Praises:

That the mass in Allison’s colon was benign!

That Allison’s recovery has been amazingly good!

That God is continuing to guide the African video follow-up process.

.Prayer Requests:

For Allison’s complete healing.

For Eric and his team as they continue to make plans to produce the African follow-up video. Please pray that this video series would be exactly what the Lord wants and that He will use it to build His church throughout Africa.

That we would glorify Him in all we say and do.

Verse of the month:

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in
triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the
knowledge of Him.”
2 Cor. 2:14

How Great is our God!

Our hearts are full of praise as we are now on the other side of my (Allison’s) surgery! Thank you SO much for praying! It has touched our hearts deeply to know that people are praying for me, and we are seeing Him answer in mighty ways!

Thursday, January 24th was the big day for the surgery to remove the part of my colon that contained a mass. The surgery went very well, even faster than expected, but the doctor was very concerned about what he found. After the surgery, he cut the mass in half and discovered that it was made of two substances, something he had not seen before. He thought that it was cancer, and assigned me to a room on the floor where cancer patients go to recover from surgery. It was a sobering day for Eric, his parents and my dad (who flew from NY to be with me).

Sunday afternoon, the doctor came to my room to give us the amazing news—the mass was endometriosis, surrounded by a polyp! No cancer!

We cannot thank you enough for your prayers and the many cards and notes. It was amazing to see the outpouring of love for us.

I was able to go home Tuesday night and am doing great. I am not in a lot of pain—it’s more uncomfortable than painful. I am SO thankful because the overall experience has been much easier than I expected it to be. I am thankful to finally have the mass that has been weighing on our hearts for two years removed. And, no more colonoscopies until 2011! PRAISE GOD!!

The Bible verse this month is very special to me. It was a verse that was read in church the Sunday before my surgery and I felt that it was for me. We are thanking and praising God for the good report, and continuing to pray that He will be glorified through us. But we know that even if things had not gone the way we hoped, He is trustworthy and would still lead us into triumph, because of what Jesus did on the cross for our sin. I am SO grateful at how well this turned out, but more than that, am grateful that, because Jesus died for me, paying the sin debt that I couldn’t pay, I have an |eternal relationship with Him and will be in Heaven someday.

African Follow-up Video Update

Eric’s plans for Africa have changed gears! Instead of going to Africa for 2 months to film the whole follow up video, he will be making several trips. The first trip will be to South Africa, to film and produce the first lesson, to be used as a pilot. Then he and some members of his team will field test the video throughout Africa, gathering feedback and making sure that it clearly communicates the lesson. After reviewing the comments and making any necessary improvements to the rest of the scripts, he will go back and film the rest of the lessons.

It will be a longer process to get all 11 videos done, but prayerfully this approach will make a better, more effective product for our African brothers and sisters. He is hoping to leave for South Africa at the end of February or beginning of March and will be there 2 or 3 weeks to film the pilot. We will give you the definite plans in the next newsletter.

In His great love,