update on surgery

Thank you so much for praying for Chad’s surgery on Monday. The doctor said that everything went really well, but Chad needs to “recover” from the surgery for about 3 weeks before we know if it has been effective in relieving all of his pain. So for the first week, Chad is on bed rest, limited moving around the 2nd week, and we’ll have another doctor’s appointment by the 3rd week. We still appreciate your prayers that the pain will be gone and that we can resume our normal activities and get back to Papua New Guinea quickly.

One other quick one… Chad will be getting one more surgery September 4th, to repair his knee (hopefully his 4th and final surgery this summer!!). We don’t expect this to be anything too major, but he’ll still need a couple weeks to get back on his feet. By the end of all of this, I keep thinking I’m going to have a bionic husband! :)

Thanks also for praying for me and the boys in the next several weeks—

when I am weak, He is strong.

Janeene

Upcoming surgery

Last Wednesday’s nerve block unfortunately did not offer much in the way of relief for Chad. However, after a follow-up consultation with the doctor, we have decided to go through with the surgery as scheduled on the 24th. One reason for this is that the success rate for this surgery thus far is around 90% for either full or partial relief, and up to now no one has suffered an increase in pain as a result. The biggest reason for us to proceed, though, is that we don’t have a lot more treatment options at this point, and the benefits far outweigh the risks.

So please be in prayer for Chad on the 24th! Pray that the surgery would be successful and lead to a complete removal or at least a good reduction of his pain. Pray for his doctor and the staff during the procedure, which should last around 3 hours. And pray for a speedy recovery and that we can return to our ministry among the Tobo in PNG soon. If things go well, we’d like to plan to return at the end of September.

On another note, we’d like to thank you all for your years of love, prayers, and support—financially, emotionally, and spiritually. We know that many of you who faithfully support us have been long-suffering in that we have not had the opportunity to visit and see many of you in person. And due to the circumstances of this time here, it looks like the wait to see many of you will continue until our next home assignment, which we have tentatively scheduled for 2011. It is our fervent desire to touch base with you during that time. Please know that we love each and every one of you and will do our best to come see you!

In the meantime, we’d like to offer some more ways to keep in closer touch: We have a couple of sites for you to visit and post comments. While here in the US, we’ve been adding past updates to them and would like to post more photos and other items. So feel free to check these out:

www.reachestotheskies.com The place to go for reading the most current updates, checking out photos, posting comments (which we would love to receive), and even subscribing to if you like. Also check out our archives, which contain past updates and photos.

www.ntm.org/chad_mankins This is our ministry website. It should have lots of information about our ministry in general, and it too allows for comments and subscription.

Thanks for praying! We’ll keep you posted!

Chad, Janeene, Elijah & Zekey


Zekey, 21 mos old, into mischief as we pack suitcases


Elijah, 4 ½ yrs old, enjoying a day at the beach