Harrys Travels

Shipwrecked

I’m sat in our borrowed bedroom staring out at the dark sea. I’m trying hard to remain positive. We’re still waiting for a phone call from the hospital which will begin the process of tests and diagnosis. In the mean time we’re trying to get on with life one day at a time. Its not easy though for each of us our lives were beginning to feel rooted in Skopje we had just begun to fix some routine and pick up some responsibilities we were thinking long term (and were just about to buy a puppy). And yet now I’m staring out at the cold dark sea nearly 3000km from our home. It sucks and I have to admit that I don’t know what’s going on or why.   

I don’t kow what’s going on or why. As a follower of Jesus I am stuck in an awkward place that means, despite my inclination to the contrary, I have to Trust. Its difficult but I know I that despite everything: Evans sickness, the feeling that he was being taken from me, my loneliness, uncertainty over the future, I have to Trust. Trust is all I’ve got left. 

I was reminded this past week of Paul’s (the guy from the Bible. He travelled a fair bit around Turkey, Greece, Macedonia etc you can read about it in the book of Acts) journeys. Paul was a strategic thinker, there is no question that he thought carefully about where he went, he picked out major cities and directed the placement of those around him too, sending so and so back and asking for others to come to him. He planned well but he was also very open to the Holy Spirits leading and we read in Acts 16 that he ‘tried to enter Bithynia and the Spirit of Jesus would not allow it’ and shortly before that the Spirit forbade him from going to Asia. So Paul planned but was also up for interruption by the spirit… which is just as well. On his well-planned way to strategic Rome, which was to be the pinnacle of his preaching career, God interrupted Paul again. With a storm… and a shipwreck. The sea outside my window is fairly calm this morning but for the last few days there has been some vicious winds which whipped up the waves and bent the trees along the sea front it wasn’t a storm just some strong(ish wind) but I was glad I wasn’t out in it. The ship Paul was in battled against a real storm. The sailors threw everything they could overboard, they tried dropping 4 anchors to stop the ship being dashed on rocks and tried to escape on the lifeboat. Eventually the bow (front bit) got stuck on a sand bank and the stern (back bit) broke up. Those who could swim jumped over board and made for land whilst those who couldn’t found something that floated and did likewise (could Paul swim?). They built a little fire on the beach to dry off and then Paul gets bitten by a snake! The locals stand around watching eagerly waiting for Paul to inflate and drop dead but Paul shakes the snake off and drops it in the fire and sits down, its been quite a day! 

My names not Paul. If I was in his position I’d be pretty naffed off. My plans for getting to Rome are out the window, I’ve been marooned on an Island, the soldiers want to kill me, and now I’m the one who gets bitten by a damn snake! Come on Lord, whats going on! I’m stuck here, I don’t know when I’ll get to leave and even creation seems to be ganging up on me, I had a plan! If this is your way of teaching me a lesson I don’t like it and its not very funny! Yep I’d be pretty mad. Yet Paul seems to have got on with what he could, healing Publius’ Father (Publius is reputed to have later become the first leader of the church of Malta!) and anyone else who came along. 

Paul was shipwrecked for at least 3 months before the winds turned and a ship could be found to carry him on the remainder of his journey. I don’t know how long we will be in the UK. We have to continue to trust God still know best, that he will work all things out for good (however shitty they may look at the time) and Macedonia can get along perfectly well without us. 

 And so again I pray… (Each time I pray this prayer it gets harder.) 

I am no longer my own, but thine.
 Put me to what thou will, rank me with whom thou will.
 Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
 Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
 exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
 Let me be full, let me be empty.
 Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
 I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
 And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
 thou art mine, and I am thine.
  (Methodist Covenant Prayer)

Big Day #2 - Reunification Day

After a last meal (for a while) with the lovely Evans’ and a relatively early night my alarm woke me at 03.15. Phil and I stumbled bleary eyed into the car and he drove me out to Skopje airport. Where I caught the early morning flight to Belgrade.

It’s been a while since I’ve been on a turbo-prop aircraft and I’d forgotten what fun they are to fly on. So much more ‘real’ than the big jet planes. They’re loud enough to render conversation implausible and just about skim the tops of the clouds. They rattle around a fair bit too, or at least ours did. The aging JAT plane instantly reminded me of a retirement home. Chintz wallpaper, purple and green faded upholstery and the unmistakable smell of stale wee, I thoroughly enjoyed this leg of the journey!

A few hours waiting around in Belgarde airport where I failed to find an internet connection and instead  read a good chunk of Alex James (Blur) autobiography.

Belgrade – London was dull. At Heathrow I was met by my friend Doc who’d offered us his old cavalier while we’re in the country.  We spent a lovely couple of hours catching up and drinking coffee, Karen his wife is extremely pregnant and about to drop a baby girl any day now, its funny to think that next time I see them their lives will once again have changed a good deal.

After a horrible drive  (Balkan driving is crazy but I’d take driving in Macedonia over the M25 experience any day!) I arrived at Mistys parents house in the picturesque seaside town of Budleigh Salterton kissed my wife snuck into the kids room and watched them sleep for a while. Then took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

I’m still not sure what’s going on but I’ll take things one step at a time and pray the I might have grace sufficient for each day.

Big Day #1

I get the feeling we'll be having a few big days in the coming months so I'll start out numbering them. That makes today #1.

A lovely nurse arrived last night from the UK who explained what will happen today as M+m+e travel back to the UK. An ambulance wil ferry them all to Varna Airport at 2pm (Bulgarian time) and from there they fly to Heathrow via Vienna. A hospital car or ambulance will then take them to the RD&E hospital in Exeter where Evan will be seen by a consultant (this should be at 1am local time). Our nurse explained how important it is that Evan is seen as soon as he gets back in order to 'keep the ball rolling'. We'd really prefer him to head to his grandparents and rest for a couple of days before arranging an appt but apparently this won't work, If we stop now we will have to start all over again and that will mean re-registering with a GP in Devon and then arranging an out-patient appt with the hospital consultant which could take a long time. 

Meantime I'm driving back to Skopje this should be about a 12hour drive depending on traffic and border crossing. I've got a flight back from Skopje booked for Wednesday am and we should be all together again that evening. We're trying to find a car to hire or borrow for the next few weeks while we're in the UK... If you can help with that please let us know. 

Evan is much better. You would barely believe that the boy I was wrestling with in the grounds of the hospital with this morning was lying unconscious and unresponsive on a hospital bed less than a week ago.

Evans collapse and seizure were due to an abrupt drop in his blood sugar, on Wednesday (I think it was Wednesday days are tending to blur) he was up early and playing with Mimi, then he complained of feeling sick, went very pale and started ‘fading out’ he couldn’t count and could barely talk, then pretty much passed ou. All within 10 minutes. Later that day even after an IV drip of glucose his sugars crashed again. So far there is no explanation. He’s not diabetic, or at least all the tests for diabetes have been negative although one doctor has recommended genetic testing of chromosomes (whatever that is) to confirm the result.

Its scary. As parents its been a hellish week, at one point we honestly thought we might lose our little boy, I never want to go through that again.

We have been asked to return to the UK for specialist tests and are now waiting for a medical escort for Evan (and Misty and Mimi) to fly out from the UK and accompany them back. I will drive back to Skopje pack some things up and tie up some loose ends before joining the family.

We have told Mimi and Evan that we have to hit the pause button on our life in Skopje. We don’t know how long it will take for Evan to see a consultant much less how long it will take for a real diagnosis and until then our life is once again in limbo. It’s unsettling for Misty and I but much more so for m+e and we need lots of wisdom and strength to get us through these next weeks and months. We’ve taken a deep breath and are exhaling slowly.

Update 12:00 Friday

Thanks again for all your messages of support.



Yesterday Evan was taken off the drip and managed to maintain his blood sugar level, which is good news. The hospital carried out many tests including an ECG which meant Evan was covered in wires and an ultra sound test on his stomach. This morning they have been testing for diabetes. All tests so far have come back negative.

In many ways this is good news and we are obviously extremely thankful and relieved that he is getting better. The downside is that we still do not know what caused the 'episode'. Last year after many tests in Guildford the doctors put it down to a virus, I think that in the light of the last few days this is probably not true, or at least not the whole truth. We have been talking with the hospital in Guildford and trying to get advice from them as to what we can do from here, further tests, arrange a transfer of records etc.



Everybody both here and in the UK have been very helpful.

Just a couple of days before we left Skopje we renewed our lapsed medical insurance (we hadn't the cash to do so before), gods timing is perfect isn't it? The insurance company have asked that we transfer to a hospital in Varna and we will do that this afternoon.



Thank you for continuing to pray for Evan.



Much love

scot

Update 09:00 Thursday



Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers. We have really appreciated the encouraging emails and hope to reply to you all when we can but for now this is another mass update again asking for your prayers.



Evan was unconscious and had a seizure in the car on the way to hospital yesterday. He was admitted again and given glucose which quickly brought him round. he was still very floppy and dazed, he continued to be sick and had a low salt level high acid level as well as the low blood sugar. The doctors have admitted him and want to keep him in for 5 days for observation.

I spoke to Evan late last night and he seemed much better 'in himself' and joked that he had to take a disgusting tablet which M had hidden in a banana! He was still unable to eat without throwing up and was put on medication to help with that.



Today they will take him off the drips to see if he can maintain blood sugar by himself and do an ultrasound of his stomach. They have been talking about sending him to another hospital in Varna to investigate his pancreas. we'd very much prefer this not to happen here. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors and a full recovery and diagnosis for Evan.



I do understand that you must all receive many prayer requests each day and I don't want to clog up your inbox but we really do need your prayers.



Much love and thanks

scot

update 14:00 bulgarian time. PLease keep praying

Evan was taken to Dobrich hospital this morning and was seen by a doctor who discharged him pretty much straight away, on his way out of the hospital evan threw up and went floppy again. As this was happening Peter got a call from a friend of his who is a dr there with the results of his blood tests. Evans blood sugar was down to 2.0 and she told Peter to urgently get him some glucose. etc.

Evan was readmitted and had a litre of glucose on a drip. He was then discharged again and should return later for more tests on his blood.

However when he came home he still wasn't right and collapsed here. We tested his blood and it had dropped again to 1.8. We've taken him again to hospital.

He was only semi-conscious in the car and doesn't seem to know where he is or is able to communicate.

Please please keep praying

for healing for strength peace wisdom protection etc etc etc

Dear friends

Please could I ask you to pray for us?

Evan was taken sick again this morning in what looks very much like a repeat of his sudden drop in blood sugar level that occurred last year. We spotted it early this time and he hadn't collapsed as he did last time but was beginning to drift towards unconsciousness. He couldn't count past 2. We've given him some honey which should raise the sugar somewhat and he has now gone to hospital.

To complicate things further we are in the East of Bulgaria visiting Peter and Rosi Petrov and so are feeling pretty far from home right now (its a 12hour drive back to Skopje)



Thanks and with much lov

More blogging friends

I've updated the blog links over on the left and wanted to give a little plug to the 3 additions.

Adventures of a Spartan is the rantings of Charl Young a delightful Brummie who manages a cafe on a council estate in Reading. Her writing challenges me to be more real and reminds me that there is as much (if not more) to do 'at home' than there is abroad. 

My friend who I don't get to see nearly as often as I would like Garreth Falls is doing some wonderful stuff in a town called Dungannon in N.Ireland the battles that he faces, his faithfulness and his prophetic vision are an inspiration. His blog is called 'constantly morphing' and again is listed over on the left.

Lastly there is the wonderful blog by Shea and Lile which is perfect for those of you who would like to hear more about Macedonian life through the eyes of a foreigner (and his wife) Shea and Lile are creative geniuses (or should that be geni). Shea is a film maker (i'm sure there's a link to his Vimeo site from the blog) and is responsible for much of the video content I throw up from time to time and his wife Lile is a hugely talented photographer. Lile also teaches m and e Macedonian and Shea(fu) lets Evan beat him up after the lesson if he the little ninja has behaved himself.

Elizabetha

 ‘Elizabetha is 5 years old. We had to work hard to convince her parents to allow Elizabetha to come to Little Friends. She is from a very poor family and her parents survive by taking garbage from dumpsters for food to eat or for things to sell. Elizabetha used to go with her family each day and help them, climbing into the bins and rooting out useful items. We are so happy she doesnʼt have to do that anymore and can come to kindergarten. She is a happy person and loves making jewelry as well as colouring and drawing.’

I have spent most of this week thinking about and working with or on stuff for the child support/kindergarten project known as Little Friends in Shutka. Regular readers of this blog will know how much I enjoy hanging out at the kindergarten. Some of you will also know that Misty and I have been asked to serve on the board and help the team as they enter a new season of growth.

I believe with all my heart that God loves the kids we love and work with in Shutka and we will see transformation of that place, the largest Roma town in the world over in 2 generations. By following the incarnational model of Jesus Christ; sitting with and getting to know families, listening to their stories and loving all of them especially the children we are already seeing counter cultural children who respect one another and know the name and love of Jesus being released in one of the poorest suburbs in Europe. At the graduation of 6 year olds from the kindergarten (they graduate from the pre-school but we continue to support them and their families throughout their school lives) my friend turned to me with his smiling face and whispered “this is the army of God in Shutka”. He’s right. These kids are affecting and will over the course of their generation transform their community with the love of Jesus.

Its easy to get enthused and enthralled by the big ‘end game’ project type stuff. Misty and I will work hard over the next months  to establish a ‘skin and strategy’ that will enable sustainable growth of the work. These last few days I’ve been writing emails and putting together a pack to send to potential supporters and sponsors. Then as you read something like that which started this piece, the bio which is just one among many I sent this week, from little Elizabetha and all of a sudden you KNOW this matters, it truly matters both to the life of a little girl who deserves more and to the very heart of God himself. IT MATTERS! this is about taking care of the poor and loving our neighbors, putting them before ourselves. IT MATTERS!! Elizabetha is a beautiful girl and she used to spend each day helping her parents scavenge an existence from the trash of Skopje or begging in the city centre gutters and now she comes to the kindergarten and is loved and cared for, fed and makes friends. IT MATTERS!!!

Misty and I know our priority for being here in Skopje is to serve our friends as part of the wonderful post-modern emerging funky artsy church community commonly known as Glasnost but thankfully one of the things Glasnost are here to do is to serve the poor and the broken finding themselves loving places like Shutka and people like Eliabetha. 

Over the next year we will look to bolster the funding of the Little Friends children's work, currently we have little money for even the basics, i.e. no money for milk for the kids or a vacuum cleaner (we have to brush the carpets on our hands and knees each day) or for the wood we will desperately need to feed the oven we don’t have and cant afford over the cold winter months as well as finding sustainable sponsorship support for the kids as they enter the world of ‘real school’ and pray like mad to get a building project completed so we don’t get ripped off again by a crumby absent landlord. But whilst we run around managing projects and motivating people we will never forget that the reason we are doing this is for beautiful children like Elizabetha who are made in the glorious image of God. IT MATTERS.

Credit to Lile for this photo and lots of others like them.