beloved Family and Friends,

I am finally able to sit a bit longer and so I wanted to try and give you an update. I am so thankful for all the ways God has blessed us, from this wonderful place that we are staying to the ways that Jesus continues to assure me of His healing. My sister Mindy and Hae Young are still here with me and so faithfully care for me. I am on a super low sodium diet to help rid my body of the excess water, and Hae Young has been making homemade low sodium dishes (sushi, spring rolls, soups) that are just delicious! Mindy pushes me to do exercises and to get outside so that we can walk in the park. They roll me to Central Park in a wheelchair and then I walk around a beautiful pond filled with ducks and tiny remote sailboats. What a blessing to feel the sunshine and smell all of the wonderful flowers. I had no idea how lovely Central Park is!

We saw the doctor yesterday and he told me that he was a bit confused because my blood work showed that the chemo was not really doing much, but that I looked much better to him. I was at the verge of saying, “It’s because we are praying along with so many others,” but before I could even say it, He said, “OK, I know, I know……you are praying!” Next week I will take another round of chemo.

My favorite time of day is when we spend time in prayer and praise and intercession. We have seen so many answers to prayer and that has encouraged my heart. God continues to show me what a privilege it is to participate in His suffering because it is for His glory.

1 Peter 4:12,13: “Do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed.”

We are waiting with grand expectation for His glory to be revealed. It will be soon! Thank you all so much for your prayers and love! I am so aware of how all your prayers are holding me up. Thank you also for praying for Jericho and for my children. Each time I hear from home, there is good news of how God is working powerfully there. What a huge blessing to have such a God seeking team and family.

I love and give thanks for each and every one of you!

In His awesome care,
Betsy

NYC: Leaving the Hospital

Dearest Ones,

I want to let you know that I was released from the hospital on Thursday, which was a great relief. Being at the hospital felt like going down a black hole but God held my hand every step of the way and brought me out. God allowed me to have a beautiful experience the day before I left the hospital. The woman in the bed next door took a turn for the worst and her daughter was grieving deeply. Elvia, Hae Young and Mindy had been very kind to her paving the way for what happened next. As I heard the daughter grieving I felt overwhelmed with grief myself, I knew I had to share with her how Jesus had helped me when my mother died, so we called her in so I could talk to her and as I held her hands in my hands and spoke to her about our loving Jesus she decided to accept Him into her heart. It was such a sweet privilege.

Unfortunately while in the hospital the lower half of my body filled up with fluids so I’m a little bottom heavy, but day by day we are trusting Jesus to manifest His complete healing. This Friday I go back to the doctor to see if I can continue the chemo. I’m challenged to live by faith and not by sight. Please continue to pray for a miracle because God has promised it.

Thank you so much for all your emails, cards and words of encouragement. Everyday in the hospital I would read the cards and the emails, which were always a bright spot in my day. I love you all and thank you again for your prayers and support during this time. God recently gave me another verse that has encouraged my heart “ This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4)

Always in Him,
Betsy

(photo at top: Mindy, Vicky, Betsy, and Elvia leaving hospital)

NYC: Update from the Hospital

 

Dear Beloved prayer warriors,

This is just quick update so you can be praying with wisdom. Last Saturday morning I had little crisis and they sent me to the hospital by ambulance. It's was quite an adventure as the NY paramedic department moved me through the crooks and crannies and back halls of the Hotel. At the hospital they found through the blood work that I had a severe infection and they hospitalized me to find the source of infection.

Once again I've seen God's perfect timing and hand in all of this. We've been praying for miracle and yesterday much of the lab work came back showing dramatic changes of the liver function. Praise God! He's working. Thank you so much for your prayers. They are helping me to keep focused on the promises of God. Everyday His word becomes more precious to our hearts.

Elvia and Haeyoung are taking amazing care of me. They are a godsend especially in the wee hours of the morning. My older sister Marty came for 2 weeks. She brought us lots of joy and laughter and tonight my sister Mindy is flying in from Iraq which I'm looking forward to.

Thank you for all who have written expressing desire to come or to send something. The biggest help at this time would be any support for Jericho. Thank you so much for the cards and e-mails. You have no idea how much it means to me to hear from you at this time.

With all my love in Christ,
Betsy

NYC: Believing God

Dear Beloved Prayer Warriors,

I am sorry that I haven't been able to write sooner. I had to start chemotherapy which has taken much strength and prayer to get through. I wanted to tell you what the doctor has shared with us, and then share what God has spoken to our hearts. Two weeks ago we met with Dr. Niesvizky and the meeting was rather perplexing. He had previously done a bone marrow biopsy which revealed that I have multiple myeloma which seems to be the source of my amyloid problem. He said things like, "Oh, you're so young for this," and "There's no cure for this." His whole demeanor spoke of sadness.

When I got off the elevator, a large African American man with dreadlocks was holding on to a beautiful woman beside him. She burst into tears in his arms. The tension in the elevator immediately went up. When we got off on the same floor, I knew I had to say something to her. I knelt next to her and asked if there was something I could do for her. Could I pray for her? Both of them politely said "No." I thought perhaps I should be breaking down too, but what has made the difference has been God speaking clearly to my heart.

Day after day, Our Heavenly Father has assured me that he is going to heal me. His words have given strength to my heart and life to my bones. These are some of the promises from God's word: Psalm 27 vs.13-14, Genesis 22 vs.5, Psalm 41 vs.1-3, Isaiah 57 vs.18-19, Isaiah 58 vs.11, Isaiah 44 vs.25.

So life's journey has once again led me to a place where I have to believe God over the circumstances. I am choosing to believe God.

So the plan right now is to continue with the chemo treatments - two weeks on and then a week off. I go to the hospital twice a week for the treatments. I will continue the program until God supernaturally intervenes. It is difficult for me to talk on the phone right now, but cards, letters, e-mails and prayers are so encouraging. Please know that I covet your prayers and they are truly getting me through the crisis times. This is sent with so much love for each one of you.

Under His healing wings,
Betsy

[above; my brother, Rick, and I in Central Park]

New York City

Dear Ones,

I wanted to keep you updated on how the Lord is working in and through this situation.

Last week all of Jericho fasted and prayed together to ask God to show us the next step in the healing process. I had been praying that God would heal me in the way that would bring the most glory to His Name. We all began to sense that while we needed to continue to believe that God could heal me in a moment, we also needed to move forward in the medical realm. I tried to get an appointment at Mayo clinic since it is close to family but there were no openings until the end of May. The answer to prayer came on the last day of the fast. A dear friend of mine from college wrote to say that he and his family wanted to help, that they had a place for me to stay close to New York Presbyterian Hospital ,and that he could get me in to see an amyloidosis specialist quickly. We all sensed that this was God's provision. It seemed right that Elvia would go with me to help with my care for the first month and then Hae Young would come the next, should that be necessary. I spent most of Friday afternoon trying to get things in order at the ministry and at home since I wasn't sure when I would return.

A peace totally enveloped me....such as I have never felt before. I knew you all had to be praying. The peace was so strong that when we realized the next day that we needed to be on a flight to Houston two hours before it was to leave, I was unusually tranquil as Hae Young and Rosario began putting all kinds of dirty clothes into my suitcase (our washer has been on the blink) while I rounded up other essential items. I even got on the plane in the sweats I had worn to bed the night before! Oh my goodness...what was I thinking!

Since there was a threat of closing the airport due to fog, we needed to get out as quickly as possible. We blessed God's Name for allowing us to get out on that last flight to Houston. We stayed at Elvia's sister's home in Houston where we washed clothes and visited with our beloved Korean brothers and sisters while getting needed rest for the trip to NYC on Monday.

My friends in New York wrote to let us know that the place they had for us to stay was actually the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan. I was just overwhelmed by God's grace and lavish provision for us through this amazingly generous family. They greeted us warmly and have made us feel so loved and cared for. (The hotel is directly in the middle of the photo.)

I had the first consult with the doctor today. As Elvia and I walked home from the doctor's appointment, we just marveled at God's goodness to us. Elvia had prayed that the doctor would be able to speak Spanish. I assured her that his last name (Dr. Niesvizky) didn't really indicate that he would be a Spanish speaker....it sounded more like he might speak Russian. But if you know Elvia, you know she is a woman of faith. We quickly found out that the doctor was actually born and raised in Mexico so his Spanish was much better than his English! We both liked him right away and he took all kinds of time with us, explaining things in both languages so that we would not miss anything. We were so thrilled to hear that within a week of more testing, he would be able to give me the plan of treatment. He explained that in most cases, amyloidosis is caused by an easily treatable bone cancer (that they wouldn't actually even treat if the organs had not become involved) and that by using chemo to stop the bone cancer, the affected organs can then heal themselves since they are not being bombarded by the proteins which do not break down. He answered many of my questions and was so patient and humble.

So I wanted to ask you for your prayers again, not only for complete healing, but also for His safe keeping of my children and of Jericho and that Elvia and I would be a blessing while we are here.

Thank you again for your prayers on my behalf and for bringing this need before the Father. I am just delighting in Him......He is so good and gracious and lavish in His love for us! Don't you just love Him and how He works?

With so much gratitude and love,
Betsy

We need a miracle!

Dear Blessed Family and Friends,

I wanted to thank you so much for praying for me and Jericho during this time of difficulty. I got news of the biopsy results and I wanted to share what the doctors had to say with you all. They found a little something ... actually a lot of little somethings called amyloids. Sounded kind of like something from outer space to me so I went online and found that it is a rare protein that the body sometimes produces and it can't be broken down so it lodges in an organ and bothers the function of that organ. This is what Dr. Ken Holden (my beloved doctor who comes to lead medical brigades twice a year here) says about it:

"This amyloid protein deposition stuff can occur anywhere in the body, e.g. liver, kidney, heart, brain, etc., etc. and can be a primary disease (genetic, idiopathic, etc.), or a secondary disease (...to chronic inflammation, cancers, etc.). Apparently the experts can tell better now by the types of protein they find what is the most likely cause....and this is worthwhile since treating the primary cause (collagen vascular disease or leukemia, for example) is usually more successful than treating a primary amyloid disease cause as best I know. Most affected folks are older (mean age 65 yrs) and male....so once again you are unusual....but we all knew that already!"

We definitely need a miracle. Today at church our pastor spoke on Habakkuk chapter 3 and how Habakkuk asked God to renew His miracles in their day. And as the pastor preached, he even said, "Betsy needs a miracle" and he didn't even know of these results. So I wanted to ask you to join me in praying for a miracle. I know that God can use the medical system to heal me, but we are really praying that He will do something totally supernatural. I am standing against these amyloids in the Name of Jesus and praying that God will restore my liver so that it can do the tasks it was made to do so that I can be restored to do the tasks that God made me to do. This week the whole ministry will be fasting and praying for God to make His perfect will known in all of this.

Thank you a million times over for praying to Our Mighty God who can do above and beyond what we can dream or imagine!

With mucho amor,
Your Betsy

God’s Work Done God’s Way

Dear Ones,

Thanks so much for your prayers in these days. I am sorry I haven't written. Between the women's conference and the Canadian team's arrival, I haven't had anything except very brief access to the internet. Many of you have asked about the liver situation so I did want to let you know what's going on.

I had another ultrasound done this week when I escaped from the Villa because when the first one was done, they didn't tell me that I had to be fasting and of course that was the one day I decided to eat a tamale at lunchtime! That obscured the gall bladder and bile duct so Elvia felt I needed another ultrasound. One of my spiritual daughters (Varinia) was able to get me a free ultrasound in the public hospital. It came out the same...enlarged liver with a small benign looking spot. Dr. Ken in Charleston feels that this must be some type of hepatitis since hepatitis is endemic here. He told me to slow down from 80 mph to 60 mph and so far I have been able to be with the team of eight men from Canada without too much fatigue.

Which brings me to this very wild time that we are having with the Canadian farmers. We have seen God's hand in a big way. I still get so amazed by His ways. They are so NOT mine. The men came on Monday the 3rd and they are a mix of ages and nationalities and beliefs.....four are Dutch, two are French, one is Honduran, and one Anglo. They have been working nonstop, putting in islands in the kitchen, hanging fixtures, stuccoing walls.......all the things that the builder left undone.....these men have been attacking with gusto. One of the men noticed the drainage problem in the back and from day one, he started trying to rent a back hoe to dig the trench we need in the back. He wanted to move dirt and rock so that they could put a nice garden in and help us resolve the drainage problems. We tried all week long to get that blessed hoe to no avail. We had prayed and prayed and God had seemingly closed the doors. Bert, the one farmer who had grabbed onto this back hoe idea and was not going to easily let go, finally took a shovel and started working by hand. That was on Saturday.

Hae Young's Korean Bible study called us to ask if they could come out on Sunday to have a service with us and bring lunch. That sounded great to us! So you just have to stop a minute to picture that service in our Villa living room. Koreans on one side with their hymnbooks, Hondurans in the middle making lots of noise (I'm in that group), the Canadian/Dutch/ French contingent on the other side sitting quietly. It was a little bit of heaven this side of earth. The Korean pastor spoke first in Spanish and then repeated everything is English. And we sang "How Great Thou Art" in all three languages. So beautiful.

But to continue the story, one of the Korean men who came, who is not a Christian, invited two Honduran men to come with him to our service. One of the men I recognized from the newspapers. He was the former head of the national police. I couldn't remember why he'd been in the papers....it seemed for something infamous. Perhaps it was better that I couldn't remember. The other man, Don Alberto, had come in a Land Rover. I went to talk to them after the service to see if they had enjoyed it, and Don Alberto told me that he owned a company that made gravel and that he rented out farm equipment! He told me that when he came up the road to the Villa, he began to have a desire to help us. He told me he could lend us his backhoe and jack hammer and that all we would have to do is pay for the diesel. So God delivered Mr. Backhoe to our door! Both Don Alberto and Gen. Pacheco began to ask me how I had come to be working in such a ministry. It was the perfect opportunity to share my testimony. I felt compelled to share the Gospel with them, especially because Don Alberto kept asking about salvation and what was required for it. It was an amazing opportunity to sow seeds. Later, Don Alberto asked me and several of the men, including Bert, to go and visit his gravel operation and we were able to nail down a plan for using the machines. Before we left Don Alberto, I sensed the Holy Spirit nudging me to press in a bit more on the spiritual front. I asked Don Alberto if we could pray for him and he was open. The leader of the Canadian team, Bob Dekraker, and I prayed for Don Alberto in his office and he seemed quite touched. We asked the Lord to unbind him from anything that would keep him from coming into the Kingdom.

Honestly, this all seems rather messy to me. If it were up to me, we would just have gotten that backhoe the first day from a nice Christian man and we could have avoided all the worry and bother. But I am so glad that it's not up to me because we would have missed seeing the glorious way that God works, not only to get something done on the temporal level, but on the Kingdom level as well. I think that is a theme with us......you probably have discerned it too. God's work, done God's way.......there is never a lack of provision nor glory.

So on we go together in this adventure for His Glory. Thank you so much for praying.

I love you all!