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.
Update on Surgery
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).
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.
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
UPDATE ON YOUR GENEROUS RESPONSE
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!
Lini and Elisa – friends from the start
Lini
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!”
Lini worked tirelessly with Donna on the translation
Lini after the Final Comprehension Check
Appendicitis!
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.
Please Pray
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.
If you’ve been following our recent saga, you know we weren’t able to actually go to Africa as planned. So we can’t call this an Africa Ministry Trip. But Bill was still able to do the ministry part.
He pre-recorded his main introductory two-hour session last Sunday, once his cough was a little better. That way the Africa workshop attendees could watch it first thing Monday morning their time. (To do it live over the internet, Bill would have been teaching it at 1 a.m. San Diego time!)
Throughout the rest of the week, Bill was able to teach several sessions live (see picture below), and to answer their questions which he was getting by email. One of Bill’s teammates covered for him and did another session since Bill’s voice was still tentative all week.
Bill teaching via the Internet
A total of 58 missionaries attended the workshop. These included both Africans and foreigners. Most are on teams working to reach Unreached People Groups, and some of them are also consultants (or “coaches”), who are experienced missionaries who help others learn language and culture in order to succeed in their ministries. Bill and his team were teaching some helpful ways to learn culture and worldview to an even deeper level.
We’re not sure why God chose to change our plans at the last minute. It would have been so nice to be there in person interacting with everyone all throughout the week. But we’re grateful for technology, and the fact that Bill was still able to teach those sessions from a distance. We received some gracious and encouraging positive feedback about the workshop.
And we are so thankful for you and your prayers! Bill’s sickness lingered on, but was never very severe except for fever the ninth and final day.
Please Continue to Pray
Please pray for Bill and his team and they finish the development of the CLA (Culture & Language Acquisition) training materials and the mobile app to go with them and prepare for the global launch of these tools.
Lord willing, there will be more trips to Africa–and elsewhere–throughout the coming year as part of that launch, to get these tools into the hands of missionaries and those who train and coach them.
Pray, too, as they prepare and record training videos using these materials to train missionaries around the globe to communicate the Gospel clearly and effectively.
Bill continues to have chest-cold type symptoms. Please pray that he will get well quickly and that this will not develop into anything more severe. We’ll keep you posted.
Bill has been communicating with the hosts of the Africa workshop. He will do three sessions live over the internet by video conference, and the schedule was changed to allow for this in light of the 7-hour time zone difference. But he will prerecord his main presentation so that the workshop attendees can watch it on Monday morning Africa time.
Thanks to all who prayed. We believe God heard your prayers and answered in an unexpected way.
Sick!
We were packed and ready. Our Uber to the airport was booked for 3:30 a.m.
But Bill had a cough and other chest cold symptoms all through the night. It was worse in the morning.
Then it was 3 a.m. and down to the wire.
We realized that not only would no one want to sit next to “that guy with the cough and sniffles,” but the airlines would never let us on board unless we lied. We could not truthfully say, “Nope, no COVID symptoms for the last few days.”
Changes
So we cancelled the Uber.
We cancelled the airline tickets, and wrote some quick emails to Africa.
It was so hard to push those buttons and cancel! There would be no going back after that. No way to change our minds. But it was the right thing to do, even if we didn’t understand God’s will. So we prayed and clicked those two icons.
“…you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.”
Ecc 11:5b NLT
We’re thankful that so far, Bill isn’t critically ill, although he fells pretty yucky and the flight-cancelling symptoms remain. He slept all day. We’ve booked tests for tomorrow to determine if he has COVID or just a cold. We’ll keep you posted.
Keep on Praying
So please continue to pray. Pray for a quick return to health. Pray for us as this is disappointing, and we hate to let people down. Pray for wisdom for the workshop organizers in Africa as to how to adjust to Bill’s last-minute cancellation.
