The Season

Just like football season in the USA, we've got a full season in the fall full of comings, goings, trainings, and lots of good friends. It's my favorite time of year. In October, we put a pause on our renewed efforts at Thai class and went to our big training camp in the jungle just like we do every year. Only this year, we had the unfortunate luck of having to cut our trip in half because of visa/ work permit changes. All the same, we had one of our best fall trips.

As usual, I taught my lovely women's class (above) and the elementary kids (below). I also taught English for our medical students at our year long medical school.

(medic class)

In addition, this year I co-taught a Sunday school program for the village kids before church every week.

(Sunday School)

Adam busied himself with teaching land navigation and PT. Unfortunately I don't seem to have too many photos of his activities this year!

(Adam teaching night class)

(Adam speaking at church on Sunday)

In the meantime, Eden wandered around camp making friends and getting into trouble.

(Eden bonding with the students)

(making friends)

(At the playground)

We even had a big birthday celebration for Eden where several families came together and helped cook a huge meal to feed 120 people (staff and students). It was a really fun event and we felt really blessed that so many people would help out to celebrate our daughter's special day :)

(celebrating before lunch with a special prayer service for Eden where her uncles and aunts took turns praying blessings upon her life.)

One of our disappointments during the fall was the since we had to cut our trip short, we missed overlapping in the jungle with Adam's wonderful mom, Jo who is a nurse practitioner and went to teach at the medical school/ treat patients in the clinic. She had an awesome trip regardless, but we missed spending time with her there.

(Here we are changing places- us going and her coming)

Below is a very special two year old boy. He was in a coma when we arrived to our camp and remained in one for a total of about 10 days if I remember correctly. He had swallowed mothballs and was slowly dying from poisoning. Eden and I would go and pray for him as often as possible and it was really heartbreaking to watch. Well, praise God, he came out of his coma and opened one eye. Every time I visited he would cry and he was in constant pain. As time went on and with some blood transfusions, his health improved and he was able to go home with frequent visits to the clinic in the future. He is still recovering and may have permanent brain damage, but he is alive! He is a total miracle baby. I can't express how difficult it was to watch him go through this whole process, knowing I had a healthy 2 year old in my own arms. I could hardly make it through a visit without tears. Eden gave him his little puppy toy and I hope that it brought him comfort, especially when he couldn't see anything. Please pray for this little boy for full recovery and a healthy, happy life. Please also pray for wisdom for our medics who treat difficult cases with little resources in a remote location.

Thank you for all your support and prayers! More updates coming soon (playing catch up!)

Aimee, Adam, and Eden

PS as another update, we went through a difficult journey last year and as our new season (aug/ sept) started this fall we were praying for strength. We have had a wonderful year so far and feel renewed. Thank you for everyone who I know was praying for us during that difficult time. Your prayers are powerful!