Update on Malachi

This is an update on Malachi a seven year old with neuro blastoma cancer. They were putting in a port in his chest on Monday a week ago. The surgeon ripped an artery and they had to split his chest open to try to save him and still nearly lost him. He was in intensive care for four days. His chest is wired together just like after open heart surgery. They put the port in Tuesday of this week after giving him a transfusion and then sent him home.

Malachi is living with us as foster child but I have known the family for a long time. He is gradually getting to where he can move around slowly without too much pain. He is still all bandaged up from the surgeries and lines. Next week on the 31st he will have a bone marrow biopsy again. We are only able to continue as foster parents through the 31st of this month because my wife must return to work. She has not been able to work since this began five weeks ago and she must work so that we can maintain our own health insurance.

I spent eight hours yesterday in a courthouse hallway waiting for a hearing in family court concerning the chidren's custody. The judge basically did a Judge Judy imitation and it was difficult to communicate to her the seriousness of the situation about Malachi. He will probably need to go back to San Francisco in order to obtain the treatment that he needs. This will probably only require a couple of weeks and then he can return to Oklahoma to take the medication. There are various trials of treatments going on across the country all the time but the one that has the medication that was effective for Malachi is not offered in Oklahoma. It is a sad situation and the father because of his substance abuse has severely complicated the situation.

Thank you for your prayers it is a heart wrenching situation for us. You should hear Malachi pray as he prays as someone who has known the Lord for decades of time.

Thank you for your prayers!!

Back Home

I spent last week at Falls Creek Youth Camp. We shared a cabin with two other small churches and there were ten young people in our church's group. Of our group four were saved, three made recommitments of their lives to the Lord and all of us indicated that God has spoken to us during the week.

There were some rocky moments when two of our campers stole a golf card for a ride back to our cabin but no one was hurt and nothing damaged.

Last week Malachi a seven year old boy with cancer who has been living with us temporarily came close to dying when an artery was torn during a surgery to install a port for chemotherapy. They had to split his chest open just like with a heart surgery in order to stop the bleeding. He was in intensive care for four days and is still in the hospital. They will try again to put the port in tomorrow on Monday (Please pray).

On Wednesday I left camp to go to Oklahoma City to see Malachi and that was when the campers stole the golf cart so I had to hurry back to the camp. But God used this incident in the lives of those involved to bring about good.