Thank you all for praying! Donna’s surgery, under local anesthetic, was done quickly and without incident. She’s home now, resting while I pamper her.
The doctor said it might be up to 11 business days before we get the biopsy results. Then we’ll know if they need to cut out a wider area or not.
Please pray that this first one was enough. We’ll keep you posted.
-Bill for us
Sometimes an apple a day isn’t enough, and this is one of those times. We would appreciate your prayers.
No, we haven’t gotten skinny (too bad!) But we do have some health concerns involving skin and bones.
A routine annual dermatology exam about three weeks ago found an unusual mole on Donna’s thigh, and this was confirmed by a biopsy to be melanoma. We’re thankful that it is only “Stage 0.” So the cancer is in situ, which means that it is still only on the surface of the skin.
Please pray with us as Donna undergoes an outpatient surgery on Thursday May 5. The doctors will cut out a larger area just to be sure that no stray cancer cells are left. Pray that all the cancer is removed and that the procedure and recovery won’t be too painful.
Donna’s situation is our bigger concern, but Bill has had some issues lately, as well. Since the beginning of the year, he has had a severe arthritis flare-up, unlike anything in the past. The biggest issue has been his right knee. He has experienced swelling and a lot of pain, which has also affected his mobility.
It took a while to work through the protocols, but he’s now seeing a rheumatologist and getting some tests done to determine the cause, and explore possible solutions. Please pray for him and for the doctors to find a way to bring relief.
We’re thankful for God’s loving care and that nothing takes him by surprise. And we know that “nothing is too hard for the Lord.” We’re also grateful for high-quality medical care.
And we are thankful for each of you. Thank you for your part in our ministry, and thank you especially for praying for us in these coming weeks. We’ll keep you posted.
We also want to report that things are going really well on the ministry front. We’re excited to share some of what God has been doing in another update soon. But we wanted to get these prayer requests to you today so you could be praying.
Lini had her surgery and it was a success and she’s already feeling better and able to walk a bit. Thanks for praying!
We learned that she was taken to the better of the two hospitals in the town of Brookes Point. So she’s at the Leoncio private hospital. We’re thankful, because this means she will get a much better quality of care there. It will cost more, but the Lord has so abundantly provided through generous donors, this will not be a problem.
❤️ It really seems that more than enough money has come in. So please check with us before sending any more gifts ❤️
Lini’s nephew Tato is handling things and running errands for them. Lini’s husband Lito is with her inside the hospital and he can’t leave the hospital and get back in due to COVID protocols. Tato picked up the first installment of your gifts from the remittance office. One of the many place he was able to get the cash was the Palawan Pawn Shop. It’s amazing how easy it was to send the money. And the transfer was INSTANT! Literally 2 minutes after I click “send,” the money is there and can be picked up.
Over the years, in our updates you have heard the names Abil and Arturo and Susing. They have been Palawano church leaders and some of our main translation helpers. Susing was the voice for the audio recording of the New Testament. So you might be interested to know that all three of those men are Lini’s brothers. And Tato is Abil’s son.
In the pictures, you can see your dollars turned into the pretty colors of Philippine pesos. I didn’t ask for these pics, but Tato sent them to verify that he had gotten the money!
This is an “interesting” story and illustrates a lot of the culture and how things work on Palawan.
The closest hospital to Lini’s home is run by a foreign mining company. It has pretty good care and international doctors. The mining company is supposed to provide lots of benefits for Palawanos like Lini since they are mining on Palawanos’ ancestral land. (Don’t get me started, but this is an environmental nightmare, if nothing else.)
However, some of Lini’s family members are tribal leaders who are anti-mine and trying to stop the illegal mining planned for their side of the mountain. That is the lush river valley where we lived and ministered for all those years. Because of that, those Palawan men are not on the mining company’s “happy list.” So the local government “civil servants” who are supposed to give Lini her papers to prove she is “native” Palawano refused because they are in the pocket of the mining company. So Lini would not get the native discount at that hospital, and every aspect of the experience there would be difficult because of a lack of cooperation at every turn.
So we had her taken to the town of Brookes Point. We have contacts in Brookes where Lini and the others can stay. After she is released, she will need a place to rest and regain her strength until she feels up to traveling home on a bumpy dirt road.
It was recommended by our missionaries on Palawan to try to get her into the private Leoncio General Hospital. That hospital at first refused to admit her because she didn’t have the cash yet to pay up front. But Lini’s husband Lito said, “Please admit my wife. A person’s life is worth more than money. And God will provide.” So Lini was admitted. She’ll get better care, and because of your generous gifts, it will be a testimony to the hospital staff that God provides, and that these poor-but-honest Palawanos will indeed pay their bills in full.
There are several reasons for this. First of all, the Philippines is 16 hours ahead of California, so there are only about 4 hours a day where it is waking hours simultaneously for us and the Palawanos. Sometimes Bill has been checking his phone and writing messages at 3 a.m. to keep the ball rolling.
Also, the Palawanos are communicating via Facebook Messenger. They are writing in Palawano, and Bill is fluent (he was the Bible translator for this language, remember!) However, they use shortcuts and “textspeak.” They misspell words and leave out critical punctuation. So deciphering their messages is sometimes quite a puzzle. Good thing Bill likes puzzles!
And then they don’t always provide the information we were wanting. They tell us what seems important to them and assume we know things. So we have to ask more questions, and then wait until the next time the Palawanos are awake to answer. Also the hospital is very slow to give them information and Palawanos are too culturally timid to demand answers.
So patience is a good virtue to have in these situations!
More updates coming as we learn more!
Thank you all so much for praying. And a heartfelt thank-you to all who generously (and quickly) gave gifts for LIni’s expenses. You’ve blown us away! To God be much glory for his provision.
Based on the gifts that have shown up on our account and other gifts donors mentioned to us, we have met and exceeded the goal. So unless God really leads, there is no need for any more gifts. Wow. This is based on the assumption that the all gifts mentioned to us will come through after fixing the issues created by adding “for Lini” to the instructions.
And, if expenses turn out to be more than anticipated, we have several donors who have offered to make up the difference. Again, thanks fo God for everyone’s gracious and generous response.
I’ll write more details later (parts of the story are interesting!) but for now, so I can get this message out quickly:
Lini was taken to Brookes Point Palawan by her husband, daughter and nephew.
I’m not sure yet which hospital she was taken to. We’re hoping it was the better of the two options there.
She was admitted and was scheduled to have her surgery at midnight PST (late Tues night/early Wed morning our time).
We have no news yet as to how it went.
Again, thanks for praying—please continue!
Some of you have mentioned having trouble with donating to Lini’s medical expenses.
Apparently the scheme I described creates issues with IRS rules. I apologize. The mission is not allowed to have a designation “for Lini,” since she is neither a member of the mission or an official “project” of Ethnos360.
The way around this, if you received an error message or an email is to simple give the gift to our account without mentioning Lini. You can tell us that you gave, or we can figure that out by simply noting non-regular gifts credited to our account during these few days.
I’m sorry for the hassle. We appreciate your generosity. We’re working with Lini to figure out the best hospital option and will keep you posted.
-Bill and Donna
Hi,
Some of you have mentioned having trouble with donating to Lini’s medical expenses.
Apparently the scheme I described creates issues with IRS rules. I apologize. The mission is not allowed to have a designation “for Lini,” since she is neither a member of the mission or an official “project” of Ethnos360.
The way around this, if you received an error message or an email is to simple give the gift to our account without mentioning Lini. You can tell us that you gave, or we can figure that out by simply noting non-regular gifts credited to our account during these few days.
I’m sorry for the hassle. We appreciate your generosity. We’re working with Lini to figure out the best hospital option and will keep you posted.
-Bill and Donna
Wow… we were blown away by the rapid and generous response of God’s people! With the gifts already sent or promised, we now have plenty for Lini’s expenses and a buffer for unexpected extras! So unless you have already send a gift or promised a gift to us today, you don’t need to give unless you just feel led to do so.
We’ll let you know the total amount once it’s final. We will use the funds to cover Lini’s expenses, then to cover any extra expenses that are part of this medical emergency. Then if there are leftover funds, We will let you know. We will set them aside for a future medical emergency to be used in the spirit in which they were given. But if you would like to redisignate your gift or be reimbursed, you can let us know at that time.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We can let Lini know that God’s people rallied and met her need in a matter of a few hours. We will tell her that so many have assured us of their prayers as well. With joy we can tell her about the loving generous people of God that are part of our ministry team!
We’ll post a regular ministry update soon. But first we need to get this urgent request out today because of a medical emergency for our friend Lini. She needs your prayers!
We’ve talked about Lini a lot over the years. She was Elisa’s best friend in the tribe from the very first day they met when Lini was 3 and a half and Elisa was only 4.
When Lini grew up, she was a faithful believer and became one of our main translation helpers. She worked with Donna on the recording-for-accuracy process. And because of her intelligence and skill, she was the helper Bill always scheduled for our final consultant comprehension checks.
Working on the translation at the end was difficult for her as a young mother of three. She would have to leave her family in the village and travel to town for a week at a time with her youngest child. He would get bit by gnats in our yard and have allergic reactions to the bites. But in spite of all this, she told Bill:
“Uncle Bill, this is hard, but I’m going to keep working on translation with you until we’re done because it’s so important to get God’s Word into the hands of all the other Palawanos!”
We’ve recently learned that Lini has appendicitis. So far her appendix has not ruptured, and we’re thankful for that. The doctors initially prescribed powerful antibiotics, which were quite expensive. We sent Lini a few hundred dollars to cover the costs, but the medication did not solve the problem. She is still weak and in a lot of pain.
So now the doctors have told Lini that her only option is surgery. This is complicated and risky in a provincial hospital on Palawan. It is also much more than her family can afford. She was told the cost will be 90,000 pesos. That is only US$2,000, which is not much by American standards for medical expenses, but for her family it’s an impossible amount. And it’s more than we can fully cover. The total will likely exceed this amount, because unlike our system here, Philippine hospitals require the family to go out and buy all the patient’s supplies like IVs, medication and syringes, etc., out of pocket.
So first and foremost we’re asking everyone to please pray for Lini. Pray for her health as she is currently in a lot of pain. Pray for her appendix not to burst and for a successful surgery with no complications or infections, etc. Pray for her husband Lito and their daughters during this difficult time. Pray that the faith she and her family have would be a testimony to the doctors and hospital staff, pointing them to Jesus.
If you would like to help with her medical expenses, Lini and her family would be very grateful. You can SEND ANY GIFTS THROUGH OUR ACCOUNT. Just click on that link, and make sure to make a note “for Lini” where it says to “add instructions, designations or notes.” Our office will forward 100% of your gifts to us and we will send the money directly to Lini’s husband Lito.
Thank you for your partnership in our ministry. It means the world to us, and to the Palawanos. The Palawano church is growing because you have stood with us through the years.