Please Join Us in Prayer

Sometimes it feels like our burden is easy, but other times it is unbearable without the strength that God provides. Today, we have 3 special prayer requests to bring to you and we hope that you will join us in prayer.

1. Jim Reavis, the father of our teammate Jordan Kopke, has been fighting leukemia for quite some time now. He has beaten the odds several times and made an amazing recovery earlier this year. Recently he began suffering from a serious case of Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), which has significantly deteriorated his health and caused him to be disoriented. It is likely that his doctors will have to kill the graft of donor cells in order to stop the GVHD. This will leave Jim’s body very vulnerable to infection and to a relapse of leukemia. The doctors have told Ryan and Jordan that its time to come home; they left on Thursday and arrived in North Carolina a few hours ago. 

Please join us in praying for Jim. Jordan asks that we pray for relief from the pain he is suffering. Pray also for healing. God has prolonged Jim’s life in miraculous ways already. Please ask him to place his healing hand on Jim again. Please also pray that Jordan, Ryan, and the rest of the family would be able to enjoy some meaningful time with Jim.

2. In our last newsletter we told you about the birth of Zoe Cheree Thompson, daughter of our teammates Dan and Shawn Thompson. Zoe was born on May 3 in New Caledonia by emergency c-section at 33 weeks gestation. Here is a portion of the update we received yesterday from Dan and Shawn. Please join us in praying for these incredible needs.

“I’m afraid we have some difficult news to share and would appreciate your prayers. While we have seen Zoe grow and get stronger the Dr. Is telling us they have found some lesions in the white matter of her brain. There is no effect at the present and are we unsure of how severe this damage is or how it will effect her in the future. Both sides of her brain seem to show damage but they will do an MRI on Wed. to get more information. The damage is common in premature births, especially when infection and high blood pressure are present. They call this WMD or white matter damage. Please pray for Zoe. Pray she will be protected and that her brain would show no sign of damage when the MRI is done. Pray for us to have strength during this time.”

Please also pray with us as the Thompsons seek to acquire an emergency passport for Zoe and return to the US for their maternity leave as planned.

3. In our last newsletter we told you about a new family who is considering joining Team Vanuatu and serving here with us. This family would meet 3 of our team’s greatest personnel needs: finance officer, tech support, and Scripture Use personnel. This couple feels that God may be leading them to Vanuatu and asks that all of us join them in prayer as they talk to their 2 sons about the possibility of serving God here. If it is God’s will for them to join us, then pray that God would lead the hearts of these two young men to a desire for this ministry as well.

Thank you so much for lifting up these needs with us. We and our teammates are so thankful for your prayers.