Mark’s Knee Surgery: Since writing you last, I have had to slow down to just about a crawl. My right knee started to swell a few days into the New Year. So Debbie and I headed to Johannesburg to see if I could get some good medical advice and attention. Our family doctor there took 80 ml of fluid off the knee and advised that I see a specialist. The specialist ordered an MRI, which revealed some problems. However, he suggested we let it go and see if it would heal itself, since the knee was looking good after the fluid had been removed. So back to Swaziland we came. But in a few days it puffed up again. So we piled into the car again and made our second pilgrimage to Johannesburg. This time the specialist advised laparoscopic surgery the very next day. By now Debbie was doing all the driving, so she took me in at 6:00 a.m. and the surgery was performed around 9:00. Coming out of surgery, I had very little pain in the knee, but my back was killing me! I could hardly move. Lying in bed seemed to be torture, but yet I couldn’t sit up or stand either! The doctor came and said everything went well, it is normal for people to have back pain after surgery and I would be back to normal in six weeks. In the mean time, I would have to wear a knee brace for three weeks. The purpose of the brace is to keep my knee bent to protect the part of the knee that he had worked on. The next day they allowed me to go ‘home’, which was to our TWR friends and co-workers, the Saunders. We are so thankful they took us in while I recuperated. We had hoped that we would be able to travel back to Swaziland the same day I came out of surgery. However, I was having so much pain in my back, I felt traveling was out of the question. So we hung around for the weekend. By Sunday I started improving enough that we decided to go back on Monday. I’m so thankful to be recovering from only one problem now!! Each day I see and feel improvement. Please pray that the Lord will give me full use of my leg, so I can return to doing things that require a completely healthy body.
Swaziland Security Upgrade: In our last letter I mentioned how I was attempting to upgrade the security in our missionary staff housing and at our transmitter site. Over the holidays I was able to make good progress and installed systems in two houses. But my bad knee put an end to the progress, as it involves climbing up and down ladders and into attics. So the others will have to wait awhile. All the missionaries here in Swaziland are thankful for gifts that have come in to fund this project! So far about 60% has come in. If you would like to help with the balance, please make your donations to “Swaziland Security Upgrade Project.” We still need about $2,000. It’s a very worthy cause as it helps us feel safer in a high-crime country.
Schumacher Family: Since the hijacking I wrote about last time, Doug and Madeleen are recovering. However, they continue to have flash backs and problems sleeping. Continue to pray for them that the Lord will give them healing and comfort.
Benin Transmitter on the Air! Yes! Yes! In a way it is hard to believe, but we began to do test broadcasts on January 10th from our new transmitter site in Benin! It has been exciting to hear reports that the signal is coming in loud and clear. An interesting coincidence: The day that the test broadcasts started happened to be National Voodoo day in Benin. Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence after all! This project has been years in the making, with many trials and difficulties and delays along the way, while at the same time we have seen the Lord open many doors which were too good to be called coincidence. You might remember that I had the privilege of helping to put up the tower two years ago.
New Transmitter for Swaziland: Recently I have been involved in some of the details involving getting a new HC100 transmitter for our short wave transmitter site here in Swaziland. Some of the funds have already come in so we are hopeful that it will be fully funded by the middle of the year. This transmitter will replace our ageing Continental which is beginning to give us multiple problems. The new transmitter will also be a lot more efficient, which will save us money in the long run, while at the same time, reach more people with a better signal.
Debbie and I would like to thank you again for your prayers and support. Our support was actually running low all last year, but in the last month some extra gifts came in and we just barely met our support goal. At first we thought we didn’t make it, but then noticed that we had not put in the new exchange rates for our Canadian support and that made up the difference. Thank you for being faithful!
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