A lady visited the service last night with two of her three boys. Her name is Leann (I can never be sure of the spelling on these names). She has heard the gospel, but struggles with the idea of accepting it in simple faith. Please pray for her. She is under conviction and needs to simply trust Christ.
More information after the week is over.
For those of you who were praying for my back problems, I am happy to report to you that God has answered prayer. I am completely back to normal now, whatever normal is, and am able to everything that I need to do.
After a week of resting—though I did preach at night—God just saw fit to heal my back. There is no other explanation. Thanks again for your prayers.
Paul
This is Sarah, reporting on our most recent family events. While Paul is usually the one to write these updates, circumstances have changed that for the present. I will elaborate more on that point during the course of this update.
This summer, we had to have some work done on our trailer. While having trailer repair issues is not totally unusual for an evangelist, this particular set of events was far from normal.
Unbeknownst to us, there was a factory recall on our trailer tires. Apparently, they were given to blowing without warning, a bad situation in any case, but especially so when you are towing a large, heavy trailer at high speeds over busy interstates. The nature of the blowout was strange, too. The outside tread came off similar to the way a retread tire does, but the tire would not really “blow” in that is did not lose its air. The tread would be partly attached, and whap wildly at the undercarriage, wheel wells, and sides of the trailer before finally detaching completely. Because it did not lose air, we usually didn’t know for some time that there was even a problem. We had to rely on the good old “passing car honk and point” system, which is not the most reliable in heavy traffic, since many people tend to honk and point for a number of trivial reasons these days.
To make a long story short(er), we had three blowouts in the course of one month. Not only was it expensive to replace the tires, there was an extreme amount of damage done to the trailer by the flapping tread.
After moving into our new home, we took the trailer in to be repaired. We had already had repair estimates done, and they had been submitted to the insurance company for approval. The repair shop was given the approval, and we moved out of the trailer for what we thought would be two weeks. The repairs were completed in the given time, but when it came time for the insurance company to pay the repair bill – a whopping $12,000 - they refused. They decided that they would only pay about half of the amount, leaving us to fend for ourselves.
Of course, the repair shop, having done all the work, was reluctant to let the trailer go until they had been paid. Then the blame game began. Neither the repair shop nor the insurance company wanted to compromise on the bill. So, effectively, our trailer was being held for ransom. They even removed two of the wheels, lest we try to steal it in the night, I guess. Desperate times call for desperate measures, you know! This caused me no end of consternation, because I knew that the wheels of insurance grind ever so slowly. They were grinding so slowly that we had to file a formal complaint with the state insurance commissioner, who then began in inquiry into the matter. Meanwhile, we were left without a trailer in which to live during our fall meetings.
I had to pack everything we needed for six weeks and various weather conditions into large waterproof bins that could be stored in the back of the truck. One bin was for Paul, one for me, one for the kids, one for winter coats and outerwear, one for schoolbooks, one for foodstuffs, and one for miscellaneous items – computers, nebulizer, special music books, etc. Of course, there was a small allotment of junk space in the miscellaneous bin, for all the extra things that accumulate on an extended trip.
We have stayed in several hotels, homes, cabins, and prophet’s chambers during the last five weeks. Each time we go somewhere new, we must unload the giant bins form the back of the truck, tote them inside, and unload them. Each time we leave, we must repack the bins, and tote them back out to the truck where they are loaded once again. It was due to this toting and hefting that Paul seriously injured his back. The pain was so great that he could barely move. The chiropractor said that it was “at best” a herniated disk in his low back, but that only an MRI would tell for certain. As of this week, he has been on almost total bedrest out of necessity, except when preaching at night. He is icing his back, and taking pain relief, and is now able to move slowly – no sudden movements. The chiropractor has told him that it will take six to eight weeks to recover from this injury, and that if he is not better after that time, that surgery may be his only option. This is really scary news for someone as active as Paul. We covet your prayers for his healing during this time.
On a side note, he is extremely bummed that he will not be able to participate in this year’s deer hunting season. He can only go if someone else will drag, haul, gut, and process the deer that he shoots. I’m not seeing many volunteers at this point…
The good news is that the insurance company, after nearly two months of stalling, has finally paid the repair shop, and when we get back home, we will be able to pick up the trailer. Well, we hope so, anyway. They gave us the line, “The check is in the mail.” We are naive enough to believe them at this point. We are switching insurance companies, though, because we don’t ever want to have to deal with this again. We are also thanking the Lord for working in this situation, and trusting Him to guide us in the future. Please pray that the Lord will grant total healing to Paul’s back, and while you are at it, pray that I don’t hurt my back while loading the bins that he can no longer lift!
