Trip planned and update

I continue to be amazed at the goodness of God. Jennifer and I have been asking for confirmation regarding God's timing. We heard back from BMI and it looks as though I will be heading to SA Feb 14-26. I have been granted time off from work. I'm very excited about the trip and asking the Lord for confirmation on His will. If he wants us to move there, we are willing. If he wants us to stay, we will stay. But we are certainly sensing the call of God. If we don't go, who will? It's been 10 years since Meadowbrook Community Church has sent out a full time career missionary. If we don't go, who will? If God has spoken to us, and he has, what objections can I have? Life is too short, we only live once and we want our life to matter. It certainly has significance here in Champaign, and we are involved in many ministries, but at this point, we now consider them preparatory work for the missions field. Not everyone is called, but if you are...go.

My shoulder continues to progress rapidly. I have the "Big Bertha" sling off now and I started Physical Therapy at the Carle North Annex last Monday. Initially, they indicated that I would be in PT several times a week along with my daily exercises, for a solid year. Based on my rapid progression, I've been down-graded to about a 6-7 month full release. We thank the Lord for what He is doing. 

If things go as we expect them to go in February, let the whirlwind begin. I think I'll be most saddened about selling my home. It's where our kids have grown up. I've put my blood, sweat and tears into that home. But alas, brick and mortar can easily be replaced. Besides, as I told Mady last week, it's not the house that makes a home, it's the family who lives there. Certainly I will miss our friends and family, but at least we can stay in touch with them electronically and visit each year. Please pray for us, we will have a large annual budget to fund-raise. I've been reading a lot on the subject recently. I'm actually praying that the Lord helps us to raise the funds in 100 days. It's a lofty goal, but I'm a goal-oriented individual and I'm up to the challenge.

The Day of the Surgery...finally!

The day of my shoulder surgery has finally arrived! (I'm obviously writing this about a week after the surgery, as I'm just now above consciousness)

Big thanks to my Mom for coming up last night to watch the kids. We had to leave the house at 5:00am to be at the hospital for check-in at 5:30. After kissing the kids good-bye while they were sleeping, we left the friendly confines of our home behind.

Got to the hospital and Pastor Ron stopped by to see how we were doing and to pray with us before the surgery. I was a little apprehensive about the surgery regarding my lung condition, so they opted to have the procedure done at Carle Hospital instead of at the Surgicenter (outpatient). Dr Robert Gurtler, my orthopedic surgeon said that he would probably keep me overnight just to make sure my lungs were stable before sending me home (little did we know how much the Lord was intervening there). On a side note, Dr Gurtler is the team physician/surgeon for all of the major University of Illinois sports teams, so he has every imaginable signature hanging on his wall.

So, they wheeled me into the surgical unit and started prepping. They gave me some oxygen and the next thing I know, the nurse is in my face telling me the surgery went well and I did great. Ugh. How do we say "woozy" in post-op? There was some major confusion in post-op regarding my room assignment, and Carle doesn't allow family in post-op, so Jenn sat in the waiting room from 7:30am till 4:15 pm. She finally left to relieve my mom who was watching the kids and had to drive up to Wisconsin for a family death that night, and of course my hospital room became available at 4:30pm.

I don't remember much the first couple of days. I literally didn't move at all for the first 48 hours. Dr Gurtler said my shoulder was horrible and questioned how I was functioning. Brett Pearman, his PA, said it was the worst Bankart lesion surgery he'd ever seen and he's been with Gurtler for 4 years. Here's how they explained it: If you are looking at a clock, the capsule (labrum) around the shoulder should cover the shoulder from 12:00 all the way around to 12:00 again. Mine was torn (in the front - anterior shoulder) from 12:00 (counter-clockwise) to 5:00. More than half way. They pulled it tight, and used 7 molly bone anchors to secure it. The posterior tear in the labrum they cinched up as well, but didn't surgically repair it. They also noticed a Hills-Sachs lesion (bone dent) in my socket, which occurred when my shoulder has dislocated. They drilled out a hole and caused the bone to bleed to produce scar tissue. If that dent doesn't fill in (they don't expect it completely will), arthritis will set in for the rest of my life. No wonder my shoulder ached when I went outside in the cool weather. I ended up staying in the hospital from Wednesday thru Sunday because when I used the morphine pain pump, it lowered my O2 sats down to 85%, well below normal for me. So I was on oxygen the whole time, and until the pain could be tolerated on oral pain meds (quadruple the amount I was on right after the accident), I couldn't go home. By Sunday, I forced myself off of the morphine pump and set it was time to go home. Sore, but ready to get out of there.

I'm now in a brace for the next 6 weeks. It's definitely a fancy brace, but huge and quite cumbersome. I'll be in physical therapy after the brace comes off for about 6 months. It will be a long, arduous process, but "no pain, no gain."

Thanks to everyone for the awesome letters, emails, meals, texts and phone calls. Jenn and I were quite overwhelmed by the support from friends and family.

[ fusion ] college ministry

Jenn and I are the facilitators of  [ fusion ] college ministries at Meadowbrook Community Church (www.meadow.org/ministries/fusion). We have weekly meetings  on Tuesday nights where we preach the messages, meet with students over coffee throughout the week and coach them through some of life's biggest decisions (where to work, whom to marry and where to live). I've been involved in ministry really since I was a freshman in college at EIU in '95. In the summer of '99 I applied, was accepted and transferred to ISU (Illinois State University) where I eventually graduated from in '01. I started an RSO called Campus Bible Club as a student there and was President during my 2 year tenure. During those 6 years, I was directly involved in college ministry leadership on 3 different campus (also add in Lakeland College in Mattoon). Ministering to college students has always been in my heart. 

After I graduated from ISU, I continued to serve as Director for Campus Bible Club, an inter-denominational Bible study for students, until 2002. When I moved to Champaign that year I left the ministry behind that I started from scratch and joined forces with the CBC at the University of Illinois where I served as Co-Director from 2002-3003. I took a break in 2004 from college ministry to get married, and then in 2005, Jenn and I started Fusion at our our current church. It's definitely evolved over the years, and just this past year, we moved into our brand-new state-of-the-art facility, the Orange Bowl, located in the church.

The decision to leave the States and possibly move to Africa has been weighing heavy on my heart. I know that this is God's ministry, and I'm just a simple servant, but its been my baby from the beginning. I've poured blood, sweat and tears into the ministry and to just walk away is not in my nature. We know that God's timing is perfect and that He provides and that he doesn't need me. But, none the less, I've been asking the Lord what to do.

Along came October 14th. I'm on the prayer team at Meadowbrook and so we go forth after each Sunday message and allow the congregants to come forward for prayer. A dear sister came forward  and she's had 3 of her kids come through our ministry. She came forward not to be prayed for, but to pray for me. This was a turn of events. Kinda cool.

Laurie told me that "She is allowing me to let Fusion go. To not worry about it." She was giving me permission to let something go that she knew was very close to my heart. I couldn't believe my ears! This has been on my heart and the prayer I've been praying for several weeks. She literally was the voice of God. I was so relieved, convicted and in awe of my God all at once. The flood gates were opened yet again.

She prayed with me, for me and for Fusion as a whole and returned to her seat. I couldn't wait to tell Jenn about this one. We are still looking for somone to take over Fusion, preferably a strong, young couple with a vision for college ministry. It's definitely a hands-on, get dirty ministry. We know that the students that we love won't be left alone. There will be an awesome couple who will rise up to stand in the gap. Knowing that people are praying for us in this way is a huge relief.

Injury Update After My Accident

Please continue to pray for us. I had an MRI done on my left shoulder and I have 2 tears in the labrum and the end of the cap of the humerus bone is broken off and just dangling. I will have surgery on Wednesday, October 17th to repair the tears and remove the piece of bone. I endured about 4 weeks of PT (physical therapy) on my shoulder before they stopped the PT so my shoulder could heal up (they don't want it to be in serious pain before the surgery, it will be very tight and sore). The PT on the shoulder after the surgery could take anywhere from 6-9 months to obtain full mobilization and range of motion. Not looking forward to that. Everyone has said it's a painful recovery. I say, "bring on the pain meds!"

I had an appointment at the Carle Pain Clinic today. Since the MRI on my back didn't show any structural damage (praise God!), I was released from my neurosurgeon,  Dr Olivero. So, I'm now a patient of Dr Jung at the Pain Clinic. He said that I have ligament damage in my lower back. This is what is causing the significant lower back pain every day and is keeping me from driving (I've been off work since the accident because of the issues with driving and back pain). After 4 weeks of chiropractic treatments and 6 weeks of PT on my lower back with little benefit or improvement, I was advised to seek advice at the Pain Clinic. I'll follow up with him after the surgery for possible steroid injections in my back.

On an interesting note, Dr Jung is a Christian and told me he goes to the same Korean church here in town as Dr Chung, my chiropractor. He said he would be praying for us. This was yet again another confirmation of God orchestrating our lives.

After my surgery, PT and recovery and healing of my lower back (and we raise the full financial support needed), we believe the Lord is leading us to move to South Africa. Pray for God's perfect timing. It may be Jan 1, 2014 before we are ready to go, but we are hoping it's before then.

The Big Announcement at Meadowbrook Community Church

I got a call this morning from Pastor Ron around 7:30 or 8 am, asking if we would be willing to share a short 10 minute testimony on how God has been leading us these past few months. My instantaneous internal response was "NO WAY, IT'S TOO EARLY!" but calmly, I responded, "Sure, I'd love to." I walked into the kitchen and told Jenn to dress up, we're speaking this morning at church. (She and I were already dressed, I just wanted to freak her out a little. Mission accomplished.)

This was certainly a HUGE step of faith for us. We have already announced to our small group back in August our plans, but announcing this before the church is a whole different ballgame. At the time, we were going through a 4 week church-wide campaign called "Power of a Whisper" by Bill Hybels, and we asked our small group to pray for us for regarding a confirmation for Africa. We've also let several of our friends know about our plans, but that's about it. To announce our plans in front of our home church (both services) was certainly taking it to the next level. The Lord gave us real peace though throughout the morning and so we walked up on stage and shared our hearts. It was truly a singular moment in our lives.

• We had many come up to us and give us big hugs and said they would be praying for us.
• We had friends that started crying, thinking about us leaving and going to South Africa
• We received a large check from someone in the audience that responded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. We didn't even know her. We weren't asking for money.
• We had one lady that walked up to us and said she believed God told her that we would have no problem selling our home (she didn't even know if we were renting or owned a home). We need to be careful about not reading too much into these "whispers from God," but we were comforted
• We sensed God's leading and confirmation

We covet your prayer. We need your prayer. This is the one thing we sensed when we led the team of 14 to Ghana in 2011, we knew people were praying for us and we felt very anointed. We need prayer.

Here is the link on what I shared first service. I was hoping they would post what I shared in the 2nd service on line, (I forgot a few things 1st service), but here it is. Pastor Ron's whole message is about 40:00 long. I start speaking around minute 23:00. I would recommend listening to the first 23:00 so you understand why we were asked to share on this particular morning.

Audio of Mark & Jenn's Testimony at Meadowbrook Community Church 9/23/12

Unbelievable News - AAI shuts down Ghanaian Adoptions

I remember opening up the email, and I couldn't believe my eyes. Jenn and I both received an email from AAI (Adoption Advocates International), our adoption agency in Washington, on Sept 21, but she hadn't read it yet. After I read the stunning news, I wasn't sure if I should show it to her because I knew how she would respond. not only that, but tonight was supposed to be her surprise birthday party that I'd been planning for a couple of weeks. But, I decided to show it to her nonetheless, and she broke down sobbing. Anita, our adoption coordinator at AAI announced not only that she was resigning from AAI, but she also announced that AAI was severing their partnership with their adoption agency in Ghana. In effect, if you hadn't received your referral yet (we haven't), there was no longer opportunity to adopt through AAI to Ghana. We were crushed. We were beyond crushed. Jenn said she felt like she'd had a miscarriage. This is what we had been praying for. This is what we had been saving our money for. This decision was a big step of faith, and we believed we were walking in obedience. My little boy is in Ghana. I called Anita and she said we could change countries, but Ghana was no longer an option. I told her all about our history with Ghana, and that Ghana was the only country where we wanted to adopt from. She said that if we wanted to stay with a Ghanian adoption, we would have to change agencies and that we would be out the money that we have already sent them ($12,000).

Jenn and I didn't know what to do. I was at first crushed and then I became very angry. This decision to adopt has affected our family. Jenn started making hand-stamped jewelry (Plus One Minus One Jewelry - see previous post or her Etsy shop to the right), and she's done very well, but it's taken a lot of her time. I've been painting houses to raise money (I've been the sole proprietor of "Helping Hand Painting since 1998) and it's taken many nights and weekends away from my family throughout 2012.

And then God spoke to us. Clearly. Calmly. It was a whisper of affirmation and encouragement. God spoke to me and said that if we adopted from Ghana, and we brought this little boy home to the States, that we would have a difficult, if not impossible, visa or immigration issue with him when we move to South Africa.

Doc Blessman saw our message that we posted that night, and he called us right away. We explained what had happened and he shared with us words of encouragement. After he shared, we realized that instead of being adoptive parents to a single boy, that if we moved to SA, we could be adoptive parents to "100's if not 1000's." This was like an epiphany. A revelation. It's certainly not what we originally wanted nor what we envisioned, but at this point, it appeared like the will of God.

We believe that adopting was a test of our faith. God was testing our faith. Would we believe Him? Would I be willing to give up my money that I value? Would I be willing to be obedient to James 1:27? Would I have faith in God? God was proving our faith. We believe this.

Although disappointed, we see God's hand moving again. Opening doors, shutting doors and confirming His will. Possibly we'll adopt from South Africa when we get there (the burden for orphans is as strong as ever).

We just simply want the will of God...and He has spoken.

(*On a side note, I still took Jenn out to eat that night, and surprised her when we came home to a house full of our closest friends and family who were able to encourage and strengthen us all night long. The Lord's timing is impeccable. The party alone was a confirmation that God's timing is...perfect.)

Blessman Ministries Incorporated - (BMI)

We finally got to meet Dr Jim and Beth Blessman today of Blessman Ministries Inc (see previous post back in May). We have had this day circled on our calendar for months. Doc is a retired physician from Iowa, and about 10 years ago, they started Blessman Ministries Inc (I'll refer to it as BMI from now on). Their base camp is just outside of Johannesburg, South Africa, and so we were very excited to meet them. We were praying that the Lord would confirm his will regarding the vision He gave me for Jo'burg back in Aug 28, 2010 (see previous post). To say the least, they were an absolute treat, and the Lord clearly gave Jennifer and I some confirmations. Earlier this week, Pastor Ron asked if I wanted to meet with them with the missions board before 1st service, which I absolutely agreed to. They were a very dear couple and you could tell their heart aligned exactly with our hearts. Doc had the chance to share during both services and we were treated to Biaggi's with Pastor Ron, Sandy, the Blessman's and one other couple that came with them from Iowa. We got home this evening and realized that God had opened up a door...a huge, life-changing door. Here are some of the bullet points that we love about BMI. I'll try to keep the list short.

• They feed 5000 needy children in Gauteng (Johannesburg) and across the country with distribution sites in Gauteng, Western Cape, Limpopo and soon Kwazulu Natal
• They have a heart for orphans, and they have a sponsor program similar to Compassion and World Vision. Jenn would be able to work with these orphans and help them succeed and have a chance.
• They live on a huge game park, so African wild life is abundant. My dream is to see a wild lion - but not too close...
• They have a small church in a local village. Doc asked if possibly I would help out in some fashion at the church. I've spent the last 3 years getting my ministerial credentials and I'm currently working on a Master's in Intercultural Studies at Moody Theological Seminary. They said we would have a vehicle available for travel when we get there
• In South Africa, it is highly recommended that all businesses and organizations give 1% of their earnings to charitable organizations. With my sales experience, Doc suggested that I could be a big asset to BMI in meeting with these businesses to try to obtain that 1%.
• Jim is a physician, and so I could have easy access to an MD while in SA. We also found out there's a CF Clinic right in Jo'burg. I'm currently investigating health insurance while in SA. I'm all set to continue having my current health insurance (Health Alliance) when we come back to the States
• BMI has a 2BR/2BA home on-site for us when we come. They invite teams throughout the year to come to SA and work with BMI for a 2 week stint, so I'm sure we'd be assisting with them
• They also bring in interns to advance their education (med students, vet students) and they are investing in the community by teaching farming and sewing, so education is a big component of their ministry, which is important for us too
• If we were to move to SA, one of the hardest parts would be leaving our friends and family back here in the States. The good thing is that we will be coming back yearly so we could still see our friends and family. It really is the best of both worlds. Although this is costly, we think this is positive for us not only physically, but also spiritually, emotionally, psychologically and mentally

www.blessmanministries.org

Dr Jim Blessman