That was fast! The weather in Slavonski Brod, Croatia: sometimes sunny, sometimes snowy!
Once again, I wanted to thank you all for your prayers for Matthew and us. Here's the latest:
We have now finished the paperwork requesting that Matthew's medical records be sent to three hospitals along with a referral from his UCSF surgeon, asking these other physicians to consider Matthew for nerve reimplantation surgery. Because of the COVID-19 stay-at-home order, it seems like these hospitals will not be in a hurry to see Matthew as a patient. Because we have done all we can do in California, we will be moving Matthew back to Kansas City this weekend.
Even though California is on lockdown regarding staying at home and not going to doctors' appointments, the orthotics and prosthetics clinic at UCSF made and mailed us Matthew's shoulder immobilizer and upper arm sling. They met with us over video chat (Zoom) to help us get the fitting correct. It doesn't do everything we had hoped it would, but it does help a little with the strain on his neck and shoulder muscles.
Matthew was able to sell his car, which is a huge praise since that had to be done before Saturday since his car was not worth repairing, nor did it have enough space to use it for moving his belongings to Kansas City.
We found a good deal on a rental car so on Saturday, 3/28, we will load up what we can of Matthew's belongings, get rid of what we can't take, and begin our 3-4 day drive to Kansas City.
A very kind friend has graciously provided an entire house we can use in KC for April at no charge. This is a huge provision by God through a sister in Christ since we needed a place to land and quarantine in KC.
I am currently filling out paperwork to apply for a rental apartment or house in KC beginning in May.
Pamala is packing up the house in Croatia, and we are working on getting a price quote for a reasonable way to ship our belongings to KC for our medical leave/home assignment.
Today I did a short online task of fixing an issue with the Bible translation software settings for one of our Roma translators in Serbia. It is a joy to see how, even with Todd being away for a couple of months, the translators are faithfully doing their Bible translation drafting and editing, working at home using our Bible translation software, and how they are making plans to distribute the book of 50 Bible stories and Luke chapters 1-2 in a fourth language, in Serbia, after the COVID-19 stay-at-home regulations are lifted for Croatia and Serbia.
So,
Praise God that Matthew sold his car.
Praise God that Matthew's orthosis arrived in the mail while we are still in California.
Praise God for the kind family who have let us live with them in Walnut Creek, California, for a month.
Praise God for the kind family allowing us to live in their house in Lee's Summit, Missouri, next month.
Pray for God's will to be done for Matthew to be accepted soon for nerve reimplantation surgery at another hospital (Stanford, UW Madison, or Mayo Clinic).
Pray for safety as Matthew and Todd drive from Oakland, California, to Kansas City (3/28-4/1).
Pray for financial approval for us to rent a house or apartment of God's choosing in Kansas City beginning in May.
Pray for the Roma translators as they work on editing their drafts of Luke and other parts of the NT, and pray that the Bible storybooks and Luke 1-2 booklets will get into the hands of many Chergash, Arli, Gurbet and Bayash Roma in Croatia and Serbia, and for God's Spirit to use His word to transform lives.
Thank you again for your love, support, and prayers,
Todd
