Prayer Letter January 2009

Dear Friends and Family, Today I held hands with my son. As my fingers gently brushed across his smooth skin the sensation was interrupted by a heart monitor, thermometer, and other tubes and patches of tape. A small blood pressure band was attached to his upper left arm and an I.V. tube to his left foot. Breathing tubes came snaking down past his little button nose and he was wearing a little black mask which reminded me of Zorro. As I reached out to touch him it broke my heart. In four days, Joshua has taught me more about faith and prayer than any other event in my life. It brings tears to my eyes to think about it even now. Speaking softly to him as he slept I reminded him that he was safe in the arms of Jesus – the best doctor he could ever have. Needless to say, 2008 was quite the eventful year for our family. On January 5th we were married and traveled around Florida and New Jersey visiting family and supporters. In February we returned to Peru to begin another school year with LMCS – Eric teaching 4th grade for the first time while Casandra supervised the elementary department. In March Eric began teaching the adult Sunday school class as Casandra worked with the 5-6 year old group at our church in Musa. In May we were elated to discover that Casandra was expecting our first child, and the demolition and construction of our new church building began. June, July and August passed quickly as we worked, prayed, and waited for the morning sickness combined with diabetes to pass! By September life seemed to calm down and construction on the church was moving along swiftly. In October Casandra began working half days as her growing belly did not permit her to be on her feet all day long. By the time Thanksgiving came along, we were an old married couple ready for a break! We joyfully moved from a cramped storefront into our new church building and praised God for His provision of our needs. Along the way, God provided many opportunities to work with our church family and to participate in discipleship training, home Bible studies, preaching and teaching of God’s Word. As we “calmly” entered December we ended the school year, packed up the classrooms, moved to a new home, celebrated Christmas, and breathed a sigh of relief…only to be surprised by the early arrival of our son, Joshua Michael, on the 29th, exactly 30 days ahead of schedule! We could not begin to explain God’s faithfulness and His mercy when we learned that Joshua needed emergency surgery to connect two parts of his esophagus. From an original estimate of more than $7,000, God provided a hospital within reason, a parent from LMCS whose son had undergone the same surgery who put us in contact with an expert pediatric surgeon, a network of fellow believers who tirelessly worked to make everything come together within the 48 hour window we had to transport Joshua and have the surgery completed. Joshua is currently recovering from a successful surgical intervention and we are praying that all his other little organs are intact and working correctly. Though we have yet to hold our son, Jesus has never let him go, and all we can do is praise Him. “Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God: The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.” – excerpts from Psalm 147 Looking for that BLESSED hope, Eric, Casandra, & Joshua Pardine I Timohy 1:12 Global Faith Mission Agency, Inc. P.O. Box 3326 Chattanooga, TN 37404 423-493-4159

December 31st

Beloved Praying Friends, God answers prayer. God answers prayer.God answers prayer.He's so good to me. (Well, to us.) =) After a series of delays, Joshua was admitted into the operating room about 3pm. Three hours later the doctor emerged and told us that everything had gone as expected! Praise the LORD! He will remain in intensive care for a couple of days more on oxygen, sleeping so that he doesn't feel the pain or move around too much and open up the wound. After that they will try to supplement his diet with breast milk from mommy through a tube. (Casandra had been told to wait until Jan. 6 to start pumping, so when Joshua was born early, she had nothing yet. Today she started pumping and got half an ounce! A small victory--but she still has a long way to go in three days!) By Sunday they should be giving Joshua a liquid to take to be able to see his digestive track by x-ray which should tell us how everything really turned out. Day 5 (Monday) is really a deciding day and will determine how much longer he stays in the hospital. Casandra by the way is recovering nicely. A friend brought her a wrap-around support (back-brace type) so she'll be able to get around a little bit when she leaves the clinic TOMORROW! The Pace family (Tom and Carolyn) offerered to let us stay with them for a couple of days, for which we are very thankful! It's not been easy trekking back and forth among Casandra's clinic, the baby's hospital, and home, but the Lord has been faithful to burden the hearts of our family in Christ here to provide company--and food!--both for me and for Casandra! We praise the Lord for the great family he has given us! Don't worry 'bout a thing, guys, we're well taken care of here. =) WE LOVE YOU AND CHERISH YOUR PRAYERS! Thank you so much!

December 30th

Beloved Prayer Partners, Casandra and I could feel your prayers today! You would never imagine the red tape we had to wade through to get things accomplished today...and how the Lord interceded on our behalf! Let me give you the short of it. This morning, the Lord put us in contact with a parent from LMCS whose son had had exactly the same problem as Joshua when he was born! She then put us in touch with the specialist who operated on her son. In an incubator and with an oxygen tank, Joshua was transfered to the hospital where this doctor works that specializes in pediatric emergencies and will undergo surgery tomorrow (uh, what day is it?)...Wednesday at 11am. And instead of the thousands of dollars it would have cost us at the clinic where Casandra is staying, the operation will only cost us a fraction of that at this new hospital! "Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" Psalm 107 Praise the Lord Joshua looks more like his momma. =) We love you and praise the Lord for your intercession on our behalf!

December 29th: An Early Surprise

It was a Sunday night like any other...until Casandra's water broke. So, last night (which seems like an eternity ago) about 11:45 pm we headed off to the clinic. After 12 hours in observation, Casandra underwent a C-section and our beautiful baby boy was born--a month early--Joshua Michael Pardine! [2.85 kilos (about 6lb.)] Praise the Lord for His protection and provision!

And, as if that wasn't enough exciting news for one day, the doctors told us that his digestive system was not completely formed and that they would have to have emergency surgery tomorrow to connect his esophagus to his stomach. So I've come home to get some paperwork together, eat supper, and get back to the hospital ASAP.

Please pray that the surgery would be successful and that the insurance will cover the cost of the surgery.

We are calm and confident that the Lord is in control. Thank you for your prayers. We love you!